Education

Supporting students, teachers, and
schools by increasing engagement,
building skills, promoting subject mastery,
and expanding their capacity to thrive.

• 45M+ students gained skills and made
progress toward subject mastery
through programs delivered by our
education partners

• 7M+ teachers supported with
professional development and other
capacity building resources

Impact story:

Closing literacy gaps

CommonLit unlocks the potential of every child through literacy by accelerating their reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills.

Problem: On a global scale, 250 million children are failing to acquire basic literacy skills. Research indicates that 80 percent of low-income students read below grade level and 50 percent of students lack foundation reading skills with students living in poverty receiving poor instruction.

Solution and Cisco support: Cisco Foundation has supported CommonLit’s global platform to improve teacher and student learning experiences, create inline learning annotation, ensure web accessibility, and implement Single Sign On interoperability with data security and infrastructure upgrades. These investments enable expanded adoption by larger school districts, improved platform performance and reduced maintenance costs.

Impact: CommonLit has demonstrated a 2x increase in learning acceleration with significant improvements for all students, including those from low-income backgrounds, English Language Learners (ELL), and students with disabilities. A comprehensive study revealed that schools implementing CommonLit classes improved student engagement in North and South America.

6.8M active students demonstrating learning on the platform
479K teachers with students on the platform across North and South America
1.6M students completed 6 or more digital lessons
88 percent school customer renewal rates for CommonLit services

Impact story:

Scaling computer science education globally

Code.org expands access to computer science in schools, increasing participation by young women and students from underrepresented groups.

Problem: In an increasingly digital world, computer science should be a foundational subject. Yet more than 260 million children and youth (students) are out of school and over 600 million students are not meeting minimum learning standards globally. In this context, students’ access to computer science education in the classroom is not equitable and is even further out of reach for most students.

Solution and Cisco support: Cisco Foundation has supported Code.org to broaden their international partner development model, translate curriculum into multiple languages, implement platform translation tools and capabilities, and introduce platform interoperability and digital divide low-bandwidth curriculum for last-mile regions with limited to no internet capabilities.

Impact: Code.org's platform reaches teachers and students around the globe, opening access to pre-reader through AP level computer science education in 180 countries in every region of the world in over 67 languages.

13.3M students and teachers engaged in computer science education globally
67 percent underserved students and 45 percent women
180+ countries and 67 languages
1.7B hours of code supported

Impact story:

Providing climate and STEM resources for teachers

Cool.org enables teachers and parents to be the best educators they can be by providing exceptional climate, STEM and cultural learning resources in Australia.

Problem: Globally, there is a teacher shortage widening, and more teachers leaving the profession compared to those entering. Teachers often are assigned to teach subjects outside their area of expertise. Pairing these dynamics with high student anxiety, the climate, and overall declining student engagement in school points to a need for innovative supplemental climate and STEM classroom resources for teachers.

Solution and Cisco support: Cisco Foundation investments have enabled the teach platform transformation of Cool.org into an educator-customized platform to deliver meaningful, high-quality content to educators, with AI lesson plan supports to reach teachers and students with evidence-based sustainability and climate education supplemental curriculum.

Impact: Since the platform's launch, educators save 3 hours per lesson on average, with 69 percent of teachers surveyed using this time to enhance student engagement. Additionally, educators report increased confidence in teaching complex topics, including environmental, social issues, and STEM. Their work has expanded beyond Australia to where it is fully global.

2M+ students taught/engaged
24K teachers and parents supported globally
203K lessons downloaded
92 percent Australian schools have a Cool.org teacher

Impact story:

Empowering teachers in Thailand

_{Five alumni appointed to the Committee of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) Educational Policy.}

Over the last ten years, Teach for Thailand has been developing a trained workforce of educators to transform the Thai education system for the better.

Problem: There are systemic challenges to support student education. Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores are well below Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s average, and 50 percent+ of recent graduates ranked “teacher” as least preferred occupation.

Solution and Cisco support: Cisco Foundation support enabled Teach for Thailand to create a data dashboard for training, data collection, and informed decision-making on student performance—as well as the creation of a Fellow site and e-training modules for shared learning.

Impact: Offerings positively impacted student performance as fellows track their progress and use data to drive necessary action to support student needs.

36K students supported
25 percent growth in student academic proficiency
80 new teaching fellows trained and place in schools