THE MOMENT
When Access Isn’t Enough
Access remains essential, but it is only half the equation.
Access remains
essential, but it is only half the equation.
Access remains essential, but it is only half the equation.
Watch any teenager with a smartphone. They can harness AI, collaborate across continents, and reach limitless information … all in seconds. Ask AI to write a college essay—done. Translate a conversation in real-time—seamless. Create an app without ever learning to code—possible.
The amount of access available today is unprecedented. But is access enough to equip young people to navigate a future this complex? The truth is most don’t have the skills, knowledge, and agency to do so effectively.
For decades, we’ve defined ‘access’ as broad exposure to the rigorous academics that make economic mobility possible. Those efforts mattered, and they still do. But academics alone have never been enough—and in a world where a smartphone can unlock as much opportunity as any classroom, that truth is now impossible to ignore.
Access remains essential, but it is only half the equation; real-world capability—being able to think critically, adapt, and direct your own future
in an AI-driven world—is the other half. And the gap between the two is widening into the most urgent crisis in American education today.
Technology didn’t create this gap. But it has exposed it, accelerated it, and raised the stakes for an entire generation. Closing it means delivering both access and capability together.
The moment is now. Mobility has dropped by nearly 50% in just two generations. Millennials are the first generation to be worse off economically than their parents, and Gen Z is following the same trajectory. Academic performance, workforce readiness, civic engagement, personal agency—pick your metric: too many students graduate unable to secure meaningful work or choose their own futures.
Watch any teenager with a smartphone. They can harness AI, collaborate across continents, and reach limitless information… all in seconds. Ask AI to write a college essay—done. Translate a conversation in real-time—seamless. Create an app without ever learning to code—possible.
The amount of access available today is unprecedented. But is access enough to equip young people to navigate a future this complex? The truth is most don’t have the skills, knowledge, and agency to do so effectively.
For decades, we’ve defined ‘access’ as broad exposure to the rigorous academics that make economic mobility possible. Those efforts mattered, and they still do. But academics alone have never been enough—and in a world where a smartphone can unlock as much opportunity as any classroom, that truth is now impossible
to ignore.
Access remains essential, but it is only half the equation; real-world capability—being able to think critically, adapt, and direct your own future in an AI-driven world—is the other half. And the gap between the two is widening into the most urgent crisis in American education today.
Technology didn’t create this gap. But it has exposed it, accelerated it, and raised the stakes for an entire generation. Closing it means delivering both access and capability together.
The moment is now. Mobility has dropped by nearly 50% in just two generations. Millennials are the first generation to be worse off economically than their parents, and Gen Z is following the same trajectory. Academic performance, workforce readiness, civic engagement, personal agency—pick your metric: too many students graduate unable to secure meaningful work or choose their own futures.
Key Youth Indicators Lag Across Core Dimensions
Key Youth Indicators Lag
Across Core Dimensions
0
25
50
75
100%
Economic Mobility
50%
of millennials earn the same or less than their parents did. ⁶
Career Readiness
34%
of students believe they’ll graduate ready for the job market. ⁵
Math Proficiency
26%
of 8th graders scored at or above Proficient in math. ³
Reading Proficiency
31%
of 8th graders scored at or above Proficient in reading. ²
Civic Engagement
47%
of young people turned out to vote in 2024 Presidential Election. ⁴
Individual Agency
30%
of young people report feeling prepared for their chosen path. ¹
0
25
50
75
100%
Economic Mobility
50%
of millennials earn the same or less than their parents did. ⁶
Career Readiness
34%
of students believe they’ll graduate ready for the job market. ⁵
Math Proficiency
26%
of 8th graders scored at or above Proficient in math. ³
Reading Proficiency
31%
of 8th graders scored at or above Proficient in reading. ²
Civic Engagement
47%
of young people turned out to vote in 2024 Presidential Election. ⁴
Individual Agency
30%
of young people report feeling prepared for their chosen path. ¹
Sources:
¹ Gallup, Walton Family Foundation & Jobs for the Future, Voices of Gen Z survey
² National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2024 Nation’s Report Card
³ National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2024 Nation’s Report Card
⁴ CIRCLE, Tufts University, “New Data: Nearly Half of Youth Voted in 2024,” April 2025
⁵ Strada Education Network & Gallup, 2017 College Student Survey
⁶ Opportunity Insights: The Fading American Dream: Trends in Absolute Income Mobility Since 1940
Sources:
¹ Gallup, Walton Family Foundation & Jobs for the Future, Voices of Gen Z survey
² National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2024 Nation’s Report Card
³ National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2024 Nation’s Report Card
⁴ CIRCLE, Tufts University, “New Data: Nearly Half of Youth Voted in 2024,” April 2025
⁵ Strada Education Network & Gallup, 2017 College Student Survey
⁶ Opportunity Insights: The Fading American Dream: Trends in Absolute Income Mobility Since 1940
Key Youth Indicators Lag Across Core Dimensions
Sources:
¹ Gallup, Walton Family Foundation & Jobs for the Future, Voices of Gen Z survey
² National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2024 Nation's Report Card
³ National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2024 Nation's Report Card
⁴ CIRCLE, Tufts University, "New Data: Nearly Half of Youth Voted in 2024," April 2025
⁵ Strada Education Network & Gallup, 2017 College Student Survey
⁶ Opportunity Insights: The Fading American Dream: Trends in Absolute Income Mobility Since 1940
OUR VISION
Where Opportunity Meets Capability: the Both/And Imperative
Where Opportunity Meets Autonomy:
the Both/And Imperative
Every young person deserves preparation for meaningful work and a meaningful life. Not one or the other. Both.
Access and capability aren’t competing priorities. They’re mutually reinforcing. Young people need both to achieve either.
Yet for generations, the PK–12 system has struggled to integrate the two. The reason is simple: it was never designed to. Schools were built to sort students academically—pushing some toward work and others toward college rather than preparing everyone for the path they choose.
This is the system we inherited. It is not, however, the one we have to keep.
It’s time to redesign public education around a single unifying principle: every young person deserves preparation for meaningful work and a meaningful life. Not one or the other. Both.
That principle anchors TNTP’s new strategy. We are building the infrastructure—systems, pathways, and conditions—that makes it real through three interdependent pillars:
Thriving Learners: what students need to thrive, not just perform
Thriving Ecosystems: what systems, employers, and communities must build to support redesign
A Thriving Nation: what the country needs to remain economically and democratically strong for generations
This is not an incremental shift. It is structural and systemic, designed to transform how public education prepares young people for the future.
TNTP is built to deliver this.
Over time, our work is revealing what truly moves outcomes, what scales and what doesn’t, and where breakthroughs emerge—and why they work. That learning is the foundation of this strategy.
Now we’re ready to build something different.
Access and capability aren’t competing priorities. They’re mutually reinforcing. Young people need both to achieve either.
Yet for generations, the PK–12 system has struggled to integrate the two. The reason is simple: it was never designed to. Schools were built to sort students academically—pushing some toward work and others toward college rather than preparing everyone for the path they choose.
This is the system we inherited. It is not, however, the one we have to keep.
It’s time to redesign public education around a single unifying principle: every young person deserves preparation for meaningful work and a meaningful life. Not one or the other. Both.
That principle anchors TNTP’s new strategy. We are building the infrastructure—systems, pathways, and conditions—that makes it real through three interdependent pillars:
Thriving Learners: what students need to thrive, not just perform
Thriving Ecosystems: what systems, employers, and communities must build to support redesign
A Thriving Nation: what the country needs to remain economically and democratically strong for generations
This is not an incremental shift. It is structural and systemic, designed to transform how public education prepares young people for the future.
TNTP is built to deliver this.
Over time, our work is revealing what truly moves outcomes, what scales and what doesn’t, and where breakthroughs emerge—and why they work. That learning is the foundation of this strategy.
Now we’re ready to build something different.
OUR FOOTPRINT
Our National Presence: 4,500 Districts, 35,000 Schools, and 39 States
Our footprint reflects more than just reach. It reflects sustained engagement.
TNTP was founded in 1997 with a straightforward belief: students in high-need schools deserve teaching as strong as any in the country. What began as work to place, develop, and sustain excellent teachers has grown into one of the nation’s most influential forces for education transformation.
Today, we partner with 4,500 districts and 35,000 schools across 39 states. Our footprint reflects more than reach. It reflects sustained engagement—years of work embedded in schools, district offices, and state systems, shaping policy and transforming practice from the inside out. We bring best in class research, but also the hard-won knowledge that comes from decades of implementation: what works, what doesn't, and why the gap between the two is so persistent.
For students, this shows up in their daily experience. Clearer expectations. Stronger teaching. Schools organized to support their growth rather than process their compliance. It means leaders focused on ensuring students are learning—not just moving through.
Our national presence gives us a vantage point few organizations have: young people succeed when systems are designed around their learning. We’ve seen how alignment—from curriculum to instruction to leadership—creates the coherence students need to thrive, and how fragmentation undermines even strong efforts. That learning is the foundation of this strategy.
TNTP was founded in 1997 with a straightforward belief: students in high-need schools deserve teaching as strong as any in the country. What began as work to place, develop, and sustain excellent teachers has grown into one of the nation’s most influential forces for education transformation.
Today, we partner with 4,500 districts and 35,000 schools across 39 states. Our footprint reflects more than reach. It reflects sustained engagement—years of work embedded in schools, district offices, and state systems, shaping policy and transforming practice from the inside out. We bring best in class research, but also the hard-won knowledge that comes from decades of implementation: what works, what doesn't, and why the gap between the two is so persistent.
For students, this shows up in their daily experience. Clearer expectations. Stronger teaching. Schools organized to support their growth rather than process their compliance. It means leaders focused on ensuring students are learning—not just moving through.
Our national presence gives us a vantage point few organizations have: young people succeed when systems are designed around their learning. We’ve seen how alignment—from curriculum to instruction to leadership—creates the coherence students need to thrive, and how fragmentation undermines even strong efforts. That learning is the foundation of this strategy.
TNTP was founded in 1997 with a straightforward belief: students in high-need schools deserve teaching as strong as any in the country. What began as work to place, develop, and sustain excellent teachers has grown into one of the nation’s most influential forces for education transformation.
Today, we partner with 4,500 districts and 35,000 schools across 39 states. Our footprint reflects more than reach. It reflects sustained engagement—years of work embedded in schools, district offices, and state systems, shaping policy and transforming practice from the inside out. We bring best in class research, but also the hard-won knowledge that comes from decades of implementation: what works, what doesn't, and why the gap between the two is so persistent.
For students, this shows up in their daily experience. Clearer expectations. Stronger teaching. Schools organized to support their growth rather than process their compliance. It means leaders focused on ensuring students are learning—not just moving through.
Our national presence gives us a vantage point few organizations have: young people succeed when systems are designed around their learning. We’ve seen how alignment—from curriculum to instruction to leadership—creates the coherence students need to thrive, and how fragmentation undermines even strong efforts. That learning is the foundation of this strategy.
OUR Goal
Changing What’s Possible:
Fifty Million Futures.
Changing What’s Possible: Fifty Million Futures.
Cultivating a generation whose talent, creativity, and leadership will define the future of our communities, our economy, and our democracy.
Cultivating a generation whose talent, creativity,
and leadership will define the future of our communities,
our economy, and
our democracy.
Our core commitment has not changed. Academic excellence remains the foundation of everything we do—the essential prerequisite for capability, agency, and mobility.
But a foundation is not a finished future. Mobility requires more: career-connected learning, social capital, personal guidance, and civic engagement, all anchored in rigorous academics. Every student needs that. Few receive it.
When mobility keeps falling, no one’s children are exempt. Even the middle class feels the ground shifting. But the consequences land hardest on the students our systems have long underserved: young people in low-income communities—urban and rural—students of color, first-generation strivers. They can't wait and neither can we.
futures
Our goal: By 2035, TNTP will prepare 50 million young people for meaningful work and a meaningful life—cultivating a generation whose talent, creativity, and leadership will shape our communities, our economy, and our democracy.
This isn’t just an organizational goal—it’s a generational imperative. Fifty million students represent nearly every young person entering the workforce over the next decade. If we succeed, we reshape what’s possible, for all young people, for decades to come.
THE STRATEGY
THE STRATEGY
THE STRATEGY
THE STRATEGY
Building the Public Education System
this Moment Demands.
Building the
Public Education System this
Moment Demands.
TNTP’s priorities redefine what public education must deliver.
TNTP’s priorities redefine what public education must deliver.
The scale of the challenge is immense—ensuring 50 million young people are prepared for what’s ahead. Here’s how we get there:
A strategy built on interdependence: three Strategic Pillars that define where we’re headed; a set of priorities that drive how we get there. Each connected—because at this scale, nothing succeeds in isolation.
Over the next decade, our strategies will evolve as we learn. But one thing won't change: success requires both our ongoing core work AND our emerging strategic priorities advancing in concert.
The scale of the challenge is immense—ensuring 50 million young people are prepared for what’s ahead. Here’s how we get there:
A strategy built on interdependence: three Strategic Pillars that define where we’re headed; a set of priorities that drive how we get there. Each connected—because at this scale, nothing succeeds in isolation.
Over the next decade, our strategies will evolve as we learn. But one thing won't change: success requires both our ongoing core work AND our emerging strategic priorities advancing in concert.
STRATEGIC PILLARS
Thriving Nation
A country with the workforce, citizenry, and shared commitment that transformation at scale demands.
Thriving Ecosystems
States, communities, and systems that create and sustain multiple pathways to satisfying, high-wage careers.
Thriving Learners
Young people equipped with the knowledge, skills, and agency to direct their own lives and unlock mobility.
STRATEGIC PILLARS
Thriving Nation
A country with the workforce, citizenry, and shared commitment that transformation at scale demands.
Thriving Ecosystems
States, communities, and systems that create and sustain multiple pathways to satisfying, high-wage careers.
Thriving Learners
Young people equipped with the knowledge, skills, and agency to direct their own lives and unlock mobility.
STRATEGIC PILLARS
Thriving Nation
A country with the workforce, citizenry, and shared commitment that transformation at scale demands.
Thriving Ecosystems
States, communities, and systems that create and sustain multiple pathways to satisfying, high-wage careers.
Thriving Learners
Young people equipped with the knowledge, skills, and agency to direct their own lives and unlock mobility.
Strategic Priorities
1.
2.
3.
Building a coherent student experience
Bridging the gap from education to career
Harnessing AI for human potential
TNTP’s priorities redefine what public education must deliver.
It is our starting point to expand impact, not our endpoint.
We’re building the enabling conditions for success by addressing what must be true before all else: systems organized for coherent learning, connections between education and work that actually function, and students equipped to navigate what’s ahead.
Everything else relies on this groundwork.
TNTP’s priorities redefine what public education must deliver. It is our starting point to expand impact, not our endpoint.
We’re building the enabling conditions for success by addressing what must be true before all else: systems organized for coherent learning, connections between education and work that actually function, and students equipped to navigate what’s ahead.
Everything else relies on this groundwork.
Learners
Ecosystems
Nation
Building a Coherent Student Experience
We provide young people with seamless, high-quality learning experiences that accelerate academic growth and future readiness.
Bridging the Gap between Education and Career
We work across sectors—public, private, civic and corporate—to provide young people with multiple pathways to high wage careers.
Harnessing AI for Human Potential
We leverage technology to strengthen instructional coherence, personalize learning and utilize real-time data to advance mobility for all students.
BuildING
a coherent student experience
We provide young people with seamless, high-quality learning experiences that accelerate academic growth and future readiness.
BuildING a coherent student experience
We provide young people with seamless, high-quality learning experiences that accelerate academic growth and future readiness.
Bridging the Gap between Education and Career
We work across sectors—public, private, civic and corporate—to provide young people with multiple pathways to high wage careers.
Bridging the Gap between Education and Career
We work across sectors—public, private, civic and corporate—to provide young people with multiple pathways to high wage careers.
Harnessing AI for Human Potential
We leverage technology to strengthen instructional coherence, personalize learning and utilize real-time data to advance mobility for all students.
Harnessing
AI for Human Potential
We leverage technology to strengthen instructional coherence, personalize learning and utilize real-time data to advance mobility for all students.
INTEGRATE
Rigorous, coherent learning that builds academic mastery, mobility and capability simultaneously.
CHOOSE
Students equipped to navigate career pathways with agency, choosing opportunities aligned with their goals.
DIRECT
Students ready to lead
in a world of human and machine intelligence.
ALIGN
Expand learning beyond classrooms through real world experience and mentorship.
CONNECT
Collaborative partnerships between schools, employers, and colleges to create clear pathways to opportunity.
MOBILIZE
Turning fragmented systems into a coordinated learning web.
REDEFINE
Evolve definition of student success to meet student aspirations and economic realities.
CATALYZE
National frameworks that expand pathways and put students more in control
of their futures.
LEAD
Thought leadership that positions education to lead through disruption, not react to it defensively.
Thriving LEARNERS
Building a Coherent Student Experience
INTEGRATE
INTEGRATE
Rigorous, coherent learning that builds academic mastery, mobility and capability simultaneously.
Rigorous, coherent learning that builds academic mastery, mobility and capability simultaneously.
CHOOSE
CHOOSE
Students equipped to navigate career pathways with agency, choosing opportunities aligned with their goals.
Students equipped to navigate career pathways with agency, choosing opportunities aligned with their goals.
Bridging the Gap between Education and Career
DIRECT
DIRECT
Students ready to lead
in a world of human and machine intelligence.
Students ready to lead in a world of human and machine intelligence.
Harnessing AI for Human Potential
Thriving ECOSYSTEM
ALIGN
ALIGN
Expand learning beyond classrooms through real world experience and mentorship.
Expand learning beyond classrooms through real world experience and mentorship.
Building a Coherent Student Experience
CONNECT
CONNECT
Collaborative partnerships between schools, employers, and colleges to create clear pathways to opportunity.
Collaborative partnerships between schools, employers, and colleges to create clear pathways to opportunity.
Bridging the Gap between Education and Career
MOBILIZE
MOBILIZE
Turning fragmented systems into a coordinated learning web.
Turning fragmented systems into a coordinated learning web.
Harnessing AI for Human Potential
Thriving NATION
REDEFINE
REDEFINE
Evolve definition of student success to meet student aspirations and economic realities.
Evolve definition of student success to meet student aspirations and economic realities.
Building a Coherent Student Experience
CATALYZE
CATALYZE
National frameworks that expand pathways and put students more in control
of their futures.
National frameworks that expand pathways and put students more in control
of their futures.
Bridging the Gap between Education and Career
LEAD
LEAD
Thought leadership that positions education to lead through disruption, not react to it defensively.
Thought leadership that positions education to lead through disruption, not react to it defensively.
Harnessing AI for Human Potential
How We Will Measure
How We Will Measure
Closing the Loop from Promise to Proof: Measuring Transformation
Closing the Loop from Promise to Proof: Measuring Transfor-mation
We need data that tell us whether students are graduating ready—able to achieve mobility and exercise agency in their choices.
We need data that tell us whether students are graduating ready—able to achieve mobility and exercise agency in their choices.
You can’t transform what you can’t measure—and the public education system has never built infrastructure to manage transformation at such scale.
We will.
Current metrics often miss what matters. Test scores and graduation rates don’t tell us whether students can build the lives they want. Participation in extracurriculars and dual enrollment doesn’t tell us whether students have developed agency. College enrollment doesn’t reveal whether they’ll achieve economic security or lives of purpose.
These are all critical leading indicators. But to understand whether education is truly transforming lives, we need measures that show whether students are graduating ready—able to achieve mobility and exercise agency in their choices.
Our measurement strategy does that: using near-term indicators that signal whether students are on track, while building the long-term infrastructure needed to see whether those indicators actually translate into mobility and agency over time.
4.
Build Infrastructure
We're investing in data infrastructure that
connects leading indicators to long-term
outcomes.
4.
Build Infrastructure
We're investing in data infrastructure that
connects leading indicators to long-term
outcomes.
3.
Track Career Readiness
Credentials, social networks, work-based
learning, and pathway clarity that actually
predicts mobility.
3.
Track Career Readiness
Credentials, social networks, work-based
learning, and pathway clarity that actually
predicts mobility.
2.
Survey Students
Student experience surveys capturing
rigor, relationships, career connections,
and agency
2.
Survey Students
Student experience surveys capturing
rigor, relationships, career connections,
and agency
1.
Establish a New Baseline
Three-year impact framework measuring both
direct impact and systemic influence.
1.
Establish a New Baseline
Three-year impact framework measuring both
direct impact and systemic influence.
closing
the loop
closing
the loop
4.
Build Infrastructure
We're investing in data infrastructure that connects leading indicators to long-term outcomes.
4.
Build Infrastructure
We're investing in data infrastructure that connects leading indicators to long-term outcomes.
3.
Track Career Readiness
Credentials, social networks, work-based learning, and pathway clarity that actually predicts mobility.
3.
Track Career Readiness
Credentials, social networks, work-based learning, and pathway clarity that actually predicts mobility.
2.
Survey Students
Student experience surveys capturing rigor, relationships, career connections, and agency
2.
Survey Students
Student experience surveys capturing rigor, relationships, career connections, and agency
1.
Establish a New Baseline
Three-year impact framework measuring both direct impact and systemic influence.
1.
Establish a New Baseline
Three-year impact framework measuring both direct impact and systemic influence.
closing
the loop
closing
the loop
The Movement
The Great Opportunity:
Catalyzing a Movement
TNTP will be
a catalyst and convener—connecting students, families, educators, employers, policymakers and communities.
TNTP will be a
catalyst and
convener—connecting students, families, educators, employers, policymakers
and communities.
Movements are built on bold ideas. Ours: 50 million students on a path to learning, purpose, and prosperity over the next decade.
Reaching that goal requires redesigning PK–12 not as a standalone sector but as a partner in building a better future.
This work belongs to everyone. TNTP will be a catalyst and convener—connecting students, families, educators, employers, policymakers and communities, each contributing something essential to the challenge.
We will begin in places where we have deep relationships and a track record of results, building coalitions strong enough to reshape practice,
shift policy, and redesign pathways.
Success at this scale requires more than vision. It requires capacity, partnerships, sustained investment —and a network capable of delivering on the promise.
Movements are built on bold ideas. Ours: 50 million students on a path to learning, purpose, and prosperity over the next decade.
Reaching that goal requires redesigning PK–12 not as a standalone sector but as a partner in building a better future.
This work belongs to everyone. TNTP will be a catalyst and convener—connecting students, families, educators, employers, policymakers and communities, each contributing something essential to the challenge.
We will begin in places where we have deep relationships and a track record of results, building coalitions strong enough to reshape practice,
shift policy, and redesign pathways.
Success at this scale requires more than vision. It requires capacity, partnerships, sustained investment —and a network capable of delivering on the promise.
The Work Ahead
The TNTP Difference
The strategy is clear. The capabilities are in place. Fifty million young people are counting on us—all of us.
The strategy is clear. The capabilities are
in place. Fifty million young people are counting on us—all of us.
The strategy
is clear. The capabilities are in place. Fifty million young people are counting on us—on all of us.
At TNTP, we’ve built something rare: an organization that connects research rigor, implementation experience, and policy expertise.
We have driven sector-wide transformation before. Our past work has shifted national narratives around education and inspired meaningful policy change while bridging between theory and practice by equipping teachers and leaders with practical tools and guidance to improve academic outcomes.
That foundation gives us distinct advantages as we scale this work:
We have the relationships. We work with districts, partner with employers, influence state policy, and convene national conversations. Few organizations can broker across these constituencies.
We have the credibility. Twenty-eight years working inside thousands
of schools and districts means we understand how systems actually work, where resistance lives, and how change takes hold.
We have the capacity. We’ve spent the past two years building the organizational muscle this strategy requires: streamlined operations, stronger data systems, leaders who can execute at scale.
At TNTP, we’ve built something rare: an organization that connects research rigor, implementation experience, and policy expertise.
We have driven sector-wide transformation before. Our past work has shifted national narratives around education and inspired meaningful policy change while bridging between theory and practice by equipping teachers and leaders with practical tools and guidance to improve academic outcomes.
That foundation gives us distinct advantages as we scale this work:
We have the relationships. We work with districts, partner with employers, influence state policy, and convene national conversations.
Few organizations can broker across these constituencies.
We have the credibility. Twenty-eight years working inside thousands of schools and districts means we understand how systems actually work, where resistance lives, and how change takes hold.
We have the capacity. We’ve spent the past two years building the organizational muscle this strategy requires: streamlined operations, stronger data systems, leaders who can execute at scale.
We’re ready. The strategy is clear. The capabilities are in place. Fifty million young people are counting on us—all of us. We can’t fail them.