Engineer purpose-built solutions using fit-to-context analysis and a Heilmeier Catechism-style question set¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Teams should identify use cases that fit the solution being designed and collect information about key context factors for implementation, such as technology systems, academic schedules, and policies, while accounting for developmental appropriateness — for example, whether an AI tool is appropriate for young children. The note adapts a set of eight questions inspired by the Heilmeier Catechism, asking whether stakeholders see the problem as pressing, what the theory of change is, whether users believe the solution is worth trying and fits existing routines, which core components are essential, which assumptions need testing before building, and what evidence exists that the solution could scale to have broad and meaningful effects on the US education system.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Answers to the eight-question set before and during solution development, including identification of assumptions needing testing before building

Constraints¶

• Developmental appropriateness and feasibility must be assessed for users of particular age ranges

Target Learners¶

• education technology and solution development teams

Target Learning Goals¶

• designing solutions that fit real implementation contexts and serve historically underserved students

Affordances¶

• Strong Field Framework Breakthrough Rd Education

Related Strategies¶

• Preliminary Data Collection
• Inclusive Innovation Process

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Higgins, E. & Griffiths, R. (2026). ATS Field Note: Essential Practices for Breakthrough R&D in Education. ATS Hub Field Note Series. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/312