{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"EdTech Startup Showcase","title":"Class Composer CEO Mike Cronley on Addressing Inequitable Elementary Class Assignments","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2080,"description":"Today we're thrilled to introduce Class Composer, the newest startup to join the show. We speak with CEO and co-founder Mike Cronley. Class Composer is a software solution designed to create balanced and equitable classroom assignments. Mike shares his journey from being a third-grade teacher to developing a tool that addresses the challenges of inequitable class assignments. The conversation explores the inception of Class Composer, its functionality, customer feedback, and the future of the product as it aims to expand its impact in education.About today's guest:While some big ideas are born in the boardroom, others are born in the lunchroom. In his 12 years teaching third grade near Denver, Colorado, Mike shared the frustrations of many colleagues enduring inequitable classes – for example, classes having an imbalance of low readers or students with challenging behavior. These imbalances weren’t surprising, given the student placement process was done with pink and blue paper cards. Over lunch one day in 2007, the school’s music teacher was venting to Mike about some unruly students who mistakenly ended up in her class together, even though they were supposed to have been separated based on their disruptive behavior the year before. Wouldn’t it be great, they mused, if there were some software to create class lists and avoid these basic errors? As a self-professed technology geek, Mike started dreaming about the possibility of creating his own solution. That dream grew into an obsession, and he found himself spending evenings and weekends consumed by research – driving his wife crazy. The result was Class Composer, software built on Mike’s tech savvy, his teacher’s perspective, and his commitment to creating positive learning environments.Mike, who received his B.S. in Psychology from the Ohio State University and an elementary teaching certificate from the University of Colorado Denver, is no longer in the classroom, but is an educator at heart who loves...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/ft1rx3EkBNgBHDgxd8O0PqUIhqwWffCWkg0fit0Tvv4/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQ4NjI4LzE3MDUw/NDE3NzUtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}