TEACH partners with states and metropolitan areas to develop sustainable teacher talent pipelines. Its mission is to ensure that K-12 students across the nation have access to high-quality educators.

120,000 prospective teachers have signed up with TEACH for support, and 16,000 of them have enrolled in EPPs.

TEACH’s model leverages economies of scale, using years of research and development valued at millions of dollars to offer cost-effective solutions for states. This allows TEACH regions to achieve faster, more impactful results at a lower cost than if they worked independently. TEACH’s average cost-per-applicant is less than $900—making it one of the most economical methods for attracting talent to the teaching profession.

TEACH for Houston is a region-wide initiative—funded by the Houston Endowment and the Powell Foundation—with a mission to recruit the next generation of teachers in the Houston area. A collaboration among K-12 schools, colleges, government entities, community organizations, and nonprofits, TEACH for Houston aims to streamline the teacher certification process and bolster teacher recruitment.

The initiative operates a digital platform that supports recruitment and certification efforts and partners directly with local education agencies (LEAs), EPPs, and mission-aligned organizations.

Free Participation: All Houston-based teaching programs, public schools, and aligned organizations are encouraged to join this free initiative.

TEACH offers EPPs the opportunity to receive free promotion and support in cultivating applicants. This support includes one-on-one advising for prospective applicants, financial aid resources, scholarships, application fee reimbursements, test prep, featuring EPPs on the TEACH for Houston platform, and hosting virtual events for candidates to learn more about EPPs in Houston. This initiative aims to improve the teacher pipeline's quantity and quality by assisting EPPs in increasing their start-to-submit application rate and the size of their overall applicant pool.

TEACH provides LEA partners with free tools and resources—including surveys, outreach materials, and events—to identify and engage prospective teachers inside and outside of their school community. It also offers capacity-building support to LEA staff, connecting future educators (students, non-certified staff members, alumni, and more!) with current Houston teachers to guide them through the certification process at every step.

TEACH for Houston is committed to ensuring that every child has a quality teacher. In Houston, we partner with community organizations to elevate and promote the education profession, offering clear information to prospective teachers and career changers. The initiative provides partners with a “one-stop shop” of resources to help address the teacher shortage and guide future teachers, from learning more about the importance of teachers to applying to an educator preparation program.

TEACH.org, launched in 2015 with support from Microsoft, is a national platform that allows states to access cutting-edge technology, marketing strategies, and recruitment data. By pooling resources across regions, TEACH provides states with access to its expertise and technology at a fraction of the cost, enabling quicker, high-quality results. Partner states have benefited from higher applicant counts to EPPs, with some seeing as much as a 50% increase to their applicant pool.