Pathfinder is a developing educational platform designed to support personalized assessment and instruction. We are building tools to help educators better understand student learning needs and to guide instructional planning.
At Pathfinder Assessments, our mission is to give every teacher clear, timely, and trustworthy evidence of student learning—turning assessment into daily instruction that accelerates literacy and whole-learner growth for every student. Built by The SchoolWorks Lab, Inc., Pathfinder unites research-driven design, responsible AI, and teacher co-creation to save time, focus instruction, and close opportunity gaps—so every intelligence has a path.
Teacher co-creation • Time savings • Focused instruction • Closing opportunity gaps
Teacher Burnout from
Assessment Burden
Despite abundant testing, teachers struggle with fragmented systems and disconnected tools. Assessment becomes a burden rather than a help, leading to frustration and reduced instructional time.
Time Lost to
Manual Grading
Teachers spend precious hours scoring and wrangling data instead of teaching. Feedback often arrives after planning windows close, making it impossible to provide timely intervention when students need it most.
Inability to Provide
Personalized Learning
Without quick, reliable data, teachers can’t effectively group students or differentiate instruction. This leads to widening literacy and opportunity gaps, especially for students who need targeted support.
K–12 classrooms need trustworthy, timely evidence of student learning to guide daily instruction, but most assessment is periodic, slow, and fragmented across tools.
01.
Declining literacy & numeracy: Lagging/one-off measures miss early intervention windows.
02.
Widening opportunity gaps: Standard snapshots ignore context; supports arrive too late.
03.
Feedback that’s too slow:
Results land after the teachable moment has passed.
04.
Teacher time drain: Grading, data entry, and test logistics steal planning time.
05.
One-size-fits-all formats: Multiple choice misses writing, reasoning, creativity, and SEL.
06.
Fragmented data, weak insights: Too many dashboards, not enough “do this next” guidance.
07.
Bias & accessibility gaps: Language/cultural bias; uneven IEP/504 accommodations and UDL.
08.
Assessment ≠ instruction: Formative evidence isn’t driving small-group targets or next steps.
Teachers Stay in Control
Human-in-the-loop by design: All guidance is transparent and editable. Teachers make the final decisions about grouping, instruction, and next steps—AI assists but never drives.
Teachers Save Time
Automated scoring and instant analytics eliminate administrative overhead. Teachers get back hours of planning time and can deliver same-day feedback that builds student momentum.
Teachers Improve Instruction
Quick checks provide clear, actionable evidence for tomorrow’s teaching moves. Flexible grouping updates as evidence changes, making small-group instruction faster to set up and easier to adjust.
Impact: Planning moves from ‘What happened on the test?’ to ‘Here’s what we’ll do tomorrow.’
Traditional literacy testing has relied on standardized tools that too often flatten the rich complexity of student reading and writing into scores and percentiles. These assessments typically occur infrequently, fail to capture nuance, and offer little in the way of immediate instructional feedback. Most importantly, they can burden teachers rather than support them.
Teachers need better tools—not more data, but smarter data. They need assessments that highlight student progress over time, pinpoint specific skill gaps, and guide them to more effective instruction. This is where AI comes in—not to replace the teacher, but to amplify the teacher’s insight.
Pathfinder is grounded in the theory of Versatile Intelligence and Assessment (VIA), which emphasizes the dynamic, multi-dimensional nature of learning. Our work is also shaped by decades of educational research in cognitive development, formative assessment, and student engagement.
We are preparing small-scale pilot implementations to refine our platform and gather input from educators.
These pilots will help us:
Effective assessment remains one of the most persistent challenges in education. Pathfinder seeks to offer a flexible alternative that supports both instructional planning and student learning.
By reducing the time teachers spend scoring tests or combing through data, Pathfinder allows educators to focus on the relational, creative, and adaptive aspects of their craft. This aligns with our theory of Versatile Intelligence and Assessment (VIA), which insists that learning is systemic, creative, and multi-dimensional.
AI gives teachers time back—and it gives them insight. The teacher becomes more than a deliverer of content; they become a responsive guide, an empathetic mentor, and a powerful strategist for student growth.
Our leadership and development team includes educators, designers, and researchers with experience in public schools, nonprofit education reform, and educational technology. We co-design with schools to keep teachers in control and students at the center. Pathfinder pairs rapid, standards-aligned feedback with full transparency—everything is editable, explainable, and aligned to your curriculum. Privacy is built in: districts own their data, and usage is designed for accessibility and equity.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Robert A. Southworth, Jr., is the visionary founder and CEO of Pathfinder Assessments, LLC. With deep expertise in educational innovation and assessment, Rob provides strategic leadership, guides product development, and builds partnerships with educators, schools, and policy makers. His extensive research background and commitment to versatile intelligence have positioned Pathfinder Assessments at the forefront of personalized learning solutions. Rob actively oversees the growth and strategic direction of the company, ensuring that Pathfinder products effectively empower teachers and measurably enhance student achievement.
Director of Tech Implementation & Branding
Jenny Lynn Weitz drives the end-to-end user experience of our educational technology solutions. Her role encompasses the design, implementation, and optimization of our platforms, ensuring a cohesive brand experience and effective learning outcomes. She collaborates with schools and educators to translate technical needs into user-friendly interfaces and manage deployment schedules, all while maintaining a focus on a positive and impactful educational experience.
Chief Product Designer
Educational Research Associate
Americas
24/7 Support Available
Europe
8:00 – 20:00 CET
Asia Pacific
9:00 – 21:00 SGT
rasouth@pathfinderassessments.com
At Pathfinder, we’re proud to be building tools that help teachers do what they do best: light the way for every learner.
If we can transform assessment from a high-stakes moment into a low-stakes conversation—one grounded in real-time insight and human connection—then we are one step closer to the future that our students deserve.
For inquiries, interest in pilot participation, or funding partnerships, please fill out the form below, and a member of our team will get back to you.
