Give all Canadian children an equal shot at an excellent education.Adam Goldenberg and Kyle Hill

This project will create Teach For Canada, an NGO that will reduce educational inequality by recruiting top university graduates to teach in Canada's most challenging schools. Those who join will spend the summer in a rigorous training program, where they will study with master teachers and learn about the schools and communities in which they will serve. For two years, these inspiring young Canadians will teach in classrooms where student achievement is too low, drop-out rates are too high, and too much talent goes to waste.

We plan to begin by placing teachers in Aboriginal and northern communities, where there is the greatest need. We will then expand to schools in rural areas and, eventually, to urban areas.

Over time, Teach For Canada will build a powerful network of alumni who will be advocates for educational equality throughout their lives and careers.

There are three main groups of Canadian students that under-perform: Aboriginal, rural, and low-income. In Aboriginal communities, only 40% of on-reserve Aboriginal students finish high school, compared to 91% of non-Aboriginal students. Students in rural and remote communities were among the lowest performers in Canada in 2009 standardized tests. And in low-income urban communities, over 35% of children in low-income families exhibit delayed vocabulary development, compared to 10% of children in higher-income families. Teach For Canada believes that the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. By placing exceptional university graduates as teachers in Aboriginal, rural, and low-income urban communities, we will raise test scores, lower dropout rates, and inspire the next generation of Canadian leaders.