TeachUNITED

TeachUNITED envisions a world where every teacher is empowered, effective, and has the strategies to ensure every child can reach her full potential. Founded in 2016, TeachUNITED has worked directly with 432 schools and districts, impacting 2,800+ teachers and 108,000+ students in Latin America, East Africa, and the United States. We focus on rural areas which are traditionally left behind. 

TeachUNITED has strong momentum and impact: we have grown 10x in the past year alone due to our ability to help teachers respond through COVID. Despite pandemic school closures, students from partner schools in Tanzania saw a 21% increase in math and 18% increase in literacy compared to control schools. 

The Elevate Prize offers the exact elements of support that TeachUNITED needs right now at a pivotal point in our growth. TeachUNITED has the team, experience, partners, data and systems, passion, and drive to improve the lives of millions. The Elevate Prize would amplify our momentum to empower even more teachers as catalysts for positive change in their schools and communities. It will help us not just reach - but exceed our goals - truly move the needle on educational quality and poverty in rural communities around the world.

From an early age, I knew I wanted to teach. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, I entered my first year of teaching, ready to change the world. 

Reality hit early and hard: limited resources; kids with varying socio-emotional and learning challenges; frequent testing without purpose; constantly shifting public policy. What I did not have was supportive leadership and it was crushing. I discovered my calling: be the kind of leader I wish I had. 

When asked by my district to open a “school of innovation,” I hired innovative teachers and our kids excelled: students at risk of dropping out re-engaged and made double-digit gains.  

Then I saw the UNESCO stat: 250 million kids cannot read, write, or do basic math perpetuating poverty and inequality. With extensive research showing teacher quality to be the biggest school-related factor for a child’s success, I thought, “What if those kids had these incredible teachers?  Could we change millions of lives?”

After seven years as founding principal, I co-founded TeachUNITED. Our purpose: ensure all educators have the skills to develop each student’s full potential. Our goal: scale our proven model globally to improve educational quality for 1,000,000 students by 2030.

TeachUNITED is addressing the global learning crisis in rural communities, where primary and secondary completion and college attendance rates are consistently lower than other regions (World Inequality Database).  

A root cause of this crisis is limited to no access to teacher professional learning, leading to underperforming schools and demoralized teachers who lack skills necessary to deliver a quality education (World Bank). With 70% of the world’s poor living in rural communities, this is an urgent challenge needing a targeted solution (UNESCO). 

Partnering with schools and districts, TeachUNITED empowers educators with high-impact strategies to develop each student’s full potential.  Our evidence-based program helps teachers tangibly shift their practice with proven impact:  

• United States: 115% of expected growth on standardized assessments;

• Costa Rica: 12% increase in school pass rates;

• Tanzania: 74% increase in secondary school promotion rates. 

Based on extensive research, our methodology combines proven strategies to improving teacher effectiveness: job-embedded coaching, supportive peer learning communities, and actionable learning content. Our “train-the-trainer” model, where newly-trained teachers mentor others, ensures sustained growth.

By investing in previously isolated, under-resourced teachers, TeachUNITED unlocks the potential of underserved communities by ensuring youth have the skills to secure their future and build thriving economies.

TeachUNITED elevates educators and inspires them to act as engines for improvement in their communities. We invest in teachers on a global scale to drive local action and increase opportunity for every child. Our solution is a powerful platform to mobilize teachers as a solution to a complex, urgent global challenge. Our approach is innovative and unique: 

1. Evidence-Based: High-impact, research-based strategies ensure teacher time is invested in strategies that have the greatest impact on kids.

2. Accessible: For any school, anywhere, especially those traditionally left behind. Any teacher can access coaching that improves outcomes, even remote, off-grid schools. 

3. Sustainable: By building internal capacity, we ensure schools are not reliant on TeachUNITED, creating sustainable impact for teachers and the thousands of students they reach throughout their careers.

4. Data-Driven: We rigorously measure our program and use the data to inform our practice to ensure student outcomes remain our top priority.

5. Proven: Across multiple regions, our program has demonstrated meaningful impact for teachers and students. 

6. Scalable:  We improve educational quality for under $30/child per year. Since 2016, we have grown our reach more than 60x. We aim to impact one million children by 2030.

TeachUNITED elevates educators as catalysts for societal change. By investing in teachers, TeachUNITED is tapping into one of the most effective levers for elevating youth and addressing poverty: 

• Effective teachers have a significant impact on the long-term well-being of children and affect academic achievement, persistence in school, and income (World Bank, 2019). 

• The more effective the teacher, the higher impact she has on lifetime earnings. (Economic Value of Teacher Quality)

By empowering teachers with high-impact and proven strategies, we ensure rural youth build foundational skills, complete more years of schooling, and have opportunities outside of subsistence work to break cycles of poverty that currently plague rural communities worldwide

We have demonstrated our ability to replicate, growing our reach more than 60x since 2016. We have tested the efficacy of our model by operating in high, middle, and low income countries, and in off-grid schools. We ensure our impact is integrated into education systems through formal government partnerships. With a 10-year scaling plan in place including data-driven benchmarks, alongside a 3-year strategic plan including concrete activities focused on quality and financial controls, M&E, and sustainability, we are on track to impact more than one million children by 2030.

This year, TeachUNITED is training 2,356 teachers at 285 schools, impacting 80,368 students.  In one year, our plan will expand our program to reach an additional 100,000 students, impacting a quarter-million children since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students are the direct beneficiaries of our work. We invest in their teachers because teachers are the most effective and sustainable in-school factors for improving student learning and life outcomes. Research shows the more effective the teacher, the higher impact she has on lifetime earnings (Economic Value of Teacher Quality).

To ensure student outcomes remain the top priority, TeachUNITED implements:

1. a data-driven, research-based program design and,

2. rigorous data collection and monitoring which include: 

   1. defining student growth and achievement goals, 

   2. tracking and measuring growth and achievement metrics in multiple forms to ensure improvement, and 

   3. collecting data from control schools with similar demographics to ensure the validity of outcomes. 

Our team has a relentless pursuit to learn and grow. Impact drives everything we do. Because our approach is designed to ensure student outcomes are front and center in program delivery, our model has shown consistent and positive impact for students across three unique regions and in widely varied contexts.

Aligned with SDG4, TeachUNITED aims to improve education quality for 1MM students by 2030 by building the capacity of their teachers. Our work aligns with Targets 4.1.1, increasing youth proficiency in reading and mathematics, and 4.c.1, increasing the supply of qualified teachers.

Rigorous M&E processes alongside a detailed 10-year strategy including financial benchmarks and quality control processes ensure we reach our targets.

SCALE 

TeachUNITED will scale through Direct Services (TU directly supports schools) and Replication (TU partners with, trains and certifies partner NGOs to implement the program). To track progress, we collect:

• Number of new schools/districts 

• Number of new teachers trained (lead teachers)

• Total teachers/school trained by lead teachers

• Total students/school who benefit from whole school improvement

IMPACT

To track progress toward 4.1.1, we: 

• Administer baseline->endline research-based assessments (literacy and math, primary and secondary)

• Track attendance and engagement - students involved in their learning are more likely to see sustained academic growth

• Compare outcomes against control schools

To track progress toward 4.c.1, we: 

• Ensure pedagogical skills taught are based on extensive research

• Administer baseline->endline surveys to measure behavior changes 

• Measure shifts in instructional practice

We have consistently exceeded growth targets while seeing meaningful improvement in teacher and student outcomes.

Current challenges and mitigation strategies include: 

Ensuring high-quality implementation while rapidly scaling - especially working with replication partners and an increased focus on digital program delivery.

• Formalize decision-making matrix to evaluate replication partner opportunities.

• Conduct regional pilots with replication partners, apply M&E processes to demonstrate impact, efficacy, and apply learnings to strategic plans. 

• Conduct regular internal assessments and financial audits to identify and mitigate operational risks during expansion for quality assurance.

• Standardize M&E platforms, data collection, and coach training processes. 

Continuing to meet financial targets despite COVID-19. 

• Continue diversifying income through increased focus on direct sales. 

• Decrease cost/beneficiary through replication model and digital solutions.

Current resources: 

• Proven, replicable model

• Track record of delivering our intervention

• Highly-skilled global team

• Engaged, skilled Board 

• Supportive small->mid sized funding partners 

• Sustainable earned income

How Elevate can help: 

1. Brand recognition, credibility, and marketing expertise to:

   1. Support the success of our replication model (attract high-quality NGO partners)

   2. Attract larger, multi-year funders giving in ranges of $100K/year and more. 

2. Expertise, guidance, and mentorship as our intensive three-year engagement with Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation comes to completion to:

   1. Provide strategic guidance surrounding staffing, training, legal, operations, and systems to reach scale and impact targets.

TeachUNITED is at an inflection point. In the five years since inception, we have grown 10X through partnerships with donors that support early-stage organizations in R&D and Replication phases (Mulago Foundation, Design for Scalable Solutions). Our intervention has progressed through its early stages and we are now working to bring our solution to its full potential. To get there, we will benefit from both skilled advisors and thought leaders, as well as large donors with the confidence to invest in this next phase of growth.  

The brand recognition that comes with a Prize of such high caliber, and the snowball effect of attention and support that can follow, will help establish TU’s credibility as a leader in the education and development space. This will enhance our ability to attract larger donors, thought leaders, and replication partners, reach and exceed financial goals, and help us build broad awareness of the challenges faced by rural school systems and communities. Such recognition could elevate our brand into a more established player, accelerating us on our trajectory toward game-changing impact for the world’s rural youth.

TeachUNITED works to build diverse, equitable, and inclusive leadership teams using the Center for Creative Leadership’s REAL framework for tangible results, including:

1. Reveal Relevant Opportunities: We engage in collaborative discovery processes to understand the context of DE&I for individuals, departments, and organization-wide and seek change based on candid staff discussions. Our senior leadership team discusses DE&I challenges and opportunities bi-weekly, sets goals around transparent, equitable hiring practices and implements a comprehensive internal communications plan to engage all staff.

2. Elevate Equity: We prioritize the creation of fair opportunities so each team member can attain their full potential. Our senior leadership team works to understand societal and organizational inequities and find inclusive ways to take action. We promote in-country staff to provide equitable opportunities within the communities we serve. 

3. Cultivate Diversity: We seek to recognize diversity and build positive engagement surrounding our differences across the team to cultivate greater appreciation. 

4. Lead Inclusively: Creating a sense of belonging and full participation is an active process for our leadership team and is woven into daily work and processes to build empathetic relationships within teams, celebrate differences, and foster allyship. 

Specific DE&I goals can be provided upon request. 

Being in education for 20 years, I understand firsthand the challenges faced by teachers. The realities of teaching with limited resources, large classrooms, and dozens of kids with socio-emotional and learning challenges can be crushing and demotivating - especially without support from leaders or peers.  

As the former founding Principal of a school designed to support kids at risk of dropping out, which became one of the top 5% of schools in the state based on student growth, I understand firsthand the power and potential of investing in teachers. 

From these experiences, three core tenets emerged that guide all we do at TU:  

• Teachers are the best way to improve student outcomes

• Great teaching practice is a learned skill

• Teachers need supportive coaching, evidence-based instructional strategies, and a community of peers

My leadership team has deep educational experience; many were former teachers from the communities we serve. We also hire 100% of staff from the communities where we work. (Coaches are program alumni who were inspired by their own classroom impact). Lastly, we continually solicit feedback from participants and school leaders to ensure our program design, model, and implementation are all guided by teacher input.

Many great non-profit organizations faced huge obstacles when COVID-19 hit.  Because TeachUNITED is both a non-profit and trains teachers in public schools (which suddenly closed), I found myself creating financial contingency plans, while also seeing a massive opportunity to support teachers when they needed it most. Rather than making the business decision to cut our programs or staff, our leadership team doubled down on generating revenue so we could provide more support for school partners. I have been in public education for 20 years. We could not close.

From the US to Latin America to East Africa, TeachUNITED coaches created free open resources, recorded videos with tips to pivot to hybrid learning, and led free virtual workshops. Our goal was clear: ensure the equity gap didn’t grow larger for our small and rural school partners. 

Instead of pulling back, our mission moved us to grow...exponentially. In 2019, we served schools with 14,000 students. By the end of 2020, we served over 100,000 students. Our supporters saw our team’s dedication and doubled down on us. Now entering a new school year, we will be serving more schools in more countries than our first four years combined.

INTERNATIONAL SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

1. Digital Learning Annual Conference (DLAC, International) - Keynote Speaker, video clips below

2. Global MindED – Global Inclusive Leader Award finalist and Panelist

3. International Council of K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) – Panelist & Presenter

4. EdWeek Webinar - Featured Presenter

REGIONAL SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

1. Colorado Online Learning Symposium – Presenter and Trainer

2. Colorado Regional Symposium on Blended Learning - Keynote, Presenter

3. California Regional Symposium on Blended Learning - Presenter and Trainer

4. Crestone Capital, Finding Meaning in Money Annual Meeting- Presenter

VIDEOS

1. History of Digital Learning DLAC - (VIDEO seconds 20-40 is an interview plus video clips of my keynote) 

2. TeachUNITED - VIDEO

3. PSD Global Academy - VIDEO

4. Open Resources for COVID - COACHING SHORT 1 and COACHING SHORT 2 (two examples of free resources that were referenced above, created for teachers and school leaders during COVID school closures)

If selected as a Prize winner, funding will enable us to scale faster, immediately increase resources for our Direct Services and Replication models, and move more rapidly toward exponential growth, including: 

• Direct Services: Scale from individual schools -to--> regional partnerships -to--> national implementation. We have transitioned from proof-of-concept to proof-of-scale, meaning the program has grown from school-by-school to state-wide implementation, across all regions. With additional funding, we would hire a global Partnerships Team, Coaches, and M&E to fulfill requests to provide services at a national level. Partnering with Ministries of Education to re-think teaching and learning for an entire system will move us from incremental success to real sea change for public education. 

• Replication: Accelerate development of systems and tools for digital program delivery and measurement. Funding would enable us to hire product and implementation staff to formalize digital programming and pilot efficient systems for off-the-grid delivery so we can extend our reach, tap into bigger distribution channels, lower costs, and reach further into the most remote corners of the globe by ensuring our digital program can be delivered in areas with no connectivity (a “last mile” solution for any school).

TeachUNITED staff implement all programming. However, our work and scaling plans are only possible through strong partnerships. We collaborate with teachers, schools, universities, other NGOs, and government entities to deliver our replicable and sustainable model. 

DIRECT SERVICES

• TeachUNITED formally partners with local, regional, and national Ministries of Education, which inform school selection and contribute financially to cover program costs.

• University and government partners provide continuing education/professional credit for teachers who participate in the program, leading to promotions and/or salary increases for teachers. 

• Partner schools sign MOUs agreeing to commit teacher time to participate and share student and teacher data. 

REPLICATION MODEL

• TeachUNITED enters into formal partnerships with NGOs, and TU Coaches train and certify NGO staff who then implement the program within their larger network of schools.  Leveraging networks of locally established partner NGOs decreases barriers to entering new markets. 

• Partner NGOs pay for all or a portion of program costs (any outstanding costs are covered by grant or donor funding) and sign MOUs committing to share student and teacher data.