Programs for Edtech Startups Programs for Edtech Startups
How to design a program and its mentoring for startups that sell to schools and universities.
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
Who buys edtech
The user rarely signs the contract
Students use the product, teachers choose it, and a district or university pays.
- Students use it every day
- Teachers decide if it stays in class
- District or university holds the budget and the contract
ESSA evidence tiers
Know the four ESSA evidence tiers
US law ranks evidence from an experiment down to a research-based rationale.
- Rationale research-based logic, still under study
- Promising a correlational study with controls
- Moderate a quasi-experimental study
- Strong an experimental study
What Works Clearinghouse ratings
Reviewers grade the study, not the pitch
The What Works Clearinghouse gives each finding one of three research ratings.
- Meets standards without reservations
- Meets standards with reservations
- Does not meet standards
Why small pilots mislead
Small pilots flatter the product
Effects were about twice as large in small trials and with developer-made tests.
Reading effect sizes
Compare effects with real school programs
Effects that look small by old rules are large next to most school interventions.
- Study design random or matched groups
- Outcome a standardized test
- Cost per student
- Scale works beyond the pilot
Designing the pilot
Plan pilots that can become evidence
Agree on a comparison group and an independent test before the first lesson.
- A comparison group of similar classes
- A test the startup did not write
- Enough schools, not one friendly class
- The analysis plan written down first
Children’s privacy in the US
Get parental consent before any data
US rules require verifiable parental consent before collecting data from children under 13.
- Consent first before any collection or use
- Third parties a separate consent to share
- Retention keep data only as long as needed
- Written policy purpose, need and deletion date
Children’s data in Europe
In Europe, the consent age varies
Below 16, a parent must consent, unless national law sets a lower age.
The mentor pool
Mentors who know schools from inside
Pair product mentors with people who have taught, bought or evaluated for schools.
- Former teachers how a lesson really runs
- Procurement budgets, tenders, timing
- Evaluators study design and tests
- Privacy counsel consent and contracts
Time with teachers
Put founders in front of teachers
Regular teacher sessions show how the product fits a real lesson.
Sources
The research behind this presentation
- U.S. Congress (2015) Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, Section 8101(21): Evidence-based (20 U.S.C. 7801(21)) United States Code, 2023 edition, U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo)
- What Works Clearinghouse (2022) What Works Clearinghouse procedures and standards handbook, version 5.0 U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance
- Cheung, A. C. K. & Slavin, R. E. (2016) How methodological features affect effect sizes in education Educational Researcher, 45(5), 283-292
- Kraft, M. A. (2020) Interpreting effect sizes of education interventions Educational Researcher, 49(4), 241-253
- Federal Trade Commission (2025) Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, 16 CFR Part 312 Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, as amended 23 June 2025
- European Parliament & Council of the European Union (2016) Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation), Article 8 Official Journal of the European Union, L 119, 4 May 2016
Build edtech that schools can trust
Teach founders to produce evidence, protect children’s data and sell the way schools buy.