Teach For America Inc. announced that Rebecca Fishman Lipsey has been named executive director. She will oversee the continued growth and expansion in the Miami-Dade region, working with a corps of nearly 100 teachers. Previously, she was the organization's managing director of program in New York City.

Educational Testing Service Inc. and Teach For America Inc. have entered a joint venture to market ETS's ProofWriter(TM) online evaluation tool. Candidates applying to the Teach For America corps can access the ProofWriter tool to receive an online evaluation of their application essay for a nominal fee. Teach For America corps members commit to teach for at least two years in under-resourced public schools and become lifelong advocates of educational equity. Through the terms of the agreement, Teach For America applicants can use the ProofWriter tool to check their application essay twice for grammar, style, usage, and mechanics. Once the agreement was signed, the ProofWriter tool became available in less than a week on the Teach For America Web site.

Teach For America Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. launched a program to support the efforts of new teachers working in the city's low-income communities. Lilly employees will pair with Teach For America teachers to help them get acclimated to the city and to foster networking opportunities. The Lilly employee advocates and Teach For America teachers will meet for the first time at a matching event tonight at Lilly corporate headquarters. Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Teach For America expanded to Indianapolis this fall, bringing 46 dedicated young teachers to work in Indianapolis Public Schools. Each of these corps members was matched with a Lilly employee based on personal profiles submitted online. The Lilly advocacy efforts will supplement the ongoing professional development and support that corps members receive from Teach For America. Teach For America's impact extends to the long-term engagement of its alumni in education and public service. Some two-thirds of Teach For America alumni are still working or studying full-time in education, including 4,000 classroom teachers and more than 360 school leaders. In addition, 15 Teach For Alumni serve as elected officials and more than 500 work on Capitol Hill or in government or policy.