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      Achievement First

      Engaged Employer

      Achievement First reviews

      3.0

      35% would recommend to a friend

      (999 total reviews)
      avatar

      Fatimah Barker

      39% approve of CEO

      21% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      3.8

      Diversity & inclusion

      3.1

      Culture & values

      3.1

      Compensation and benefits

      3.0

      Career opportunities

      2.6

      Work/Life balance

      2.5

      Senior management

      Achievement First has an employee rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 999 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Achievement First employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      999 reviews
      1.0
      Nov 8, 2017

      Do Not work here

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Students and families that you are able to work with.

      Cons

      There are many downsides to working at Achievement First. If you are considering moving to this Charter Network, please do not. There are so many better, more advanced ones that are actually fulfilling the promise they make to children, not just reciting words. The biggest factors influcing my low rating are resources. There are not enough resources for teachers to be successful. The lesson plans are written by first year, never had an exposure to education teachers and they have no clue what they are doing. The last reason is the administration. The nonsense that the principals, deans, and regional superintendents speak of, do and do regularly is enough to make anyone quit. The management is incredibly POOR. They care about themselves, not teachers, and not students. They make decisions based on what they want and forget those who will suffer from it.

      1.0
      Sep 16, 2017

      Reading interventionist

      Reading specialist
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      -Good salary compared to other schools -Dont need certification to work

      Cons

      -Long Hours -Draining -teachers talked to by kids by management -There was a different treatment towards teachers of color vs white teachers -Didn't feel like my role mattered to them

      avatar
      Achievement First Response
      8y
      This is one of the very last things we’d ever want to hear from any team member – but if this was your experience then we need to hear it. And I thank you for sharing it. I’d be even more grateful if you’d consider reaching out to me and discussing (in confidence) more about your experience, including what school you were at. We never want this to be someone’s experience and so we regret to hear that it was yours. For years we have been striving to make sure our organization is diverse and inclusive because it’s vital to our success in our mission. We are privileged to serve communities in New York, Connecticut, and Providence and our families and students identify overwhelmingly as people of color - with a rich variety of proud identities and heritage. We deeply believe that we must provide our kids a team of talented adults that reflects that rich diversity, and that we can succeed at maximizing our kids potential when our teams have many strong players that look like our students and deeply identify with their experience. For that reason, we strive to recruit people of color and first-generation college students (most of our hires identified last year) and we are proud that our retention of teachers is higher within those groups. But where we are falling short and people’s experience is not fully inclusive and equitable, we have to learn more and keep growing. In that spirit, if you are willing to reach out, I would appreciate it immensely. -Tom Kaiser, Chief Talent Officer tomkaiser@achievementfirst.org
      4.0
      Jul 21, 2017

      Great place to start your teaching career

      Teacher
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      *As a new teacher you will grow so fast in behavior management and best academic practices because of all the coaching, professional development, and observations. Leadership really steps it up and makes you want to do better to be the best teacher you can be for your students. *Everyone truly wants to do what's best for the kids. It's an inspiring place where no excuses are accepted. Every kid should and will learn. No excuses. *Results oriented. Everyone wants to see kids passing and succeeding. Best practices are shared with everyone so everyone can experience success, teachers and students alike. It's an amazing feeling seeing kids succeed, especially hard to reach and underserved students. *Great pay! After working there for 2.5 hears I made 65k and was scheduled to make 70k+ the following year. *Students really do learn a lot here. AF students work very hard and teachers do whatever they can to help them learn. * Teachers do their best create a team-like environment to help students in all subjects and across grade levels. *Overall, great place to get started as a teacher. You will learn so much so quickly and truly feel like you are making a difference in your students' lives.

      Cons

      *Because leadership team wants the best results and wants teachers to grow they micromanage your classroom. This means there are a lot of observations and constructive criticism. While this is helpful because we all want to learn and become the best teachers we can be, it can at times stifle the more creative and artistic side of teaching. It also can feel like you're teaching ability is constantly under scrutiny. *Long hours for teachers and students. School day from 7:15 to 4:15 (including breakfast, Lunch, and snack) Way too long! It tires teachers and students out on a daily basis. As a teacher, you get used to it after a while, but why? That extra hour or two does not equate into that much more learning because the students are tired by the last 45 minute period of the day. *Students need more time for play. Recess was 20 minutes long. Lunch was 20 minutes long. For elementary students, I do not think this is long enough, especially when you consider how long the school day is. Students need more time to be kids. We should be educating the whole child, and not just the strong focus on academics, even though the results are there. *Strict discipline policy for students that teachers must adhere to. Everyone must use the same behavior management policy, which is good in that it's consistent, but it can never be consistent because all teachers are different. School is very military-like when it comes to behavior and student culture. While this does show good results academically, it is very stressful for teachers and students alike.

      avatar
      Achievement First Response
      8y
      Thank you for your giving us such thoughtful feedback. Reading your review fired me up a bit when I read, “Every kid should and will learn. No excuses.” I share your appreciation for an environment where everyone truly wants to do what’s best for kids. In the same spirit, I appreciate your push as well. You hit on the fact that we “play as a team” to lead our schools and rely on our ability to hold the same expectations and use a school-wide approach in order to give kids a consistent experience. At the same time, we know that kids also need an authentic experience – in particular – they need to form authentic relationships with their teachers and see their unique personalities (just as teachers need to see the kids’ unique personalities). Doing both of those is really hard, and we’re not there yet in all of our schools. To make progress on this we are devoting more time and energy into our “real-time” coaching of teachers which rapidly improves the teacher’s instructional effectiveness AND their relationship building effectiveness. As you said it, we want teachers to be the best teacher they can be for their students. We are also launching a coordinated Student Investment priority across our schools for the 2018-2019 school year. This year we are spending time figuring out what aspects of student-teacher relationships are most effective and how we can make sure that teachers are empowered to be their unique selves while working as part of a consistent team for kids. Thanks again for taking the time to share your feedback. -Joey Roane, Director, Team School Culture
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