Op Eds
9 Big Questions Education Leaders Should Ask to Address Covid-19
Pennsylvania
•Jun. 29, 2020Teach Plus Pennsylvania Policy Fellowship
Leveraging the expertise and voices of our state’s outstanding teachers to advance equity for students
The Teach Plus Pennsylvania Policy Fellowship is a highly selective leadership opportunity for outstanding Pennsylvania teachers and early childhood educators to deepen their knowledge of education policy and gain a voice in decisions that affect their students and the teaching profession.
About the Teach Plus Pennsylvania Policy Fellowship
The Teach Plus Pennsylvania Policy Fellowship was launched in 2020 with a cohort of 11 teachers from across the commonwealth. Today, each cohort consists of approximately 40-45 outstanding teachers: 30 policy fellows and 10-15 senior policy fellows. This highly selective leadership opportunity allows teachers to deepen their knowledge of education policy and amplify the voices of teacher leaders in Pennsylvania. Policy fellows, who receive a $1,500 stipend for their commitment, expand their influence without leaving the classroom through guided work, including:
- Two in-person training sessions, monthly virtual meetings, and smaller, issues-focused working groups.
- Training through expert-led modules on topics such as Storytelling for Impact, Policy 101, Advocacy & Organizing, Evidence-Based Policymaking, Testifying and Meeting with Decision Makers, Op-Ed Writing, & Media Relations
- Direct engagement with key stakeholders and policymakers
- Pursuit of a policy research or advocacy project that addresses a pressing state-level policy issue
2024-25 Policy Focus Areas
Early Childhood Education
Expand access and quality of
childcare and Pre-K in Pennsylvania
in addition to increasing the
pipeline of ECE educators.
Equitable Funding
Ensure adequacy and equity in the state’s education funding system, particularly for underserved students.
Reimagining Teacher Preparation
Identify improvements to teacher preparation to better prepare teachers to be effective, use culturally responsive practices, and persist in the profession.
Advancing the Science of Reading
Ensure teachers are trained in the science of reading and that curricula, assessments, and supports are also aligned with the science of reading to support students reading proficiently.
Expanding & Diversifying the Teacher Pipeline
Identify strategies to attract more teachers into the teaching profession, address teacher shortages, and reduce barriers to entry in order to address looming teacher shortages and a lack of diversity in the workforce.
Know a teacher leader?
Nominate a teacher who wants to achieve change in their schools and in the broader education system.
About Teach Plus:
The mission of Teach Plus is to empower excellent, experienced, and diverse teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that advance equity, opportunity, and student success. Since 2009, Teach Plus has developed thousands of teacher leaders across the country to shape education policy and improve teaching and learning, to create an education system driven by access and excellence for all. Teach Plus policy fellows have:
- Met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office
- Shaped state plans across the U.S. for the Every Student Succeeds Act
- Joined U.S. Secretaries of Education as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s official delegation to the International Summit on the Teaching Profession
- Been published or featured in Education Week, the Associated Press, major local news publications, and have appeared on National Public Radio and local and national and local television outlets
Past Policy Wins
In past years, Teach Plus PA policy fellows have:
- Won historic increases in state funding of public education, including:
- Over $3 billion in new funding over the past three years
- $325 million for a new program to accelerate resources to the 100 most underfunded districts
- $500 million in new adequacy payments to begin to close the state’s $4.5 billion adequacy gap
- Passed multiple bills to address Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage crisis, including legislation that creates a new high school pathway into teaching, improves data collection on the diversity of the workforce and the number of teacher vacancies, allows non-citizens to become teachers, and creates a $30 million student teacher stipend program.
- Updated teacher certification requirements in Pennsylvania to ensure teachers are trained in the science of reading and culturally relevant and sustaining education.
Application Information
The policy fellowship runs from August to June of each school year. Applications for the upcoming school year’s policy fellowship open in February or March.
Want to be notified when applications open?
Meet our Teacher Leaders
Get to know the Teach Plus Pennsylvania Policy Fellowship teachers.
Teacher Voices
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My Students Want to Learn, But They Don’t Have Access to the Internet
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I work at a Philly school closed by asbestos. We’re fed up.
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