Superheroes and Transformers: Rethinking Teach For America's leadership models

Interviews with a broad swath of current and former Teach For America alumni and current corps members reveal a decided preference for school leaders whose personality traits are akin to superhero/ines--charismatic, courageous, demanding--and who have a tendency to try to usher in greater student achievement via primarily managerial agendas, rather than through seeking systemic investments that address the broader social and educational inequalities in which students live. But research has shown that personality and managerial driven agendas don't often work. This is significant because many TFA alumni are likely to become educational and public policy leaders going forward.