The GSV Big 10: EO TKO's DOE

MOOC Formerly Known as edX, Classic Competition for SAT, and Maslow Comes to College...

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Chart of the Week

Elad Gil: “Why AI based tutors are going to be such a big deal 1:1 tutoring = 2 sigma improvement in learning achievement”

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The Big 10:

1. Breaking: Historic Eve for Education in America | Forza…For Education

   Whether we should have a Department of Education or abolish it, there is one thing for sure, status quo wasn’t working. Moreover, while I was in the camp of keeping—but radically changing—the department, despite all of talk of Armageddon, it seems unlikely that the funding for key programs will be unchanged. It’s been over 40 years since a Nation at Risk was written and we are in worse shape today, despite spending zillions.

2. Western Governors University Joins Open edX as a Mission-Aligned Organization | Campus Technology

   We are fans of WGU and are interested in how they continue to push its mission of providing high quality, low-cost education at scale. The newly christened “Mission Aligned Organization” is slight twist on institutional partnerships where 1 + 1 =11. Axim Collaborative is the learning platform formerly known as EdX and Open edX is the marketplace name.

3. The Upstart 'Classic Learning Test' Gets a Testy Welcome From the SAT | RealClear Investigations

   Funny how duopolies don’t like others to get in the game...would that be a “triopoly”? The Classic Learning Test has some mojo, increasing the number of tests administrated last year 7x to 182,000. That’s still less than 10% of the College Board’s SAT exam, but it’s clearly tapping into something. Our view is that competition makes everybody better, with the price and quality benefitting the customer.

4. How Alabama students went from last place to rising stars in math | NPR

   Alabama is a leading light in education innovation. I’m going to say that again, Alabama is leading light in education innovation. In another example of the impressive progress that’s being made in the Cotton State, elementary students in DeKalb have gone from worst to first through invisible learning…using physical objects such as toy bears and tiles to learn math. Roll Tide!

5. Why Parents of ‘Twice-Exceptional’ Children Choose Homeschool Over Public School | The 74 Million

   It used to be that the tiny number of students who were home schooled came from hyper-religious families. Today, over 5% of K-12 population (3 million students) is home schooled. The #1 reason for choosing home school is the concern about the traditional public school “environment”. Moreover, bucking the stereotypes, 50% of the students are non-white and families are split between Republicans and Democrats.

6. More Than Half of College Students Struggle to Access Basic Needs | Whiteboard Advisors

   Turns out Maslow was right…tough to do much else if you are worried about food, shelter and water. Amazingly, and alarmingly, in the United States of America, 41% of college students are food deprived. 48% lack adequate shelter. Also impacting students is the mental health epidemic that is devastating our education system.

7. March Madness ads sold out “earlier than it has historically.” Did NIL influencer deals play a part? | Tubefilter

   You know you’ve got a great product when supply induces demand. Sports is the top category for advertisers with this year’s Super Bowl getting $8 million for each 30 second spot. Rather than saturate the market with too much inventory amplified by the frenzy of NIL, it has in fact stimulated even more interest.

8. SXSW EDU 2025 Brought More Steak Than Sizzle | Edtech Insiders

   We’ve always enjoyed SXSW for mix of folks and the fun of Austin. We will miss Ron Reed who retired last year and remember fondly the collaboration we had between SWSX and the ASU+GSV Summit. Hosted in the great state of Texas, it’s fitting this year’s event was about the steak.

9. The Fake False Dilemmas of Early Parenting | The Dispatch

   “Moneyballing Motherhood” is a new theme of ours which hits on using data to help parents make parenting decisions versus simply relying on wives tales or what your parents did. Professor and podcaster Emily Oster is the leading voice on this trend. Come see her speak at the ASU GSV Summit April 5th-9th in San Diego!

10. 🎙️ Ep 40 · Shai Reshef: President, University of the People | Ed on the Edge | Dash Media

    Shai is the founder of a university that provides free college to over 150,000 students and a recipient of the “Nobel Prize” for education.