teachersknowbest.org

Only 59% of teachers perceive the digital products their students use frequently to be effective.

Teachers want more and better resources for every grade level and across every subject area. In fact, only 59% of teachers believe that even the products they use most frequently in classrooms make the grade-really serving students’ learning needs.

Ineffective products
Teachers are looking to edtech for help.

The research also uncovered openness to digital resources. The vast majority of teachers believe essay writing services resources have the potential to be effective at supporting instructional strategies to meet students’ learning needs.

Infinite phones
Investors are hungrier than ever.

Teachers’ hunger for new resources isn’t surprising-but the unprecedented appetite from investors might be. Venture funding to edtech companies in 2015 is setting new quarterly records.

With so many needs, and so much financial attention, now is the time to make your idea or product a reality. There’s never been a better time to make a positive impact in our nation’s schools.

Don’t just mind the gap…address it.

We prioritized the most important digital product efficacy gaps in the current product offerings: K-12 English language arts (ELA), high school social studies, high school math, and K-5 science. Could your product focus on one of them?

Wherever you start, keep these findings in mind.
Does your product address one of the priority gap areas?
Could it?
GAP AREAS
High 81
ELA
Across all grades, less than 60% of ELA teachers report the digital products they use frequently to be effective.
Middle school ELA teachers are least likely to have access to sufficient digital and non-digital resources to meet the standards.
2
SOCIAL STUDIES
High school social studies instructors are more likely to believe that the digital tools they frequently employ are less effective than their middle school counterparts, who are more likely to report that both digital and non-digital resources are not available or sufficient to meet standards.

3
MATH
Math teachers in high school are more likely to report that digital and non-digital resources to meet the standards are not available and sufficient. They also are more likely to perceive the digital tools they use frequenctly to be less effective.

4
SCIENCE
K-5 science teachers are more likely to find the digital edutech tools they use often to be less effective, while those in grades 3-5 and 9-12 are more likely to say that digital and non-digital resources are not available and sufficient to meet the highest standards.

NOW LET’S GET STARTED
From educators to entrepreneurs, from kindergarten to 12th grade, everyone agrees our nation’s classrooms need more effective digital resources. Pairing these findings with your ideas will do more than help you make a great product. It will help you make a difference for students and teachers.
DIVE IN, THERE’S MORE TO EXPLORE
QUESTION BY QUESTION
Explore the 23 questions we asked 3,100 educators. Filter the results by grade and subject.

PRODUCT PREFERENCE
Educators shared their preferences on top student-facing products. See how they use them.

ABOUT THIS POJECT
TeachersKnowBest provides industry-leading information about the state of K-12 resources from the perspective of students and teachers. With better insights, we hope to help edtech entrepreneurs build more effective digital products and, as a result, improve our nation’s education.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation partnered with IDEO, a global design and innovation firm, to create the vision and design for Teachers Know Best, a platform to connect edtech entrepreneurs more directly to the needs of teachers and students. The raw data that underpins the site comes from work with consulting firm The Glover Park Group, and survey firm Research Now who conducted the survey.