March 28, 2017
The Voqal Education Venture Fund (EVF) is proud to announce a new round of investments in organizations that are working to close opportunity gaps in education. The EVF made two additional investments in current portfolio companies, Education Modified and Pairin. In addition, it added one new company, Schoolrunner, to its portfolio. The EVF also made a grant to the Colorado-based nonprofit, ReSchool to help fund an innovative pilot program.
Schoolrunner is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that enables evidence-based teaching and learning. The platform provides a single place to track, analyze and take action on all aspects of a school’s unique ecosystem, facilitating data-driven instruction, while saving time for teachers and encouraging parents to become more engaged. The company’s goal is to empower schools with actionable data to help improve student achievement.
Education Modified is a powerful teaching tool that recommends research-based strategies for every special need teacher may have to serve in their classrooms. The platform helps teachers to collaborate and contribute to their professional memory while streamlining special education services to provide better learning opportunities for kids with special needs. Education Modified builds a cumulative Learning Biography™ of what works for every child, improving teacher effectiveness, streamlining services and saving districts money.
Pairin allows schools to meet the real world achievement needs of every student, accelerate college and career readiness, and increase graduation rates. The Pairin survey is based on decades of scientific research and is the only longitudinal, non-cognitive measurement available on the market. It provides for the tracking of 100+ characteristics, reports for parents and students, rubrics, exercises, tips and resources, all in an easy to understand graphical dashboard. Pairin measures the growth of these skills to validate program effectiveness and influence the personalization of education for students. It also gives teachers and counselors the tools and expertise to integrate the teaching of these skills into any curriculum without stealing time away from teaching content.
ReSchool is a major project of the Donnell-Kay Foundation in Colorado. ReSchool’s mission is to design and launch an inspirational education system that coordinates people and resources in new, dynamic ways, ensuring an experience that is welcoming, empowering and world-class. ReSchool views itself as making the space and cultivating the conditions for a new system of learning for Colorado that could be a model for other states. Its role is not to run the system, but be the catalyst for its creation. Voqal is partnering to help fund the Learner Advocate Network pilot program to help learners, in collaboration with their family or guardian, navigate the learning ecosystem in service of their personalized goals through the coordination of experiences, resources and people.