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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 demographic groups

      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).

      Reviews by job title

      999 reviews
      3.0
      Apr 8, 2017

      It didn't work for me

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      -pay is quite a bit higher than traditional school salary -you'll receive a lot of feedback and grow as a teacher -behavior systems in place make classroom management much much easier to handle -the work you do undeniably makes a difference in kids' lives, which is pretty amazing

      Cons

      -12+ hours aren't just something that happen 'sometimes,' as some of the more optimistic reviews seem to suggest; it's a way of life. People who had been teaching at my school for over 5 years were still in the office until 7 (yes, having been in the school for 12 hours), and they had gloomy attitudes towards the sustainability of these hours, long-term. -Very little room for creativity or self-direction. Your curriculum is handed to you and you're told exactly what to do with it, too. -Insistence on 'high expectations' and 'whatever it takes' often felt like an Orwellian tactic to quash disgruntlement among teachers, which, yes, disgruntled clamoring behind doors is extremely common, despite what management either believes or wants to believe, and despite the aura that you might get at team and school-wide meetings. Basically, teachers felt burned out all the time and voicing feelings of fatigue felt like it was actively discouraged, because complaining isn't a 'whatever it takes, team before self' attitude. For this reason, turnover rates are consistently over 33% per year -- and that's at the best of schools, too (at least on the middle school level, as of a few years ago).

      avatar
      Achievement First Response
      9y
      This is tough feedback but I appreciate you leaving it. It’s important that we continue to hear firsthand from the challenges our people have faced – and are facing. There’s no question that this mission requires a lot of hard work and it can be a serious challenge to succeed while fitting all the other incredibly important pieces of your life together. There is probably not a person at AF – or at any organization achieving similar levels of success – that isn’t feeling this challenge to a greater and lesser extent. However, there are a few things you stated in your review that are not factually accurate and I would like the opportunity to correct. You stated that we consistently have over 33% turnover. Our staff retention is a matter of record and we’ve never had turnover that high…ever. That being said, we have consistently seen 20% or more of our team transition each school year, which is still a high number (though it has more recently been getting stronger and moving in the right direction). You also shared that at your school less than 20% of people felt that “admin” cared about their work-life balance. I don’t know your school, but when we last surveyed every school team in December, most teammates in the network felt we valued their personal priorities (54%) and just shy of half (45%) anticipated staying at AF for at least the next 5 years. Again – these are low numbers that still VERY MUCH speak to the challenge you captured in your feedback and that we take incredibly seriously. We are more successful in this work when our strong teachers stay longer and we care deeply about making it easier for our school teams to succeed in this mission. We just (last week) asked for feedback from every teacher at AF on a host of potential measures for next year: from day care support, to network priorities, to which perks could make a difference. This is a challenge facing so much of the ed-reform sector and we are committed to leading the way on innovation and progress. -Tom Kaiser, Chief Talent Officer
      5.0
      Apr 6, 2017

      AF

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      High expectations within every student is essentially something that I am happy about here at AF. Each and every day students are pushed to their highest potential. This is both behavioral and academically. Also, staff expectations are very high. Which helps to create a strong school culture within students and adults. This organization is also great at developing staff to different career opportunities.

      Cons

      Balancing home life with work life is one of the cons. Due to extended hours and heavy work load outside of work its can sometimes become difficult to balance both.

      4.0
      Apr 4, 2017

      AF Teacher

      Teacher
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Excellent professional development, especially if you are a new teacher. Great support for alternative routes to certification.

      Cons

      Very long work days and heavy work load.

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