Zearn

Zearn is an American nonprofit educational software organization. Its online program, Zearn Math, was founded in 2012 and helps elementary school students explore and make sense of mathematical concepts.

The organization develops digital lessons and curriculum for teachers, school districts and state education agencies and provides data on math learning. Zearn’s curriculum is used in both targeted small group instruction and in personalized digital lessons.

History
In 2012, Evan Rudall, former CEO of Uncommon Schools, founded Zearn as a nonprofit organization to develop interactive digital math content for elementary school children. The organization received $4.4 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, part of the foundation's larger $1 billion investment into math education. Co-founder and CEO since 2016, Shalinee Sharma, previously worked at Bain & Company for 12 years.

The organization developed the digital learning platform Zearn Math, with online interactive curriculum that could be used by educators within classes, as well as by students for extra learning. The lessons are free for students and teachers, with schools and school districts able to pay for extra services including training and printed lessons. First used in New York, the curriculum was used as part of statewide tutoring programs in Tennessee and Texas. By 2022, it was being used by 25% of US elementary school students and more than one million middle school students according to its own tracking of sign-ons.

An evaluation report by Johns Hopkins School of Education in 2019 found that overall perceptions of Zearn Math were very positive, with the smaller group model of the curriculum a particular strength. Differences in achievement gains were small but "statistically significant" and the report recommended further support be provided for independent learning and individual needs.

In March 2023, the New York City Department of Education approved a seven year contract with Zearn for $983,500.

Research
An Efficacy Research Study on the use of Zearn in Nebraska showed that Black and Latino students, English learners and those who qualified for free and reduced lunch who used Zearn programmatically achieved "significant proficiency gains" in state math assessment.

Due to its large dataset, data from Zearn was used by nonprofit organization Opportunity Insights to analyze student participation rates during the Covid-19 pandemic. Zearn analyzed data from 600,000 elementary and middle school students across the United States showing how they responded to either learning acceleration or remediation over two school years. In partnership with The New Teacher Project (TNTP), Zearn data provided comparisons of remediation and acceleration, finding that students who experienced learning acceleration struggled less and learned more than students experiencing remediation. The data also found that students of color and students from low-income households were more likely to experience remediation than their white, wealthier counterparts.

Reviews
Zearn Math received a green rating for "meets expectations" across all categories of a review by independent nonprofit EdReports. A study by Zearn analyzing the impact of Nebraska's education department's partnership with the company found that students who consistently used the platform had 2.5 times the growth of their state assessment scores than those who did not. However, some parents and teachers in New York criticized the use of the platform for increasing students' screen time, decreasing teachers' instructional time, and focusing on test-preparation rather than critical thinking skills.