GoGuardian, the leading education technology company helping create more effective and safer learning environments, today announced a partnership with the USC Rossier School of Education’s Center for Engagement-Driven Global Education (Center EDGE) to co-develop research, insights, and best practices for K-12 student engagement and educational equity. Through this partnership, GoGuardian and Center EDGE will collaborate on the annual State of Engagement Report, and continue to expand the Innovation Incubator by convening an advisory group of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) experts to help shape the future of learning.

“The partnership between GoGuardian and USC Rossier School of Education’s Center EDGE helps us both scale our missions to support all learners while also contributing to the greater knowledge and understanding of educational research,” said Advait Shinde, CEO, GoGuardian. “Our organizations are equally committed to expanding the collective understanding of what instructional strategies work in the classroom, and how we can best approach the challenges teachers and students face today, tomorrow, and long into the future.”

Now in its fourth year, GoGuardian’s annual State of Engagement Report offers insights into teachers’ perceptions of student engagement in their classrooms and how certain instructional practices might improve engagement. The 2022-23 State of Engagement Report will be co-authored by GoGuardian and USC Rossier researchers, drawing on the deep areas of expertise at both organizations to better understand how student engagement is being supported in classrooms. This year’s report aims to highlight the engagement-relevant instructional practices teachers use most and least often in the classroom and elucidate the instructional practices teachers find most important.

In addition to the State of Engagement Report, GoGuardian and Center EDGE will expand the Innovation Incubator, a program designed to promote collaboration with key stakeholders across the education community to support the development of educational technologies that are responsive to real-world challenges. The program facilitates opportunities to incorporate meaningful input from students, teachers, school administrators, university researchers and technology providers in the product development process through interactive workshops, focus groups, interviews, surveys, classroom observations, and user testing. The partnership with Center EDGE will allow GoGuardian to further expand the program to include additional stakeholders in this important work, including alumni educators and current graduate students from USC Rossier School of Education. There are currently over 50 educators from across the country, representing all grade levels K-12, participating in the Innovation Incubator.

“We're at a crucial inflection point in the history of K-12 education,” said Alan Arkatov, the USC Katzman/Ernst Chair in Educational Entrepreneurship, Technology and Innovation and the Founding Director of Center EDGE. “Understanding how to best engage students with innovative and high-quality teaching practices and resources is now more critical than ever given today’s rapidly changing socio-educational landscape. This is core to the work of Center EDGE, and we're excited to be partnering with GoGuardian to advance this critical knowledge base.”

With products serving more than 24 million students — nearly one out of two K-12 students in the United States — GoGuardian holds a fundamental belief in the importance of educational equity and DEI principles that support all learners. With this shared commitment to all students, GoGuardian and Center EDGE are establishing an advisory group of experts to provide insights into best practices for DEI in GoGuardian products. The advisory group will convene later in 2022.

About GoGuardian

GoGuardian provides simple, proven solutions to help create effective, engaging, and safe learning environments. Our award-winning system of learning tools is purpose-built for K-12 and trusted by school leaders to promote effective teaching and equitable engagement, while empowering educators to help keep students safe. Learn more at goguardian.com.

About USC Center EDGE

Based at the USC Rossier School of Education, Center EDGE fuels interdisciplinary partnerships to bring relevant, sustainable innovation to scale in the crucial area of educational engagement — research-based activities and techniques used to improve teaching and learning outcomes, with a focus on underserved communities.

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