Walch Education, a Portland-based publisher of educational materials, recently raised $670,000 to provide schools with a software platform to aid in DIY curriculum development. It was the first outside capital the company has raised in its 90-year history. 

While most schools are stuck with a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to textbooks and curriculum development, the actual needs in the classroom are rarely uniform. That discrepancy is what led Walch to develop a cloud-based software platform that allows teachers to edit and publish on-demand, custom-tailored curricula. Walch is scheduled to launch Curriculum Engine, as the product’s called, at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference in San Diego this week.

Al Noyes, Walch’s president, likens Curriculum Engine and what it does for curriculum development to what TurboTax did for tax preparation. (Noyes has a unique perspective into TurboTax’s impact having served as its VP of marketing in the early 1990s.)

“The problem is that school districts, schools and teachers are stuck with static, unwieldy, expensive resources while needs change,” Noyes told Maine Startups Insider. “I checked my high school sophomore’s textbook this morning. Published in 2006. I was speaking with Anchorage’s math director yesterday. Their high school math books are from 2007. It’s nuts.”

Walch Education, which Noyes described as a “boutique” firm, develops custom curriculum development for its customers, which includes major school districts in Sacramento, Calif., and Charlotte, N.C. The company developed Curriculum Engine, which will initially focus on high school math curricula, based on feedback from those customers.

“We are essentially automating what we have done in the past, and putting it in the cloud, so districts can do it themselves,” Noyes said.

He continued: “Our entire purpose is to apply modern technology to equip and empower teachers. We aren’t asking them to change behavior or adopt a radical new approach to teaching. We are meeting them where they are, and want to be, and allowing them to focus on teaching, not compensating for the shortcomings of the resources they have at hand.”

$6 billion industry

Curriculum development is a $6 billion market in the United States, with high school math being approximately $500 million of that total, according to Noyes.

Besides making its easier for existing customers, Noyes said using the software-as-a-service business model should also allow Walch to grow its market share by attracting smaller districts that wouldn’t previously be able to afford custom curriculum development.

“Research shows that teachers spend an average of 12 hours a week compensating for the deficiencies of traditional text books by conducting web searches, using sites like Teachers Pay Teachers and Pinterest, and otherwise cobbling together solutions,” said Joanne Whitley, Walch’s director of mathematics. “Now, for the price of a traditional course, districts receive a complete course in the Curriculum Engine plus access to unlimited, on-demand customizable courses and supporting resources. We save them time, and they know they are getting high-quality resources that are tailored to their needs.”

The company estimates that if Curriculum Engine is able to save teachers at least six hours a week, its pricing is such that the customer’s investment would be paid back in less than three months.

MVF led the round

Maine Venture Fund led the round. John Burns, MVF’s managing director, said that he’s looking forward to working with Walch education to innovate within the curriculum development space to improve math education.

“Walch is a venerable old Portland company that has developed a unique offering for more elegantly delivering robust math curriculum needed and desired by math teachers,” Burns told Maine Startups Insider.

Noyes said the newly raised capital would be used to support the rollout and further development of Curriculum Engine. To date, Walch has invested approximately $500,000 of internal resources on development, according to Noyes. It has also received $250,000 in grants from Maine Technology Institute.