FORMATIVE STAGE: The Jefferson Education Accelerator (JEA), which invests up to $2 million in startups and helps them conduct efficacy research, announced its latest partner in Formative, a tool that lets teachers create, distribute and give feedback on assignments and exercises. Founded by graduate students at the UCLA, the Los Angeles-based startup claims usage in more than one-third of U.S. school districts.
This is JEA’s fourth publicly announced investment and partnership, after Fishtree, Agile Mind and Echo360. Bart Epstein, CEO and Managing Director of the fund, says it is working with 10 companies in total but is keeping mum on details. The accelerator is currently building a network of K-12 schools and districts to vet and test new tools. Based out of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, JEA recently won a one-year, $50,000 grant from the Institute of Education Sciences to create a database to connect developers with research partners.
