Three Principles School Leaders Can Use to Reduce COVID-19 Risk
By David Noah, Comp Sci High Jason Shaad, Charter School Growth Fund Miho Kubagawa, NewSchools Venture Fund Photo by Andy Falconer Are face shields just as effective as face masks? What does social distancing look like for early elementary school students? Should we take everyone’s temperature upon arrival? How often should playground equipment be cleaned? School […]
Reducing Bias in Virtual Teacher Hiring
By Antonio Tapia, Senior Associate Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund It wasn’t too long ago that we sat around a table and asked teacher candidates questions in a face-to-face interview. We offered them coffee, took them around the classrooms, and introduced them to the teaching staff before settling in to get to know them. Since the […]
Four Silver Linings in the Homeschool Hot Mess
By, Tonika Cheek Clayton, Managing Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund As a K-12 ed tech investor who understands the landscape of tech tools used to support student learning, you might think my professional career had prepared me for forced distance learning with my three children. LOL. With kids in 2nd, 6th, and 9th grades at three […]
When and How to Explore a Nonprofit Merger
By Amy Omand, Chief Financial Officer, NewSchools Venture Fund The economic outlook in the world has changed rapidly in the past few months. The unemployment rate is at historic highs, businesses are struggling to make ends meet, and each news cycle triggers volatility in the stock markets. The nonprofit sector, which accounts for 10% of […]
Schools can stay virtually connected to their families. Here’s how.
By Gabi Netter, Associate Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund It’s a critical time for schools to connect with their students’ families. Leaders and teachers are looking to support families with their economic, physical, and emotional needs in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Families need help with at-home learning. Schools in choice-based systems need to […]
NewSchools Venture Fund’s Ed Tech Experts on COVID-19 Distance Learning
By Jason Weeby
SEL Has Never Been More Important: Three Equity-Focused Tools to Use at Home
By Cameron White, Senior Associate Partner Even before the COVID-19 public health crisis, equity-minded educators recognized the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) in supporting students’ growth. In a survey conducted by EdWeek before widespread school closures, almost 90 percent of K-12 district leaders had already invested in products designed to support SEL. COVID-19 has reinforced — or […]
Insights and observations from the second year of work with our research partner, Transforming Education, and schools in our Innovative Public Schools portfolio
This Insight Brief reflects on the ongoing work of schools in our portfolio and identifies five insights that we hope will guide other schools, researchers and funders who want to advance an expanded definition of student success.
Lessons from four years of investing in ed tech: 2015-2019
This Insight Brief focuses on critical issues we’ve learned from our ed tech investments in in science, middle and high school math, English language learning, special education, early learning and the future of work.
Insights and observations from the first year of work with our research partner, Transforming Education, and schools in our Innovative Public Schools portfolio
We invest in new innovative schools that embrace an expanded definition of student success meaning schools focus on academic results, social-emotional competencies and school culture/climate factors. A 2018 brief, authored Jason Atwood and Stacey Childress, includes design and implementation lessons we learned from working closely with school leadership teams and our research partner, Transforming Education. This brief also includes observations based on the data collected from more than 3,000 students at 23 schools.