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Fat SOTUesday: Benjamin Riley’s Take on the SOTU Address

I have a confession to make. I did not watch the President’s State of the Union speech last night. I have not even read the transcript. Am I a bad policy director? Yes, yes I am. On the other hand, it’s not my fault that the President inconveniently scheduled his big speech laying out his domestic policy agenda for 2013 the same night as Fat Tuesday. Read more

Welcoming Ellevation to the NewSchools Portfolio

NewSchools Venture Fund is pleased to welcome Ellevation Education to our portfolio! Ellevation provides a set of tools for teachers and administrators who work with English language learners (ELLs). It saves time and simplifies compliance requirements, so that educators can focus on their most important task—helping ELL students to succeed. Read more

A closer look at K12 edtech venture funding part II

Learners from ages zero to eighteen have a lot to be excited about. In the last 365 days, 74 companies focused on the K12 demographic (both in and out of school) have been funded by venture backers for a total of $427 million[1]. At the Seed Fund, we participated in 13 of these and got to see many more.  Here, we share with you our analysis of the types of companies funded […] Read more

‘Tis the season

“If we want America to lead in the 21st century, nothing is more important than giving everyone the best education possible — from the day they start preschool to the day they start their career.”—President Barack ObamaWe all know that our school system needs help.  That our kids are not prepared well in comparison to their counterparts in other developed countries.  We know achievement gaps persist. While the gap between white and […] Read more

Introducing Jason Singer, our new entrepreneur-in-residence

Almost a year ago nearly to the day, at an edtech holiday party, I met Jason Singer, who shared his idea for an interactive e-reader with me.  I was hoping he would act on his idea but as principal of KIPP King Collegiate High School and with a young family at home, I knew he had a full load.Fast forward a year later and Jason has launched his company, Gobstopper, recruited a […] Read more

A closer look at edtech funding for K-12 startups

Last night at a packed Silicon Valley meetup, I joined Alan Louie of ImagineK12 and Nari Ansari of Technology Crossover Ventures for a panel discussion of edtech investing. It was inspiring to see so many education entrepreneurs eager to network and learn more about funding opportunities. In this spirit we’d love to share with you an analysis of K-12 (no higher ed included) funding by stage for 2012 and the funders who […] Read more

Forbes’ Top Education “Disruptors”

FORBES NAMES NEWSCHOOLS’ CEO TED MITCHELL AS ONE OF 15 EDUCATION INNOVATORS FORBES’ PICKS FOR INVESTING IN EDUCATIONForbes Magazine has singled out NewSchools’ CEO Ted Mitchell on its list of 15 “education disruptors”—innovators who are making a difference, bringing new ideas that help to make education better. (Among the other honorees are two entrepreneurs in the NewSchools portfolio: Khan Academy founder Sal Khan, subject of the cover story; and Norman Atkins, who founded […] Read more

Edu-implications of the Election

I came into work this morning to find a note on my monitor that reads, “4 More Years!! :).” That nicely sums up the predominant sentiment in the nation’s capital, which celebrated last night in truly spectacular fashion. Congratulations, President Obama – may your next four years be slightly less eventful than the first.I also tip my proverbial hat to Mitt Romney, who in my opinion ran a very good campaign. He […] Read more

rational [edtech] exuberance

­­I’ve been enjoying the thoughtful pieces on the increased excitement about education technology from Frank Catalano in GeekWire, Betsy Corcoran in All Things D and Audrey Watters in Hack Education.  From our vantage point at NewSchools, the excitement is palpable. Our education technology pipeline has increased 5x from last year and at least 10x from 2010.  Educators in our portfolio schools are energized by the new teacher tools, blended learning supports and […] Read more

College Achievement Network Founders Convene in Denver: Common Core Mysterious No More

Over 100 participants and presenters joined us last week in Denver for a College Achievement Network convening focused on the Common Core. The two-day gathering included school visits to DSST and STRIVE and a day of rich Common Core content. Participants engaged in role-alike sessions created for their needs as CEOs, CAOs, and content leaders. There were also general sessions including “The Role of Assessment”, “Instructional Practices to Instill Mindset & Student […] Read more