Teachers are extraordinary people. We all know it, because we remember the teachers who had major impacts on our own lives, spending time to teach us to read, to understand a math problem, or in later grades, to unlock the mysteries of literature, foreign languages or coding.
Maybe it’s precisely because teachers are so extraordinary that we keep heaping more and more responsibility on them. Bigger classes, more complex subjects, juggled schedules and myriad processes and procedures to keep straight. And that’s not to mention the challenges or opportunities that any given day might pose, whether it be from students with special education needs who require more attention, or students with special gifts that cry out to be cultivated.
The story is always about potential. That’s what set our company, Project Education, on a quest to create innovations to help teachers and students by removing barriers and illuminating paths to action.
Over the course of several years, we posed a question to hundreds of teachers and administrators: What’s holding you back? Three specific issues came back again and again:
- Lack of Time Leads to Blind Spots – Teachers and administrators need relevant information to make better decisions but digging through disconnected data can take too long.
- Lagging Technology – When platforms fail to evolve with the needs of teachers and students, systems become obsolete but difficult to replace.
- Unwieldy Access – Barriers to extracting data can come in the form of cryptic interfaces or convoluted systems, inhibiting real-time information when teachers need it most
“After almost 30 years of working with teachers and schools, the response to what can help them do a better job always comes down to ‘more time’. Project Education helps get more out of those 24 hours we get by making the connections we need, when we need them.”
-Marcy Canady, retired Principal, Director, Assistant Superintendent
Our course was clear: Schools and districts were already collecting vast amounts of data. If we could craft a system to unlock the opportunities hidden within it, transforming databases into unified, evolving, ever-improving assets – and make it easy to use – we could make a lasting difference in the lives of countless teachers and students.Time … Plus. From that idea – and a lot of innovative work by developers, educators, administrators, and workflow professionals – Project Education was born. It’s a spark that has generated a comprehensive, ever-growing array of products that answer that need for time, and then top it with truly actionable insights that power more informed decision-making. Read about them here.