Nonprofit Spotlight: Teach Plus


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In June, PennyLoafer donors collectively gave to Teach Plus!

The Rundown

  • Years founded: 2009

  • Leadership: Kira Orange Jones, a former 4th grade teacher and former Executive Director of Teach for America-New Orleans, made the 2015 Time Magazine 100 most influential people in the world for being "one of the critical engines of innovation" in the successful reinvention of schools in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

  • Issue they address: advancing equity and improving student outcomes.

  • What they do: develop teachers to be leaders and create a more equitable education system through policy and practice changes.

  • How they do it:

    • Recruit excellent teachers, then coach and develop them to shape education policy in their districts and states + professional development opportunities in their schools, through 2 programs:

    • Teach Plus Policy Fellowship: a highly selective, rigorous program for teachers to deepen their knowledge and expand their influence in shaping education policy on a district and state level.

    • Teach Plus Instructional Leadership Program: helps teachers analyze data and make evidence-based decisions on learning and teaching practices, as well as shape professional development opportunities for their peers.

Why they were chosen

Teach Plus is helping teachers get a seat at the table to enact real changes in schools on a district, state and even national level. They empower teachers (those on the frontline of our education system) to create equitable change – informing policy and providing solutions to challenges they see daily in the classroom. These teacher-led solutions fill an important gap in the education reform landscape, centering equity and diversity and helping to improve student outcomes.

  • They’ve trained over 700 teacher leaders in their programs (across 12 states) and have 15K active participants in the Teach Plus network.
  • And they’re effective in enacting change! In 2021, Teach Plus teachers had 23 policy wins, including securing $100M for the most underfunded schools in PA. See more of their state and federal policy wins.

PennyLoafer LearningLearning

💛 “Teaching is the profession upon which all other professions depend” – Linda Darling-Hammond

🍎 Teachers are so important! Often the first role models for students outside the home, high-quality teaching is one of the biggest factors impacting student learning. Studies have found that the difference between a good and bad teacher can equate to an entire year of learning for a child. And beyond academic achievement, a great teacher can impact the well-being of students throughout their lives.

👨‍🏫 But slowly coming out of the covid-19 pandemic, teachers have had a rough couple of years. According to a National Education Association Survey, a staggering 55% of teachers are considering leaving the profession earlier than they thought they would.

🙏🏽 Luckily, a mass exodus of teachers hasn’t happened yet. But this stress and burnout (while certainly compounded by the pandemic) isn’t new – teachers have historically been underpaid, undervalued and under-resourced.

✨ That’s why developing, supporting and retaining teachers is of top importance for our education system. Organizations like Teach Plus make sure its the teachers – those on the frontlines, in the classroom, working day in and day out for our children – that are informing policies and improving the education system both to retain and develop their colleagues as well as improve student learning.

If you enjoyed this and want to get involved, you can support the Quality Education cause on PennyLoafer, starting with as little as $5/month. Each month, you’ll support and learn about a different nonprofit working to improve the education system.