Citelighter’s (TechBUZZ ’13 Summer) solution for Common Core is a hit with schools, investors

Teachers across the country are pulling their hair out trying to figure out how their students will meet new federal education standards called Common Core. Students and school administrators alike have struggled with the federal rules, which set a high bar for what students must know by the end of the year.

Baltimore’s Citelighter is offering some relief.

The ed-tech company’s writing platform helps students research websites, analyze what they find and organize it into school papers. Now the company is expanding the tool’s capabilities to give teachers more opportunity to interact with students during the writing process and track their progress. Upgrades to the writing platform are designed with Common Core in mind.

The writing platform has 1,000 writing templates that tie in to Common Core lessons. Teachers can use a new dashboard to see how students are using the program and instant message them while they are at work. Teachers can award writing badges to students to encourage them to keep up the good work. A grading rubric helps teachers easily grade assignments and shows students how they are being evaluated.

The frenzy among educators to find ways to meet Common Core requirements has meant fast growth for the companies such as Citelighter that are offering solutions.

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