Episode 234 | Courtney Muse - Part 2 | StraightMaffmatics | The Knowledge Entrepreneurs Show

Key Topics Covered

• The Regional Testing Conspiracy: Why East Coast schools systematically push SAT while ignoring potentially better ACT options for struggling students, and the hidden financial incentives driving these geographic preferences
• The Tutoring Strategy Disaster: How traditional SAT prep completely ignores digital tools like Desmos, forcing students to solve complex equations manually when simple graphing would give instant answers
• The School Contract Reality: The behind-the-scenes process of how schools evaluate and select testing vendors, including the specific presentation requirements and data metrics that determine million-dollar educational contracts
• The Digital Transformation Success: Why one Title I school saw 10-point SAT score increases and 70% benchmark achievement after going fully digital—and the streamlined processes that eliminated testing chaos
• The Vendor Selection Formula: What educational technology companies must offer to win school contracts, including the critical combination of automated analysis, personalized learning paths, and instructor accessibility that schools actually want

Conclusion

This conversation exposes the hidden machinery of educational testing from someone who controls the process at the school level. Courtney reveals how regional preferences systematically limit student opportunities, while sharing the data-driven approaches that actually drive score improvements. His insights into traditional tutoring failures—like teaching manual equation solving when digital tools provide instant solutions—challenge conventional test prep wisdom.

The most valuable revelations center on the practical realities of educational procurement. From the specific presentation formats required to win school contracts to the pricing models that appeal to budget-conscious administrators, Courtney provides a roadmap for understanding how educational technology actually gets adopted at the institutional level.

What specific data metrics do schools use to evaluate testing vendor performance? How do regional preferences actually limit student testing options? What presentation format guarantees serious consideration from school administrators?

Listen to the complete episode to discover Courtney's exact vendor evaluation criteria, the specific cost structures that win school contracts, and his predictions about how Enhanced ACT adoption will reshape regional testing preferences. The full conversation reveals insider strategies that most educational technology companies never learn.

‍