Impact is something we want to evidence – not assert.
Selyvi is being built in the middle of everyday school life. That raises the question we care about most: what actually takes the load off?
So we build the measurement in from the start — and look for research partners willing to look harder than we can on our own.
How we measure
The survey model follows the PHINEO impact staircase: input, output, outcome, impact. We collect across three waves rather than once. A single snapshot cannot tell relief apart from people simply getting used to a tool.
Consent is granular by purpose: not to “research” in general, but to each purpose on its own. The analysis follows a codebook written in advance. And a value only appears above a defined minimum case count — below it the field stays empty rather than showing a number that carries nobody.
Stage 1
Input
What goes in: development work, the subject corpus, the rollout at a school.
Stage 2
Output
What measurably comes out: observations, report comments, parent emails, materials.
Stage 3
Outcome
What changes for the people involved: time spent, perceived workload, what parents hear back.
Stage 4
Impact
What is left after all that. Three survey waves cannot reach this stage on their own — this is where research partners come in.
„Every workload relief report carries a note directly beneath the figures: measured values are labelled as measured, estimates as estimates — and neither label can be switched off, not even by us.“
Without it, “140 hours saved” reads like evidence. It is not, and the line says so.
What there is to research with Selyvi
Nine questions we keep returning to. The impact model already runs in survey waves; the instruments for these questions we design with the people who will use them.
We would rather not design them alone. Whoever works in one of these fields should have a say in what gets collected — and in what had better not be.
Evidence-based teaching approaches
Which teaching approaches actually hold up day to day and which only work on paper. A question that could be examined together, instead of continuing to guess at it.
How lessons actually run
How a lesson really unfolds – between the plan, the interruption and the improvisation. We would like to measure that gap between draft and reality with you.
Differences in teaching styles
Where teaching styles differ day to day and what that does in the classroom. A field in which we would welcome research that sees more than a single school.
New teaching and learning materials
What materials would have to look like if they built on the documented observations of one particular class. We would like to design them together and then have them examined.
Evaluating digital support
Whether digital tools really deliver in everyday school life what they promise. For us the most uncomfortable question – and the reason Selyvi should not answer it alone.
Administrative workload of teachers
What share of working time goes on documentation, communication and administration – and which of those tasks is experienced as a burden at all, and which is not.
Regional differences
Whether workload and preparation practice differ systematically between federal states, school sizes and catchment areas. A question only a consortium across state borders can answer.
New approaches to learning support
What support looks like when it builds on continuous observation instead of a single snapshot. That needs expert counter-argument, not just software.
Long-term impact analyses
What is actually left of school measures after years. A question for which three survey waves are not enough – here we need partners with staying power.
How we handle research data
Three things have to be in place before any data leaves us: consent that has been legally reviewed and is granular by purpose; aggregation with minimum case counts instead of raw data; and a documented survey model.
The survey model is documented, the minimum case counts are written into it, and the impact line in the product already works to them.
That order is the slower one. It is also the reason you can put your name on the result.
Questions from research
We are looking for research partners.
For questions about schools, teaching and the work of teachers. Write to us — you will get an answer from one of us, not from a queue.
Access for a research project is something we set up after we have met.