Skip to contentSkip to footer
      employer cover photo
      employer logo
      employer logo

      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
      1.0
      Aug 22, 2016

      It's that time of year again, and they are short staffed.

      Teacher
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      The children are great. There are some nice coworkers. No one has died from overwork yet.

      Cons

      During the summer and early fall, without fail, there are a string of positive reviews for AF. This is because they are short staffed, and need to fill vacant positions. Quickly. This is for a few reasons, some folks do some summer soul searching and quit because they realize they can no longer continue to treat kids like convicts, while working themselves to exhaustion (80+ hour weeks are not unheard of. 70 is fairly common - does the salary still sound so good now?). Other folks, new to this charter chain, realize that after a month, that they aren't part of the "cool" clique, and are thus treated kind of crappily by some of the more established staff and management - deliberately left out of after work functions, in school conversations, and greeted with eye rolls or feigned uncomprehension at staff meetings (hint: if you are not an enthusiastic TFA'r, have previous education experience that espouses methods other than Doug Lemov's, you're not going to fit in). And finally some new teachers figure out after a month or two that AF is a bit of a scam. Your hours are much more than promised, the mistreatment of children is systemic, management are often not very good at their jobs, their is a cultish aspect with staff who are happy, dissenting opinions are not heard, those dissenting are subject to retaliation, that AF's model creates children who are not capable of independent thought or are angry because they can't escape this sham. Regarding race, there is so much tension because young white folks that have read a book or two, explain to kids and black staff how they feel, without understanding what the real issues are.

      avatar
      Achievement First Response
      9y
      Thank you for your feedback. We are committed to creating an environment where people grow and push each other, but one that is also inclusive and overwhelmingly supportive, so I was very sorry to read about your experience working at Achievement First. I had the privilege of leading an AF school for 7 years, and we relied heavily on dissenting voices and promoted debate and conflict to make the best decisions for our kids. Your descriptions are certainly not the environment we strive to create. And we know that you are not our only team member that feels critical voices are not encouraged. In an anonymous survey that every employee at AF fills out every year, we ask if they feel comfortable sharing their feedback about their school with their school leaders, and last year 13% of our staff said they did not feel comfortable, which may not seem like a big number, but that means there are well more than 100 people within our schools who don’t feel that they have the agency and voice that they should. We know we have work to do. I would benefit greatly from hearing more about your experience and how we could prevent other valuable team members from having a similar one. Please email me at the contact below so that I can better understand, and learn from your perspective. The charged language you used when describing our kids (e.g., that we treat them like “convicts”) greatly disheartened me. You shared your view that our students are not capable of independent thought, but we are beyond proud of AF scholars who were the first in the family to attend college and are currently excelling in some of the top-ranked universities in the country. Our students have spearheaded social justice campaigns and organized protests. They have won citywide chess and Latin competitions, and we’re proud of our championship quiz bowl teams. Though we certainly do not take all the credit; our kids are incredible thinkers. (Admittedly, we might be a little defensive about our kids) Lastly, in regards to your advice for management, I’d be remiss not to point out that several of our leaders do send their kids to AF schools, including our founder and co-CEO, Dacia Toll, pictured above. Both of her boys love attending their Achievement First school. Best, Tom Kaiser Chief Talent Officer, Achievement First Tomkaiser@achievementfirst.org
      5.0
      Aug 21, 2016

      AF - All about the people

      Math teacher
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      I love coming to work because the people around me are super positive and are all working together for the kids. I am rarely frustrated with a colleague and when I am I can always go to them to work it out (other places that I worked in had an adult culture similar to cliques in high school). At AF we actively work to create a strong adult culture at a school level and I have grown a lot as a teammate here. I also feel extremely supported. I have gotten weekly coaching from a committed coach for seven years -- and over time I've been given the freedom to direct what my coaching looks like and take more ownership around my development. I've grown outside of the classroom as well, as a result of being at AF. After getting encourage from our school's leadership team, a group of teachers at my school formed a white, anti-racist affinity group. Many schools ignore the racial difference between teachers and the children that they serve but at my school we are open and actively seeking to explore and grow in this area. Finally, I feel like I've built a career here. I make a much higher salary then I ever dreamed due to the Teach Career Pathway evaluation system, in which stage 5 teachers make salaries in the six figures.

      Cons

      With the level of support also comes a really high level of accountability. I am held to a very high standard and often the practice for how to get to that standard changes from year to year. AF is constantly looking for best practices and growing. There's a downside there - the lesson plan structure that we are expected to master has changed virtually every year I have been here. Also the network determines and writes all the curriculum. This is a huge plus for newer teachers, but for teachers who have been teaching for a while and may want to experiment or write their own curriculum it is restrictive. That being said my administration has been open to modifications depending on the teacher asking.

      1.0
      Aug 21, 2016

      Broken System

      Teacher
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Teachers and paraprofessional staff are dedicated to STUDENTS. Strong, positive vision.

      Cons

      Scripted lesson plans are not sustainable and do not allow for adjustment on the spot. No creativity allowed for teachers. The long school day does not take in to consideration stages of child development....is an academic day of 9 hours a reasonable demand for a 10 year old child? Students are not allowed to be "kids": forced, silent transitions in a straight line; no spontaneity; required silence for the duration of a class (90 minutes). Staff required to work 10 hours on site without breaks or scheduled duty-free lunches; high rate of turn-over in teaching staff (75 to 80% yearly); micro-management; loss of planning periods occurs frequently. Social promotion of students does them a disservice when it occurs year after year. By October the culture normally begins to fall apart and the administration reacts in a way that pushes the line of what is an abusive manner.

      Viewing 862 - 864 of 999 Reviews
      Related searches: Achievement First jobs | Achievement First salaries | Achievement First benefits | Achievement First interviews
      ReviewsAchievement First reviews

      Glassdoor has 1,021 Achievement First reviews submitted anonymously by Achievement First employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Achievement First is right for you.