PRESS RELEASE
BOSTON (March 10, 2020) – Saga Education, a nonprofit that pairs mathematics tutors and technology to serve students in high-need schools, has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious 2020 list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.
The list honors the businesses and organizations making the most profound impact on both industry and culture, showcasing a variety of ways to thrive in today’s fast-changing world. Saga Education was ranked as one of the top 5 most innovative organizations in the education sector. This year’s list features 434 businesses from 39 countries.
“At Saga Education, we are working each day to generate confidence and academic skills for young people to realize and pursue their grandest dreams,” said Antonio Gutierrez, Co-founder of Saga Education. “It is a tremendous honor to be recognized by Fast Company as one of the most innovative organizations in education.”
According to a U.S. Department of Education survey, 80% of high school dropouts cited their inability to pass Algebra I as the primary reason for leaving school. There exists a fundamental issue in the mismatch between student need and the way schools are organized for instruction. Students fall behind grade level causing skill gaps that compound as they progress through school.
Saga Education is an evidence-based, personalized tutoring model designed to support students struggling with math, early, to put them on a path toward success and high school graduation. In addition to their traditional, in-person tutoring program, Saga Education is piloting a blended learning approach to combine the best of both meaningful relationships and scalable impact. In this new model, launched in 2019, Saga Education’s tutors are able to double the number of students served.
Across the United States, there is enormous potential to close longstanding opportunity gaps through the scale-up of evidence-based programs. Saga Education stands out due to its commitment to rigorous research--to understand, develop and refine its approach. Since 2013, the University of Chicago Education Lab has researched Saga Education’s intensive math tutoring model in Chicago Public Schools and in New York City, finding that it substantially improves academic outcomes for high school-aged students. In two randomized controlled trials, students who received tutoring through Saga Education scored higher on exams, earned better grades and were more likely to pass high school classes.
In 2019, Saga Education was awarded a three-year grant, totaling $7 million in AmeriCorps funding, from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) agency to expand its impact. The grant was the second largest among first-time AmericCorps grant recipients.
Fast Company’s editors and writers sought out the most groundbreaking businesses on the planet and across myriad industries. They also judged nominations received through their application process.
The World’s Most Innovative Companies list provides a road map for the future of innovation across the most dynamic sectors of the economy.
“At a time of increasing global volatility, this year’s list showcases the resilience and optimism of businesses across the world. These companies are applying creativity to solve challenges within their industries and far beyond,” said Fast Company senior editor Amy Farley, who oversaw the issue with deputy editor David Lidsky.
Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies issue (March/April 2020) is now available online at fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2020, as well as in app form via iTunes and on newsstands beginning March 17, 2020. The hashtag is #FCMostInnovative.
