Teach Starter is an online educational resources company that offers a subscription service to access teaching materials for educators. The company was founded by Jill Snape and Scott Tonges in 2012[1] and has since expanded to provide unit and lesson plans, activities, games and curriculum aligned worksheets for kindergarten to Year 6.[2][3] It is currently headquartered in Brisbane, Australia,[4] with an office in Austin, Texas,[5] and operates internationally with a presence in the Australian, UK and US education markets.[6][3]
 | |
| Company type | Private Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Education |
| Founded | 12 August 2012 |
| Founders | Jill Snape and Scott Tonges |
| Headquarters | Brisbane , Australia |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Elizabeth McMillan (CEO) |
| Products | Teaching resources, classroom solutions, and educator apps |
| Website | www |
History
editTeach Starter began with a poster Scott Tonges created for his wife, classroom teacher Jill Snape.[2] After receiving positive feedback from other teachers they launched an email newsletter,[7] and began creating additional resources, eventually launching a website with over 200 resources in January 2013.[8] In 2020, Teach Starter briefly offered its resources for free as part of a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, later citing the move of classrooms online as creating a growth spurt for the business.[5] In 2020, former Dictionary.com CEO Elizabeth McMillan[9] was appointed as the Teach Starter CEO.[10][6] As of 2022 the company had approximately 60 employees worldwide.
On 23 February 2023, Tes Global (publishers of the TES magazine), announced they had acquired Teach Starter to complement their teaching resources platform.[11]
Products
editTeach Starter offers a free and paid subscription plan that allows access to a range of downloadable teaching resources, lesson plans, games and other online resources. The website's content is arranged using multiple categories such as grade level, subject or resource type.[12] It provides resources that are aligned to curriculums including the Australian National Curriculum, Common Core State Standards in America, TEKS in Texas, and the National Curriculum for England.[13] Specific curriculums for example the English Science Curriculum areas KS1, KS2 Lower and KS2 can be found via a curriculum search page.[14]
In 2020 Teach Starter was reported to have over 780,000 accounts worldwide, 140,000 pages of teaching resources, and 35,000 podcast subscribers.[5] It was also reported in the same year that 70 per cent of Australian Primary Schools and approximately 58 per cent of Australian primary school teachers used the platform.[6]
Awards and recognition
editIn 2020, Teach Starter founders Jill Snape and Scott Tonges were named in the Queensland Business Monthly Top 20 Under 40 list.[6]
Teach Starter was a finalist in the 2022 Women in Digital Awards in the category of Employer of the Year.[15]
Holon IQ has listed Teach Starter on its annual list of 50 most promising EdTech startups in Australia and New Zealand each year from 2020 to 2022.[16]
References
edit- ^ Australian Trade and Investment Commission (2019). Australian EdTech Mission to the US and ASU + GSV Summit.
- ^ a b Elliot, Ellen-Maree (May 11, 2020). "The Brisbane couple teaching students worldwide". Quest Newspapers. Retrieved December 9, 2020.(subscription required)
- ^ a b "About Teach Starter". Teach Starter. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ "Teach Starter | Australian EdTech Directory". Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ a b c McCarthy, John (2020-04-22). "Fast learners: Queensland technology company wins big from virus shutdown". InQueensland. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ a b c d Stigwood, Emmaline; Brannelly, Louise; Norris, Glen; Johnson, Hayden; Herde, Chris (2020-11-26). "Queensland Business Monthly's Top 20 under 40". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 2022-12-12.(subscription required)
- ^ "Embedding Purpose & B Corp - Teach Starter Case". Hatched. 2019-06-14. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ Tonges, Scott (2017-08-07). "Teach Starter's Journey to Becoming a Purpose Driven Business". Creating Teach Starter. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ "Women in Business Q&A: Elizabeth McMillan, CEO, Dictionary.com". HuffPost. 2017-10-01. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ Co, Hunt & (2022-05-25). "Success Story: How Teach Starter's newly appointed Head of Product is helping to create more 'aha' moments in the classroom". Hunt & Co. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ "Tes acquires international primary teaching resource company | Tes". www.tes.com. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
- ^ Cherner, Todd (2017-09-12). "Teach Starter: Working to Make Every Classroom Buzz!". App Ed Review. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ "Are your resources aligned to the curriculum?". support.teachstarter.com. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ "Teach Starter: A Platform for Lesson Planning & Teachers". Zenva Schools. 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ "2022 Women in Digital Awards Finalists". Women In Digital. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ "2021 Australia and New Zealand EdTech 50". www.holoniq.com. Retrieved 2022-12-09.