An edtech founder on a mission to lift learning to new levels.
Dacia Toll is co-founder and co-CEO of Coursemojo, a leading edtech which has developed a best-in-class curriculum-aligned AI-powered assistant teacher. Dacia’s journey for educational equity began 21 years ago when she founded Amistad Academy in New Haven, Connecticut, which posted the greatest achievement gains of any middle school in the state and was the subject of a nationally-televised PBS documentary, “Closing the Achievement Gap.” Dacia then went on to found and lead Achievement First, a leading charter management organization, with 41 schools in New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. AF students routinely achieve academic results and college graduation rates on par with the wealthiest communities in the nation. She launched AF Accelerate seven years ago to support non-AF schools and networks across the country to build their own teacher and leader capacity. Heading up “Mojo” (as she refers to the company), Dacia continues her push to address head on the challenges of education and energize educators and learners alike.
What inspired you to launch Coursemojo, and how does it address the most pressing challenges facing schools today?
My co-founder Eric and I are both former teachers and principals, so we understand first-hand the challenge of motivating and meeting every student where they are while continuing to teach to the grade-level rigor of the curriculum. We heard from many of our teacher and leader friends that the traditional approach, especially after the pandemic, was not effective or sustainable. It is impossible for one teacher to provide the in-the-moment intervention that every student needs to be engaged and successful.
‘We heard from many of our teacher and leader friends that the traditional approach, especially after the pandemic, was not effective or sustainable. It is impossible for one teacher to provide the in-the-moment intervention that every student needs to be engaged and successful.’
We developed Coursemojo (Mojo) to address two of the most pressing challenges we heard. First, NAEP reading scores have been on a steady downward trend that started even before the pandemic and are now at their lowest level in 30 years. Second, we need to curb the exodus of talented educators from the profession.
Coursemojo offers the only artificial intelligence (AI) supports for students and teachers that are aligned to top-rated ELA curricula. Most teachers don’t want an “extra” program or product but rather tools designed to make their core instruction more effective, engaging, and easier. Mojo takes the specific texts, questions, and writing assignments from the HQIM (high-quality instructional materials) and creates highly-interactive activities that provide differentiated support for struggling readers, advanced students, and MLL students in 60+ languages. As a student said to me, “It’s like the handout is talking to me.” Or, as a district leader said, “It’s like embedding Tier 2 supports in Tier 1.” Mojo also supports teachers with a live dashboard showing how every student is doing on every question, suggested discussion questions based on areas of misconception, grading support, and trend analysis over time in student work.
We are seeing really exciting results relative to our two big goals. In Sumner County (TN), Aldine ISD (TX), and Alliance for College-Ready Schools (CA), students using Mojo are improving at 4 times the rate (or more) compared to students who are not using Mojo on ELA benchmark assessments. Our second big goal is teacher retention, so we are excited that 96 percent of the teachers using Mojo say that it is making their jobs easier and more enjoyable.
There is a lot of buzz about AI in education right now. You have argued that districts don’t need an AI strategy – they need a teaching and learning strategy that is powered by AI. Can you unpack what this means and why this distinction is important?
Two of our incredible pilot partners, Dr. Scott Langford, the Director of Schools in Sumner County, and Dr. Simone Wright, the Chief Academic Officer of Denver Public Schools, taught me this. They are very focused on their districts’ goals and their vision for great instruction, and they use those priorities to sift through the various education products on the market and pinpoint the AI tools that best meet their districts’ needs.
Many edtech thought leaders are preaching that AI will transform teaching and learning. Our focus is different. We want to help educators deliver on the already ambitious and human-centered vision they have – built on rigorous texts and tasks, peer collaboration, and rich classroom discourse that can never be replaced by technology. We have to understand that AI isn’t an end in and of itself, but a powerful tool to help us achieve our teaching and learning vision.
How does your platform ensure that its approach supports all students?
Diverse learners are often an afterthought in edtech – products are designed for average learners and accessibility features are added after the fact.
From day one, we built Coursemojo around the wonderful diversity that exists in most classrooms in the country. Our advanced AI capabilities allow students to adapt their learning in a variety of ways.
For instance, Coursemojo offers more than 60 language options, read-aloud and voice-to-text resources, OpenDyslexic and Lexend fonts, and enhanced readability. Most importantly, students receive personalized feedback and scaffolded questions based on their specific needs. If a student is advanced, they’ll get pushed or challenged to reach the next level of learning.
Students who are confused will get more targeted questions that direct them back to a specific portion of the text to ensure they grasp a concept before moving on.
What are some common misconceptions you’re seeing from district leaders when it comes to adopting AI tools, and how does your solution help them navigate these challenges effectively?
I encounter two common misconceptions. The first is that many people think AI is ChatGPT, but ChatGPT is actually just one Large Language Model (LLM). When talking with district leaders, we compare AI to electricity – we still had to invent the light bulb to turn the flow of electrical power into something useful. It all comes down to choosing the right tools in the classroom to make the most effective, efficient, and enjoyable use of AI.
‘…we compare AI to electricity – we still had to invent the light bulb to turn the flow of electrical power into something useful. It all comes down to choosing the right tools in the classroom to make the most effective, efficient, and enjoyable use of AI.’
Second, there’s a dominant paradigm in edtech that involves students working on their own, in silence. For 20 minutes a day or so, students put on their headphones and go down their own personalized pathways, disconnected from what’s happening in the classroom. It no longer has to be that way because AI can make tools more flexible and conversational, and we can now build tools with more intentionality about supporting students learning in small groups and learning from each other as well as the tool.
Looking ahead, how do you see the role of AI evolving with K-12 education, and what advice would you give to district leaders who are trying to enhance their teaching and learning strategies?
I always emphasize that districts should start with their goals and priorities and then determine how technology can help them accomplish their overall strategy. During the pandemic, schools rushed to put edtech in place because we had no other choice. Today, we have the time and knowledge to be more intentional when designing and vetting technology.
I also encourage administrators to demand more from their edtech partners. Do they offer pilot programs so you can determine if their product is the right fit before making a big financial investment? Are they listening to your students and teachers, sharing back what they learned, and adapting features based on their feedback?
When educators and edtech providers work together, we can develop AI-powered solutions and human-centered interactions that, together, elevate the learning experience for every child.
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Victor Rivero is the Editor-in-Chief of EdTech Digest. Write to: victor@edtechdigest.com
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