Study.com and TEACH partner to bolster the national educator workforce

News provided by

May 02, 2023, 09:00 ET

The edtech company expands the reach of its Keys to the Classroom initiative through a new partnership with TEACH

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Study.com, one of the world's most innovative edtech companies, is partnering with TEACH to help remove barriers for aspiring teachers to enter the profession. Through Study.com's Keys to the Classroom, the company has committed 2,000 test prep licenses to increase the teacher certification passage rate for TEACH subscribers. The program has launched in South Carolina and Connecticut, with the potential of expanding to TEACH's other regions in the coming months.

Through the initiative, Study.com and TEACH designed a program that puts a high quality "test prep bundle" into the hands of aspiring teachers. Prospects who sign up to receive support from TEACH can access a free Study.com license, attend co-hosted Study Sessions to learn how to make the most of their materials, and receive a voucher to cover the cost of the Praxis exam required for licensure.

"TEACH is committed both to growing the teacher pipeline and making sure those teachers reflect the diversity of the students they serve," said Veronica Wilson, VP of Programs at TEACH. "Our partnership with Study.com will advance both those goals much further. We're excited to see how this new program will support even more aspiring teachers to earn their license and find their way to the classroom."

TEACH is a national non-profit that works with states and metropolitan areas to develop sustainable teacher talent pipelines, so that K-12 students have the diverse, high-quality teachers they deserve. As part of that work, TEACH offers people considering teaching an assortment of free tools and services aimed at addressing the barriers they might face as they pursue a teaching career.

Many people who take the teacher certification exams do not have access to or cannot afford quality test prep materials. Lack of access to and affordability of quality prep materials disproportionately impacts candidates of color, so by making quality test prep materials free to candidates of color, TEACH and Study.com are reducing this barrier and taking a step that will help bring more teachers of color into the profession.

"A growing body of research makes clear the academic, emotional, and social benefits students receive from having the opportunity to learn from a teacher of color," said Dana Bryson, SVP of social impact at Study.com. "We share TEACH's commitment to providing support for teacher candidates by removing barriers to entry into the teaching profession, especially among candidates from underrepresented backgrounds."

Keys to the Classroom seeks to strengthen and diversify the educator pipeline through strategic partnerships with school districts, colleges and universities, state departments of education and education nonprofits. It is currently active in 20 states with thousands of teacher candidates enrolled nationwide, including 50 percent who identify as people of color and 60 percent as first-generation college students. Keys to the Classroom was recently honored by Fast Company as one of the world's most innovative corporate social responsibility initiatives.

About Study.com

Study.com enables learners and educators to meet their academic and professional goals through K12 curriculum, college courses, tutoring and test preparation. Used in over 10,000 school districts across the nation, Study.com is recognized by Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for meeting Level IV evidence standards. Headquartered in Mountain View, CA, Study.com is named on the 2022 and 2023 GSV 150, a list of the world's most transformative private companies in education. The company has donated $27 million across social impact programs committed to the mission of Making Education Accessible. These programs include Working Scholars®, an accelerated pathway for working adults to earn a debt-free bachelor's degree, and Keys to the Classroom, which seeks to help aspiring educators prepare for and pass their teacher certification exams.

About TEACH

TEACH is a national non-profit organization founded in 2015 by the U.S. Department of Education that works with states and metropolitan areas to develop sustainable teacher talent pipelines to ensure K-12 students have the diverse, high-quality teachers they deserve. In academic year 2022, it supported more than 4,600 aspiring teachers across six states to apply to an ed prep program and those candidates were more than twice as likely to identify as a person of color compared to the current teacher workforce in their region.

SOURCE Study.com