1/ We launched the first version of Schoolze in 2015. Last 3 years has been a journey of highs & lows but our discovery of #SchoolSuccess factors has been fascinating. Here is how we did it -
2/ Schoolze started as a classroom productivity tool and a year later, we built a school product to measure parental engagement. While at it, we discovered a major shift taking place in K12. To understand this shift, let's revisit some historical K12 facts.
3/ Our current K12 model dates back to the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century. Influenced by conformity, compliance & obedience, it sought people who could take instructions and get a specific job done without being disruptive. #YouYourChildandSchool
4/ Standardization being the norm, Testing was introduced to filter people based on academic ability & a 12-year conveyer-belt process begun to mass produce knowledge "workers". @salkhanacademy & @michaelnoer (@forbes) did a fantastic video on this here - . 
5/ Due to the associated financial rewards, academic ability grew in importance & became a symbol for intelligence. Those who didn't excel at it was assumed dumb or learning-disabled. Focus was to prepare kids for college rather than #mastery, #happiness & #fulfilment.
6/ Talking about happiness - last year, in a @googletalks panel ( ), @sama spoke about how technology is making people unhappy. Few days before that, a @Telegraph article quoted that work pressure is making people unhappy. I think both are mistaken.
7/ People are unhappy coz our social/educational systems didn't prepare us for #happiness & #fulfillment but for college & jobs. Tech is easy to be blamed but ultimately it is just a medium. IMO technology is our only saving grace from the crisis - due to the scale it offers.
8/ With groundbreaking work from @sirkenrobinson and alike, we are seeing a shift to make education mindful & holistic but until we are able to measure the impact and scale it into public schools, the idea of a permanent change is elusive. This is our mission at @schoolze.
9/ Our hypothesis - Build an incentivizing and affordable technology framework that can 1) measure "subjective" aspects of a school (#whatgetsmaesuredgetsdone ) and 2) work side by side with the current measurement system, without getting influenced by it.
10/ At @schoolze, we call these subjective aspects #TheContext. ( reverse of hyper CONTENT-driven, job-focused education). #TheContext of a school comes from following seven parameters #engagement #funfactor #empathy #mindfuless #growthmindset #focus and #compartmentalization
11/ Today, research backs it - that if we can measure & enhance these 7 factors (i.e. #TheContext) in a school, even a failing school will start producing happier & well-rounded students. If you measure the right thing and sustain it long enough, it will become mainstream.
12/ Example - last year, we launched an MVP to measure #funfactor and results were fascinating (but not surprising if you follow the work of @sirkenrobinson). Notice the drop from 2nd grade to 3rd grade? It is real!
13 / So with #TheContext Schoolze has built a measurement tool for schools that will coexist with today's "academic" measurement systems and will scale to find dominance - because it is the only thing that matters.
14/ Next-up Solving for the distribution - The hardest part of taking over an old & bureaucratic incumbent ( aka testing ) is nailing the distribution. We crafted a 4-pillar strategy to solve for it. This is the topic for my next tweet.
15/ Also - we are passionate about bringing a positive change in our schools and about making them more mindful. If you are too, consider joining us in our mission. DM me here for a conversation.
