Teach For America and Regional Municipality of Durham: Difference between pages

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Revision as of 00:06, 18 September 2005

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[[Image:ontdur.PNG|right|Durham Regional Municipality]]

'''Teach for America''' was founded by [[Wendy Kopp]] in her senior year at [[Princeton University]] in [[1988]] in order to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity in the [[United States]].

'''The Regional Municipality of Durham''', commonly called Durham Region (2003 population 525,000), is a regional political area located east of [[Toronto, Ontario]]. It has an area of approximately 2,500 square kilometers and includes the municipalities of [[Pickering, Ontario|Pickering]], [[Ajax, Ontario|Ajax]], [[Oshawa, Ontario|Oshawa]], [[Whitby, Ontario|Whitby]], [[Clarington, Ontario|Clarington]], [[Uxbridge, Ontario|Uxbridge Township]], [[Scugog, Ontario|Scugog Township]] and [[Brock, Ontario|Brock Township]]. Durham Region is considered part of the [[Greater Toronto Area]]. The regional seat is in [[Whitby, Ontario|Whitby]].

The region of Durham was established in [[1974]] as one of several new "regional" governments in the Province of [[Ontario]]--primarily in fast-growing urban and suburban areas. Durham Region encompasses areas that were previously part of Ontario County and Durham County.

The organization mainly (but not solely) recruits exceptional college graduates to teach for two years in low income urban and rural school districts. Teach For America has 22 regional sites across the country including Las Vegas and South Dakota which were added in the fall of 2004. The goal of the organization is for corps members to not only make a short-term impact on their students but also to become lifelong leaders in pursuing educational equality. Teach for America relies on the teachers they recruit to carry out their mission: to insure that "One day, all children will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education."

The southern portion of the region, adjacent to Lake Ontario is primarily suburban in nature, forming the eastern flank of the "905" belt of suburbs and exurbs around Toronto. The northern area encompasses rural areas and small towns.

Since the founding of the organization, there has been some question as to whether or not TFA teachers have brought about significant changes in the academic achievement of their students. [http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/teach.pdf A study done in June 2004 by Mathematica Policy Research] investigated this question and found that students of TFA teachers score higher on average in math than those in a control group. There was no such statistically significant difference found in reading, however.

Major employers include [[General Motors of Canada]], [[Ontario Power Generation]], [[Lakeridge Health System]], [[Durham College]], [[University of Ontario Institute of Technology]] and many smaller component and transportation firms supplying the automotive industry.

==External links==

*[http://www.teachforamerica.com/ Teach for America]

The Canadian headquarters of [[General Motors]], [[Volkswagen]], and [[BMW]] are all located in the region. The automotive industry is especially concentrated in Oshawa.

*[http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/teach.pdf A study done in June 2004 by Mathematica Policy Research]

The four separate [[public transit]] systems in the region, operated by various municipalities, are set to be amalgamated under the Region's administration at the beginning of [[2006]].

Durham also has one [[Indian reserve]], [[Mississaugas of Scugog Island, Ontario|Mississaugas of Scugog Island]]

== External linksLink ==

*[http://www.region.durham.on.ca Region of Durham] The Region of Durham.

*[http://www.durhamtourism.ca DurhamTourism.ca] Tourism guide to the region.

*[http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycledurhamregion/ Freecycle Durham Region] Home page of the Durham Region chapter of the worldwide [http://www.freecycle.org Freecycle Network]

{{Ontario}}

[[Category:Census divisions of Ontario]]

[[pt:Municipalidade Regional de Durham]]