Ventures

7 Generation Games is developing 7 Gen Ed Blocks, a no-code platform that enables educators to create interactive, culturally responsive literacy learning experiences in multiple languages. Since its founding, the organization has been focused on building narrative and gaming experiences that close equity gaps and improve outcomes for indigenous students and multilingual learners. Now they are working to adapt existing code libraries (originally used to develop proprietary games) into modularized, easily editable code blocks that educators can customize through a digital platform. This effort represents an attempt to scale their impact by putting more power into the hands of educators and enabling them to bring their content to life in engaging and culturally responsive ways.

BeeReaders Español offers culturally responsive content, adaptive assessments, and educator/family supports to build Spanish-speaking students’ literacy skills in both Spanish and English. Research has shown that developing these students’ Spanish literacy is beneficial not only to their development of English reading and writing skills, but also to a positive sense of identity and belonging. While the solution was developed for use in Latin American countries, the team is now prioritizing growth in dual language and bilingual programs in the United States.

EarlyBird is a game-based assessment that screens for dyslexia as well as moderate reading risk that can be addressed through multi-tiered systems of support. Based on research conducted by the co-founders at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the FSU-Florida Center for Reading Research, it can accurately identify students who might benefit from specialized support related to foundational reading skills. Such “early identification” practices are a key lever for supporting long-term literacy and health outcomes.

Evision Academy Programs offers a “Braille Box” as a braille-based literacy program to support blind and visually limited learners nationwide, in both public and homeschool settings. Through the Braille Box and comprehensive support services, Evision Academy Programs seeks to provide distance curriculum to students, advocacy support for parents, and training for classroom teachers to better understand the need for literacy instruction that is accessible to all students.

Hoogalit presents Sound Town, an early literacy program that has three core functions: a daily, 5-minute speech interactive lesson played through a web application, a progress assessment that helps to tailor lessons, and in-the-flow professional development for teachers. This solution may be used in school and at home, with teachers able to share activities with parents and caregivers. Sound Town uses integrated mnemonics (letter shapes closely embedded in a picture) to teach letters, which studies show can double the rate of letter learning in young children.

The Inlier Learning literacy solution is a multi-step approach to ensuring culturally and linguistically relevant literacy instruction for a wide range of English language learners, with particular support to Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE). Designed with audio and speech-to-text for optimal access, Inlier Learning pairs its intake screener with native language literacy and numeracy assessments for school districts to better understand a student’s educational background and determine if a student can be classified as SLIFE. Teachers are equipped with culturally and linguistically appropriate instructional materials and teacher training to fully meet the needs of their culturally diverse students.