Does Teach for America Build Civic Engagement?

No, according to a New York Times report on a new study by Doug McAdam and Cynthia Brandt.

In areas like voting, charitable giving and civic engagement, graduates of the program lag behind those who were accepted but declined and those who dropped out before completing their two years…

The comparison of graduates to those who declined or dropped out is an interesting way to mitigate the obvious concern: people who join Teach for America are more engaged in their communities than those who do not.

Further analysis here

and here.