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]]>In this research, Tyton Partners explores the common challenges related to awareness and access that may prevent Open-minded parents from pursuing new learning environments for their children. The assessment confirms that parents often abandon this journey due to the pervasive “fear of the unknown,” which remains a powerful force in education, alongside other challenges related to awareness and access.
Key findings from Choose to Learn 2024 Part 2 include:
Christian Lehr, Director at Tyton Partners and co-author of Choose to Learn, says, “Our research underscores the complex decision-making process facing K-12 parents seeking alternative education pathways. By centering the parent as the key decision maker, we aim to equip providers and partners with the insights needed to better support families in their quest for educational options that best fit their children’s needs.”
Concluding the series, Part 3 will introduce an emerging cohort of organizations we call “Navigators” that seek to assist parents in understanding alternative education options and detail eight design principles of high-impact Navigators. In combination, Choose to Learn 2024 both highlights evolving parent preferences and guides K-12 stakeholders through a process to best address these needs and catalyze unmet demand.
Read Choose to Learn: The Open-minded K-12 Parent Journey and Barriers to Action here.
About Tyton Partners
Tyton Partners is the leading provider of strategy consulting and investment banking services to the global knowledge and information services sector. With offices in Boston and New York City, the firm has an experienced team of bankers and consultants who deliver a unique spectrum of services from mergers and acquisitions and capital markets access to strategy development that helps companies, organizations, and investors navigate the complexities of the education, media, and information markets. Tyton Partners leverages a deep foundation of transactional and advisory experience and an unparalleled level of global relationships to make its clients’ aspirations a reality and to catalyze innovation in the sector. Learn more at www.tytonpartners.com.
About Walton Family Foundation
The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses, work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org.
About Stand Together Trust
Stand Together Trust invests in social entrepreneurs developing solutions to America’s most pressing problems. Learn more at www.standtogethertrust.org and www.standtogether.org. Join the Stand Together philanthropic community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
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]]>The post Where is the Textbook Revolution this Dad Was Promised? (Updated 2024) appeared first on Tyton Partners.
]]>On January 11th, 2024, the U.S. Department Of Education proposed “cash management” regulations to prohibit institutions from charging students for assigned instructional materials on their tuition bills with few exceptions. The proposed regulation would significantly impede the growing support and adoption of Inclusive and Equitable Access models for instructional materials, which offer course materials at a discounted fee per course or term/credit hour, generally delivered digitally, and added automatically to their tuition bills. These models were intended to be a critical enabler of the textbook revolution, driving down costs and dramatically increasing day 1 access to materials for students. It turns out the revolution may be thwarted at the gates.
This month, we revisit a post from 2022 where we continue to articulate the winners and losers in the move toward Inclusive/Equitable Access models. We also will share some of our findings from Time for Class 2023 which demonstrate growing support for these models from higher education administrators, faculty, and students since then.
The DOE claims its proposal to impede these models will promote affordability and protect student choice. However, while there is room to improve these models and the higher education community is still in the early stages of understanding how best to implement them, the Department offers no alternative to restricting them entirely. We are scratching our heads as we see these models as one of the more promising elements of the textbook revolution we were all promised.
The market for instruction materials in higher education has undergone a realignment of epic proportions. Widespread outrage over materials costs has caused publishers to introduce new, lower pricing models, led professors to explore free resources, sometimes funded by philanthropic projects, and forced many students to forgo textbooks altogether.
The net result has been a decline in average student spending on instructional materials. So, you can imagine my surprise when my daughter presented me with a receipt for her used developmental psych textbook: $180 bucks.
The ultimate outcome of the current upheaval in the market for instructional materials remains unclear. Ownership of the major publishers and distributors has changed, college bookstore revenues have plummeted, and students have seen prices decline for some purchase options but increase for others. Subscription models looking to mimic the Netflix all-you-can-eat model have been launched by publishers and distributors alike. Textbook alternatives from open education resource providers have become an increasingly popular option. And college students (among the most value-focused consumers on the planet) have exploited every arbitrage in their search for the best deal.
So, where are the best deals and who will be the winners and losers as this realignment convulses through the stakeholders in the higher education ecosystem? The answer depends on how institutions choose to adopt and procure instructional materials in the future. Today, colleges face three broad options:
In the Status Quo model, faculty and department chairs select required course materials (that are either for purchase or free), bookstores offer the title across a variety of formats and purchase options, and students find the best deal, or they don’t purchase at all.
In Inclusive Access, institutions partner with distributors to offer students the required materials at a lower overall price, generally in digital format; the lower price is negotiated with publishers on the expectation of higher volume or “sell-through” and students must opt out of the program if they prefer another method of acquiring the required materials
Equitable Access, which provides access to all materials across all courses for a single fee per student per term or credit hour, is a more recent access model but is being adopted by a growing number of institutions.
Despite what USDOE’s proposal insinuates, all three options can and do preserve the faculty’s right to select materials and students’ right to opt out of materials required for their courses. Based on our study, 22% of higher education administrator survey respondents reported offering Inclusive Access at their institution and the share of students having access to materials on the first day of the course more than doubled when Inclusive Access was in place. Over a quarter of administrators and faculty predicted an increase in the use of IA in the near term, so if USDOE’s proposal isn’t implemented, the adoption of Inclusive Access models will likely continue growing while the Status Quo model slowly declines. Equitable Access (EA) is too new to judge but could either hasten the decline of Status Quo or split the share of institutions inclined toward new models at the expense of Inclusive Access (IA).
What’s clear is that IA and EA models provide students with access to materials on the first day of class and that improves persistence and student success.
Given the steady shift to these new access models, why would we see $180 for a used textbook? My daughter’s school did not offer an Inclusive Access option, and the professor had selected an older edition with limited circulation. For the market in general, it’s really a question of economics. The used book wholesalers and college bookstores that retail the used books are holding on to a revenue stream that’s rapidly declining, so they’re preserving revenue by keeping the price as high as possible. At the same time, at institutions that offer IA, volumes are up as few students opt out of the program. For publishers with expansive catalogs and a strong presence in high-enrollment courses, IA and EA can be accretive. Across this evolution, we see students with the most to gain so long as they’re provided with the transparency to opt out: they gain access to the learning materials they need at a lower overall cost. Below, we offer our view of the winners and losers as this shift plays out at institutions across the sector.
We advise companies and institutions throughout the higher education sector on pricing strategy and see IA/EA as a potential critical enabler of the pricing revolution we’ve seen in other content-driven industries. The USDOE’s proposal impedes where many institutions and faculty see benefits and will slow down or stop the price declines that have finally started to accelerate.
Stay tuned for our next installment of Time for Class research on digital learning tools in May 2024 where, among other areas, we investigate the benefits and drawbacks of IA/EA directly through the lenses of HE administrators, faculty, and students. For additional questions, please reach out to us at info@tytonpartners.com.
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]]>The post Tyton Partners Choose to Learn 2024 Uncovers 20% of U.S. K-12 Parents Want a New School Environment for Their Child – What Can the Education System Do? appeared first on Tyton Partners.
]]>Building on insights gained from Choose to Learn 2022, this latest work assesses the breadth of preferences from 2,000+ parents for alternative education pathways beyond public school and the barriers these parents face. Choose to Learn 2024 highlights the “Open-minded” parent segment, those most likely to take action over the next several years in exploring alternatives for their child.
Choose to Learn 2024 will be published in three parts; key findings from Part 1 include:
In the coming weeks, Part 2 will dive into the barriers that prevent families from taking the leap into new school alternatives, where we confirm “fear of the unknown” remains a powerful force in education. Concluding the series, Part 3 will introduce a diverse set of organizations called “Navigators” that assist parents in understanding alternative education options and detail eight design principles to ensure that Navigators are impactful and sustainable. In combination, Choose to Learn 2024 will not only highlight evolving parental preferences, but also guide stakeholders in navigating systemic shifts within the K-12 school landscape.
Adam Newman, Founder and Managing Partner at Tyton Partners, emphasized the study’s significance, stating, “In this transformative period for K-12 education, Choose to Learn 2024 offers crucial insights into the shifting dynamics of parental choice. As parents actively seek more personalized and student-centric learning experiences for their children, this research illuminates the motivations driving their decisions and the potential impact on the broader K-12 landscape.”
While the 48% of K-12 parents considering new educational options have a myriad of personal circumstances and goals for their child’s education, they are united in their bias against the status quo. By highlighting these issues and opportunities, Tyton Partners and Choose to Learn 2024 sponsors, the Walton Family Foundation and Stand Together Trust, believe an authentic response from philanthropists and policymakers is warranted to ensure all parents have equitable access to the best options for their child.
Read Choose to Learn: K-12 Parents Poised to Explore New Educational Options here.
About Tyton Partners
Tyton Partners is the leading provider of investment banking and strategy consulting services to the global knowledge and information services sector. With offices in New York City and Boston, the firm has an experienced team of bankers and consultants who deliver a unique spectrum of services from mergers and acquisitions and capital markets access to strategy development that helps companies, organizations, and investors navigate the complexities of the education, media, and information markets. Tyton Partners leverages a deep foundation of transactional and advisory experience and an unparalleled level of global relationships to make its clients’ aspirations a reality and to catalyze innovation in the sector. Learn more at www.tytonpartners.com.
About Walton Family Foundation
The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses, work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org.
About Stand Together Trust
Stand Together Trust invests in social entrepreneurs developing solutions to America’s most pressing problems. Learn more at www.standtogethertrust.org and www.standtogether.org. Join the Stand Together philanthropic community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
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]]>We hope our observations this month catalyze and sharpen discussions you and your team are having. As always, we value your feedback and look forward to continuing the conversation.
In The End of Education, Neil Postman declared, “At its best, schooling can be about how to make a life, which is quite different from how to make a living.” Today, the prevailing mindset across the public and private sectors appears to be: Why can’t it be about both?
I attended a public high school a few miles outside Boston and taught at one in Baltimore City. In each instance, career education was segregated from conventional schooling and reserved for vocational-technical schools. Now, most high schoolers are deeply focused on their future careers, and state governments have begun to throw their weight behind more dynamic use cases for career programming in K-12 schools. At the same time, the contours of our workforce – and the skills in demand – are changing. But these factors have yet to produce meaningful shifts in K-12 schooling, which looks strikingly similar to when I was in grade school.
Still, broader adoption of career-oriented learning is on the horizon. California policymakers are on the clock to develop a “Master Plan” for career education by October 2024 that pledges to outline a more specific framework for how the state will support “career readiness” across its K-12 and postsecondary ecosystem; the output of this effort will have significant implications for how the state invests the billions of dollars it has committed to these initiatives in recent years. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration has spent this past year managing a $200M investment in “career-connected” high schools as part of a larger initiative to “activate career pathway programs” across all K-12 schools. New policy and funds aim to hold K-12 leaders accountable for not only prioritizing career programs, but implementing them in more comprehensive ways.
As districts and schools navigate this dynamic, they will lean on their partners to incorporate new models of career learning into school. While self-assessment tools and career-technical curricula are more established practices, districts and schools will likely seek more robust, impactful initiatives – like experiential and case-based learning – that authentically engage students and mirror real-world dynamics. Providers, in turn, can collaborate with administrators to not only “check the box” in response to new policy – but also think outside of it. Stride Career Prep Stride Career Prep Academy – which has doubled its enrollment since 2021 – is just one example of an alternative school that has adopted a career-centered ethos, organizing its courses around career clusters and facilitating job shadowing opportunities. Models like this will continue to emerge, adding pressure on public schools to curb attrition through new learning initiatives that help students explore passions and make a living.
Last spring, a current 8th-grade teacher and a close friend texted me, exasperated: “Everyone’s quitting, and our school isn’t hiring anyone back.” As the semester continued, my friend had to absorb more and more students into their classroom to cover the rising level of teacher attrition. Stories like these have echoed across K-12 districts since the start of the pandemic. Even as teachers have been heralded as essential workers – and ESSER funding provided relief in the form of improved salaries and infrastructure (for some) – many still feel overwhelmed by the number of responsibilities and level of stress experienced each day. Schools are scrambling to retain the teachers they do have while still needing to manage teacher-to-student ratios and student success more broadly.
The problem schools and districts face is two-fold: teachers are quitting at a higher annual rate than at any time in the past two decades, and teacher preparation enrollments are down sharply relative to a decade ago – ~440,000 enrollments in 2019-20 relative to ~705,000 enrollments in 2009-10. The dynamics have led to a labor shortage where job openings have far outpaced the number of hires for the past three years (e.g., ~370,000 openings compared to ~200,000 hires in January 2022). Now more than ever, schools and districts need creative solutions to address what is likely to be a long-term challenge.
From a recruiting perspective, the Federal Department of Education is still in the early stages of spearheading registered apprenticeship programs – aka “earn and learn” models – at the state level to enable prospective teachers to earn their credentials through paid residencies. In August 2023, Secretary Cardona called on all states to establish Registered Apprenticeship Programs for K-12 teachers to address educator shortages; 21 states currently have programs in place. To support the expansion of these programs, the Department of Labor also announced $65M in formula grants in 2023 to support state apprenticeship expansion.
An influx of teachers-in-training and shifting towards more continuous training models will have downstream effects on districts’ priorities in their vendor selection process. For curricula, assessment, and platform providers, embedding time-saving measures into digital products may be one step to ensure strong adoption. Vendors are increasingly incorporating automation and AI into their products, so more time-consuming tasks like attendance-taking, grading, and practice and assessments are more streamlined and personalized. Moreover, for professional development providers, training models that allow flexible scheduling will enable schools to facilitate topic-specific trainings throughout the year. Overall, being responsive to these needs in go-to-market and product roadmaps will help providers stand out, particularly as we enter a period of cautious spending with the expiration of ESSER.
When I was in high school, I experienced the push by policymakers to incorporate technology into classroom instruction. Our school was filled with Smartboards and Chromebooks, and every teacher was required to develop a plan for technology-based pedagogy. In practice, however, most of the new devices lay idle, with few teachers knowing how to use them to meaningfully improve instruction. Incorporating technology into the classroom, like many K-12 trends, is easier preached than practiced. In this disconnect lies an opportunity for organizations that can help districts, schools, and educators close the gaps.
Take, for example, the science of reading. If the closure of Lucy Calkins’ literacy center is any indication, one might assume that the “Reading Wars” are over and that the science of reading approaches has “won.” However, if one were to step into almost any elementary classroom, they would continue to find a range of early literacy instructional practices, including many contradictory ones. Recognizing this inconsistency, states have allocated significant funding to professional development models to enhance teacher practice; districts and schools – supported by many providers – have also adopted the science of reading instructional materials to augment practice. Despite all this investment, however, gaps in student literacy achievement persist; shifting this model into practice remains hard.
A similar area of “new” practice in K-12 is multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), which has rapidly emerged as an established framework for supporting student needs. In reality, MTSS is a combination of processes to identify student gaps and intervention needs married with a recommended set of teacher and school practices to address them. However, MTSS requires consistent coordination and communication across district, school, and classroom stakeholders, a requirement that few have time for; as a result, nearly half of districts report implementation with fidelity to be the greatest challenge implementing MTSS. In response, districts are starting to turn to data platforms that help automate MTSS workflows to enhance and ensure better classroom practice.
With district budgets tightening and pandemic-driven learning gaps persisting, school and district leaders will continue to focus on the actual practices occurring in the classroom. A focus on pragmatism may expose some trends and solutions as empty talk if they do not have a demonstrable effect on classroom practices. However, a focus on practice is also an opportunity for providers who can demonstrate material outcomes, whether by measuring student progress, ensuring the implementation of new initiatives with fidelity, or driving efficiencies. In a period where many district leaders feel “less is more,” providers need to align their value propositions to these practical challenges clearly. Only then will providers have the chance to see – and fix – what goes on beyond the walls of the classroom and back office.
Have any questions or comments about these decision points and key considerations? Reach out to us at info@tytonpartners.com.
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]]>The post Tyton Partners’ ‘Investing in Tomorrow’ Research Reveals a $100,000 Per Student Impact of High School Financial Education appeared first on Tyton Partners.
]]>This determination is particularly important because, in March 2023, only 24% of United States high school students were guaranteed that they would take a one-semester course in personal finance. The report illustrates that guaranteeing personal finance education in high school can positively impact each state’s economic development and shape the financial landscape of future generations.
Key findings of Investing in Tomorrow include:
Tim Ranzetta, Co-Founder of Next Gen Personal Finance, which collaborated on the report, noted that “Personal finance literacy is the cornerstone of a resilient and empowered society. When students take a course in personal finance, it not only sets them up for their financial future but results in so many positive behavioral outcomes as well. This report sheds light on the pivotal role personal finance education in high school plays in shaping the future success of individuals, families, and local economies.”
The Financial Industry Regulation Authority (FINRA) reports that 66% of Americans are deemed financially illiterate, leading to real and damaging consequences such as debt and poor financial planning. The report highlights that investing in financial education has a major impact, equipping students with the knowledge and skills needed for a more financially literate and resilient society.
Investing in Tomorrow calls for a paradigm shift in education policy, advocating for statewide mandates for standalone, semester-long personal finance courses. The undeniable correlation between personal finance education and overall well-being underscores the need for a comprehensive approach, laying the foundation for a generation capable of navigating life’s financial complexities with confidence and competence.
Read Investing in Tomorrow: Lifetime Value of Financial Education in High School here.
About Tyton Partners
Tyton Partners is the leading provider of investment banking and strategy consulting services to the global knowledge and information services sector. With offices in New York City and Boston, the firm has an experienced team of bankers and consultants who deliver a unique spectrum of services from mergers and acquisitions and capital markets access to strategy development that helps companies, organizations, and investors navigate the complexities of the education, media, and information markets. Tyton Partners leverages a deep foundation of transactional and advisory experience and an unparalleled level of global relationships to make its clients’ aspirations a reality and to catalyze innovation in the sector. Learn more at www.tytonpartners.com.
About Next Gen Personal Finance
Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) is a nonprofit committed to guaranteeing that all high school students receive a personal finance course prior to graduating. NGPF has become the number one source for nearly 100,000 educators looking for high-quality, engaging personal finance curriculum to equip students with the skills they need to thrive in the future. NGPF invests in teacher professional development with live Virtual Professional Development, 10 Certification Courses, and 40+ asynchronous On-Demand modules. NGPF provides its curriculum and professional development at no cost and is primarily endowment funded. NGPF has been recognized by Common Sense Education as a “Top Website for Teachers to Find Lesson Plans” and “Best Business and Finance Games” and also named NGPF a “Selection for Learning.” Visit ngpf.org for more.
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]]>Ufi Ventures and Tyton Partners are collaborating on an ongoing exploration of the opportunities for investors in the Future of Workforce Development.
We’re pleased to publish the latest of our quarterly reports examining the workforce development ecosystem across the UK and Europe, with additional details and commentary from the USA where appropriate. This work is conducted in collaboration with UfI Ventures.
Our briefing is designed for investors, operators, philanthropic organisations, analysts and policymakers engaged with the Future of Work, covering developments in Q4 2023 as follows:
The end of 2023 saw further reminders of the skills gaps and workforce-related tensions societies across Europe and the USA continue to face, particularly as they contemplate a just transition to an environmentally sustainable global economy. This report offers data, news and analysis for all addressing these important challenges.
Please fill out the form below to be emailed a full copy of this report.
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]]>The post Education Investment Opportunities Expected from ‘Cradle to Career’ appeared first on Tyton Partners.
]]>In this edition, we bring a more uplifting message and have found that this January, our corner of the market has witnessed a resurgence in activity. Below, we delve into our expectations for where we anticipate the greatest traction in 2024 across core segments of the education market.
Within the past month, the early childhood education sector has seen a flurry of activity. The current (albeit debatable) strength of the economy has driven a rising number of parents (back) into the workforce, which has positioned preschools and ECE centers as potentially strong and stable opportunities for growth.
Leeds Equity’s acquisition of Big Blue Marble Academy, a leading provider of early childhood education in the Southeast, serves as a notable indicator of confidence in this sector’s potential stability.
The B2C segment has also generated some attention: Sharpen, an early childhood digital reading program, recently securing $11M in funding. University Games’ acquisition of The Learning Journey, an educational toy company, further underscores the promise in this dynamic space.
Anticipated shifts are on the horizon in the K-12 space, coinciding with the impending expiration of ESSER funds. Although many districts have designated their remaining funds, a significant need to curate and consolidate the myriad of solutions purchased during the pandemic remains. One lasting legacy of COVID-19 – 1:1 device adoption – will persist, which will drive demand for solutions like IncidentIQ, a platform that can effectively track, manage, and support the various devices and solutions used. Efforts to help districts shift from still-analog and under-developed business processes and workflows to more digital ones will be a core feature of investor opportunities in the K-12 ecosystem.
Districts’ increased comfort with GenAI, which caught many flat-footed in 2023, is also expected to drive growth opportunities. Analysis tools that can quickly access and query data across various solutions (like Doowi and Mindshine’s Tiva) are solving a critical district need of unlocking data that they struggle to access and make sense of.
Improved chat bots and communication tools driven by GenAI are also presenting opportunities to elevate the experiences had by key stakeholders, both internal and external, which is increasingly important given the increased choice and agency around education options that parents are enjoying.
AI solutions that can detect misuse of GenAI (i.e., plagiarism) and also alleviate the time constraints of teachers through features like automated grading, will remain important in secondary (and also post-secondary) institutions.
Opportunities driven by ESAs and school choice movement are expected to drive investor engagement. (Stay tuned for more detailed publications on these trends next month.) Continued investment is anticipated towards both providers facilitating government-to-parent-to-provider transactions, such as ClassWallet, and non-traditional schools offering flexible learning models.
Underlying the broader school choice movement is the increased focus on student success, which spans diagnostic assessments and monitoring through drop-out recovery and has historically been an underinvested space. A demographic worth watching in this trend are the “chronic absentees”, a population that doubled in size between 2019AY and 2022AY. Providers that effectively can re-engage these students will bring a strong value proposition in many districts across the nation and could seek out capital to grow their reach and impact.
Early assessment and measurement providers, like EarlyBird Education, will also play an important role in student success, and will be leaned on by parents and districts alike to ensure their students’ needs are understood and being addressed.
Within higher education, an exhale is expected from the threats of increased regulation that hovered over 2023. While the OPM market may never fully recover to its previous form, investors exploring other higher education providers are not likely to be considered “third-party servicers” and thus beholden to their clients’ Title IV compliance liability.
Driving additional growth in this segment with several major providers, including Ellucian, EAB, and McGraw Hill, are nearing the end of their holding periods, and will drive a significant bump in transaction values if and when they come to market.
It wouldn’t be right to exclude the landmark 2023 ruling “gutting” affirmative action and noting the ripples it will continue to have among the HED community, despite its still emerging implications. We expect the SCOTUS decision on affirmative action, in conjunction with continued adoption of test optional policies and growing acceptance of “direct admissions”, to catalyze increased attention and growth for providers offering admissions consulting, college/career navigation and lead generation and enrollment management technology/services. As we noted earlier this month, other categories along the higher education to workforce spectrum continue to gather momentum as well.
The mixed perceptions of the economy’s strength, and the likelihood that the upcoming presidential election will only add to the competing narratives, are top-of-mind. These components lead us to believe the importance of labor productivity will increase among employers who look to upskill and reskill employees in anticipation of a market dip.
Alongside re-skilling for specialized technical skills, employers continue to cite employee deficiencies in soft skills like critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration. Digital and blended platforms incorporating the three key principles of personalized, continuous, and modular learning through generative AI and AR/VR are expected to garner the most attention from both customers and investors.
At the same time, the uncertainty of the job market may lead to potential increased market activity centered around solutions targeting job candidates and hiring managers. Inspirit Capital’s acquisition of Wiley’s Edge business, a provider that sources, trains, and deploys high-potential entry-level talent to employers, highlights a version of the “hire-train-deploy” model that investors will continue to actively pursue across 2024.
The pace, rate, and quality of education investment opportunities will continue to improve in 2024, particularly as the excesses of 2020-21 recede and strong performers from that period come to market. However, competition for deals will also be intense; many investors remain focused on the sector and have spent the past several years sharpening their perspectives.
As you pursue your next platform opportunity, take advantage of Tyton Partners’ expertise to secure an unfair advantage.
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]]>As we enter 2024, I carry forward this interest in how education philanthropy is adapting to and evolving in a constantly changing reality. Together with my colleagues, I am particularly interested in how philanthropists are thinking about what AI means both for the future of philanthropy and, more importantly, for the future of society.
But this year, I am also particularly interested in how the political landscape in the United States is going to shape philanthropy, and the focus of foundations.
2024 is going to be one of the most consequential presidential elections in the history of the United States. Yet, there are pressing questions about how both the process and results of the election will affect not only education (through policy change, through evolving priorities, through changing budgets), but also how and where philanthropy can and should invest.
As we get closer to the general election, Tyton Partners will explore these questions, together with other questions about how candidates are speaking about education.
We would love to hear your thoughts. You can contact us at impact@tytonpartners.com
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]]>The impact sector has weathered all these trends and more. But many questions remain about the state of the world of impact at the beginning of 2024. Our Tyton Partners Voices of Impact Pulse Survey sets out to answer some of these questions.
This past October, Tyton partners fielded our second Voices of Impact Survey to a diverse set of impact-oriented stakeholders from across the education ecosystem, including philanthropists, non-profit operators, thought leaders, and other change-makers. The survey tracks these stakeholders’ perspectives, priorities, and challenges as they navigate the rapidly growing and evolving education ecosystem.
The economic outlook amongst philanthropists has improved since our Q1 study but remains tepid in anticipation of continued geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Workforce education, skills training, and alternative credentials continue to be an area of focus for impact stakeholders. And these stakeholders are looking toward innovative and experimental approaches to alleviating problems and tensions in these areas.
AI has also begun to be felt in the impact world. However, receptivity toward incorporating AI into the work philanthropists already support is more significant than supporting AI-related programs.
We thank the participants in our second survey and extend a warm welcome to foundation, impact-investing, non-profit, and other impact-oriented leaders in the education sector interested in participating in future iterations; please contact us at impact@tytonpartners.com.
The Voices of Impact Pulse Survey Q3 2023 received responses from 32 stakeholders. Within our sample, respondents came from several organizations, with 54% from foundations, 26% from non-profit operators, and 21% from impact investing funds, family offices, and for-profit operators.
Most respondents came from grantmaking space (63%), although roughly one-fifth of respondents also came from the investing and other programming spaces.
Although the economic outlook of impact stakeholders remains clouded, philanthropists were more optimistic at the close of 2023 than at the beginning. Asking about the impact of the economy on stakeholders’ revenues and returns, respondents were 10% more likely to anticipate a positive impact from the economy in the next year. This is likely due in part to slowing inflation that should lead to stagnant interest rates through the first half of 2024. However, geopolitical instability, an unsure employment market, and a presidential election in 2024 combine for an economic outlook that can just as easily continue steadily or begin to tumble down.
We explored the philanthropic support for different segments of the education sector. We asked our respondents to indicate which areas of education they currently support. Workforce education was the most popular choice, with 66% of respondents expressing their support, followed by skills training and alternative credentials (54%), K-12 education (49%), higher education (46%), and early childhood education (31%).
Our previous surveys have shown similar results, with programs serving workers and learners closer to working age receiving an outsized share of philanthropic support. There is ample evidence that investing in the early years of a child’s life can generate substantial social and economic benefits. Our findings suggest a greater need for grantmaking organizations to consider how supporting early childhood education and childcare can support their broader missions of worker equity.
Impact stakeholders in our survey sample reported a strong focus on innovative and experimental approaches to address today’s issues. In a space that has been turned on its head twice in the past three years with COVID-19 and the advent of generative AI, impact stakeholders feel that driving toward more innovation and experimentation is a critical path forward for learners of all ages.
Impact stakeholders are also looking to deepen the impact for district populations significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, with ESSER funds expiring next year, the burden to address learning loss and get students across the US back on track is falling partly on innovative, impact-driven stakeholders willing to invest in radical new solutions.
In this 3Q 2023 iteration of the Voices of Impact Survey, we added several questions gauging impact stakeholders’ attitudes toward AI. As a whole, stakeholders are optimistically curious and enthusiastic about how generative AI will improve the areas in which they work. Still, 10% of stakeholders are hesitant or averse to how they anticipate AI will affect their areas of focus. Although philanthropists are mainly excited to see what AI can do, they are less interested in supporting or operating AI-related programs.
This may speak to the general uneasiness and confusion surrounding AI-based businesses and programs. Yet, as impact stakeholders look to enable innovative and experimental approaches to solving the issues of today, AI might be the place they have to invest to do it.
As we turn toward 2024, the preferences and aims of philanthropists will shape the world and education for years to come. As COVID-19-caused learning loss continues to hold students back sometime after returning to school, philanthropists and their grantees will be crucial pieces of the puzzle to make America’s learners whole again. They’ll need to innovate, experiment, and use the best technologies we have access to, but more than that, they’ll need to stay driven and continue striving toward a better tomorrow for learners.
We are always happy to discuss as you and your organization think through these challenges and opportunities. Reach out to have a conversation. If you missed it, here is our Q1 2023 Voices of Impact pulse survey.
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]]>The book has made me think a lot about the relationship between impact investing, philanthropy and the uncertain future which is unfolding. As many others have noted, what’s perhaps most new here is the pace of change. I have to confess, I remember the introduction of broadband internet in the early 2000s, which took several years to become mainstream, particularly in educational settings (and even now it’s still not present in some). Back then, we had decent time to think about what was going on with the technology, try things out, and learn from our mistakes.
By contrast, ChatGPT and its family of innovations are significantly updated every month. It feels like navigating a disorienting mountain snowstorm in which any step could be perilous – or lead us to sunshine and a wonderful view.
Many are helping by analysing developments as they happen. For example, I try to keep up with Isabelle Hau, Kristen DiCerbo, and lists like this one from Emerge Education. TeachAI’s principles are helpful. I’m also closely watching what the European Commission is doing about regulation – this could have dramatic implications for who can do what with the technology, where, not least as education is currently classified as “high risk AI”.
But, as I see another ten notifications of developments pop up, I wonder how we best step away from the everyday and think clearly and calmly about the long term. We need to assess not just the immediate effects and uses of new tools; we also need to think hard about what they might and should evolve into, and the consequences, intended and otherwise, of that evolution. I am particularly preoccupied by how AI simultaneously offers unprecedented power – to governments, to the Big Technology companies, to individuals around the world with the skills and agency to use it, and to investors and philanthropists – and yet at the same time could rapidly take us into a world where many are disenfranchised, disempowered and left without the resources they need to live safe, fulfilling lives.
So, my challenge for 2024 is: how do we constantly keep our cherished values and clear goals top of mind as we navigate the blizzard of technological developments? In particular, how do we ensure that we harness artificial intelligence to accelerate and facilitate a just transition in our societies?
We must move from our current linear, extractive, unequal ways to something better: a circular, regenerative economy in which everyone has the opportunity for good work and a fulfilling life. Education – at all levels – is an essential part of ensuring that this happens, from transforming K-12 to providing lifelong learning to everyone. The extraordinary speed at which our societies, work, and everyday lives are now being changed by technology makes this transition even more urgent, given the uncertainties and terrifying range of future possibilities we face.
The Coming Wave is uncompromising about the issues ahead of us, and the dramatic implications of failing to act responsibly. Yet, it also highlights the extraordinary abilities we now have to drive urgent, positive change through and with education and learning.
I hope that we can work together in 2024 carefully to discover some amazing ways to act. If you have any questions about this topic, please don’t hesitate to reach out at impact@tytonpartners.com.
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