Teacher Accelerator

Teacher Accelerator connects award-winning math and science teachers to students and new educators using low-cost, mixed-reality technology.

Many communities in the U.S. face chronic teacher shortages in high-need subjects like math and science. According to the U.S. Department of Education, only 50% of high schools nationwide can offer calculus, and only 63% can offer physics; more broadly, there is a shortage of math teachers in 47 states and science teachers in 43 states (Cross, 2017). The teacher attrition rate nationwide is currently 8%, and in Title 1 schools, which serve high-poverty communities, the turnover rate for math and science teachers is 70% higher than in non-Title-1 schools. On the other end of the pipeline, enrollment in teacher preparation programs has dropped by 35% over the last decade, representing  a decrease of 240,000 teachers entering the profession (Sutcher, et al., 2016). Cumulatively, these factors lead to projections of a nationwide shortage of 112,000 teachers in the 2018-2019 academic year, mostly in STEM areas.

Teacher Accelerator aims to address these structural shortages using a technology-enhanced, dynamic team-teaching model that adds coaching and instructional capacity to schools and districts. Our solution leverages the great teachers we already have to teach more students through a robust, mixed reality solution. Award-winning, highly effective "rockstar" teachers virtually deliver content in real time and in collaboration with new teachers or paraprofessionals that are in different classrooms with students. The “dynamic teaming” approach divides the critical elements of teaching (content delivery, assessment, classroom management and relationship building) between the rockstar and new teacher so that student needs can be better met from day one. Research suggests this type of job-embedded support leads to better teacher retention and to better student achievement (Kraft & Blazar, 2017). The use of mixed-reality technology ensures that this is not yesterday’s remote instruction-- Teacher Accelerator will package existing video conferencing platforms, learning management systems, virtual conferencing robots, holographs, virtual reality and augmented reality programs to ensure classrooms that are highly interactive, customizable, and true to the elements that make our rockstar teachers rockstars. Ultimately, the goal of bringing these human and technology elements together is to support student learning, growth and success regardless of zip code while simultaneously building and developing our next generation of great teachers.

Teacher Accelerator has two main customers: 1) School districts unable to fill openings with quality teachers; and 2) School districts with new or struggling teachers needing induction or professional development. The value proposition to districts is having a cost-effective way to access new talent that can fill curriculum gaps, support teacher development and retention, and enhance student achievement. The value proposition for our pool of rockstar teachers (all members of the professional network of national and state Teachers of the Year) is access to talent seekers, leadership opportunities, and increased income for doing what they love to do: teach.  As a venture, we will focus on districts and teachers, but ultimately, our vision is a more prosperous and secure nation where every child has access to a great teacher, and where educational opportunity is no longer limited by demography or geography.

Most education reforms view school systems in terms of human capacity or an absence of material resources like technology-- the problem is either bad teachers or a lack of iPads. Research indicates that great teaching improves student outcomes more than anything else, and that technology-enhanced learning can improve student engagement. Our innovation updates the apprenticeship model by using mixed reality technology to connect expert teachers to new teachers. We focus on strengthening human capacity and view technology as an enabling resource. We aim to leverage emergent and existing technologies in a new process to meet the teacher shortage in education. 

Unlike distance learning of the past, where students passively sit watching taped lessons or click through a mass-produced computer-based curriculum, our model offers a dynamic, personalized learning experience in which teachers can respond to student questions in real-time and students can interact with each other across geographies. Mixed reality technology will facilitate the relationship between rockstar teacher, novice teacher, and student across the country.  Each rockstar teacher will leverage this infrastructure to deliver content in various formats and to create opportunities for more in-depth collaboration in both virtual and real-world physical spaces. New technology makes this an entirely different experience. 

We are fundraising for a minimum viable product (MVP) test of one rockstar teacher working with two classrooms of students (one rural and one urban) in Tennessee and Texas. During the MVP test, we will test the model by collecting pre- and post-survey data focused on the student experience, content assessment, and the experience of the teachers and school leaders. MVP testing will guide technology adjustments and plans to scale to more classrooms with additional rockstar teachers. We will finalize our business model and then aim to partner with districts for a longer-term, larger-scale pilot with multiple schools and districts.

As the model develops and is implemented, we will consider partnering with larger teacher development organizations as a subcontractor to expand coaching and mentoring opportunities. Ultimately, the model holds promise as a solution for global education because it exploits the context expertise of localized staff and schools, links them to the content expertise of a professional peer, and enables student exploration across multiple classrooms. Education stakeholders in Brazil, for example, have already expressed interest in our model as a possibility for meeting the challenges facing its rural and urban schools across vast distances and variegated teacher supply.

Our team has direct experience within school districts in both rural and urban areas; we are also connected to many school districts across the country through our professional networks; this is how we will reach our primary customers. Our team has strong connections (and is part of) the National Teachers of the Year and State Teachers of the Year professional associations; this is how we will reach rockstar teachers, who are our secondary customers. We will reach students in the classroom; these are important users and beneficiaries, but not paying customers. 

Because we are in the early stages of pressure-testing a minimum viable product, we aim to initially serve ~ 50 students and teachers. Rural context: Shamrock, TX; population 85.26% White, 13.41% Latino, 4.83% African American, 1.38% Native American, 0.99% Asian. A quarter of the population is under 18. Another quarter ranges in age from 25-44. Median income is $25,776. Per-pupil spending is $13,200. Urban context: Chattanooga, TN; 58% White, 35% African American, 5.5% Latino, 0.4% Native American, 2.0% Asian. 20.7% of the population is under 18. Median age is 37. Median income is $24, 134. Per-pupil spending is $9,300.

In 12 months, we would like to be gathering data from our pilot study consisting of 5-10 participating districts, benefiting several hundred rural and urban students and 20 teachers. In 3 years, we would like to have expanded to fully serve 50-100 districts, benefitting 10-20,000 rural and urban students and 500-1000 teachers. More importantly, we hope to have proven the model sufficiently to begin to partner to scale over the next 5-10 years. 

Our team brings:
28  years of teaching experience in K-12 settings
3 years of leadership at the district office level
8 years of experience leading virtual learning communities
25 years of experience designing and leading professional learning opportunities for teachers
19 years building networks of highly skilled teachers and trainers
10 years of experience translating high-cost technology solutions to limited-resource settings

And we have 1 National Teacher of the Year. 

Teacher Accelerator will charge districts a per pupil fee + service fee for providing technical support and access to new talent; Rockstar Teachers will be paid a portion of the per pupil fee by Teacher Accelerator and provide the district instruction and mentorship services; federal and state governments provide the districts with funding that supports the cost of using Teacher Accelerator services. These funds are a consistent part of education budgets and because we believe we can provide higher quality, evidence-based professional development than traditional PD, we believe we have a sustainable revenue model. 

We are seeking technology partners that will help us to assemble and/or develop the most appropriate suite of technologies to operationalize the dynamic teaming approach that is at the heart of our model. The diverse range of technical partners that Solve can introduce us to, combined with the access to seed capital, would catapult Teacher Accelerator forward towards being able to complete a series of MVP assumption tests and then a full-scale pilot. We intend to iterate our model several more times before any large-scale investments, and we believe that we will find willing collaborators within the Solve network. 

Many of the technologies that we would like to use are currently prohibitive in cost for most school districts. The cost of our core technology package may be a potential barrier that we will be working diligently to mitigate. Additionally, there may be legal obstacles (e.g. licensure, union contracts) state-by-state that we will need to explore and negotiate. Lastly, while the Ed Tech space is awash with funds, we are not; we will need to secure early-stage financing in order to advance through our testing and piloting phases.