timeback

@TimebackLearn

Platform powering the future of education. Kids crush academics in 2 hours, get their time back, then dive into life skills and passions. 🚀🧠

Joined July 2025

41 Following

571 Followers

22 Posts

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timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

We power the future of personalized learning with AI. Crush academics in just 2 hours a day. Get your time back. Education was broken. We rebuilt it.

David Perell

@david_perell

about 1 year ago

The education system is broken. Costs are rising. Outcomes are falling. Kids are bored, parents are frustrated, teachers are over-worked and under-appreciated. The Wall Street Journal just profiled the most promising solution I've seen. Their results are so good that you're not going to believe me when I share them with you. But by the end of this, you'll understand what they're doing differently. The results: • Alpha students are top 1% in the USA in every class and every subject (except for one: 5th grade math, where they're “only” in the 93rd percentile). • Alpha kids are learning 2.5x faster than the average American student. • They crush standardized testing too. Only 2% of Texas students score above 90% on the Texas STAAR test. Every Alpha student scores above 90% and the majority of their students are over a grade level ahead. • Alpha has more kids who score 100% on the Texas STAAR test than one entire school district of 100,000 people (Alpha has ~250 students). And here's the kicker: Alpha School students only spend two hours on academics per day — just two hours from K-8 and three hours in high school. The time they save gives kids back the rest of their day to learn life skills like socialization and public speaking instead of twiddling their thumbs during soul-crushing lectures or waiting for the bell to finally ring. Sounds too good to be true, I know. So let me break down what they're doing differently. For starters, the founders simply took learning science seriously. They reimagined how a school could function instead of following the standard school playbook. The research showed them that maximizing learning outcomes means building something that looks nothing like our existing school system—which has basically stayed the same for 200 years. Here are three things they do differently: 1) Mastery Learning Knowledge is like a Jenga tower. The higher blocks depend on the stability of the lower ones. If you pull a crucial block at the bottom, like knowing your multiplication tables, the whole structure can collapse. For example, good luck doing algebra if you don't know your multiplication tables by heart. The problem with traditional schools is that because every student in a grade has to move at the same pace, whether they know the material or not, kids end up with holes in their knowledge. This conveyor belt approach sets them back forever. Not knowing multiplication won't just stop you from crushing algebra. It'll stop you from crushing statistics and calculus, and entire career paths once you’re an adult. Mastery learning simply means that you don't move onto the next level until you know the material from the previous one. It's the opposite of how schools work right now. In traditional learning, time is fixed (everyone gets exactly one school year for algebra) while learning is variable (some kids get A's, others get C's). In mastery learning, it's flipped: learning is fixed (everyone masters the material) while time is variable (some finish in three weeks, others in three months). 2) Personalized learning plans If you want to learn fast, you need challenges that are tailored to your skill level. If the material is too easy, you’ll be bored; if it’s too difficult, you’ll get frustrated and quit. What you need is the sweet spot of content that’s challenging but doable. It’s the Goldilocks Principle for school: not too hot, not too cold. Learning researchers call this the Zone of Proximal Development. It’s why 1-on-1 tutoring works so well. The problem with traditional lectures is that teachers need to teach to the average, which means that most students don’t get what they need. Visit a struggling charter school and you'll see this in action. Ask a 6th grade teacher what they're teaching and they'll say: "Sixth grade material. That's my job." Meanwhile, half the class can barely read at a 2nd grade level. Teachers know this, but because going back to the basics could cost them their job, they plow ahead, which leaves students behind. The cost of these perverse incentives is showing up in the declining test scores we’re seeing across America. 3) Change what teachers do Picture the typical classroom: one teacher at the front, 25 kids of wildly different abilities, and 45 minutes to get through the material before the bell rings. Meanwhile, teachers are stressed during the day and overworked at night from all the papers they have to grade and lesson plans they have to write. And for what? For 40 years, research has shown that passive lectures are just about the worst way to learn anything. It’s an established fact. But our education system is so fossilized that it’s incapable of adapting to new knowledge and the better way of doing things that we’ve already discovered. So what does Alpha do? They’ve transformed teachers into coaches and motivators. The apps and AI handle the information delivery and customize it for each student, leaving teachers to do what they do best (and signed up for in the first place): connect, inspire, mentor, and motivate students. The bottleneck isn’t information anymore. It’s student motivation. You can have the world’s greatest curriculum, but if the student doesn’t give a damn, they ain’t gonna learn squat. Everybody talks about EdTech, but it’s only part of the solution. Motivation plays a far more important role, which is why the people I know at Alpha are always asking: “How can we get kids to love school?” — — The Science Behind Alpha's Approach These strategies are inspired by Bloom’s Two-Sigma Model, which is arguably the most important education finding of the past century. When researchers combined mastery learning with 1-on-1 tutoring, 98% of the tutored students outperformed the average student from a traditional classroom. Here’s the key point: Mastery learning, paired with 1-on-1 tutoring, is better for the very best students and the very worst ones. 1-on-1 tutoring isn’t some futuristic approach. Descartes, Feynman, and John Stuart Mill all learned through tutoring. The problem with tutoring, of course, is that it’s always been reserved for the elite. It’s too expensive and there simply aren’t enough master tutors to go around. Enter modern technology: AI and learning apps have changed what’s possible. Every student can have a personalized learning plan now. Digital tutors never get tired or cranky, and they’ll certainly never roll their eyes and say: “Come on, kid… we’ve gone over these fractions twelve times already!” They’ll work all night with a kid who wants to memorize their fractions or learn the capitals of every country in the world. With each question, the software develops a laser-precise understanding of what concepts each kid knows / doesn’t know. Once again, that leaves the teachers to focus on the human side of learning: motivating students and helping them when they get stuck. — — Science fiction author William Gibson once said: “The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed yet.” And that’s exactly what Alpha School represents: a future of education that already exists, and not some pipe dream vision of a distant tomorrow. I know because I’ve witnessed it first-hand. While running my own adult writing program, one of our paid editors raved about a participant’s killer writing skills. “Peyton has serious talent,” she wrote. That talented writer, Peyton, was a 15 year-old Alpha student at the time who was out-writing many of the adults in the program. I’m obviously fired up about what Alpha is doing, but if the idea of kids learning through apps and AI makes you uncomfortable, I get it. But unlike our current one-size-fits-all system that’s failing millions of kids, Alpha isn’t trying to be the universal solution to education. Their message goes something like this: “We’ve built something that works very well but looks nothing like the school you went to. We’re not trying to be conventional. We’re trying to be effective, and that means doing unconventional things. If that resonates with you, great. If not, that's okay too.” There’s something here. The data speaks for itself. The most untapped resource on the planet is human potential, and transforming the education system is just about the best way to unleash it.

$david_perell's tweet photo. The education system is broken. Costs are rising. Outcomes are falling. Kids are bored, parents are frustrated, teachers are over-worked and under-appreciated. The Wall Street Journal just profiled the most promising solution I've seen. Their results are so good that you're not going to believe me when I share them with you. But by the end of this, you'll understand what they're doing differently. The results: • Alpha students are top 1% in the USA in every class and every subject (except for one: 5th grade math, where they're “only” in the 93rd percentile). • Alpha kids are learning 2.5x faster than the average American student. • They crush standardized testing too. Only 2% of Texas students score above 90% on the Texas STAAR test. Every Alpha student scores above 90% and the majority of their students are over a grade level ahead. • Alpha has more kids who score 100% on the Texas STAAR test than one entire school district of 100,000 people (Alpha has ~250 students). And here's the kicker: Alpha School students only spend two hours on academics per day — just two hours from K-8 and three hours in high school. The time they save gives kids back the rest of their day to learn life skills like socialization and public speaking instead of twiddling their thumbs during soul-crushing lectures or waiting for the bell to finally ring. Sounds too good to be true, I know. So let me break down what they're doing differently. For starters, the founders simply took learning science seriously. They reimagined how a school could function instead of following the standard school playbook. The research showed them that maximizing learning outcomes means building something that looks nothing like our existing school system—which has basically stayed the same for 200 years. Here are three things they do differently: 1) Mastery Learning Knowledge is like a Jenga tower. The higher blocks depend on the stability of the lower ones. If you pull a crucial block at the bottom, like knowing your multiplication tables, the whole structure can collapse. For example, good luck doing algebra if you don't know your multiplication tables by heart. The problem with traditional schools is that because every student in a grade has to move at the same pace, whether they know the material or not, kids end up with holes in their knowledge. This conveyor belt approach sets them back forever. Not knowing multiplication won't just stop you from crushing algebra. It'll stop you from crushing statistics and calculus, and entire career paths once you’re an adult. Mastery learning simply means that you don't move onto the next level until you know the material from the previous one. It's the opposite of how schools work right now. In traditional learning, time is fixed (everyone gets exactly one school year for algebra) while learning is variable (some kids get A's, others get C's). In mastery learning, it's flipped: learning is fixed (everyone masters the material) while time is variable (some finish in three weeks, others in three months). 2) Personalized learning plans If you want to learn fast, you need challenges that are tailored to your skill level. If the material is too easy, you’ll be bored; if it’s too difficult, you’ll get frustrated and quit. What you need is the sweet spot of content that’s challenging but doable. It’s the Goldilocks Principle for school: not too hot, not too cold. Learning researchers call this the Zone of Proximal Development. It’s why 1-on-1 tutoring works so well. The problem with traditional lectures is that teachers need to teach to the average, which means that most students don’t get what they need. Visit a struggling charter school and you'll see this in action. Ask a 6th grade teacher what they're teaching and they'll say: "Sixth grade material. That's my job." Meanwhile, half the class can barely read at a 2nd grade level. Teachers know this, but because going back to the basics could cost them their job, they plow ahead, which leaves students behind. The cost of these perverse incentives is showing up in the declining test scores we’re seeing across America. 3) Change what teachers do Picture the typical classroom: one teacher at the front, 25 kids of wildly different abilities, and 45 minutes to get through the material before the bell rings. Meanwhile, teachers are stressed during the day and overworked at night from all the papers they have to grade and lesson plans they have to write. And for what? For 40 years, research has shown that passive lectures are just about the worst way to learn anything. It’s an established fact. But our education system is so fossilized that it’s incapable of adapting to new knowledge and the better way of doing things that we’ve already discovered. So what does Alpha do? They’ve transformed teachers into coaches and motivators. The apps and AI handle the information delivery and customize it for each student, leaving teachers to do what they do best (and signed up for in the first place): connect, inspire, mentor, and motivate students. The bottleneck isn’t information anymore. It’s student motivation. You can have the world’s greatest curriculum, but if the student doesn’t give a damn, they ain’t gonna learn squat. Everybody talks about EdTech, but it’s only part of the solution. Motivation plays a far more important role, which is why the people I know at Alpha are always asking: “How can we get kids to love school?” — — The Science Behind Alpha's Approach These strategies are inspired by Bloom’s Two-Sigma Model, which is arguably the most important education finding of the past century. When researchers combined mastery learning with 1-on-1 tutoring, 98% of the tutored students outperformed the average student from a traditional classroom. Here’s the key point: Mastery learning, paired with 1-on-1 tutoring, is better for the very best students and the very worst ones. 1-on-1 tutoring isn’t some futuristic approach. Descartes, Feynman, and John Stuart Mill all learned through tutoring. The problem with tutoring, of course, is that it’s always been reserved for the elite. It’s too expensive and there simply aren’t enough master tutors to go around. Enter modern technology: AI and learning apps have changed what’s possible. Every student can have a personalized learning plan now. Digital tutors never get tired or cranky, and they’ll certainly never roll their eyes and say: “Come on, kid… we’ve gone over these fractions twelve times already!” They’ll work all night with a kid who wants to memorize their fractions or learn the capitals of every country in the world. With each question, the software develops a laser-precise understanding of what concepts each kid knows / doesn’t know. Once again, that leaves the teachers to focus on the human side of learning: motivating students and helping them when they get stuck. — — Science fiction author William Gibson once said: “The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed yet.” And that’s exactly what Alpha School represents: a future of education that already exists, and not some pipe dream vision of a distant tomorrow. I know because I’ve witnessed it first-hand. While running my own adult writing program, one of our paid editors raved about a participant’s killer writing skills. “Peyton has serious talent,” she wrote. That talented writer, Peyton, was a 15 year-old Alpha student at the time who was out-writing many of the adults in the program. I’m obviously fired up about what Alpha is doing, but if the idea of kids learning through apps and AI makes you uncomfortable, I get it. But unlike our current one-size-fits-all system that’s failing millions of kids, Alpha isn’t trying to be the universal solution to education. Their message goes something like this: “We’ve built something that works very well but looks nothing like the school you went to. We’re not trying to be conventional. We’re trying to be effective, and that means doing unconventional things. If that resonates with you, great. If not, that's okay too.” There’s something here. The data speaks for itself. The most untapped resource on the planet is human potential, and transforming the education system is just about the best way to unleash it.$

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TimebackLearn retweeted

Patrick OShaughnessy

@patrick_oshag

10 months ago

Our profile of @jliemandt — founder of Trilogy and ESW, and now principal (and backer) of the much discussed Alpha School Joe was a wunderkind in the 90’s, but hasn’t spoken publicly in 25 years. He’s willing now, because along with @mackenzieprice, he wants to end the industrial era education system and usher in the AI education era. To give you a taste, here’s the opening of our story, a masterpiece by @JeremySternLA “Even after agreeing to break his silence after 25 years, Joe Liemandt is still reluctant to talk about himself. It’s hard to get him to relive Trilogy, the enterprise software company he founded in 1989, which by age 27 put him on the cover of Forbes, twice, as America’s youngest self-made centimillionaire. He isn’t keen to expound on SalesBuilder, Trilogy’s flagship expert system from the 1990s and the world’s first billion-dollar artificial intelligence product in all but name. Ditto ESW, the investment arm of Trilogy that’s acquired hundreds of software companies since 2000 and helped make him a decabillionaire, yet the mention of which makes the otherwise inexhaustible Liemandt, who always seems to be straining at some invisible leash, seem drowsy and bored... The one thing Liemandt will talk about for hours on end is Alpha School: the teacherless, homeworkless, K-12 private school in Austin, Texas, where students have been testing in the top 0.1% nationally by self-directing coursework with AI tutoring apps for two hours a day.” I suspect Alpha will become an extremely important points of discussion in the country, and this will help you understand how it came to be. And, if you have kids, it will make you wonder if they are being educated in the best possible way, or not.

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TimebackLearn retweeted

Bill Ackman

@BillAckman

10 months ago

200 years ago K-12 ed was a teacher and a blackboard in front of 25-30 kids. Today, the only thing that has changed is the blackboard may be a whiteboard. And meanwhile the world is in the midst of an AI revolution. Check out @AlphaSchoolATX. The first truly breakthrough innovation in K-12 education that I have seen since the Kipp Academy. The Alpha School day: Two hours of a dedicated AI personal tutor customized for your child’s academic program. Four hours of leadership and life skills. No homework. Daily real time data on how your child is doing. The bottom line: Alpha kids love school and have incredible outcomes. The initial model is a private school model. Alpha is launching an Alpha charter school soon. An Alpha private school is opening in NYC this September. They have a few spots left for the founding class. https://t.co/JLDCb4CKpX Contact @mackenzieprice to learn more.

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TimebackLearn retweeted

Max McCorkel

@Tigerpanda

10 months ago

When using @TimebackLearn, student disengagement and distractions are detected in real-time using advanced AI models! We've come a long way from Zoom classes during Covid with students playing games all day.

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

If your kid’s school feels like a prison, you have a problem. Learning that actually feels like freedom in just two hours a day. That's Timeback.

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timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

Thrilled to power Modern Samurai Academy's launch for grades 3-6 in San Antonio! Mornings: 2-hour AI-personalized academics. Afternoons: Martial arts and life skills training. Equipping students in mind, body, and spirit for any challenge ahead.

malekai

@malekaimischke

10 months ago

Two months ago, we met a martial arts program with a dream to become a school. After weeks of meeting, building, and marketing — they’re now set to open in 10 days with 7 students. Our school was just featured in San Antonio’s local news (my first time on TV):

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timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@turing_hamster Shout it loud and proud! 📢

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@usedgov Looking forward to the Texas ESA so more kids can crush academics in 2 hours a day!

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@timonyang Normally we'd say grades can go F themselves, but you may be on to something here!

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@skpolepaka Blows our mind how many parents think AI in education starts and ends with ChatGPT.

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@PaulShellDev Absolutely, Paul! Two focused hours of core learning in the morning mean kids have their afternoons back to dive into tech, launch mini ventures, or chase any passion. That’s the freedom Timeback delivers. 📚🚀

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

Imagine school wrapped up core classes in just 2 hours, giving kids their afternoons back. What interests or life skills would you have explored instead as a child?

568

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@ReeceHarding *Asks Ephor what Google is* *Googles* Apps that aren’t powering the future of education will be ignored.

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@LoeJiemandt Your account may be fake, but your comment is full of truth.

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@turing_hamster If more students crush their academics in 2h a day, that gives their time back for more hamster attention.

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@kutluokan Have you considered building an app off Timeback to practice writing English? It would help Max understand you better.

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@grok @tigerpanda @kutluokan @grok have you considered teaching the man to fish instead of giving him the answer?

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

@turing_hamster I'm also curious who runs a hamster account 🤔 Your opinions on education may be spot on!

timeback @TimebackLearn

10 months ago

Crush academics in 2h No homework necessary! Enjoy your school day, not dread it!

Lamar

@LamarDealMaker

10 months ago

how to easily solve cheating in school - use personalized ai tutor instead of teacher - 2-3 hrs with ai tutor on core subjects - no chatbots allowed - do something fun the rest of school day - no homework, cheating solved simple

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