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Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) 2016 Awards

FY 2016 Small Business Innovation Research Awards

The Department of Education/Institute of Education Sciences' Small Business Innovation Research (ED/IES SBIR) program provides funding to small business firms and partners for the research and development of commercially viable education technology products designed to support student learning, teacher practice, or school administration in education or special education. A total of 14 new contracts have been awarded for FY 2016.

Phase I Awards

Phase I projects allow teams to develop, refine, and test usability and initial feasibility of prototypes of commercially viable education technology products. Nine Phase I awards were made in amounts up to $150,000 for 6 months. These projects are designed to support student learning, teacher practice, or school administration in education or special education. These awardees will be eligible to apply for Phase II funding in Fiscal Year 2017.

The Phase I awards are:

Automated Basic Reading Assessment
Analytic Measures, Inc., Jared Bernstein

EdSurge Concierge: Improving Product Discovery Process
EdSurge, Leonard Medlock

Cyberchase Fractions Quest
Fablevision, Inc., Gary Goldberger

Development of an Online, Multi-Challenge Platform that can Host Multiple K–12 Engineering Design Challenge Competitions Simultaneously
Future Engineers, Deanne Belle

Engaging Spanish-English Preschool Teachers to Make Data-Based Decisions in Authentic Settings
Early Learning Labs, Alicia Wackerle-Hollman

Design Environment for Educator-Student Collaboration Allowing Real-Time Engineering-centric, STEM (DESCARTES) Exploration in Middle Grades
Parametic Studios, Christopher Whitmer

Improving Middle School STEAM through Citizen Science within a Digital Learning Platform
Planet 3, Albert Lin

SuperChem VR: The Immersive Reality Chemistry Game
Schell Games, Jesse Schell

Alpha Bear
Spry Fox, David Edery

Phase II Awards

Phase II projects support further research and development of prototypes of education technology products that were funded by 2015 ED/IES SBIR Phase I awards. In the Phase II project, the teams will complete the development of the product, and conduct a pilot study in schools to demonstrate the usability and feasibility, fidelity of implementation, and the promise of the product to improve the intended outcomes. Five Phase II awards were made for amounts up to $900,000 for 2 years.

The Phase II awards are:

Game-Based Learning and Assessment Computer Applications with Direct Representations of Mathematics
Brainquake, Randy Weiner

StepWise Virtual Tutor for Algebra I
Querium, Patti Smith

A Comprehensive Tool for Supporting Social and Emotional Learning Instruction for Students with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder
3C Institute, Debra Childress

Teachley Connect: A Game-Based Formative Assessment Platform for K–5 Mathematics
Teachley, Kara Carpenter

Recognizing How Teachers Identify and Support Students Needing Help During Inquiry
Apprendis, Michael Sao Pedro