Wendy Kopp Quotes

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Wendy Kopp

Profession : Public Servant

Birth : June 29, 1967

I think people are attracted to teaching because they want to make a real impact.

Wendy Kopp

Some people seem to sort of have a gut for hiring. I literally had a gut that was exactly the opposite. So whenever I thought someone would be great, it was sort of the opposite.

Wendy Kopp

We've done a lot of research on the characteristics of our teachers who are the most successful. The most predictive trait is still past demonstrated achievement, and all selection research basically points to that.

Wendy Kopp

People think of teachers who are born to teach, and you think of all these charismatic folks. Some of the most successful teachers are some of the least charismatic, interestingly. But they have a gift of figuring out what motivates people.

Wendy Kopp

Kids in urban and rural areas face so many challenges, and they show up at schools that don't have the extra capacity or extra resources to meet their needs.

Wendy Kopp

Charter laws do something really important. They give educators the freedom and flexibility that they need to attain results. But we also have to invest a lot in the leadership pipeline to take advantage of that freedom and flexibility.

Wendy Kopp

When kids are met with the highest expectations and given the extra supports they need, they can be as motivated as kids anywhere.

Wendy Kopp

I think Teach for America has suffered from the fact that I did not teach, in a major way. I also think if I had taught, I wouldn't have started Teach for America.

Wendy Kopp

It's possible to train great people, but a person with great training who doesn't have certain characteristics is only going to go so far.

Wendy Kopp

If we freed up all the money in the certification process, think about how much more money we'd have to put into teacher salaries.

Wendy Kopp

It gets to whether we're a teacher-education model or a movement for social justice. I would say we're about the latter.

Wendy Kopp

Education must be the only sector that hasn't already been completely revolutionized by technology.

Wendy Kopp

Teach for America recruits top recent college grads, young professionals, people we believe are the U.S.'s most promising future leaders, and asks them to commit two years to teach in high-need urban and rural communities.

Wendy Kopp

We should be individualizing instruction, utilizing that data to actually give teachers the tools necessary to meet the needs of a very diverse group of kids which exists in every class.

Wendy Kopp

Whenever we've seen the kids in the most disadvantaged context truly excel, always it's been in classrooms and in whole schools where there is a clear vision of where the kids have the potential to be.

Wendy Kopp

I think the way to understand Teach for America is as a leadership development program.

Wendy Kopp

We are working essentially to build a leadership force of folks who will, during their first two years of teaching, actually put their kids on a different trajectory - not just survive as a new teacher, but actually help close the achievement gap for their kids.

Wendy Kopp

The mission that unites all of the programs of the Teach For All global network is that of cultivating the leadership capacity critical to ultimately ensuring educational opportunity for all.

Wendy Kopp

Kids who live in low income areas face extra challenges and show up at schools that were not designed to meet their extra needs.

Wendy Kopp

If we could reach the point where many of our nation's future leaders know what teachers know after teaching successfully in our highest-need schools, we would have a very different situation.

Wendy Kopp