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ETCH Weekend Reading 8/27

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Weekend Reading

ETCH Weekend Reading 8/27

Week of 8/21 - 8/25

Matthew Tower
Aug 27, 2023
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ETCH Weekend Reading 8/27

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Hello!

No announcements from me this week, straight to the links!


Funding / M&A

K12

  • Kinjo raises $6.5M / US, Gamified Learning / LiveOak Venture Partners, Silverton, Breyer Capital, Roble Ventures / ETCH Assessment of the deal

  • Atypical AI raises $4M / US, Personalized Learning / 468 Cap, Accelerator Venture Capital, Ascend VC, Bloomberg Beta, SNR

  • Creatively Focused raises $3M / US, Special Education / York IE, Mairs & Power Venture Capital, Groove Capital, Gopher Angels

  • Imagine Learning launches $50M venture fund / US, Digital Curriculum

Higher Ed

  • YouMakr.AI raises $500K / UK, Test Prep / Varshney Capital, Warwickshire Investment Group, V3 Investment Syndicate

  • Noodle acquires Meteor Learning / US, Online Program Management

Workforce

  • Pistachio raises €3.25M / Norway, Cybersecurity Training / Signals Venture Capital

  • Weekday raises $2.2M / US, Talent Network / Y Combinator, Venture Highway


People Moves

  • Gautam Thakar joins Prosus as CEO of EdTech / via Business Upturn

  • SNHU lays off 180, predominantly in technology and bootcamp divisions / via New Hampshire Union Leader

Hiring or looking for a job in EdTech? Check out the ETCH Jobs of the Week newsletter


Links

Early Childhood

  • A wave of childcare care center closures is coming as funding dries up. / via Hechinger Report

K12

  • Bill Simmons and Malcolm Gladwell discuss the future of youth sports. In complete seriousness, this was the most interesting piece of content I have read or listened to about childhood development this year. I am not saying the arguments are flawless; I am saying they were positively thought-provoking. Gladwell interview starts at 1:01:15, youth sports discussion at 1:16:58. / via The Ringer

  • Charter schools find quiet support in a world focused on private school choice. / via Education Week

    • But, apparently, not among the public schools they often share hallways with. / via 74Million

    • …which makes the positive results many charters demonstrate hard to place in the broader K12 landscape. Hard to place, but still fun to read about, like the way Paramount Schools mixes topics of interest (farm animals,are, a planetarium, etc.) with academic reigor to meet performance goals. / via the 74Million

    • And also related to private school choice, the rising trend in private education: teeny, tiny schools. / via Wall Street Journal

  • Schools are coming around on using ChatGPT in the classroom. Students everywhere yawn. / via Politico

  • Plagued by teacher shortages, some states turn to fast-track credentialing. / via 74Million

  • Education “intimidation” bills have skyrocketed since 2021. / via Axios

    • And are pushing First Lady Jill Biden to weigh in from the campaign trail. / via Washington Post

  • Michelle Obama’s new startup wants to change kids’ snack culture. Not exactly EdTech, but building on the former First Lady’s initiatives for improving school lunches and nutrition labels. / via Fast Company

Higher Ed

  • If you didn’t read about the Common App’s Direct Admissions study this week, I hope you were sipping piña coladas somewhere nice. / via Higher Ed Dive, Inside Higher Ed, The Chronicle of Higher Education, EdSurge, and Axios

  • Is a degree worth it? The headline says no, but most of the article says yes. / via Financial Times

    • Related, Let’s stop pretending college degrees don’t matter. “The skills-based hiring movement…may do little to expand economic opportunity. What’s worse, it sends a degree-skeptical message that risks hurting rather than helping those who would benefit most from pursuing an education beyond high school.” / via New York Times Opinion

    • Speaking of degree skepticism, Gen Z has a lot of it. Ignore the first headline (it is inconsistent with the data immediately below it), stick around for the data on skill acquisition channels and demand for work experience. / via 74Million

    • For those who might prefer a middle ground between skills and degrees, how about a non-selective community college with a 50%+ graduation rate goal? / via Inside Higher Ed

    • And, to round out this discussion, what about the trades? NASCAR legend Richard Petty claims, “If you’re able to work with your hands, you’ll never be out of work.” Set yourself up in Torrance with a copy of How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive and a you’ll be set for life. / via Washington Post Opinion

  • Education Department amends rules to college merger agreements. Particularly relevant if college closures continue to accelerate. / via Inside Higher Ed

  • Did you know the farm bill provides significant funding to universities? The more you know! / via Higher Ed Dive

  • Australia’s opposition party advocates for students to be refunded for “dud degrees.” Entertaining concept, unlikely to happen. / via Times Higher Education

  • The most impassioned defense of the college syllabus you will ever read. Also probably the last and only defense of the college syllabus you will ever read. / via The Atlantic

Workforce

  • 3 big questions about AI and the future of work. AI will be woven into the fabric of the workplace, but adopted in uneven and, often, unequal ways without proper planning from the education sector. / via OpenCampus

    • Related, how AI is changing the job of the software developer, and skewing hiring towards more senior talent. / via Wall Street Journal Opinion

  • In a hot job market, the minimum wage becomes an afterthought. / via New York Times

EdTech

  • How big is the global education market? $8T, according to Morgan Stanley. This may be true on some level, but it is a lazy TAM for a startup - please include something more refined in your pitch decks! / via Financial Express

  • Six Red Marbles dabbles in the OPM market with Landmark College partnership. / via PRWeb

  • And PhysicsWallah gets into skills. / via YourStory


This email, EdTech Thoughts Weekend Reading, is the free sister publication of the EdTech Thoughts Weekly Update. It provides links to the week’s EdTech Funding, M&A, People moves, and a curated list of Links to relevant industry news. If you enjoyed this edition, I hope you will subscribe and/or forward to your friends!


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Disclosure - September 2022
Hello! I try to remain as neutral as possible when writing this newsletter, but some bias is inevitable when there is overlap with an area I care about. After all, I work for companies and invest in things I am excited about! Here is a full list of my employment history and investments…
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a year ago · Matthew Tower
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