Miami University’s TEACh ( T ransformative E ducators A dvocating Ch ange) Cincinnati seeks to create a self-sustaining educational ecosystem designed to cultivate a robust teaching workforce to effectively serve communities in Cincinnati Public Schools. This initiative introduces young people to careers in education. By offering opportunities and support throughout both high school and college, TEACh Cincinnati has the deep potential to transform the educational landscape through a path for students to become licensed teachers who are both expert pedagogues and community insiders.
As part of a workforce development effort, Miami University's College of Education, Health, and Society collaborates with partners across PK-12 schools, higher education, and the community to address the teacher shortage. Focusing on Cincinnati neighborhoods and engaging those who have the most at stake – community insiders who live in and have attended Cincinnati Public Schools – TEACh Cincinnati seeks to cultivate a cadre of new teachers who not only know the Cincinnati community but are able to serve as anchors to those communities.
The initiative is financially supported by the Ohio Department of Higher Education, the HCS Foundation, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Accelerate Great Schools, the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, the Haile Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Miami University and Cincinnati Public Schools partnered to create a grow-your-own-teacher pipeline model. TEACh Cincinnati inspires students in Cincinnati schools to become educators and combat the teacher shortage. Students share their motivation for teaching and the impact of the program, emphasizing personal connections, support, and policy change.
Great communities require great schools, and great schools demand great teachers. However, the teaching profession is facing critical shortages due to a combination of declining enrollment in educator preparation programs, low retention rates for early-career teachers, and a surge in teacher resignations. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 567,000 fewer teachers today than before the pandemic. Closer to home, Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) started the 2023-2024 school year down nearly 300 teachers.
Cincinnati, like the rest of the nation, faces significant challenges in recruiting, maintaining, and retaining a vibrant teaching workforce that reflects the students in classrooms. These challenges unfold along three key fronts:
Addressing the challenge of developing a sustainable, representative teaching workforce requires innovative approaches. This includes identifying, attracting, and supporting prospective teachers earlier in their schooling, helping them graduate, and mentoring them as early-career teachers. This effort is critical not only to the success of their students but also to the development of a strong workforce for neighborhoods across Cincinnati.
Founded as MU TEACh, the TEACh Cincinnati program began at Aiken High School with a simple premise: teachers are more likely to serve in districts similar to the ones they grew up in, and they are better equipped to understand the challenges faced by students in those districts. This recruit-retain-retire model aims to prepare diverse, effective, and long-term educators who are rooted in their communities through the following stages:
In Fall 2022, four students from Aiken High School were among seven total Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) students entering Miami University’s teacher education programs, marking a key milestone for a groundbreaking initiative that began in 2018. Since then, two additional cohorts of students have followed, bringing the total number of students at Miami in Fall 2024 to 23. We are excited that another 12 students will be entering Miami in Fall 2025, bringing the total group across four cohorts to 35. These students represent schools across Cincinnati, including Aiken, Oyler, School of Creative and Performing Arts, Spencer, Taft, Walnut Hills, and Withrow, with additional students coming from Cincinnati Job Corps, Mt. Healthy, and in the future, Shroder. To date, the TEACh Cincinnati program has been able to support students through scholarships and grants that meet their demonstrated financial need as indicated on the FAFSA.
In 2023, Miami also began partnering with Cincinnati State and Literacy Lab Fellowship to strengthen the already robust pipeline of high school students involved in the program. With over 350 students participating, many are learning about careers in education and recognizing the potential of pursuing post-secondary education with the possibility of becoming a teacher. The TEACh Cincinnati program can be visualized as a funnel, initially engaging as many students as possible and exposing them to the possibilities of careers in teaching. As the funnel narrows, students are provided with subsequent experiences and engagement opportunities in order to capture an incoming class that is both interested and can be supported by the current resource infrastructure (e.g., personnel and scholarships).
The success of this model led to an Ohio Department of Higher Education grant focused on helping to alleviate the teacher shortage. With additional funding from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, HCS Foundation, Accelerate Great Schools, Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, the Haile Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education, with further investments from both Miami University and Cincinnati Public Schools, the program aims to expand across all interested Cincinnati high schools in the coming years. The goal is to create a continuous pipeline, graduating a significant number of new, homegrown teachers over the next decade.
The true promise of this initiative lies not only in Miami’s impact but in the scalability of the model itself. It can be expanded across Cincinnati schools and to the nine higher education institutions graduating educators within 50 miles of Cincinnati.
While the challenge is daunting, the imperative for action, economically and socially, is too important to ignore. A shortage of quality teachers limits the effectiveness of our communities’ schools, leaving a generational impact on educational attainment and, ultimately, life outcomes.
The weight of this challenge is beyond the capabilities of any one entity or sector. The ramifications are felt and, thus, the responsibilities shared across a community.
Miami University and its College of Education, Health, and Society invite Cincinnati partners from across education, industry, government, and philanthropy to join in critical discussions surrounding educator recruitment and retention and share their knowledge and resources to ensure all Cincinnati students benefit from committed, well-prepared and inspiring teachers.
Each spring, the TEACh Cincinnati community gathers for a day of reflection, celebration, and collaboration. On May 29, 2025, students, educators, funders, and leaders from Cincinnati Public Schools and Miami University came together at the Voice of America campus to share progress, explore big ideas, and shape the future of the TEACh pipeline. Here are video highlights from four key sessions:
Overview of the program’s progress, growth, and future goals.
A Conversation with Dr. Alesia Smith, Deputy Superintendent, Cincinnati Public Schools
Tammy Schwartz, Director, Urban Cohort, Miami University
TEACh Students share experiences and opportunities about the program
Recruit, Retain, Develop
Show your support with an investment in TEACh Cincinnati.
The overall TEACh Cincinnati Fund will support the needs of the pipeline that are not yet fully realized or already supported through other financial commitments. This would include transportation costs, summer housing expenses, experiential learning opportunities, participation and presentation of research, summer and winter course offerings, etc.
Miami University’s TEACh Cincinnati program is working to address teacher shortages by guiding students from Cincinnati Public Schools toward careers in education. Backed by a $100,000 in...
Jada Martin Showes, Camerin Scott, and Sky Whaley, graduates of Aiken High School and incoming primary education majors at Miami University, are taking the next step in their journeys as future edu...
TEACh students at Miami University took the lead in organizing and hosting a weekend Lock-In event designed to help peers prepare for finals while fostering a sense of connection. Held at Western L...
Three Aiken High School students—Camerin Scott, Jada Martin-Showes, and Sky Whaley—celebrated their commitment to join Miami University’s TEACh Cincinnati program on C...
The teacher shortage has become a national crisis. COVID exacerbated the issue, but other factors like burnout, a lack of adequate preparation and support, increased school violence, and political divides are also at play.
Hear about a new initiative called TEACh Cincinnati, which aims to address the teacher shortage and develop a cadre of community-oriented educators.
