About Us

What We Do

Founded as the Substitute Teaching Institute at Utah State University in 1995, STEDI.org provides research-based training materials and services designed to improve student achievement when students are taught by a substitute teacher and to assist those who manage substitute teachers. STEDI.org has forged ahead implementing research-based practices to improve recruiting, training, and retention efforts in school districts throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Our History

The Substitute Teaching Institute at Utah State University (STI/USU) was established by Geoffrey G. Smith in 1995 to provide substitute teachers with handbooks containing educational “how-tos” and classroom fill-in activities. STI/USU evolved and grew to become the national leader in the improvement of substitute teaching by providing products and services to school districts and substitute teachers nationwide. The U.S. Department of Education recognized the leadership of STI/USU in 1997 with the first-ever awarding of federal funds for field-initiated research in the realm of substitute teaching. STI/USU then forged ahead implementing research-based practices to improve recruiting, training, and retention efforts in school districts throughout the United States. STI/USU provided a wide variety of training materials and services designed to improve

the quality of substitute teaching. STI/USU was dissolved in 2008 and is now operating as STEDI.org. Substitute Teaching Division of STEDI, LLC (STEDI.org) On August 1, 2008, Utah State University signed a license agreement with the Substitute Teaching Division of STEDI, LLC (STEDI.org) to market and distribute the educational materials developed at STI/USU and services developed by the Substitute Teaching Institute (STI). This license agreement means STEDI.org is now the sole-source for all of the great materials developed at the Substitute Teaching Institute and provides the same outstanding service STI has always provided. STEDI.org continues the research, distribution, and training as well as the mission which began at STI/USU.

Our Mission

“Revolutionizing the role of substitute teachers into an opportunity of educational excellence by assisting school districts in recruiting, training and retaining quality substitute teachers.”

The Problems

The United States Needs Trained, Qualified Substitute Teachers One full year of a student’s K-12 education is taught by substitute teachers.

Our Solution

Geoffrey Smith founded the Substitute Teaching Institute at Utah State University (STI/USU) to be the national leader in training substitute teachers with the skills they need to be successful in the classroom. By providing recruitment and retention information as well as training materials and services for school districts and substitute teachers around the country, STI/USU worked to revolutionize the role of substitute teachers into opportunities for educational excellence.

William Butler Yeats says, “Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.”

If this is true, then substitute teachers have the opportunity to light fires every day as they teach from classroom to classroom. STEDI.org provides the tools to light these fires!

Sole Source

STEDI.org is the sole source distributor of the Subskills Online Training Courses, Classroom Management CD, and the Substitute Teacher Handbook 10th Edition. STEDI.org distributes the handbook as textbooks to colleges where the books are sold to their students at $24.95. Quantity discounts are available by calling 800-922-4693. Click here to download the SoleSource Affidavit.