On May 26, 2009, Lou Piconi, then CEO of Apangea, and Dave Nelsen, President of Dialog Consulting Group (that’s me), met for lunch in downtown Pittsburgh. Lou described his vision for a system that could help parents access the best resources and right products when they want to help their kids do better in school (K-12). Indeed, parents spend roughly $10B annually on such services, but they’re spending the money based on marketing messages and based on what might have worked for their friends’ kids, independent of fit. In other words, parents are spending money randomly and not getting the best results.
What if a system could analyze each student’s unique situation using available state test scores, the child’s dominant learning style (visual, auditory, or kinesthetic), parent and teacher observations, and parental constraints (location, budget, desired level of involvement, etc.)? Continue reading