About
Our Mission
To use rigorous research in supporting K12 organizations and EdTech companies in understanding their products’ impact, alignment to influential frameworks, and potential for integrating social and emotional learning to support 21st-century skill development.
Our Approach
Open Jar Consulting’s name comes from a remarkable ability exhibited by the octopus: opening a jar from the inside. Just like the octopus engineers an escape with only what’s in the jar, we believe that innovating K12 education products should start with what you already have. We can use outside knowledge to codify how and why your product impacts teaching and learning, and then use research to scientifically validate.
Understanding your product’s impact isn’t the only asset available to leverage. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is implicit in everything we do. A large part of implementing SEL in schools is elevating the opportunities to practice SEL skills during academic instruction. Instead of ‘sprinkling SEL on top,’ we will purposefully integrate SEL throughout your materials. This will make it an ideal complement to SEL initiatives in schools or districts.
Colin Ackerman, Ph.D.
Colin Ackerman, Ph.D., is an experienced researcher, teacher, and evaluator obsessed with building evidence bases for products and exploring practical ways to innovate and integrate Social Emotional Learning into K12 education. Connecting research- and evidence-based principles to feasible instructional practice drives his passion for this work. Before shifting into independent consulting, Colin was a researcher at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Much of his work at CASEL contributed to developing the concept of transformative SEL (SEL in service of equity). He worked on the Research-Practice Partnership team, contributing to and leading co-created research projects with education practitioners and policymakers at the school, district, and state levels.
Additionally, Colin worked on CASEL's Program Guide team, thoroughly reviewing submitted SEL curricula and determining if they meet the rigorous standards for evidence of effectiveness and design for inclusion in CASEL's Guide for Effective Social Emotional Learning Programs.
Colin began his career as a Kindergarten teacher in Nashville, TN, and then decided to pursue a career in research. While earning his doctorate, Colin explored technology implementation in K12 classrooms through the lens of developing democratic values (e.g., collaboration, critical thinking, responsible dissent) for the 21st Century. In addition to consulting work, Colin teaches a graduate-level SEL Foundations course for the University of California, Berkeley. Colin holds a B.A. in Mass Communication from Miami University, an M.Ed in Curriculum & Instruction from Lipscomb University, and a Ph.D. in Digital Media Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder.