Education Opens Doors

Education Opens Doors and its student manual Roadmap to Success evolved from the passion and efforts of several Teach for America alumni and education pioneers, led by the vision of a young entrepreneur with a heart for students. In 2009, Jayda Batchelder was assigned by Teach for America to teach 8th grade at a Title I School. She witnessed first-hand an immense knowledge gap in regards to the readiness of middle school students to navigate high school in order to graduate and attend a college or start a career. Among her district's high schoolers, 48% of graduating students took the SAT or ACT. Of those 48%, only 13% achieved scores that deemed them college-ready. In October of 2010, Batchelder visited some of her former students, anticipating stories of their success beyond her classroom. As she spoke with them however, it became clear that content mastery alone had not adequately prepared them for high school success. They lacked the resources and guidance to keep them on track. She looked for a tool that would address their gaps in skills and college knowledge, but could not find a practical, in-depth resource to meet their needs.