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In suburban school districts, an average of 71 percent of high school students graduate, while in the 50 largest cities in the United States, the graduation rate is just 53 percent.

Only 55 percent of Chicago Public Schools students graduate, and the outlook in Indianapolis is even bleaker: with less than a third of freshman graduating on time, Indianapolis has the lowest graduation rate of any large American city.

This considerable gap in urban-suburban graduation rates is due, in part, to disparities in teacher quality. Research proves that teachers are the most important school-based variable in student success, but nearly half of teachers leave urban schools—where continuity and quality teachers are arguably needed most—within the first three years, just when they reach peak effectiveness. This exodus not only deprives students of skilled educators, it results in billions of dollars in annual costs to replace the departing young teachers.

Teach Plus works to improve outcomes for urban children by energizing reform-minded teachers and promoting public policies to improve the profession. The organization is founded on the premise that teachers want to learn and grow professionally. In order for this to happen, schools need to provide incentives to encourage teachers to stay in urban schools and, ultimately, improve the quality of education for our most vulnerable students.

With support from Joyce, Teach Plus will push for changes in Chicago and Indianapolis to ensure that more students have access to effective, experienced teachers. One way to do that, the group argues, is by reducing the role of seniority in teacher layoffs; its policy brief The Domino Effect, published in February, called for policy changes to make sure that teachers dismissed from low-performing schools would not displace good but less senior teachers in other schools. Other goals include developing new teacher evaluation systems that incorporate observing teachers and measuring student growth, and ensuring that effective teachers are placed and retained in high-need schools.

Teach Plus will broaden its networks of exceptional teachers and policy fellows in both cities; develop policy papers on teacher evaluation and measures of student progress; bring together teachers and reform leaders to explore reform options; and utilize social networking to raise awareness about teaching and education reform.

“Teach Plus has already played an integral role in positively shaping the education landscape in Chicago and Indianapolis,” Celine Coggins, founder and CEO of Teach Plus, said. “The support we receive from Joyce will allow us to continue to improve teaching quality in these cities, to strengthen the teaching profession, and to provide a better future for our children.”

More information on Joyce’s Education Program.