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Half of new teachers leave urban classrooms within three years, just as they are beginning to have the strongest impact on student learning. Teach Plus is giving effective teachers a reason to stay.

Teach Plus is a national non-profit whose mission is to improve outcomes for urban children by ensuring that a greater proportion of students have access to effective, experienced teachers. Teach Plus runs three programs designed to place teacher leaders at the center of reform: Teaching Policy Fellows, the T+ Network, and T3: Turnaround Teacher Teams. The programs focus on demonstrably effective teachers who want to continue classroom teaching while also expanding their impact as leaders in their schools and in national, state, and district policy.

Teach Plus began with 16 founding teachers from urban district and charter schools in Greater Boston. Since its inception as a non-profit in August 2009, Teach Plus has grown to a network of more than 7,000 solutions-oriented teachers in Boston, Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis and Washington, D.C.

Blog Entries by Teach Plus

Why Asking for Help Is a Necessary Lesson

(0) Comments | Posted May 30, 2012 | 1:51 PM

By Vibha Sanghvi

Antoine is a soft-spoken second grader with a wide smile, who hugs me every morning. He is quick to unpack his backpack, take out his homework, and complete his morning job. Some mornings when a student is absent, he'll even do an extra job. Antoine completes these...

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Closing the Curriculum Gap Is a Social Justice Issue

(3) Comments | Posted May 21, 2012 | 3:56 PM

By Michelle Morrissey

This month in my twelfth grade Civics class, my students and I studied the intersection of race, poverty, and social policy. We read books by two sociologists who study public housing and analyzed them in daily seminars. We studied various theorists of poverty from Daniel Patrick Moynihan...

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Teachers' Lounge: The RIFed Warrior

(35) Comments | Posted May 11, 2012 | 5:22 PM

In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, Teach Plus interviewed six of the many inspiring teachers we know. Meet them right here in the Teach Plus Teachers' Lounge throughout the week.

In the Lounge today, meet Abby Taylor, a kindergarten teacher at IPS 106, the Robert Lee Frost School...

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Teachers' Lounge: The Mustachioed Advocate

(0) Comments | Posted May 11, 2012 | 9:57 AM

In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, Teach Plus interviewed six of the many inspiring teachers we know. Meet them right here in the Teach Plus Teachers' Lounge throughout the week.

In the Lounge today, meet Tyler Malotte, who attended Los Angeles public schools and now teaches in one....

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Teachers' Lounge: The Boxer

(0) Comments | Posted May 10, 2012 | 9:28 AM

In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, Teach Plus interviewed six of the many inspiring teachers we know. Meet them right here in the Teach Plus Teachers' Lounge throughout the week.

In the Lounge today, meet Mary Balla, who teaches Spanish at Anacostia Senior High School in Washington, DC....

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Teachers' Lounge: The Bluff City Philosopher

(0) Comments | Posted May 9, 2012 | 10:08 AM

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Teach Plus interviewed six of the many inspiring teachers we know. Meet them right here in the Teach Plus Teachers' Lounge throughout the week.

In the Lounge today, meet Jesse Jeff, a second-grade teacher at Delano Optional School in Memphis, Tennessee. He...

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Teachers' Lounge: The Believer

(0) Comments | Posted May 8, 2012 | 12:05 PM

In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, Teach Plus interviewed six of the many inspiring teachers we know. Meet them right here in the Teach Plus Teachers' Lounge throughout the week.

In the Lounge today, meet Jillian Carew, an algebra teacher and ninth grade level head at Johnson College...

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Teachers' Lounge: The Online Pioneer

(0) Comments | Posted May 7, 2012 | 2:10 PM

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Teach Plus interviewed six of the many inspiring teachers we know. Meet them right here in the Teach Plus Teachers' Lounge throughout the week.

In the Lounge today, meet Darren Burris, a middle school instructional coach and high school math teacher at...

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At Carnegie Hall, Setting the Stage for Bright Futures

(1) Comments | Posted May 1, 2012 | 2:47 PM

By Spencer Lloyd

My students' faces lit up as we rounded the corner into Times Square. The ManualAires, an auditioned choir from Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, had come to New York City to sing at Carnegie Hall. If the reality had not yet sunk in for these Midwestern...

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5 Teacher Evaluation Must-Haves

(29) Comments | Posted April 24, 2012 | 11:01 AM

By Lillie Marshall

Like other states across the country, mine (Massachusetts) is in the midst of piloting a new teacher evaluation system. I'm a teacher, so this matters deeply to me. But it also matters to anyone with any stake in education, as the impact of how we measure teacher...

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For Teachers, More Time for Teamwork

(0) Comments | Posted April 3, 2012 | 5:45 PM

By Cara Bucciarelli

I am a teacher, and I cannot imagine my profession without collaboration.

In my first two years as a world language teacher in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), I looked everywhere for opportunities to collaborate with other teachers.

I read -- and continue to read...

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In Education, Who's Leading Who?

(2) Comments | Posted March 27, 2012 | 6:05 PM

By Marcello Sgambelluri

Earlier this month, I attended the International Summit on the Teaching Profession, where the issue of educational leadership was front and center. This setting seemed a long way from my first grade classroom, but I found many points that resonated within the walls of my...

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Into the Wild: How I Found My Way Out of a Student Data Desert

(0) Comments | Posted March 26, 2012 | 5:36 PM

By Meredith Smith

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When I first started teaching, I was swimming in data about my students' academic progress. I taught language arts and algebra to students with special needs, and their IEPs were treasure troves of old score reports, test results and teacher observations....

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For Education Leadership, Look to Classrooms

(16) Comments | Posted March 22, 2012 | 11:55 AM

By Sujata Bhatt

For three days last week, I ditched my fifth grade, high-poverty, English Language Learner, Los Angeles Unified School District classroom of 23 boys and 11 girls. No, I didn't run out of the classroom screaming because I couldn't take it anymore; I love my school and my...

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Time to Boost Teacher Morale

(2) Comments | Posted March 21, 2012 | 2:28 PM

By Celine Coggins

Last week, I joined four Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellows at the International Summit on the Teaching Profession. These teachers came to the table with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the national heads of the AFT and NEA, and education leaders from around the world...

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5 Things I Learned About Education From Taking 42 High Schoolers to China

(9) Comments | Posted March 14, 2012 | 11:08 AM

By Lillie Marshall

"Seven years ago I was living in my little house in Haiti. Had anyone told me then that in 2012, I would be climbing the Great Wall of China with a diverse group of Boston students, I would have simply called them a liar!" -

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So You're a Great Teacher. Now What?

(2) Comments | Posted March 13, 2012 | 12:26 PM

By Brian Denitzio

It is a truism in education that we're all terrible teachers in our first year in the classroom. But you learn from your mistakes and gradually get better at what is an incredibly demanding and rewarding job. As the years go by, you become a master of...

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There Are No Miracles, but There Are Teachers: An Educator's View on the Common Core

(18) Comments | Posted March 7, 2012 | 1:16 PM

By Darren Burris

Ask ten fifth-grade teachers how they teach fractions, and you'll probably get ten different answers. That's the beauty of teaching: part art, part science, all creativity.

Will the Common Core State Standards change that? Will we suddenly have a nation of automatons at the front of our...

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Teacher Voices Must Be Heard

(7) Comments | Posted February 29, 2012 | 4:00 PM

By Dwight Davis

On February 15, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan held a town hall meeting with teachers to launch Project RESPECT: Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching. I was one of the lucky teachers in the room representing the concerns of my colleagues, students,...

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Black History Is American History, All Year Round

(9) Comments | Posted February 28, 2012 | 11:46 AM

By Daniel Jocz

It's that time of year again. Schools across the United States have dusted off their posters of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks in celebration of Black History Month, and soon they'll be coming down. This year, even Heineken jumped on the bandwagon. They released an...

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