EdCircuit Staff 
Minnesota – Reflection Sciences received a top award today in the global Tools Competition as one of 50 winning teams building or expanding learning tools to address pressing issues in education.
Reflection Sciences will receive $300,000 to develop Mind Movers, its next-generation executive function (EF) skill-building tool for early childhood education, in collaboration with the Learning Informatics Lab at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Educational Psychology, Koronis Biomedical Technologies, and the Mt. Sinai Parenting Center. This tool is estimated to impact more than a million learners by 2027.
“The Tools Competition challenged us to imagine how the science of executive function skills can be leveraged to reduce disparities and help all children succeed in the era of learning engineering and AI. We are delighted to be working closely with our wonderful colleague Caitlin Mills, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota” said Reflection Sciences’ Co-Founders Dr. Stephanie Carlson, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, and Dr. Philip Zelazo, Nancy M. And John E. Lindahl Professor, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota.
Reflection Sciences was selected from more than 1,900 submissions, with winners hailing from institutions and organizations across 18 countries and all continents.
Awards were given in six tracks, targeting core opportunity areas for innovation. Reflection Sciences received an award in the Accelerating & Assessing Learning track. Other winning tools include AI-powered simulators for teachers-in-training, chatbots that help build self-directed learning skills and prevent student dropouts, and data sets for researchers studying what works in education.
Reflection Sciences’ CEO Isaac D. Van Wesep hailed the prize as an important step towards unleashing the full potential of all children. “Science shows that kids can build their executive function skills with the right practice. But I’m sure that the most effective practices are those that are designed with – and specifically for – the people who use them. The Tools Award is helping Reflection Sciences build our coalition and our team to achieve truly positive results for all children and families” he said.
For more details on our winning proposal please visit https://tools-competition.org/winner/mind-movers/. A full list of winners and their projects can be found here.
Tools Competition Background
The Tools Competition is one of the largest edtech competitions in the world. It aims to spur edtech innovation leveraging digital technology, big data, and learning science to meet the urgent needs of learners worldwide.
To date, the Tools Competition has awarded $17.5 million to 130 edtech innovators across four cycles.
The 2023-24 Tools Competition was run with support from: Renaissance Philanthropy, Griffin Catalyst, Walton Family Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Siegel Family Endowment, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Ballmer Group, Calbright College, Axim Collaborative, Jacobs Foundation, Endless Network, and OpenAI.
The competition is administered by The Learning Agency and Georgia State University.
The next cycle will launch in September 2024. To be updated on news and events, join the mailing list here.
Reflection Sciences Background
At the forefront of executive function (EF) science and practice, Reflection Sciences is a startup from the University of Minnesota that empowers scientists, educators, children, and families with the Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS), the gold standard direct measure of EF. Reflection Sciences also offers scientifically proven activities and digital games to improve executive function skills in early childhood and elementary-age children. www.reflectionsciences.com. To be updated on news and events, join the mailing list here.
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