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      Achievement First

      Engaged Employer

      Achievement First reviews

      3.1

      35% would recommend to a friend

      (217 total reviews)
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      Fatimah Barker

      39% approve of CEO

      21% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      3.7

      Diversity & inclusion

      3.1

      Culture & values

      3.1

      Compensation and benefits

      3.1

      Career opportunities

      2.6

      Work/Life balance

      2.6

      Senior management

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      217 reviews

      Reviews about "Compensation"

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      5.0
      Apr 13, 2017

      5 Years Down, Many to Come!

      Math teacher
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      -Highly supportive environment: robust coaching structures, unit-level and daily-level lesson resources, lots of opportunities to attend professional development -Explicit work on diversity and inclusiveness: frequent conversations in affinity groups and mixed groups about how race impacts our interactions with each other and with our students -Lots of opportunities to provide input -Salary significantly higher than other schools -Committed to constantly making schools better for students and for staff -Desire to keep people happy in their roles, so there are lots of opportunities to move around and find the job that aligns with your personal interests and goals

      Cons

      -Extremely long days with an inflexible schedule (at least at my school); 55-60 hours/week in school and still requires work outside of school most weeks -While I believe that the structures put in place/requirements on teachers are important for student success, I think some people can find them constraining/stifling

      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
      4.0
      Mar 30, 2017

      Literature Teacher

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      There is such a strong adult culture among the staff which is hard to come by in schools- everyone truly supports each other. Every adult in the building truly loves children and teaching. I learned really great behavior management skills from staff there. The kids are amazing. The pay and benefits are great.

      Cons

      I feel there should be more balance between behavior and academics- sometimes I didn't feel like I was truly teaching my content. Though I understand the need for silent hallways since the building is shared with a middle school, I did not like enforcing silent lunches (this policy might have changed since I've been there).

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