Zearn

Zearn is an American nonprofit educational software organization founded in 2012. It develops Zearn Math, an online mathematics curriculum.

Overview

The platform is accessed via web browser, and is supported by Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox. Lessons adapt in real time based on student needs. Its content includes fluency games, videos, and quizzes, many of which handle topics like conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. Teachers and parents are able to access its digital library of lessons for free.

History

Zearn was co-founded in 2012 by CEO Shalinee Sharma and Evan Rudall, former CEO of Uncommon Schools. It received $4.4 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, part of the foundation's $1 billion investment into math education. The company launched a K–5 online curriculum in 2017, and a K–8 curriculum in 2022. Much of its content handles topics like adaptive mathematics skills, conceptual understanding, and procedural fluency.
In 2025, the platform received a "strong" rating from Evidence for ESSA, which found that Zearn Math had an average effect size of +0.09 on student outcomes based on 3 studies. This included a large-scale randomized controlled trial conducted by RAND Corporation, which found statistically significant gains on the NWEA MAP assessment.

Usage

As of 2022, the company claimed that its software was used by 25% of US elementary school students and more than one million middle school students. In addition to mainstream classroom use, the platform is also used in personalized tutoring and small group instruction. The platform is used by public, private, charter and religious schools, and is also used in homeschooling. As of February 2025, over 60% of the platform's partners were Title I schools.
The platform is used by accelerated education programs in numerous states, including Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.