About Us
The Story Behind U Teach We Aide
U Teach We Aide was born from lived experience.
Early in my career as a special education teacher, I found myself overwhelmed by the competing demands of the profession. Between instruction, paperwork, deadlines, compliance requirements, and the day-to-day realities of supporting students with complex needs, there were moments when I questioned whether I could continue. Teaching in a turnaround school early in my career, I witnessed firsthand the challenges educators face in under-resourced environments while working to meet the needs of vulnerable learners.
One day, I nearly walked away, just like many of my peers.
What brought me back was not another initiative, program, or compliance checklist. It was real-time classroom support. I was lucky.
As my career evolved, I served in a variety of roles within education across multiple states, from the classroom to systems-level improvement efforts. No matter the role, district, or region, I continued to see the same challenge: special educators were being asked to do increasingly complex work without the systems, support, and resources needed to sustain their success.
What's more, many school leaders were navigating the growing complexities of special education without a dedicated special education background of their own, while balancing competing priorities, limited resources, and increasing accountability demands. As a result, educators and leaders alike were often left trying to solve these challenges without the support needed to do so effectively.
Many special educators are not leaving because they lack passion, commitment, or expertise. They are leaving because the systems surrounding them make success difficult to sustain and sometimes impossible.
U Teach We Aide was created to help change that.
Today, UTWA partners with schools, districts, educator preparation programs, and educational organizations to strengthen educator capacity, support implementation, and build sustainable systems that improve outcomes for students with disabilities. Through responsive, practice-based support, educator development, mentoring, technical assistance, and workforce-focused solutions, UTWA helps organizations address challenges as they arise while building the internal capacity needed for long-term success.
At our core, we believe that improving outcomes for students begins with supporting the educators who serve them.
U Teach. We Aide.
Because special educators should not have to choose between serving their students and sustaining themselves.
Tiffany Stanford, M.Ed
Founder & CEO
Educator. Advocate. Systems Builder.
After nearly leaving special education herself, Tiffany made it her mission to better understand the challenges facing special educators and the systems that support them. Her work across multiple states and educational settings has centered on one question:
How do we better support the educators serving our most vulnerable learners?
Through UTWA, she partners with schools and educational organizations to help answer that question.’
~~~~~~~~~~
An Award-Winning Approach to Educational Innovation
Tiffany’s work in educator retention and capacity building has been supported by several social innovation programs focused on public education challenges. Participating in these leadership and entrepreneurship cohorts has allowed her to continuously refine and evolve U Teach We Aide while remaining entirely committed to the core mission.
Her fellowships include:
4.0 Schools Essentials & Tiny Fellow
Teach for America Social Innovation Cohort
Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center Milestone Circles Fellow
Ed.Xtraordinary Education Pre-Accelerator Fellow