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Building A Talent Pipeline

To Increase Teacher Diversity & Effectiveness

What is the Coalition?

A Regional Approach for Diverse and Effective Teachers

In 2022, Elevate 215 was recruited by the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Education to lead the development of a comprehensive talent plan for Philadelphia. This resulted in the Citywide Strategy for Diverse and Effective Teachers, a comprehensive plan for recruiting, retaining, and developing more quality teachers, and in particular, more teachers of color. The Philadelphia Citywide Talent Coalition was established to drive implementation of this strategy, and Elevate 215 serves as the organizational backbone and convener of the Coalition.

Who is in the Coalition?

The Philadelphia Citywide Talent Coalition (the Coalition)—with over 35 organizations represented, ranging from school systems, civic, philanthropy, research, education, and nonprofit organizations—was formulated to improve both the diversity and effectiveness of the city’s public district and charter school teachers.

Teacher Retention Toolbox

In October 2024, the Philadelphia Citywide Talent Coalition released a comprehensive report offering four strategic solutions to tackle the critical issues of teacher retention and diversity in Philadelphia’s district and charter schools.

Read Report

How was the Coalition Developed?

Utilizing Research-Based Methods and Strategies

  1. Identifying Current Workforce Trends

    Amassing workforce data from Local Education Agencies (LEAs) from a mix of interviews, surveying, and scouring publicly available data to determine teacher shortage areas, hiring and retention "pain points," and projections regarding teacher staffing needs.

  2. Evaluating Current Pipeline Assets

    Conducting a landscape assessment of efforts within the Philadelphia region to recruit and retain teachers of color by collecting information from the School District of Philadelphia, large charter networks, local teacher preparation programs, and community based organizations.

  3. Exploring What Works

    Researching promising and proven practices, programs, and initiatives in Pennsylvania and around the country that have impacted the diversity and/or quality of teachers.

  4. Convening Local Leaders

    Engaging Philadelphia school system leaders, teacher pipeline providers, researchers, and other critical constituents via an Advisory Group and other meetings with partners to solicit additional perspective, provide feedback and input, and collaboratively develop strategies to address our city’s most pressing needs.

What are the Coalition's Priorities and Actions to Date?

The Citywide Strategy Encompasses All Levels of the Talent Pipeline

Research shows that teachers and school leaders are two of the most important factors in a child's educational outcomes. Research also shows that having a more racially and ethnically diverse teaching corps is critical to improving the educational outcomes for students, particularly students of color. Despite this, we see an acute underrepresentation of teachers of color in Philadelphia with 86% of students identifying as BIPOC, while only 35% of teachers identify as such. To address this, there must be program- and system- level solutions to recruit, retain, and develop effective educators, particularly educators of color.

  1. Build Local Collaborative to Foster Alignment and Drive Action

    Launch a Citywide Talent Coalition, define quality and develop performance metrics, and improve quality of data collection and reporting to inform strategy

  2. Clarify Multiple Pathways to Teaching and Increase Career Support

    Articulate clear pathways to teaching, launch the teaching hub on TeachPHL.org and career center, and provide mentorship

  3. Decrease Financial Burden To Enter Teaching

    Pursue scholarships and loan forgiveness, and leverage workforce development funding

  4. Improve the Narrative

    Launch citywide marketing campaigns, conduct a fair and equitable compensation study, and support schools to address working conditions

  5. Expand Early Pipeline

    Expand teaching academies, increase early exposure opportunities, incentives, engagement, and marketing to youth

  6. Boost Teacher Support and Retention

    Expand Affinity Groups, build school leader capacity to manage and retain talent, build financial incentive fund to assist with teacher retention, and operationalize culturally relevant practices in teacher preparation programs

  7. Advocate for Policy Changes and Support

    Advocate for statewide and local policy changes in the areas of licensure, recruitment, and retention

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