Achievement First reviews

3.0

35% would recommend to a friend

(999 total reviews)
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Fatimah Barker

39% approve of CEO

21% positive business outlook

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
Jul 25, 2019

meh

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits, salaries, and staff members.

Cons

Too much micromanaging from unqualified managers.

2.0
May 9, 2019

Great mission, but execution misfires

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

*This applies to Network Support employees; I cannot speak for our teachers: - Feeling good about working at a very mission-driven organization - Decent work/life balance, flexibility to work from home - Coworkers are generally kind, friendly, and really care about our kids

Cons

- Tries to be democratic, but actually run in a pretty top-down way - People here to love to generate ideas and brainstorm, but following through on execution is protracted, painful, and usually not successful - Disorganized systems - there are tons of network-wide long emails, floating Google Docs and Sheets, etc. - Very formal/rigid meeting and email structures - Pay is not too great (expected for a non-profit though)

1.0
Apr 15, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are no pros here

Cons

- Very little pay - $37,000 starting salary for an already certified teacher - You spend your days reading off of a script - Teachers have no flexibility or creativity in the classroom

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Achievement First Response
7y
I’m really sorry to hear that your experience with AF was so bad. I wanted to respond to a few of the headlines you named but I would also seize the opportunity to learn more. If you’re open to continuing the conversation please email me at tomkaiser@achievementfirst.org. Your experience is a tough one to hear about because I think that narrative is already out there around many charter schools and networks (you get treated like a robot and there’s no creativity), and I hate knowing that your experience with us felt like it matched that perception. We strive to be different … to be a place that does go after true excellence and believes that we go further together but also cares about the whole person and wants everyone (kids and adults) to feel like we are helping them fulfill their potential. I know how corny that sounds but it’s true. We want our kids to have voice and make change. We want their learning to go way off script. To see some of the work that we're doing to make that happen, feel free to check out - https://www.teachforamerica.org/stories/turning-students-into-active-citizens - https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2019/01/16/new-school-model-gives-kids-freedom-to-choose-what-they-learn# That said, we also know that we don’t always get it right and need to hear from people like yourself when we are not being the organization we want to be so that we can do better. I do need to point out for the benefit of other glassdoor readers that the salary information listed here is not accurate, and that we believe our salary scales offer really competitive salaries.
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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.