Teach for America is a national teacher corps of outstanding individuals who commit 2 years to teach in urban and rural areas experiencing persistent teacher shortages. Teach for America selects corps members through an intensive application process, prepares them to enter the classroom in a preservice institute, clusters them in placement sites, and establishes local offices in these areas to arrange for ongoing support and professional development. This handbook discusses all phases of the program in eight chapters: (1) Background and Goals; (2) What It Means To Be a Corps Member; (3) Program and Ongoing Responsibilities (includes recruitment and selection, acceptance, National Teachers Exam, preservice institute, induction, placement, support, ongoing professional development, and a description of the second summer); (4) Summary of Corps Member Requirements; (5) General Policies of Nondiscrimination, a code of conduct, placement and location, deferral, legal authorization to work, minimum undergraduate grade point average, falsification, misrepresentation, and criminal records and proceedings; (6) How to Make it to the First Paycheck (before graduation, during the institute, and the transition to placement); (7) Student Loan Deferment and Cancellation; and (8) Insurance. (LL)