Struck by the inequities in the United States' education system, Kopp wrote her senior thesis at Princeton University about creating a national teachers corps of recent college graduates. Kopp proposed that these carefully selected student leaders would work in poor, underachieving public schools for two years. Since her graduation, Kopp has spent her life pursuing education equality through Teach for America.
Introduced by President Anthony Marx as someone who "took theory to practice with a vengeance," Kopp addressed a crowded Cole Assembly Hall on Monday night in a lecture titled, "One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach for America and What I Learned Along the Way." Kopp communicated what she learned in the 17 years since she started the program by recounting stories about Teach for America participants.
Kopp began her lecture with two stories about teachers with the organization who have achieved remarkable success in the face of daunting obstacles.
She spoke about a teacher for sixth-grade special education students in Rio Grande Valley, Texas-one of the poorest regions in the country-who managed in just two years to increase all her student's reading and writing levels by three to four years.
She also recounted a story about a teacher working in Phoenix, Ariz., who was responsible for the lowest achieving seventh- and eighth-grade math students in all of the surrounding districts. By the end of year, the students had surpassed all expectations, becoming the highest-achieving math students in the area.
It is from these stories that Kopp described the three key lessons she has learned since founding Teach for America. "The first, most salient lesson," Kopp said, "is the incredible juxtaposition between the disparities which exist in the country and the possibilities."
She saw these stories as proof that when given the opportunity deserved, any student can excel. It proved for her that, "[educational inequity] is not only an extreme problem, it's a problem that can be solved." This is why she believes the push for education equality should be "our generation's Civil Rights Movement." Kopp said she has learned about the incredible influence the diligent and enthusiastic teachers for Teach for America can have on their students.
Describing the teachers as "relentless" and "completely purposeful," Kopp spoke with deep respect for them. She has learned that these student leaders "can make an extreme impact on the kids and families they work with."
Finally, she has learned that though Teach for America has indeed made a difference in helping disadvantaged students, it alone cannot resolve the problem of education inequity. "We need to step back as a society and say, 'What do we need to do?'" Kopp said. Education equity, Kopp advised, will take much more than just the "heroic efforts" of the Teach for America teachers.
Yet, she believes that education inequity can be overcome. "It is possible even as socioeconomic problems exist to ensure that all kids have a chance to attain an excellent education," Kopp said. "Even as poverty persists … it is within our reach to build the capacity in our school systems to get where we want to be." It is this idea that fuels Kopp's mission.
She believes that once they complete their two-year term with the organization, Teach for America alumni are the ones at the forefront of the movement for education equality.
After teaching for two years, Kopp explained, they will not only be outraged at the extent of the social inequities that prevail in American society, but they will also be aware of the potential for improvement. "As much as we feel a sense of possibility, we don't feel we're doing enough," Kopp said. As leaders in many different fields, she believes that Teach for America alumni can bring "different insight to the issue" and address education inequities on a much larger scale.
Kopp concluded her address with another story about a Teach for America alumnus. This story was about Chris Barbic, who taught fifth-grade students in Houston, Texas. Although he was a very successful teacher, his students moved on to an extremely dysfunctional middle school. His former students and their parents, dismayed by the poor quality of the education they were receiving at this new school, requested his help. Three years later, Barbic successfully convinced the Board of Education to build a new school. He later also started a new high school in Houston. Barbic's high school was listed in the top 100 of Newsweek's 2005 top American high schools list-the only school in Houston to receive this distinction. This is despite the fact that 75 percent of the students enrolled in his school qualify for a free or reduced lunch.
"[Barbic] turned education inequity on its head," according to Kopp. Stories like this have inspired her to keep working towards education equality.
"Everyday I feel more passionately about what we're doing," Kopp said. She is more committed than ever in addressing, in her words, "the outrageous situation in this country [that] where you're born determines your academic prospects."