The Cherry Creek School district is using apprenticeships to create a more racially diverse pipeline of K-12 educators in Colorado. High school juniors and seniors are paid to participate in the apprenticeship, and are able to earn college credit as well. This is one of the ways the district is working on having its workforce reflect its student bodies more accurately. Currently 85% of teachers are white, and half of its student body is kids of color. Now in its second year, the program has grown from an initial cohort of 12 youth apprentices to 26,

To address the teacher shortage in Arizona, teachers are partnering with associate teachers enrolled at Arizona State University to team-teach. "The idea is to think of education as we do health care, and support the teacher as we do the doctor -- with a team of nurses, residents, and interns," said Carole Basile, dean of ASU's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

Every teacher lost costs almost $9,000 for a U.S. urban school district, according to a report out of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. To help deter “brain exodus,” the UK is piloting a teacher sabbatical program, borrowing from the model traditionally found in higher education. Could such a model work in Philadelphia?

In several small rural towns in Texas, mental health professionals from Texas Tech are offering telemedicine counseling to make up for a lack of counselors available in local middle and high schools. The Governor's office has now asked the successful school districts to develop a training program for teachers in other Texas districts in order to scale the model.

About “1,500 (High School) students from 75 of the nation’s poorest schools in 35 cities,” are enrolling in college courses in elite universities like Harvard and Columbia through an initiative started by a nonprofit—and succeeding. The aim of the program is to prepare underprivileged students for the rigors of college education, and give them a confidence boost before they enter college. They complete the same coursework as the college students and get a grade. “All of these schools talk this game, ‘We want diversity, but we can’t find these kids,’ and this proves they can build a pipeline."

At Jalen Rose Leadership Academy in Detroit, the support of the high school doesn't stop at graduation. Staff at the school follow up with alumni at their new campuses to make sure they are on track and connect them with the resources they need to succeed, whether academic, financial, or social.

Val Verde Unified School District in California requires high school students to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Though advocates have documented significant positive culture changes, researchers say the impact of such requirements on college enrollemnt rates remains uncertain.