Enriching Learning Environments Lead to Stronger Student Engagement

Meteor Education & Bain Capital Double Impact

• Yesterday we announced a significant growth investment in Meteor Education
• Meteor Education creates enriching and connected learning environments for K-12 schools
• Our support will help Meteor Education continue its geographic expansion, extend its capabilities for creating STEM, CTE, and virtual environments, and build new assessment tools that further empower K-12 educators to deliver exceptional learning experiences

Meteor Education’s promise, and our aspiration, is that the K-12 classroom builds the foundational behaviors and skills for developing the next generation. A warm and enriching environment can create the psychological safety one needs to dream, experiment and create. Environments are never neutral.  They can deepen connections and build trust.  They can also isolate or cause trauma, as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our place and space are critically important to the learning experience.  

In recognition of that core principle and our commitment to improving educational outcomes, yesterday we announced a new partnership with Meteor Education, the pioneer of high-impact learning environments, also known as ProSocial Learning EnvironmentsTM.

For over two decades, Meteor has helped more than 1,000 school districts design and outfit their spaces into enriching and connected learning environments for K-12 schools. These highly intentional and thoughtful design principles integrate technology, support ergonomic movement, enhance aesthetics, build social capital within learning communities and energize student and teacher engagement. 

The Company’s mission is to empower teachers and education leaders to create ProSocial Learning Experiences that leave their students inspired, compassionate, and future ready. Meteor also supports large urban school districts and other high-potential communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and other societal inequities.  

We are excited about our new partnership for three reasons. 

1)  A growing body of research highlights the importance of learning environments on education outcomes.  In a modern learning environment, flexible classroom spaces more naturally integrate technology and help teachers better facilitate the mix of independent, small group, and whole class learning that is now viewed as essential to student success. For example:

• A 2015 study in Building and Environment found that seven key environment design parameters explained 16% of the variation in pupils’ academic progress achieved. 
• A 2017 case study in the Journal of Learning Spaces provided evidence that redesigning classrooms enhanced student engagement.
• A 2018 study in Studies in Educational Evaluation demonstrated enhanced student attitudes and higher English, Humanities and Mathematics academic achievement within innovative learning environments vs. a traditional classroom for the same period.

2)   We view our investment as a call to action for improving K-12 infrastructure nationwide, which is in dire need of expanded investment. There are approximately 84,000 public schools with nearly 100,000 buildings in the US with school facilities representing the second largest sector of public infrastructure spending (after highways). However, there is also a growing deficit in spending for our buildings, a gap estimated at more than $50 billion annually. Investing and upgrading our K-12 infrastructure also delivers compounding benefits for student health, environmental sustainability and our equity goals as a society.

3)  Meteor's ProSocial Learning EnvironmentsTM align with the practical STEM and modern technology skillsets students need to succeed in today’s evolving economy.  Meteor is an emerging leader in building the experiential physical and virtual learning environments where students can collaborate to build next-generation skills in areas like Robotics, AI/ML, VR/AR, blockchain and more.  And we’re excited that entrepreneur and EdTech product leader Luyen Chou is joining the Company’s Board to further enhance Meteor’s capabilities in these growing areas.

This partnership and our belief in the importance of the learning environment as a contributor to student success is also personal.  Entering the 9th grade, I struggled to adapt to a new school and had little interest in problem-solving via textbooks, which translated into behaviors that disrupted the learning experience for others. But my high school’s non-traditional model, which balanced traditional academics with hands-on learning in a practical trade like culinary arts, enabled me to put concepts like algebra and geometry into real-world practice.  I had to understand how to take a recipe designed for 4-6 people, scale its ingredients and formulations to serve dozens more, price dishes, calculate margins, and drive restaurant profitability. I was learning the same math fundamentals taught in traditional academic programs, but I was now inspired to succeed because of the applied learning environment.

Jacob Donnelly, Managing Director, Bain Capital Double Impact

Students learn and make social connections in different ways and Meteor’s ability to design more enriching learning environments can make school more intrinsically motivating.

Our team is thrilled to be partnering with Meteor’s CEO Bill Latham and his team to support the Company’s next chapter of growth.  In the past, we’ve seen firsthand through our partnerships with Penn Foster, Presence, TeachTown and HiMama the emergence of digital technologies, which are broadening access to quality education and career pathways. Our investment in Meteor is a crucial next step in considering how and where these tools are taught and the social connections created by the classroom environment to unlock the potential in every learner.

Environments are never neutral.