You have promises. You don't have proof.
Independent evidence for the people who build, govern, and use learning and workforce technology.
Free, 30 minutes
The mindset
Every moment you trust to technology should be worthy of the human in it.
That requires knowing what the technology is actually doing, beyond what is promised.
As builders, you innovate fast and market faster. The proof your clients trust lags behind. Koru gets you that front-line evidence.
You are implementing AI policies and choosing tech products. Success goes beyond usage. Koru empowers your decisions with evidence.
You want tech to be good for learners. Human impact lives outside any platform. Koru gives you evidence you can use today.
Almost nobody sees all three sides. Vendor work shows us what is coming to market. Governance work shows us what happens when it arrives. Classroom work shows us where practice breaks.
Method
The Improvement Approach
DEFINE
Success criteria · Logic model · Study design · Measurement plan · Academic partnership
OBSERVE
Audits · Adversarial testing · Experimental methods · Usage and outcome analysis · User observation · Qualitative data
DIAGNOSE
Findings report · Gap analysis · Board reports · Statistical analysis · Rubric alignment review
ACT
Recommendations · Product design guidance · Implementation redesign · Educator training
SUSTAIN
Improvement routines · Protocols and tools · Team coaching · Progress review cycles.
Outcomes-based excellence since 2014
- 12 years
- of measurable improvement
- 60+
- school systems served
- 2,000+
- teachers and leaders
- 12 states
- and 4 countries
Developed an evidence-based AI strategy. Resulted in valuable AI services to member districts and capacity building at the service center.
Built an ethics and impact function within a leading edtech company. Designed studies that showed usage correlated with gains. Resulted in three ESSA Tier 3 validations.
Adopted an edtech tool for oral reading fluency in middle school. Coached on action research and measurement. Reported to the district literacy team.
Who does the work
Koru is led by Dr. Rob Wessman, Ed.L.D. A veteran educator, he taught high school, led turnaround work at a large, Title I high school, and spent more than a decade as Harvard's authorized provider of Data Wise and System Wise coaching across 60 school systems. Most recently he built the ethics and safety function at a leading edtech company where studies earned three ESSA Tier 3 validations. He serves on the Harvard Data Wise Advisory Board.
How engagements are staffed
Every study gets a team built for the question it has to answer. An experimental impact study needs an econometrician. A safety review needs someone who has done adversarial testing on a live product. A district implementation study needs people who have run improvement work inside schools.
Koru assembles that team from a network of university researchers, data scientists, and former district and edtech leaders, with Dr. Wessman leading every engagement. Recent collaborators have included researchers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Radford University.
You get the specialist your question requires, not whoever was available.
The 30 Day Diagnostic
One tool, one implementation, or one portfolio. We review the evidence, analyze your usage and outcome data, and talk to the people actually using it. You get a written answer to a specific question and a recommendation you can act on.
Fixed scope, fixed price, fixed finish. Real evidence.
Free, 30 minutes