Wendy Kopp Quotes

Author Image

Wendy Kopp

Profession : Public Servant

Birth : June 29, 1967

The idea that computers can ever replace teachers and schools reveals a deep lack of understanding about the role leadership plays in student success.

Wendy Kopp

In the long run, we need to build a leadership force of people. We have a whole strategy around not only providing folks with the foundational experience during their two years with us, but also then accelerating their leadership in ways that is strategic for the broader education reform movement.

Wendy Kopp

You will find it will almost always be more comfortable to sit on the sidelines and critique the builders from afar. But at the end of the day, the people who make a difference, the people who shape history, are not the haters.

Wendy Kopp

Research shows that whether you are low-income or not, mindset is a bigger predictor of success than academic skills, and how students gain great academic skills and persevere in the face of challenges.

Wendy Kopp

Effective teacher support in my mind is the same thing as effective management. Our teachers need strong management, just like anyone in any profession.

Wendy Kopp

It's time to declare a cease-fire in the education arms race. We have far more to gain from collaborating to solve our common problems than competing for higher rankings.

Wendy Kopp

Tests that sugar-coat the truth only set up our kids to fail in worse ways down the road.

Wendy Kopp

Common Core reminds us what testing can do right. Modeled on standards of the world's education superpowers, questions demand critical thinking and creativity. Students are asked to write at length, show their work, and explain their reasoning.

Wendy Kopp

It's Teach For America's responsibility to ensure that all alumni know their voices are heard and valued, and to surface the range of opinion they represent.

Wendy Kopp

When I started Teach For America, I wasn't trying to come up with an idea that would change the world. I was trying to solve a problem much closer to home: I was a senior in college, and I had no idea what I was going to do with my life!

Wendy Kopp

We are looking for a set of personal characteristics that predict success, the first and foremost of which is perseverance in the face of challenges. We also look for the ability to influence and motivate others who share your values, strong problem-solving ability, and leadership.

Wendy Kopp

People are everything in education, just as in the corporate world.

Wendy Kopp

It's easier to poke holes in an idea than think of ways to fill them. And it's easier to focus on the 100 reasons you shouldn't do something rather than the one reason you should.

Wendy Kopp

The lack of diversity in higher education is a problem we as a country must tackle if we're going to live up to our promise.

Wendy Kopp

Teach For America was built on the idea that our best hope of reaching 'One Day' is to have thousands of alumni use their diverse experiences and ideas to effect change from inside and outside the education system.

Wendy Kopp

A core part of Teach For America's mission has always been affecting positive change in the traditional public school system.

Wendy Kopp

We believe strongly in transparency and accountability, which is why Teach For America encourages rigorous independent evaluations of our program. Our mission is too important to operate in any other way.

Wendy Kopp

We have found that the most successful teachers in low-income communities operate like successful leaders. They establish a vision of where their students will be performing at the end of the year that many believe to be unrealistic.

Wendy Kopp

Our experience at Teach For America has been that the more people understand educational inequity, the more they want to do something about it.

Wendy Kopp

When I started Teach For America as a college senior, I sensed that there were thousands of talented, driven college students and recent grads who were searching for a way to make a real difference in the world.

Wendy Kopp