UPDATED: Sept. 15 at 7 p.m.

Syracuse University made Teach For America’s annual list of schools contributing the greatest number of graduates to its 2016 teaching corps.

Syracuse contributed 24 graduates this year, tying for the 16th spot in the “large schools” category, which included schools such as New York University, Georgetown University and University of California, Los Angeles. The list was released in August 2016.

TFA is a nonprofit organization that “recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding college graduates and professionals” that teach for at least two years at a high school in a low-income community, according to its website.

TFA has been releasing the annual list since 2008. The list is compiled by Lauren Barber, a TFA communications specialist who analyzes TFA’s online database of applicants and ranks each university based on the number of teachers it produces. The list is divided into large-sized schools, medium-sized schools and small-sized schools.

This list is then sent to alumni, current members and university career service offices, so students can see TFA is a valid opportunity for employment since many students from their school have been involved in the TFA program, said Cassandra Stockall, the TFA recruitment manager.

SU making this list means it is a “top contributor to TFA’s core,” Stockall said.

In recent years, the organization has had repeated difficulty recruiting applicants. The Washington Post reported in April that for the third consecutive year, TFA has seen its applicant pool shrink, with the number of applicants dropping 16 percent in 2016 alone.

In spite of the overall decline of an applicant pool, the number of applicants at SU is increasing. Stockall identified the drop in applicants for TFA as an overall decline in teacher preparation programs nationwide.

Joanna Masingila, dean of the School of Education at SU, said she considers working for TFA a “viable job” for those who are going to graduate school or heading to the workforce.

Jennifer Russo, director of communications at SU’s School of Education, said the school’s training process is more extensive than the training that TFA participants have received before they start teaching.

Russo added that  graduates from outside the school who apply to TFA may not be as prepared as those who graduated from a professional school of education in general.

But that doesn’t deter applicants entirely. Masingila said TFA applicants who aren’t education majors join the program to explore their career options for experience.

Masingila said School of Education graduates complete many courses on developing pedagogy, teaching specific content areas and then complete many hours of student teaching, whereas TFA members have a few weeks of training in the summer before being placed in a classroom as the teacher in charge of teaching 25 to 35 students.

But Stockall said the idea of TFA competing with graduate schools for enrollment is a “misconception.”

Stockall said she believes SU students in particular possess a certain energy and enthusiasm and are “incredibly” committed to bettering the education of children. She also said she has high hopes for the future of SU’s and TFA’s collaborations.

“I would love to see students (at SU) developing a greater understanding of educational equity work,” Stockall said.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, TFA’s ranking system of universities was misstated. The annual list ranks each university based on the number of teachers it produces, not the number of applicants it produces. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on September 14, 2016 at 8:31 pm