Why is Wendy Kopp Hopeful?

In the world of public education, Wendy Kopp carries a very big stick. While still an undergrad at Princeton she came up with the idea of a national teacher corps, then moved to New York and founded a little organization called Teach for America (TFA). Twenty years later, her brainchild has become one of the premier public service institutions in the country. She’s been on the cover of Fortune magazine; alumni of her program lead the vanguard of ed reform nationwide.

In person, however, Ms. Kopp speaks surprisingly softly. Of modest height and build, she leans forward when she talks, and her cadence is measured – no drama there. But when she addressed the Commonwealth Club of California last week, it felt like all 100+ people in the room were paying close attention. What draws you in is her focus.

Kopp believes that the key to education reform is people; specifically, the “talent and leadership” we channel into public education. I think she’s on to something. Teachers, principals, and other leaders play a critical role – perhaps the critical role – in closing the achievement gap. This was the main point of her talk — no big surprise, given that TFA is essentially a human resources organization.

More intriguing was her response to an audience question. Kopp was asked whether she was discouraged by the lack of progress over the past twenty years; specifically, the fact the achievement gap is just as wide now as it was then. It’s a fair question. If you look at math and reading scores of 17 year-olds, the achievement gap has not closed at all since 1990, when TFA sent its first class of teachers into some of America’s poorest schools.

Kopp responded that she’s not only not discouraged, she’s actually more optimistic than ever. From her view, the last two decades have seen major changes behind the scenes, changes that may soon tip the balance towards eradicating those depressing numbers.

One change is that there is a, “new generation of high-performing schools.” Every major city in America now has at least one high-performing inner-city school – some have more – something that was not true 10 or 15 years ago. If you think about it, this is a big deal. Not only are these schools proving that the achievement gap can be narrowed, they also have the potential to be seeds, catalysts for larger-scale change.

A second change is the emergence of a, “new generation of leaders leading in a very different way.” Without diminishing the tireless, sustained efforts of reformers like Linda Darling-Hammond, I have to agree that Kopp is absolutely right. The emerging leaders of the education reform movement – many of them TFA alums – are bringing to the table a set of viewpoints, networks, and skills that many in the old guard of education lack. Two of the most obvious and promising examples are Michelle Rhee, the new chancellor of the Washington, DC public schools, and Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, the founders of KIPP. Their views and methods are not the only way, but they are adding something new and, I think, absolutely critical to the struggle.

Now I do wish Ms. Kopp had addressed the numbers more directly. They’re quite frustrating, and they make you wonder why, despite all the investment and hard work over the past few decades, the big picture remains essentially unchanged.

However, it’s hard not to get swept away by the force of Kopp’s optimism, and her way of framing the situation. It’s clear that the key to closing the gap is people. People teach, and people drive the organizations in which teachers succeed or fail. I left her talk wondering if she was right: will the behind-the-scenes changes that have been building up for decades soon tip us towards closing the achievement gap? It’s an exciting thought.