CoGrader Awarded IES Seedlings to Scale Grant for Student Writing

We’re thrilled to share some exciting news: CoGrader has been awarded funding from the Seedlings to Scale program through the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), in partnership with Dr. Jody Britten, Modern Learners, and a team of leading education researchers.

This grant supports continued development and research for our platform - advancing our mission to accelerate student writing proficiency through highly personalized, frequent, and high-quality feedback at scale.

Why IES Seedlings Grant Matters for Education

Writing is one of the most critical skills for student success in school, work, and civic life. Yet teachers consistently face an impossible challenge: delivering the volume and depth of feedback students need to grow as writers, without burning out in the process.

As our Co-Founder Gil Flores puts it:

“Our goal is to use AI to close the feedback loop in student writing development - empowering teachers to deliver personalized, high-quality feedback at the frequency students need to accelerate their growth, while helping teachers avoid burnout.”

What CoGrader Supports

With this funding, we’ll be conducting design research directly with educators and students to continue refining our platform, and implementing a rigorous research agenda to evaluate both efficacy and scalability.

CoGrader’s work has always been rooted in partnership with teachers, and that’s not changing.

Dr. Jody Britten, Co-Principal Investigator on the project, shared:

“For four years we have seen CoGrader continue to listen to teachers, co-design solutions, and iterate on improvements. All the while upholding commitments to student privacy and responsible use of AI. I am thrilled to take this next step in improving the product, enhancing the user experience, and researching the effectiveness of CoGrader 2.0”

What Comes Next: Research and Product Iteration

This grant positions us to generate insights and build tools that will benefit not only the schools participating in our research, but the broader education community. We’re committed to thoughtful innovation grounded in research and educator partnership - and we can’t wait to share more as this work unfolds.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey so far. This milestone belongs to the educators and students who’ve shaped CoGrader from day one.