TEACH.gov
National digital platform unifying pathways into teaching across all 50 states. Successfully transitioned from federal initiative to nonprofit-operated TEACH.org, featuring will.i.am and professional athletes in recruitment campaigns.
The Challenge
Prospective teachers faced a fragmented and confusing landscape of entry pathways: traditional teacher colleges, state certification programs, and alternative nonprofit programs. Information was scattered across states, institutions, and organizations, making it difficult to understand how to become a teacher in any given state. The federal government needed a single, authoritative entry point to promote teaching as a profession and support nationwide recruitment across all 50 states.
Role & Ownership
- Technology Solutions Advisor / Technical Lead / Program Lead
- Led technical architecture, platform selection, and deployment
- Served as primary technical counterpart to the creative and marketing agency
- Managed federal IT coordination, compliance, and approvals
- Bridge between policy, legal, data, marketing, and engineering teams
- Worked with external agency managing a ~$3M program budget
Technical Approach
Selected Drupal as the core content management platform. Led platform architecture, hosting coordination, deployment, and the Authority to Operate (ATO) process for federal IT sign-off.
Pathway Navigation Experience:
- State-based certification routes
- Traditional teacher preparation programs
- Alternative pathways including Teach For America, KIPP, and charter-led programs
Cross-Department Coordination:
- Legal review with Office of General Counsel
- Data collection approvals through Office of Management and Budget
- Congressional briefings on scope, procurement, impact, and budget
- Partnered with internal data teams to aggregate information from multiple departments
Key Results
- Delivered a nationwide, centralized entry point for becoming a teacher across all 50 states
- Unified traditional, alternative, nonprofit, and charter-based pathways in one platform
- Supported high-visibility national campaign featuring will.i.am and professional athletes
- Featured TEACH Town Halls with Secretary Duncan and NFL Teacher of the Year
- Built interactive “Pathway to Teaching” tool
- Program success enabled transition from federal ownership to TEACH.org nonprofit, demonstrating long-term sustainability
Technologies
Drupal, Federal Web Hosting, ATO/OMB Compliance, Multi-Department Data Integration