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“The first time we ran a mission the students all began to applaud like you see in the videos of NASA control rooms.”
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Charity Perry
Kindergarten Teacher
“I've never seen anything reach my kids better and generate more authentic engagement than Mission.io.”
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Elijah Thomas
Middle School Science
“The Depth of Knowledge that this program instills in the students is phenomenal and I could never replicate that with a quiz or test.”
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Lisa Perry
5th Grade Teacher
Getting started
A SBIR Phase I award from the National Science Foundation enabled us to build a gamified, online resource to help students develop 21st-century skills through immersive group STEM simulations.
Greater expansion
A SBIR Phase II award (and follow-on funding) from the National Science Foundation allowed for the expansion of the technology to allow for the measurement of real-time skill and performance data on 21st-century skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, initiative, and resilience.
Early research
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Through funding and support from the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) and NSF, post-doctoral researcher Dr. Patricia Langford conducted research into program implementation in 119 schools with groups of K-9 students during the 2020-2021 school year. She analyzed skill growth in students after weekly use of the program.
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Systematic usage analysis
Dr. Patricia Langford conducted an analysis of the systematic use of the program on the learning and development of social-emotional skills of elementary students. The information derived from program files of 380 schools, 107 school districts, and 19 states.
Collaboration showed sustained growth (+.1016 from mean value). Critical Thinking also showed growth (+.424 from mean value). Correlation analysis displayed a strong, positive relationship between Knowledge and Application (.841).
Click here to read the full report.
Customer satisfaction survey
Our bi-annual customer satisfaction survey of Spring 2023 showed that the program was utilized by 1,275 teachers and 85,400 students in 379 schools during the 2022-2023 school year. Teachers (N=184) reported that the program had a significant/high impact on critical thinking (73%), problem-solving (82%), communication (82%), positive classroom environment (82%), and interest in science (74%).
Almost every teacher survey conducted in recent years revealed a desire for significant content expansion, particularly into subject areas beyond STEM. This common theme in feedback led the team to start exploring literacy integration and expansion into new content areas.
Literacy integration
We received a SBIR Phase IB award from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences to develop a cross-curricular literacy branch of our program. With this funding, our team developed a cross-curricular literacy prototype for Grades 3-5 to integrate literacy skills into our existing gamified K-8 program by embedding reading, writing, and speaking tasks into the core program’s standards-based STEM missions.
First quasi-experimental study
To evaluate the prototype created during Phase IB, a quasi-experimental pilot study was conducted in partnership with Dr. Patricia Langford and Dr. Jadelyn Abbott of Weber State University to assess the prototype's effectiveness in enhancing engagement, motivation, and literacy outcomes. The sample included participants from six elementary schools, involving a total of 17 teachers and approximately 220 students.
In a quasi-experimental study of 240 students (treatment n = 172, control n = 68) across six Utah elementary schools, fifth-grade and third-grade students demonstrated statistically significant improvement in reading and data analysis (Miilen et al., 2025)
ESSA Level IV
As of March 2024, Mission.io meets Level IV evidence requirements in compliance with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as validated by third-party organization Instructure. This means that our program has demonstrated a strong theoretical rationale and logic model based on rigorous research (Wilson, 2024)
Click here to read the full ESSA Level 4 report.
Scaling cross-curricular literacy intervention
Mission.io received a Phase II SBIR award from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to fully develop, evaluate, and commercialize a gamified, cross-curricular literacy intervention for weekly use in 5th-grade classrooms. Building on the Phase IB prototype, this project aimed to seamlessly integrate literacy skill practice into the existing Mission.io platform, which previously focused exclusively on STEM. This intervention was designed to enhance student engagement, literacy achievement, and content knowledge for elementary school students.
Key activities in this project included developing and refining 30 interactive Missions that aligned with national and state-specific 5th-grade ELA, science, and social studies standards. These Missions engaged students in reading, writing, and speaking across disciplines. The project also focused on developing text annotation tools and close reading support features, creating literacy-focused teacher support tools, and improving accessibility features to support diverse learners.
Successful multi-year, district-wide program implementation in Alpine School District
Mission.io was implemented in Utah’s largest school district over the course of multiple school years -- with impressive results.
Read the case study here.
Correlational study completed
Mission.io conducted a retrospective correlational study investigating the impact of Mission.io usage on school-level science proficiency across 60 schools over three years.
The study found significant positive correlations between Mission.io usage and RISE science scores in 5th grade and 6th grade. After controlling for demographics and school year, Mission volume was a significant positive predictor of proficiency for the cross-grade composite and 6th grade. Schools completing 10+ missions significantly outperformed schools with no usage across all grades and the composite with effect sizes ranging from medium to large.
Click here to read the full study.
ESSA Level II
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A large-scale quasi-experimental pilot study was conducted by research partner Instructure during the 2025-2026 school year to evaluate the intervention's impact on 5th-grade students in Utah public schools, comparing treatment students (n = 582) with control students (n = 457) across 53 classrooms. This study was funded through our Phase II ED/IES SBIR grant.
The product produced significant favorable effects on content knowledge (g = .34, p < .001), writing performance (g = .27, p = .015), and behavioral engagement (g = .17, p = .009), with a significant dose-response relationship in which each additional Mission predicted higher academic achievement. These results indicated strong potential for broader adoption and scalability.
Mission.io now meets ESSA Level II (Moderate Evidence) standards, as validated by Instructure in June 2026.
Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Mid-Phase Grant
Mission.io is currently collaborating with Northeastern Utah Educational Services and B&W Evaluation on a five-year EIR project funded through the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) to enhance, scale, and perform a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Mission.io’s evidence-based cross-curricular literacy program. The program uses a mission-driven, collaborative learning platform designed to improve literacy outcomes, which will help rural and high-need students across the state of Utah, such as those in the lowest achievement quartile and students from low-income backgrounds.