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About Cignition

A learning mission. Since 2014.

Built around
understanding.

We bring people, instruction, and technology together to help K–12 students make sense of math and ELA.

Follow our story Meet our team

Our mission

Building conceptual understanding,
one engaged learner
at a time.

Live virtual tutoring. Math & ELA. Schools, districts, and families.

The Cignition story

The work has grown.
The purpose
has stayed.

Cignition began by exploring how students make sense of new ideas. The tools have evolved, but that focus continues to guide us.

Our founder, Michael Cohen, brought together educators and a neuroscientist to explore learning through technology.

From our early tutoring work

A closer look at the learning.

An elementary tutoring session and interview, filmed in 2020.

  1. 2014

    The beginning

    Start with how students think.

    Founded in 2014, Cignition’s first offering was FogStone Isle, a virtual-world math supplement for elementary and middle school learners.

    It was an early expression of the mission: helping students build understanding they could use beyond a single problem.

  2. 2018–20

    Research & development

    Bring people into the picture.

    Research support helped us develop and pilot data-informed tutoring. An initial randomized study accompanied the transition toward live tutoring for school districts.

    Early research support

    Early development and research received grant support involving the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Schmidt Futures, and Overdeck Family Foundation.

    Explore the individual studies, the students involved, and what each study measured.

    Explore the research
  3. Today

    A continuing mission

    Learning, with people at the center.

    Today, Cignition provides live math and ELA tutoring for K–12 students: small-group programs for schools and districts and one-to-one support for families.

    Experienced tutors, purposeful curriculum, program support, and useful data work together around the students being served.

    Explore our program

Our core values

What matters.
How we work.

Six values guide how we work with one another and the people we serve.

  1. Passion

    We love what we do, why we do it, and who we serve.

  2. Agency

    We take initiative with our work.

  3. Curiosity

    We ask questions and explore possibilities.

  4. Partnership

    We develop and use collaborative relationships, internally and externally, to drive our work.

  5. Flexibility

    We quickly and calmly respond to changing circumstances.

  6. Integrity

    We demonstrate moral and ethical principles, no matter the circumstance.

Our leadership team

People behind
the purpose.

Experience in education, research, technology, and partnership. A shared focus on the students at the center of the work.

Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen

Founder & CEO

Research, entrepreneurship, and a belief in student potential.

Danielle Alcaraz

Danielle Alcaraz

SVP – Sales

Building relationships and connecting educators with tutoring support.

Toni Rader

Toni Rader

VP of Learning Quality and Operations

A background in classroom teaching, educational leadership, and professional learning.

Matt Kennedy

Matt Kennedy

Marketing Manager

Telling the Cignition story and leading the Family Plan tutoring service.

Scott Holman

Scott Holman

Engineering Director

Technology at the intersection of education and interactive media.

The people behind Cignition

Keep getting to know us

Meet the work
behind the mission.

01 / THE PROGRAM

See our approach

Explore the people, instruction, and support around a tutoring session.

See our approach

02 / A CONVERSATION

Talk tutoring with us

Tell us about your students and what you’re hoping to accomplish.

Talk tutoring with us

03 / TUTOR OPPORTUNITIES

Bring your expertise

Review the role, qualifications, and application process for tutoring with Cignition.

Bring your expertise