Exploring How Teach for All's Networks Connect Local Educational Organizations

This case study focuses on Teach for All program alumni from Enseña Perú (EP), the Peru chapter of the global Teach for All network. EP maintains close ties with program alumni, including collecting annual survey data about their ongoing professional experiences. Using data from EP's annual alumni survey, the authors evaluated alumni professional interactions with each other and the extent to which these collaborations span organizations, sectors, and geographic regions in Peru.

The authors provide data validating Teach for All's assumption that many of the individual alumni within the EP network collaborate extensively and form connections between the varied organizations and regions where they work. The documented pattern of contacts strongly suggests that these connections grow from alumni experiences in their EP program cohort. The authors also identify the types of organizations that are most central to the resulting professional network, including schools, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and private businesses. Overall, EP's example provides evidence that an intensive shared program experience can influence individual and cross-organizational networks in education over an extended period. Their data do not, however, allow the authors to examine the extent of knowledge-sharing or the specific nature of the professional collaboration that is occurring among the alumni. There are also substantial portions of the EP professional network that are not fully reflected in these data.