About
Cignition K-12 High-Impact Virtual Tutoring offers math tutoring and ELA tutoring through high-impact online sessions that can take place in school or at home. The program includes after-school tutoring, small group instruction, standards-based activities, collaborative Desmos Learning Activities, and a virtual world math supplement called FogStone Isle.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
Cignition was founded in 2014 with the mission of building conceptual understanding, one engaged learner at a time. The program uses high-impact K–12 tutoring led by a large corps of certified teachers who average over a decade of classroom experience, with highly experienced certified teachers serving as tutors. Its research-based, data-informed approach includes standards-aligned lessons, personalized sessions to meet individual needs, matching students with their ideal tutor, and insightful progress tracking and performance data. The tutoring model includes a 4:1 student-to-tutor ratio that has been shown to cut costs and the number of required tutors by a factor of 4 while improving learning, and Randomized Controlled Trials have been conducted on the tutoring program. The program focuses on learning acceleration as opposed to remediation, emphasizes both academic and social-emotional success, and includes a virtual world math supplement, FogStone Isle, which has been used by hundreds of thousands of elementary and middle school students and their teachers nationwide. The program also aims at building equity and ensuring learning recovery through in-school and at-home high-impact online tutoring that encourages student-to-student interaction to build deep conceptual understanding.
Cignition was awarded a grant in 2018 through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, and Schmidt Futures for research and development of its data-informed tutoring program, and later received an additional grant through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Overdeck Family foundations. The leadership team includes Michael Cohen (Founder & CEO), Danielle Alcaraz (SVP - Sales), Toni Rader (Director of Program & Client Success), Matt Kennedy (Marketing Manager), and Scott Holman (Engineering Director). Cignition has worked in close collaboration with district offices, including OMIT and math content liaisons, to set up tutoring structures at seven Baltimore City Schools.
School and district staff report that Cignition has supported after-school tutoring in multiple elementary schools and that the team holds regularly scheduled weekly check-ins to review attendance and perception data. Educators describe the lessons as grounded in effective mathematics teaching practices and note that students interact with virtual Cignition tutors while engaging collaboratively in mathematics with peers. Partners report weekly updates on attendance, student engagement, and teacher feedback, and describe communication as a key part of the partnership. School staff have noted that Cignition was easy to schedule and administer, required little setup from the school side, and allowed students to access tutoring from home or at school. Teachers report that students receive small group instruction in addition to their tier 1 classroom instruction, that activities are standards-based, and that they meet weekly with a Cignition lead to discuss attendance, progress, and topics for tutors to cover. One teacher shared that Cignition supports small group work with different mathematical thought processes using a standards-based approach. A 6–8 ELA teacher reported that a seventh grader expressed excitement before a reading diagnostic because of what she was learning in tutoring with Cignition, and that this student grew 100 points from fall to winter on the benchmark assessment.
Last updated August 8, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
Cignition was founded in 2014 with the mission of building conceptual understanding, one engaged learner at a time. The program uses high-impact K–12 tutoring led by a large corps of certified teachers who average over a decade of classroom experience, with highly experienced certified teachers serving as tutors. Its research-based, data-informed approach includes standards-aligned lessons, personalized sessions to meet individual needs, matching students with their ideal tutor, and insightful progress tracking and performance data. The tutoring model includes a 4:1 student-to-tutor ratio that has been shown to cut costs and the number of required tutors by a factor of 4 while improving learning, and Randomized Controlled Trials have been conducted on the tutoring program. The program focuses on learning acceleration as opposed to remediation, emphasizes both academic and social-emotional success, and includes a virtual world math supplement, FogStone Isle, which has been used by hundreds of thousands of elementary and middle school students and their teachers nationwide. The program also aims at building equity and ensuring learning recovery through in-school and at-home high-impact online tutoring that encourages student-to-student interaction to build deep conceptual understanding.
Cignition was awarded a grant in 2018 through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, and Schmidt Futures for research and development of its data-informed tutoring program, and later received an additional grant through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Overdeck Family foundations. The leadership team includes Michael Cohen (Founder & CEO), Danielle Alcaraz (SVP - Sales), Toni Rader (Director of Program & Client Success), Matt Kennedy (Marketing Manager), and Scott Holman (Engineering Director). Cignition has worked in close collaboration with district offices, including OMIT and math content liaisons, to set up tutoring structures at seven Baltimore City Schools.
School and district staff report that Cignition has supported after-school tutoring in multiple elementary schools and that the team holds regularly scheduled weekly check-ins to review attendance and perception data. Educators describe the lessons as grounded in effective mathematics teaching practices and note that students interact with virtual Cignition tutors while engaging collaboratively in mathematics with peers. Partners report weekly updates on attendance, student engagement, and teacher feedback, and describe communication as a key part of the partnership. School staff have noted that Cignition was easy to schedule and administer, required little setup from the school side, and allowed students to access tutoring from home or at school. Teachers report that students receive small group instruction in addition to their tier 1 classroom instruction, that activities are standards-based, and that they meet weekly with a Cignition lead to discuss attendance, progress, and topics for tutors to cover. One teacher shared that Cignition supports small group work with different mathematical thought processes using a standards-based approach. A 6–8 ELA teacher reported that a seventh grader expressed excitement before a reading diagnostic because of what she was learning in tutoring with Cignition, and that this student grew 100 points from fall to winter on the benchmark assessment.
Last updated August 8, 2026.
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