TEACH WITH AFRICA
Transformation Through Education
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The travesty of apartheid devastated public education in South Africa. Until Nelson Mandela was elected president in 1992, it was illegal to teach black children math or science under the Bantu Education Act, which was "education for servitude". As a result, South Africa has the lowest math and science scores of any developed country. Teach with Africa works with a remarkable network of schools, the LEAP Schools of Science and Maths, to redress that problem. With volunteer educators from the United States, the LEAP Schools have graduated leaders since 2006: nearly 100 percent of their students pass the national matriculate exam, an astounding number given their impoverished township communities. The LEAP Schools have also developed a social/emotional skills curriculum that surpasses that of most schools in the United States, which contributes to their students' success and which our exchange teachers emulate when they return to their local schools.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Global Teachers Institute
The Global Teachers Institute aims to empower student teachers, current faculty, school leaders, and education organizations globally by refocusing teacher training and professional development on ideas of personal growth and social change.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
With TWA's Educator Exchange Program, we send teachers to South Africa and bring South African teachers to the United States, to teach and to learn.
Teach With Africa and the LEAP Schools of Science and Maths have jointly created the Global Teachers Institute in South Africa, an international platform dedicated to increasing the quality and quantity of teachers throughout the world by delivering teacher training and professional development programs. The Global Teachers Institute aims to empower student teachers, current faculty and school leaders by refocussing professional development on ideas of consciousness and social change, in order to achieve systemic academic gains and educational equality.
The need for quality educators in South Africa is enormous; to meet demands, the country needs approximately 25,000 new teachers a year, but only 10,000 teachers meet the necessary qualifications to teach.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We believe that providing educators with opportunities to share, learn and teach together across contexts and continents is the bedrock for creating teaching excellence.
Since 2007, Teach With Africa has been exchanging educators between South Africa and the United States. South African educators and aspiring educators spend a month in the US, observing teaching practice in the classroom, leading lessons, completing an inquiry-based project on teaching instruction, and sharing their knowledge and perspectives. American teachers spend up to 8 weeks in South Africa as Faculty-in-Residence, engaging with and mentoring teachers in the classroom as well as offering workshops and training on cutting-edge teaching methodologies.
In addition, the jointly created Global Teachers Institute provides formalized training on instructional best practices and educational/school leadership for aspiring, new and leadership-track educators. All professional development and instructional training is created around personal transformation and social change, allowing for the deepening and scale of our impact.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
TWA's capacity is greatly enhanced by the ongoing relationship with our core partners in South Africa, the LEAP Schools of Science and Maths and the Global Teachers Institute. Our partnership has been continuous since its inception, and we feel deeply fortunate to work together in a relationship of trust and reciprocity.
Teach With Africa has also developed strong and ongoing relationships with local partner schools, including independent, charter and public schools. These schools provide host teachers and families for our South African Future Leaders, and we are grateful for their continual and generous support.
We also have a loyal base of supporters comprised of individual donors and family foundations who provide our financial capacity and continuity, as well as an extraordinary Board of Directors.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Teach With Africa feels proud of our accomplishments to impact educational equality, both in South Africa and locally. In our partner schools in South Africa, in impoverished townships and rural areas, children who previously had virtually no opportunity for educational success, are graduating from secondary school and attending university. Although the national average for capacity to attend additional education is 48%, the LEAP graduates have now achieved over 90%, with 97% passing the matriculate exam upon graduation. This is particularly striking when similar communities are compared with radically different outcomes (e.g., Diepsloot with a 30% pass rate vs. 90% at LEAP). According to John Gilmour, founder of LEAP, these results would not be as positive without the involvement of the US teachers who volunteer at LEAP and the opportunities afforded to the teachers-in-training who participate in the Educator Exchange in the US.
This year, our board and the board of LEAP have committed to expanding our combined teacher training to challenged schools beyond South Africa. In July, a team from the US and South Africa will travel to Zambia to provide professional development to a community based school that serves impoverished rural children, ages preschool to grade 9. We are also committed to expanding our teacher training for educators of the youngest children, through a partnership under development with the Indaba Foundation and the Indaba Montessori Institute.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
TEACH WITH AFRICA
Board of directorsas of 01/16/2023
Mrs. Marjorie Schlenoff
Teach With Africa
Term: 2007 - 2022
Larry Schlenoff
Michael Adler
Cannon Cosntructors
Andrew Kowal
Francisco Partners
John Gilmour
LEAP/GTI
Marjorie Schlenoff
Liz Stiverson
TPG
Robert Smith
Kehillah
Maureen Murphy
Ed Collins
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data