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  • AllHere Named Among World’s Top EdTech Companies by TIME

    Boston, MA, April 24, 2024 – AllHere, a leading developer of artificial intelligence solutions for K-12 education, has been recognized as one of the top 75 edtech companies globally in the inaugural edition of the World’s Top EdTech Companies 2024. This prestigious award, presented by TIME and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider, recognizes companies focused on developing and providing educational technologies, products, or services. Founded in 2016 at the Harvard Innovation Labs, AllHere is an industry leader in delivering award-winning, research-proven artificial intelligence solutions reaching more than 9,100 schools across 36 states. Building on these accomplishments, the company recently released Ed, a first-of-its-kind learning acceleration platform rooted in research, innovation, and engagement, through a public-private partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District. Ed is designed to create personalized action plans uniquely tailored to each student and provide them and their family with an ecosystem of valuable resources and support for fast-tracking learning in and beyond the school day. AllHere's solutions are built by educators, researchers, and learning designers and are backed by a robust body of ESSA-aligned studies validating their impact on stakeholder communication, family engagement, and student success. “We are honored to receive recognition from TIME for our innovative use of AI to enhance learning and connections between students, families, and school districts,” said Joanna Smith-Griffin. “At AllHere, our team is dedicated to driving student success by designing advanced educational tools that complement the vital work of great teachers.” More than 7,000 companies were evaluated for consideration on TIME’s World’s Top EdTech Companies 2024 list. Data was gathered from annual reports, media monitoring, and other public sources to support the research. Additionally, Statista worked with specialized data partners HolonIQ and LexisNexis PatentSight to further strengthen the data quality. Companies were judged based on a thorough review of the following criteria: Financial Strength: Revenue, funding data, and company disclosures. Industry impact: Quality and impact of product or service portfolio, as well as the quality and value of the company’s intellectual property. The final rankings were determined by combining scores from these criteria, recognizing the top 250 companies for their extraordinary impact on the industry and strong financial performance. To learn more about AllHere, visit www.AllHere.com. About AllHere AllHere is an award-winning developer of artificial intelligence solutions for K-12 education, including Ed, a next-generation learning acceleration platform. Founded in 2016 by a Harvard graduate and former teacher, AllHere is dedicated to creating opportunity-rich lives for every child in America by providing customized assistance to help students and their families navigate education. Supported by the Harvard Innovation Lab, AllHere's solutions are trusted by over 9,100 schools across 36 states, supporting millions of students and families on their path to academic success. To learn more about AllHere, visit www.AllHere.com.

  • Supporting the Whole Child: Using AI Beyond Menu-Based Chatbots

    AllHere Explained #5 The ASCD Whole Child Framework™, which first launched as an initiative in 2007, transitions the focus from narrowly defined academic achievement to one that meets students’ comprehensive needs through shared responsibility of students, families, schools and communities. This approach is changing the conversation about education in schools by focusing on five tenets: that students are: healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. ASCD explains the five tenets as the following: Healthy: Students enter schools healthy and learn about and practice a healthy lifestyle. Safe: Students learn in a physically and emotionally safe environment for students and adults. Engaged: Students actively engage in learning and connect to the school and broader community. Supported: Students access personalized learning and are supported by qualified, caring adults. Challenged: Students are challenged academically for career pursuits and to be critical thinkers in a global environment. In order for schools to address the whole child, it is important for them to know about the tools and resources out there that support this approach. AI’s role in supporting the whole child AI is often thought of as menu-based chatbots that only address a specific menu of topics. And, no wonder that is the thought when we interact with AI in this way all of the time in our daily lives.  However, menu-based chatbots, while handy in some situations such as when getting technical support, can be limiting. Fortunately, our AI is able to go beyond the menu-based approach and can be a great tool to support the whole child. We like to say “It’s good at finding the needles in the haystack because it is constantly learning and acquiring new, fresh data.” AllHere supports the whole child As AllHere developed its award-winning AI-based solutions, we were intentional about ensuring our solutions support the whole child. The AllHere chatbot, for instance, provides 24/7 support to families and students via two-way messaging covering a wide array of topics such as academics, attendance, enrollment, anxiety, planning for graduation and college, and all of the challenges in between. It offers a non-confrontational, non-judgmental way for families to ask for support that can help grow the number of children getting the help they need. For instance, if a student misses school, the parent can tell the chatbot the specific reason it was missed - due to transportation issues, the bus was late, or the parent had to work and could not be there to wake up the child or drive them to school. This helps the school identify specific issues involving attendance and allows them to work on ways to support the student moving forward. There might be another student who comes in to school hungry and says something about it to the chatbot. The school receives this important information and can then look into the root cause (if there are issues going on at home or if they live in a food desert). Additionally, messages about mindfulness or connecting the user with resources schools have available to deal with stress and other mental health challenges are just some of the examples of how AllHere supports the whole child. How Ed™ supports the whole child AllHere’s newest solution, Ed™, is a first-of-its-kind personal learning acceleration platform designed to provide students and families with an ecosystem of valuable resources and support for fast tracking student achievement in and beyond the school day. It was created in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School district and it helps support the whole child. Ed™ is designed to be an educational co-pilot, using AI to support the district by analyzing district data, including grades, attendance and district offerings, and recommending resources, programs and at-home skill practice based on that analysis. The platform can safely, securely and proactively engage with students and families, offering reminders and prompts, including those for social-emotional well-being. Ed™ meets families where they are and is able to have human-like, personalized conversations and provide appropriate responses to concerns raised by students or parents. It uses these conversations to gather data about non-academic issues and has a knowledge base of appropriate, district-approved resources that it can share. And, there is always a human in the loop to address issues of escalated concern. Ed™ does this all while keeping students’ data safe and secure. AllHere understands the importance of supporting the whole child and developed Ed™ to be flexible and extendable to help the district meet each student’s and family’s needs. By helping provide insight about non-academic barriers to student learning, AllHere is helping schools and districts across the country strengthen their support of the whole child. About this Series: This blog post is the fifth in a series called “AllHere Explained.” The series explores a range of topics, including AllHere’s approach to security, privacy, AI/ML safety, education innovation, digital transformation, and more. We hope you find these blogs useful and informative; and we welcome feedback.

  • Integrating “Humans in the Loop” for Effective AI

    AllHere Explained #4 According to Digital Promise, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform learning experiences, enabling people to engage in teaching and learning experiences more deliberately. However, the race to develop AI tools is upon us, even without many understanding what problems we are trying to solve or ensuring that researchers, education technology developers and education leaders are working together to ensure AI in education has a human-centered approach. AllHere is grounded in research and we partner with districts to ensure the tools we develop are meeting educational needs. And, as part of this work, we follow the recommendation of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology that emphasizes the “Humans in the Loop” (HITL) principle as essential to ensuring safe and effective AI implementation in education. This post, the fourth in the “AllHere Explained” series, helps explain why education institutions need to ensure their vendors are using a “human-in-the loop” approach when it comes to developing tools for students. AllHere’s latest tool for districts launched recently with Ed™, a pioneering, AI-fueled learning acceleration platform created in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District. Unlike many AI tools where humans are used for traditional data annotation and to model fine-tuning, throughout AllHere’s development of Ed™, humans serve as moderators and trainers for our AI in various ways: Humans actively supervise, moderate and escalate conversations that go beyond the capabilities of chatbots due to their nuanced nature. Trained, background-checked staff work 24/7 in tandem with automated escalations from the chatbot for emergent situations. During non-emergent situations, they initiate escalation processes, provide insights into complex conversations, and validate bot recommendations. AllHere staff also train the Ed™ chatbot continuously, adding new information to it on the basis of usage and fueling iterative enhancements to the chatbot. By capturing insights on incorrect responses and knowledge gaps, we refine the bot’s capabilities over time, ensuring responsiveness to evolving user needs. Below is an illustration of our Human-in-the-Loop process in relation to the chatbot. Illustration: Incorrect or Misleading Response User Query: User: “What are the symptoms of COVID-19?” Bot Response: Bot: “COVID-19 is a type of flu caused by the influenza virus. Symptoms include fever, cough, and sore throat.” Moderator Intervention: Recognizing that the bot’s response is incorrect and potentially misleading, the moderator intervenes to provide the correct information. They engage with the conversation and offer the following response: Moderator: “COVID-19 is actually caused by the novel coronavirus, not the influenza virus. Common symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, and loss of taste or smell. It’s important to stay informed about accurate information regarding COVID-19 to protect yourself and others.” Flagging for Review: After providing the correct response, the moderator flags the conversation for review. They indicate that the bot provided inaccurate information, prompting the need for further scrutiny to prevent similar errors in the future. Feedback Loop: The flagged conversation is logged for analysis, allowing the team to identify the root cause of the bot’s misunderstanding and implement corrective measures. The moderator initiates a feedback loop to prevent similar occurrences in the future. In this scenario, the moderator’s intervention serves not only to rectify the immediate error, but also to contribute to the ongoing improvement of the chatbot’s knowledge base. By incorporating human oversight and expertise, the AllHere system maintains the integrity and reliability of its responses, enhancing the overall user experience. About this Series: This blog post is the fourth in a series called “AllHere Explained.” The series will explore a range of topics, including AllHere’s approach to security, privacy, AI/ML safety, education innovation, digital transformation, and more. We hope you find these blogs useful and informative; and we welcome feedback.

  • Responsible AI: Ensuring Safety at AllHere

    AllHere Explained #3 As edtech companies continue to integrate AI into their offerings, it is important for them to ensure it is being used responsibly. There are various concerns surrounding AI’s use in education, including student data and privacy, inappropriate content, spreading misinformation, and bias amplification. This post, the third in the “AllHere Explained” series, helps shed light on responsible AI and describes how AllHere ensures this with Ed™, a pioneering AI-fueled, learning acceleration platform created in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District. What is responsible AI? Responsible AI is the idea of ethical and accountable AI. It is one of The Software & Information Industry Association’s (SIIA) policy priorities in 2024.  The organization supports “policies designed to foster trustworthy and responsible AI practices, including the mitigation of unintentional bias in algorithms and training data,” as well as “industry-led efforts to raise the bar on responsible AI development and use.” AllHere’s programs were developed using research and consultations with diverse communities, stakeholders and domain experts. They follow strict processes and controls to protect student data privacy. When AllHere creates an AI-fueled chatbot for a school or district, it undergoes pre-deployment testing, risk identification and mitigation, and ongoing monitoring to demonstrate that it is safe and effective based on its intended use. Ed™’s safe and effective system Built on AllHere’s award-winning platform, Ed™ was created using an approach where AI capabilities such as prediction quality and the machine learning process were prioritized from the outset. Instead of treating AI as an add-on or enhancement, AllHere focused on leveraging AI technologies as the primary driver of innovation for Ed™ from the conception phase. All along the development phases, AllHere has followed the strictest guidelines for responsible innovation and relentlessly tested Ed™. Here are 10 examples on how AllHere ensured Ed™ demonstrates responsible AI. ●       Activate and control AI in a “walled garden”: Ed™ offers a secure, real-time, multi-modal data foundation that integrates structured, unstructured, real-time/streaming, and other data into a single data lake. This data lake prioritizes data protection and long-term sustainable solutions. ●       Tested scenarios: AllHere examined and evaluated AI-driven activity and its consequences before enacting it. ●       Researched and evidence-based tools: Ed™ incorporates only the highest-quality, research, evidence-based, and district-approved tools that have been proven to be effective in meeting the needs of students, including diverse learners such as English learners and students with special needs. As the foundation for Ed™’s instruction, this carefully curated cohort of industry-leading tools goes beyond a repository approach to focusing on accelerating learning by targeting individual students’ needs, and they represent the best in engaging, interactive lessons that promote critical thinking and personalized learning and practice in the critical areas of literacy, numeracy, and science. ●       Emphasize and employ a rigorous human-in-the loop governance framework: AllHere can pinpoint when and how humans are embedded in decision-making. We conduct frequent, structured reviews and audits to assess Ed™’s systems impact, fairness, and safety, ensuring that it meets the highest standards of responsibility and transparency. Our dynamic governance model allows us to swiftly adapt to new insights, societal expectations and regulatory changes. ●       Human-centered: Ed™ amplifies what people do; it does not replace them. It enhances and assists educational practices at every level. AI does not replace teachers, it helps them provide personalized support to students at scale. ●       Built with strict processes and controls: This includes protecting student data, security against adversarial attacks, and the masking of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data throughout model development and the deployment life cycle. Additionally, Ed™ is compliant with FERPA and other data protection regulations. ●       Built with a focus on equity and mitigating bias: AllHere believes it’s important for AI to reflect the communities it serves. Ed™ is built by a diverse group of individuals with different backgrounds, experiences, races, languages and cultures to be representative of the way school districts look. ●       Informed and involved educators, families, and students: We’ve prioritized informing and involving educational constituents so they are prepared to use AI to fit specific teaching, learning, and family engagement needs. ●       Developed from consultation: Ed™ was evaluated by diverse communities, stakeholders, and domain experts to identify concerns, risks, and potential impacts of the system. AllHere believes responsible AI is vital as a lot of research and development of Ed™ focused on addressing context and enhancing trust and safety. We’ve done deep research that focuses Ed™ in on always adapting to context (the individual learner, variabilities in instructional approaches, what assets and differences families and students have). Ed™ operates as a ‘school of one,’ making it flexible and extendable to the district to meet each student’s, family’s, and educator’s particular needs. About this Series: This blog post is the third in a series called “AllHere Explained.” The series will explore a range of topics, including AllHere’s approach to security, privacy, AI/ML safety, education innovation, digital transformation, and more. We hope you find these blogs useful and informative; and we welcome feedback.

  • Los Angeles Unified and AllHere Launch Ed, a Pioneering Learning Acceleration AI Platform to Improve Student Achievement

    Los Angeles, CA (March 20, 2024) – Los Angeles Unified and AllHere launched a first-of-its-kind learning acceleration platform named Ed, designed to provide students and families with an ecosystem of valuable resources and support for fast-tracking student achievement beyond the school day. Fueled by Artificial Intelligence (AI), this innovative digital platform creates personalized action plans uniquely tailored to each student. The official unveiling took place at the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center, bringing together students, families, educators and the community to immerse themselves in this groundbreaking platform. Ed is currently available to students and families at select schools and will be phased into the remainder of the District. “We understand that one size fits none when it comes to education,” Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said. “This resource is a game changer. By leveraging the power of AI, we are creating a tool for all students that maximizes resources beyond the school day by individualizing their education and integrating information for accelerating learning at a level never before seen. Ed is accessible to students and families in multiple languages, shares information to support learning needs and helps students improve skills and pursue interests.” “No matter your opinion about Artificial Intelligence, it’s here to stay and will be an important part of our future,” Board President Jackie Goldberg said. “So let’s harness its power to help our students plot their own course of action toward meeting their education and life goals.” “Technology is evolving faster than ever and with the release of Artificial Intelligence, it is important for our district to adapt to these changes,” Board Vice President Scott M. Schmerelson said. “I am looking forward to seeing how this works with students, teachers and administrators. AI can be a valuable tool in the education space, or it can be a threat to education. We must ensure that this proves to be a good tool for the enrichment of student achievement.” “The launch of Ed hopes to leverage technology to give our students additional tools to help accelerate classroom success, while also connecting educators, students and parents,” Board Member Dr. George J. McKenna III said. “While there is no substitute for the human connection – particularly the personal guidance of our teachers – our students deserve 21st century tools that prepare them for future life endeavors by balancing the responsible use of technology with the joy of learning in many different ways,” Board Member Dr. Rocio Rivas said. “I appreciate the District’s investment in innovative strategies to connect with students and to share information with families about how to support their children in school. I look forward to the iterative development of Ed to coherently support the work of school leaders, educators and in classrooms,” Board Member Nick Melvoin said. “Los Angeles Unified is dedicated to leveraging every available resource to support student success, including cutting-edge technologies,” Board Member Kelly Gonez said. “We are excited to see the ways that this innovative platform will meet students and families where they are to accelerate student learning.” “As the nation’s second-largest school district, it is vital that we leverage technology to enhance our communication with families to support increased student outcomes,” Board Member Tanya Ortiz Franklin said. “Ed will give us the opportunity to innovate utilizing AI, to improve the academic tools for student success and provide our families with valuable resources.” Ed is designed to be an educational co-pilot, using AI to supplement the instruction and support provided by Los Angeles Unified educators and staff by analyzing district data, including grades, attendance and District offerings, and recommending resources, programs and at-home skill practice based on that analysis. The platform can safely, securely and proactively engage with students and families, offering reminders and prompts, including those for social-emotional well-being. Ed has undergone pilot testing with Los Angeles Unified students and families and has received positive feedback. Key features include: ● Interoperability: Streamlined, personalized access to resources and communication to accelerate learning in a single platform. ● Personalized and Engaging Learning Activities: Interactive learning paths based on student data that includes reading, math, computer science and other academic skill practice exercises to meet their individual needs or interests beyond the school day. ● Targeted Alerts with Direct Guidance: Alerts provide clear direction on steps students and families can take to accelerate learning, removing the guesswork and simplifying how they navigate their educational experience. ● Progress Monitoring: Updates on grades, attendance, graduation readiness and more to inform of a child’s academic performance. ● Timely Support: Notifications about resources and support available to assist students in continuous improvement. ● Multilingual Capabilities: The ability to communicate in dozens of languages ensures families can access resources in their preferred language. ● Adaptive Intelligence: Ed is an intuitive and continuous learning platform that becomes smarter with each interaction, enhancing its ability to provide more tailored experiences. ● High-Quality Content Support: Pre-approved content from major curriculum providers. Los Angeles Unified, the second largest district in the nation, is the first to systematically leverage AI, opening access to students, families and teachers. To analyze the risks and benefits of this technology, the District formed a task force consisting of technology experts, educators, families and students, and created policies and training for its school community. In addition, Los Angeles Unified has provided professional development for teachers to help students become thoughtful consumers and producers of content. Teachers also engage students in digital citizenship lessons throughout the year and other activities to promote the responsible use of technology, including AI. Los Angeles Unified developed Ed through a public-private partnership with AllHere, a Harvard Innovation Labs venture and leading developer of AI-powered digital applications. AllHere’s award-winning solutions are built by educators and independently proven to positively impact stakeholder communication, family engagement and student success. “AllHere is honored to partner with Los Angeles Unified to deliver on the Superintendent's vision of making ultra-personalized learning a reality for every student in this District,” Founder and CEO of AllHere Joanna Smith-Griffin said. “Looking at 2024 and beyond, we see a trajectory of growth for Ed that allows us to share our effective AI on an unprecedented scale and in unprecedented settings. This partnership with Los Angeles Unified, the second largest school district in the country, is an important step in providing an industry-leading and whole-child approach to AI that students, families and schools trust and districts need.” “Los Angeles Unified is at the forefront of making public education accessible, equitable and innovative by leveraging the capabilities and technology of AI,” Executive Director of ASU Learning Transformation Studios and Center EDGE Alan Arkatov said. “I look forward to the ways ASU can partner with Los Angeles Unified in transforming the possibilities of education.” For more information, please visit lausd.org/Ed. For the most up-to-date information, please follow Los Angeles Unified on X/Twitter at @laschools and @lausdsup, Instagram at @laschools and @lausdsup and Facebook at @laschools and @AlbertoMCarvalho1. About AllHere AllHere is an award-winning developer of artificial intelligence solutions, including Ed, a next-generation learning acceleration platform. Founded in 2016 by a Harvard graduate and former teacher, AllHere is dedicated to creating opportunity-rich lives for every child in America by providing customized assistance to help students and their families navigate education. Supported by the Harvard Innovation Lab, AllHere’s solutions are trusted by over 9,100 schools across 36 states, supporting millions of students and families on their path to academic success.

  • Beyond SSO: Next-Generation Interoperability at AllHere

    AllHere Explained #2 One of the ways an edtech company adds value for the school or district they are partnering with is by ensuring their product or tool can be easily integrated into the district’s existing systems. In order to do this in a truly meaningful way to support outcomes it requires going beyond basic integrations like Single Sign-On (SSO) and instead focusing on next-generation interoperability. This post, the second in the “AllHere Explained” series, delves deeper into the issue of Next Generation interoperability and describes how AllHere achieves this with Ed™, a pioneering AI-fueled, learning acceleration platform created in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District. The challenge of interoperability Interoperability refers to the ability of two or more systems to be able to work together to exchange information meaningfully and accurately in order to produce useful results. Interoperability is always a fundamental consideration in AllHere’s work. AllHere’s customers typically use many different systems for instruction and operations – including some that contain critical or sensitive data. Decision-makers at these organizations require students and families to accomplish multiple tasks across these systems to make a meaningful – or even a mission-critical – impact on student outcomes a reality. For example, to manage learning recovery, school districts have needed to rapidly ensure adherence to plans for digital tool usage. This may look like 15 minutes of daily usage in one tool, 45 minutes of weekly usage in another, and daily 5-to-10 question skills-practice drills in yet another. The plan may give hundreds of thousands of users, from students to families, access to different learning paths that take the recommendations of these tools and the student’s current assessment and academic progress data into account. This creates an acute challenge for instructional and technology governance teams. Tracking which student is using which tools and how often, and whether the work that they are doing in each tool meets the student at their level of proficiency in each skill; and tracking this across thousands (2,500, on average) of tools and thousands of users becomes an exceptionally complex problem. In order to facilitate learning acceleration, instructional and technology governance teams must ensure that users have access to precision-paths within the tools they’re working with, that are adapting at the student’s level of proficiency, and that those experiences are threaded between tools to relieve the cognitive load caused by navigating so many different digital tools, environments, and interfaces. This challenge grows exceptionally with organizational scale. As the number of digital tools grows, so does the number of potential failures - underutilization of certain tools, poor matches between student asset/strength/need and the tools they are using, and extremely variable levels of quality. Ed was created through a public-private partnership between AllHere and the Los Angeles Unified School District. During the development process, unique tools were incorporated within the platform specifically designed to help instructional and data teams solve the challenges noted above. Ed’s Next Generation interoperability When developing Ed, AllHere created a “Next Generation Interoperability” framework which tightly integrates the skills-to-proficient process across top-tier digital tools (those with independent evidence of efficacy, engaging experiences that are multi-modal for different grade levels, and that are able to be used across multiple devices and mapped to skill levels). When designing Ed’s approach to interoperability, there were three objectives: Introduce innovation to interoperability beyond Single Sign-On Capture missing context across tools and make it available to better orchestrate students’ learning experiences Build intuitive, engaging tools for students to meet prescribed adherence/utilization goals. Instead of defining interoperability as being able to log into an individual tool, AllHere created Next Generation interoperability in which a potential user in Ed accesses an environment of tools. These tools have been mapped to a student’s specific skill levels and re-mapped into adaptive experiences, guiding the student to precision levels of next-step remediation or acceleration on a single screen - no more, no less. Every student’s experience with the tools is orchestrated in a single environment. The justifications that undergird each next-prompted action within the environment are individualized and impact-focused, creating a “school of one” which is constantly being refined by metadata on how completion of those activities move the student closer to their best levels of performance. Recording these justifications and the impact that individual learning activities in this environment are having on students’ learning outcomes prompts instructional and technology governance teams to continually consider the necessity and proportionality of their procurement decisions. They can achieve consolidation by considering the utilization of tools in the environment and the relationship between utilization and student outcomes. The output of that approach to next-generation interoperability is captured in the Ed Dashboard, making it available to instructional and technology governance teams for review. With Ed, at any point, a decision maker can understand not just who has access to what tools, but also why a student received ultra-personalized skill practice activities - with all of the context that went into the decision. This is advantageous because students have access to thousands of tools each day. By understanding why students received certain activities, and the impact those activities had on the student’s progress – and having this data for each of those thousands of tools – decision-makers can better understand which tools are having the greatest impact on student success. AllHere believes purposeful interoperability is a necessity. Purposefully focusing on how the thousands of tools and thousands of pieces of data available within a school or district learning system can be used together to achieve the best outcomes for each individual student helps students accelerate their learning. It is one of the many ways in which AllHere is able to provide an ecosystem of support to schools, districts, and their students. About this Series: This blog post is the second in a series called “AllHere Explained.” The series will explore a range of topics, including AllHere’s approach to security, privacy, AI/ML safety, education innovation, digital transformation, and more. We hope you find these blogs useful and informative; and we welcome feedback.

  • AllHere Is Not a School Communications Company

    AllHere Explained #1 School-to-family communication is a critical component to supporting student success, and AllHere is at the forefront of this conversation for good reason. AllHere’s award-winning text-messaging solution has reinvented school-to-family communication with its AI-powered chatbot. Through 24/7, real-time communications, our research-based chatbot can respond in less than a minute to families’ questions, in more than 100 languages. Since our founding at the Harvard Innovation Labs in 2016, AllHere has primarily served districts with exceptional, targeted communications to families and students around issues like attendance and truancy. Because of AllHere’s innovation and success with this text-based solution, the company has historically been described as a “school communications company.” However, this description is now not entirely accurate because we are evolving. Facilitating communication is just part of a much larger role AllHere plays in helping school districts support student success. The company now supports schools, school districts, and state departments of education on a wide range of important issues, including enrollment, retention, student learning, instruction and family engagement. For example, with its newest partner, the Los Angeles Unified School District, AllHere and the district created Ed, a first-of-its-kind, AI-fueled learning acceleration platform that provides students and families with an ecosystem of valuable resources and support for fast-tracking student achievement. Ed offers each student and their family a customized roadmap designed to empower students in their educational journey in a way that aligns with the student’s unique learning needs and aspirations. It supports skills proficiency, academic growth and mastery of learning. And, Ed points students to district-approved activities to help them practice the skills they are struggling to master. As you can see, AllHere offers SO much more than just communications. The label “school communications company” came to be simply because text messaging was the modality the company used to deliver interventions. So AllHere often had little choice but to accept the school communications designation about its work. Now, it is time to expand the way AllHere’s services are viewed. AllHere has evolved from a “school communications company” to a “learning outcomes/student success-focused company.” This shift is significant and this work is impactful. AllHere goes way beyond facilitating school-family communications. It helps school districts engage – or re-engage – families and students with their learning. It helps students and families understand a student’s progress, where they are struggling, and connects them to targeted support to get them to where they need to be. It helps create personalized pathways for each student and can act as a guide for their education. AllHere helps families and schools communicate, yes. But it also provides insight, data analysis, progress monitoring, and more – all fueled by artificial intelligence. Whether a district is trying to boost attendance, help students improve their math scores, increase graduation rates, or make sure students have the resources they need to get into college, AllHere can support them in solving these challenges. AllHere is evolving. We hope you will join us for what’s next! To learn more about the many ways in which AllHere helps school districts support student success or to schedule a demo, visit www.allhere.com. About this Series: This blog post is the first in a series called “AllHere Explained.” The series will explore a range of topics, including AllHere’s approach to security, privacy, AI/ML safety, education innovation, digital transformation, and more. We hope you find these blogs useful and informative; and we welcome feedback.

  • AllHere Named a Winner in the Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence: Best of 2023

    Company wins in the Secondary Education category for its powerful AI-powered solutions to support family engagement, student attendance and academic success Boston, MA (February 14, 2024) – AllHere has been named a winner in the Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence: Best of 2023 for its innovative platform which leverages the power of AI to support family engagement, student attendance, and academic success. AllHere won in the Secondary Education category, which recognizes products used in grades 7-12. “We are honored to be recognized by Tech & Learning for our pioneering work to create innovative AI-powered solutions that support families and students,” said AllHere Founder and CEO Joanna Smith-Griffin. “Our approach is responsible and is grounded in research. We look forward to expanding our impact this year.” The Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence: Best of 2023 recognizes educational technology that exceptionally supported teachers and students in 2023. In their comments, the judges noted that “This product uses AI chatbots to personalize communication in school communities.” “2023 will surely be remembered as ‘the year of AI,’ but there were plenty of examples of products that integrated a variety of innovative technology to help to improve teaching and learning,” said Christine Weiser, Content Director for Tech & Learning in a statement announcing the winners. “Congratulations to the … winners for supporting innovation in schools.” AllHere is a Harvard Innovation Labs venture and leading developer of AI-powered applications for school districts. Its award-winning solutions are built by educators and independently proven to positively impact stakeholder communication, family engagement, and student success. AllHere’s products include an  AI-Based Text Messaging tool that is designed to improve school attendance and foster students’ academic success and personal growth, utilizing a real-time, two-way texting solution that engages families through proactive messaging in their preferred language. Most recently, through a public-private partnership with one of the nation’s largest school districts, AllHere also created a learning acceleration platform which provides each student and their family with a customized roadmap designed to empower students in their educational journey in a way that aligns with their unique learning needs and aspirations, including recommending activities to support those needs. AllHere is used by more than 9,000 schools across 35 states to guide more than four million students and families through their K-12 educational journey using AI-powered communications. Its profile in the edtech industry has earned recognition from the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) for responsible implementation of AI in education. For a full list of winners of the Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence: Best of 2023, visit https://www.techlearning.com/news/tech-and-learning-announces-the-winners-of-its-best-for-2023-contest. About AllHere AllHere combines conversational AI, behavioral science, and interactive nudges to foster attendance, learning, and engagement in K-12 education, while guiding students and families through school with research-based support. Its adaptive, evidence-based systems save teachers time so that staff can focus their time on their most meaningful work. For more information, visit AllHere.com.

  • AllHere’s Innovative AI Platform for Schools Earns Recognition from SIIA

    AllHere featured in SIIA’s new “Principles for the Future of AI in Education” framework Boston (November 9, 2023) — AllHere, the leading provider of 24/7 AI-powered family support tool designed to improve attendance and academics, was recently highlighted by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) for its responsible implementation of AI in education. AllHere is among two case studies featured by SIIA in its Principles for the Future of AI in Education framework and web page, which were announced October 24, 2023 during an event on Capitol Hill. The event also included a panel discussion with AllHere Executive Director Joanna Smith-Griffin and other industry executives. “AI is still an emerging field and it is important to be proactive about ensuring AI tools for schools are effective and safe,” said Smith-Griffin. “We are pleased to be highlighted by SIIA as an example of a responsible AI implementation and I was personally honored to be able to participate in SIIA’s panel discussion to delve into this issue more deeply. We look forward to continuing to expand our work in schools and move the conversation forward about using AI in education to support student learning.” AllHere provides schools with 24/7 AI-based text messaging and a personalized learning plan to help improve students’ attendance and support their academic success. Its AI-Based Text Messaging tool engages students and families through proactive two-way messaging in their preferred language. Its Personalized Learning Plan offers each student and their family a customized roadmap designed to empower students in their educational journey in a way that aligns with their unique learning needs and aspirations. SIIA’s Principles for the Future of AI in Education is a “framework intended to guide the ed tech industry’s implementation of artificial intelligence in a purpose-driven, transparent, and equitable manner that enables critical tools for personalized and enhanced learning experiences and improved assistive technologies.” In the AllHere case study, SIIA highlights the company for meeting the SIIA principles. It notes AllHere’s work in researching and consulting with stakeholders and others to identify potential risks, concerns and benefits of its products, as well as for being proactive about protecting student data, and for designing and using its algorithms and systems in an equitable and evidence-based way. For more on SIIA’s Principles for the Future of AI in Education, visit https://edtechprinciples.com. To read the AllHere case study, visit https://edtechprinciples.com/case-studies/. About AllHere AllHere combines conversational AI, behavioral science, and interactive nudges to foster attendance and engagement in K-12 education. It automates personalized, two-way text messaging with chatbots to improve attendance rates and guide students and families through school. Its adaptive, evidence-based system provides 24/7 support so that teachers and staff can focus their time on the most meaningful interactions. For more information, visit AllHere.com. ###

  • AllHere Joins Industry Commitment to Responsible AI Development in Educational Technology

    AllHere, the leading company providing proven solutions to engage families in their children's learning through innovative communication tools, this week joined the Software & Information Industry Association in announcing an industry-wide commitment to principles ensuring the responsible development and use of Artificial Intelligence in educational technology. SIIA's recently published principles underscore AI's "vast promise to enhance a learner's educational experience, an educator's career, or a parent's involvement." AllHere is among 10 industry-leading companies that serve on SIIA's AI in Education Steering Committee, which developed and endorsed the industry principles. These principles are closely aligned with AllHere's previously published approach on the responsible use of AI in fostering family engagement and student achievement. Joanna Smith-Griffin, Founder & CEO at AllHere, emphasized the significance of these principles at the panel at the event. By endorsing SIIA's principles, AllHere reaffirms its commitment to fostering innovation in educational technology underscored by trust, impact, and equity. This also extends to being dedicated to privacy that respects and benefits students and educators. As educational technology continues to evolve, AllHere will remain at the forefront of educational innovation, working in collaboration with organizations like SIIA to ensure responsible innovation and positive impacts to the future of education. More information about the principles and a case study featuring AllHere's exemplification of them are here: https://edtechprinciples.com.

  • AllHere Wins 2023 Tech Edvocate Award for Best Parent-Teacher/School Communication App or Tool

    AllHere is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious 2023 Tech Edvocate Award for the Best Parent-Teacher/School Communication App or Tool. This recognition is a testament to AllHere's unwavering commitment to enhancing communication and collaboration between families, educators, and schools. Through its innovative and user-friendly platform, AllHere is positively impacting the lives of four million students and families across 36 school districts nationwide. The Tech Edvocate Awards acknowledge and celebrate advancements within the rapidly evolving edtech field. As the education landscape continues to be reshaped by technology, these awards recognize visionaries and innovations that are driving transformative change in teaching and learning. The rigorous selection process, involving nominations, online voting, and a panel of education experts, ensures that the winners represent the pinnacle of excellence and innovation within the edtech community. Receiving the Tech Edvocate Award for the Best Parent-Teacher/School Communication App or Tool underscores AllHere’s role in revolutionizing communication in education and reaffirms our dedication to enhancing educational outcomes through technological innovation.

  • The Crucial Role of K-12 School Attendance: Empowering Students and Their Families with AI Support

    In today's rapidly evolving society, K-12 education plays a fundamental role in shaping the future of our nation. One of the key components of a successful educational journey is regular school attendance, which ensures academic progress but also encourages social and emotional development. Every September, school districts across the United States observe Attendance Awareness Month, reminding students and families of the importance of consistent and punctual school attendance. Regular school attendance is directly linked to academic success. If students don’t show up, they cannot learn! Attending classes enables them to actively engage with teachers, participate in open dialogue and collaborate with peers. It offers a structured environment conducive to learning, where students receive consistent instruction, guidance, and feedback from educators. Missing school days can result in a significant loss of valuable learning opportunities, making it difficult for students to keep up. School attendance goes beyond academic achievement as it also plays a vital role in a student's social and emotional development. Attending school regularly allows children to form meaningful connections with their classmates, develop social skills, and build a sense of belonging. Schools foster an environment that creates teamwork, cooperation, and empathy, all of which are essential for a well-rounded education. Additionally, consistent school attendance helps identify any potential learning difficulties or challenges early on. Teachers can observe and monitor students closely, noting their progress and addressing any areas that require additional support. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), students now have access to innovative tools and technologies that can provide invaluable assistance. For example, AI-based educational tools can aid teachers by analyzing vast amounts of data and detecting patterns that may indicate areas of improvement or intervention. Through data-driven insights, AI can identify struggling students and provide targeted interventions. AI also has the power to better connect families with school administrators, teachers, and the district. AllHere, an award-winning text messaging solution that reinvents school-to-family communication, can offer unparalleled support regarding school attendance and often much needed guidance regarding wraparound services. Through 24/7 two-way, real-time communications, AllHere’s AI-powered chatbot engages with families in an unprecedented manner. If a student is absent repeatedly, the chat bot will send a message to the family of the child. If a parent has a question or concern, it can reach out directly to the chat bot for immediate assistance. If the chat bot is unable to respond to the question, a staff member will be notified so the parent can receive an accurate and timely response. With the AllHere chatbot, a teacher or administrator can quickly contact a parent if a student is struggling and needs additional support. Vice versa, a parent or family member can connect with the school in more than 100 languages to express themselves freely in a proactive manner. It’s a win-win for the district and school employees as well as families! Regular school attendance is crucial for students' academic, social, and emotional growth. The integration of AI in education can greatly enhance the learning experience and provide personalized support. This September and the entire academic year, let’s leverage AI-powered tools and technologies to highlight the importance of school attendance and prepare all students for a successful future.

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