Jefferson Education Accelerator Contracts with Empirical for Evidence as a Service™
Jefferson Education Accelerator (JEA) has contracted with Empirical Education Inc. for research services that will provide evidence of the impact of education technology products developed by their portfolio companies. JEA’s mission is to support and evaluate promising edtech solutions in order to help educators make more informed decisions about the products they invest in. The study is designed to meet level 2 or “moderate” evidence as defined by the Every Student Succeeds Act. Empirical will provide a Student Impact Report under its Evidence as a Service offering, which combines student-level product usage data and a school district’s administrative data to conduct a comparison group study. Denis Newman, Empirical’s CEO stated, “This is a perfect application of our Evidence as a Service product, which provides fast answers to questions about which kids will benefit the most from any particular learning program.” Todd Bloom, JEA’s Chief Academic Officer and Research Associate Professor at UVA’s Curry School of Education, commented: “Empirical Education is a highly respected research firm and offers the type of aggressive timeline that is sorely needed in the fast-paced edtech market.” A report on impact in the school year 2017-2018 is expected to be completed in July.