Joe Liemandt
Alpha School
Joe Liemandt is a technology entrepreneur and the principal of Alpha School, a K-12 educational institution. His work focuses on utilizing artificial intelligence and individualized learning models to accelerate academic mastery and develop practical life skills in students.
22 claims checked on air: 4 contradicted 1 overstated 11 supported 6 unverified 5 flagged
What they said on air - unverified
Students in the honors track for freshmen at Alpha School have an average SAT score of 1400.
"My freshman honors SAT score—you know, freshmen are like at 1400, which is better than almost every senior class in the country. Your freshmen are at 1400 on the SAT honors class. My honors track in freshmen is 1400 SAT." (said at 0:16:28)
No published record matching the claim that freshmen in the honors track at Alpha School achieve an average SAT score of 1400 was located; this does not prove the claim false.
In educational research on the two-sigma problem, one sigma of achievement gain is attributable to individual tutoring and one sigma is attributable to mastery learning.
"One sigma came from the tutor, one sigma comes from mastery, which once again we'll talk about. We all accept mastery in athletics, but we reject it—explicitly reject it—in education. And you actually need both." (said at 0:30:42)
No published record matching the claim that one sigma of achievement gain is attributable to individual tutoring and one sigma is attributable to mastery learning in educational research on the two-sigma problem was located; this does not prove the claim false.
An individual's working memory capacity is a function of their IQ.
"And working memory slots are a function of IQ." (said at 0:53:20)
No published record matching the claim that an individual's working memory slots or capacity are a function of IQ was located; this does not prove the claim false.
On the NWEA MAP test (a 300-point scale), the average student score increases by only approximately one point (e.g., from 233 to 234) between eighth grade and twelfth grade.
"There's a test, there's a bunch of them, but you can use this one, which is NWEA MAP test. It's a 300-point scale. The average eighth grader to 12th grader goes up one point from a—you know, it depends on the subject, but 233 to 234 four years later." (said at 1:02:25)
No published record matching the claim that the average student score on the NWEA MAP test increases by only approximately one point between eighth grade and twelfth grade was located; this does not prove the claim false.
Financial literacy is the number one subject parents request schools to teach that is not currently taught.
"Financial literacy is the number one thing parents request that schools don't teach." (said at 2:12:45)
No published record matching the claim that financial literacy is the number one subject parents request schools to teach that is not currently taught was located; this does not prove the claim false. While surveys and educational literature document broad parental and educator support for personal finance curricula, academic evidence ranking financial literacy as the single most requested untaught subject by parents is lacking in the published scholarly literature.
MIT's Blueprint Labs has partnered with Alpha School to run randomized controlled trials evaluating the educational model's efficacy.
"So we signed a deal with MIT, because nobody believes us obviously, because it's all too fantastical. And so MIT, Blueprint Labs, right, their Nobel laureate group is going to sit here and be like, "Let's run the test. Let's run the RCTs."" (said at 6:10:12)
No published record matching MIT Blueprint Labs partnering with Alpha School to run randomized controlled trials evaluating the school's educational model was located; this does not prove the claim false.
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