Achievement First reviews

AF is a cult and it was super apparent after 2 weeks of working there. I have worked at other charter schools, so I am familiar with the special lingo and practices that many charter schools employ (they all use the same consultants). However AF was a really weird cult. I have never felt like the unpopular kid in high school, but I definitely did at AF. Co-workers are really cliquey and gossipy, I guess that comes with high turn over rates. They never really bother to be inclusive and friendly unless you've shown that you are willing to live through misery for a couple of years. My biggest problem with AF, however, was that there was zero transferability in the skills I was learning and practicing as a teacher. I often had to interrupt my instruction and feedback to tell children that their misbehavior was a level 1 or level 2 in point deduction. It goes something like: "What is so ironic about what our main character, level 1 eyes, is that he tries so hard to be the good guy, to help his family, level 1 pencil, but in turn he becomes the monster, level 1 silent, that he feared he would, level 1, become." That is ridiculous, and if I was a child I would not be able to concentrate or even really piece together what my teacher just said. Additionally, the way they want lessons structured and done, reading loops and spirals, is literally only for AF and not used by any other type of school. In my role previous to coming to AF, I definitely felt like I was learning so much about literacy and how children learn. At AF, I feel like I wasted a year on learning useless ways to assign level 1s and 2s, and lesson structures. They also have a really random way of tiering teachers, as a level 3, 4, our 5 teacher. What Ive noticed is that experienced teachers, ones that haven't ONLY worked at AF, are often quite different from level 4s and 5s. I thought level 5 teachers were ineffective and I don't think any other children at different schools, not brought up in the AF system since 1st grade, would learn anything from them.

Staff culture is toxic. Feedback is unprofessional, abrasive, and does not contribute to development as a teacher or as a professional. Teachers are disrespected and leadership will, at times, tell you to your face that you clearly don't care about the students or the mission. You will be constantly told that you should provide feedback but when you do, you are told, once again, that you are not aligned with the mission and don't care about the students. Many of the members of leadership have little teaching experience. There is a principal in the network who only taught in a classroom setting for one year and several deans who only have 2 or 3 years of teaching experience. It also doesn't matter if you are a content expert in a specific course. If you are a physics teacher but they need someone to teach math, they will make you teach math. If you are an English teacher and they need someone to teach Spanish and you just so happen to know how to speak Spanish, they will make you speak Spanish. They will move you around how they see fit. Students with IEPs are not supported, even though AF will claim that they do support these kids. They will force students to take AP classes even if they are not ready. Students with special needs often feel insecure and unaccomplished as a result, even with teacher support. If a teacher brings up concerns like this to leadership, leadership will say that the full responsibility is on the teacher and that the student's IEP does not matter and should not impact this student's learning, which is an awful statement. What is even more disappointing is that teachers they claim to be less effective are removed from being lead teachers and are shoehorned into becoming learning specialists, which are co-teachers who work primarily with students with IEPs. As a result of this, students with IEPs do not get the support they need and are taught by teachers who are not trained in special education. I would not recommend teaching here, especially if you care about special education.