My Journey as an Ed Tech Entrepreneur — By Heather Hiles

Guest Post by Heather Hiles, Founder of Pathbrite I recently spent time with a cohort of ed tech entrepreneurs supported by NewSchools Venture Fund through their NewSchools Ignite accelerator.  My friends at NewSchools asked me and a couple of other entrepreneurs to spend some time having “real talk” about what it takes to raise capital, get exposure for […]

NewSchools Ignite Announces ELL Challenge Winners

Today, we are proud to announce the 13 winners of the NewSchools Ignite English Language Learning Challenge: eSpark Learning Flocabulary Listenwise Nearpod Newsela Quill.org Readworks Storyworld Spotlight Speak Agent Mawi Learning TalkingPoints ThinkCERCA We can’t wait to tell you about each of these companies … but first, let’s talk about how this challenge got started. […]

News Release – WestEd and NewSchools Venture Fund Win Small Business Administration Funding for EdTech Growth Accelerator

New funding will support knowledge sharing and systems development for data collection and analysis San Francisco, CA – September 8, 2016 – Research, development, and services nonprofit WestEd and the nonprofit NewSchools Venture Fund are proud to announce a grant from the Small Business Administration’s Office of Investment and Innovation Growth Accelerator Fund. The grant will […]

Just Three Weeks to Go: Looking for Bold Ideas in ELL Tools!

Nearly five million PreK-12 students in America are English Language Learners.  That’s a lot of students.   And, we’ve heard from teachers and researchers that there are not nearly enough high-quality instructional tools to meet their needs.  In fact, there’s a dearth of quality ELL tools, and the need has never been greater. So, we decided […]

Now’s the Time to Reimagine Learning

And, if you think so, too…we should be talking. NewSchools invests in the most creative ideas and supports visionary leaders with the potential to reshape the learning experience to help every student reach his or her highest aspirations. That’s why today we are announcing nearly $7 million in funding opportunities across our three investment areas. […]

News Release — Bring Us Your Boldest, Biggest Ideas for Reimagining Education

Announcing up to $7 million in new funding opportunities for entrepreneurs and teams of educators (Oakland, CA, August 1, 2016) — NewSchools Venture Fund is looking for educators, creators and visionaries who believe in the power and potential of reimagining learning.  NewSchools finds, funds and supports teams of educators and entrepreneurs whose bold ideas have […]

Promising Developments in EdTech for Science

We have scientists to thank for many of conveniences that make our lives simpler, more comfortable…and in a lot of  ways more fun. That’s why we need many, many more scientists, and science education is an essential foundation for success in many careers.  In fact, the demand for workers in STEM-related careers continue to grow. […]

Live From Summit 2016: Edtech in STEM Classrooms

This engaging discussion was led and moderated by Tonika Cheek Clayton, Managing Partner of NewSchools Venture Fund joined by five other speakers: Bill Kurtz, CEO of DSST Public Schools Chris Lehmann, Principal at Science Leadership Academy Jessie Woolley-Wilson, CEO at Dreambox Dan Meyer, Chief Academic Officer at Desmos Margaret Honey, CEO of New York Hall […]

Live From Summit 2016: Helping Children Transcend Adversity

This highly-compelling session was led by author Paul Tough, with a Q&A moderated by Jeff Raikes. The discussion focused on the pressing questions addressed in Tough’s newest book, Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why. Tough encouraged the audience to look closely at what brain science says about the effects of adversity on children’s development, and […]

Live From Summit 2016: Inside the SAT

Aaron Lemon-Strauss, Executive Director of College Board, led a session exploring the personalized practice tools that more than one million students have used to prepare for the new SAT. The education leaders joining him as panelists were: Elizabeth Slavitt, VP of Learner Strategy and Operations at Khan Academy Bernard McCune, Deputy Chief of the Office of Post-Secondary Readiness […]