In a time when American teachers face unprecedented burnout rates, Tommy Ross (Questrom’24) is developing a solution that aims to transform the educational landscape. As founder and CEO of BrightBook, Tommy has identified what he calls “the dual crisis in education.”
“Teachers are now the most burnt-out profession in the United States, with 80% of all educators saying they always feel burnt out,” Tommy explains. “At the same time, they’re actually leaving the profession, with one in three young educators saying they don’t plan to stay.”
This educational exodus comes at a critical moment when students need support more than ever. “While teachers are becoming more burnt out, students are struggling more than ever, with one in every two students falling behind grade level,” Tommy notes.
BrightBook isn’t just another tech solution hastily applied to a complex human problem. Instead, Tommy has focused on understanding the root causes of teacher dissatisfaction and student challenges.
“BrightBook is not looking just to throw AI on top of teachers and hope that they can do a better job,” he says. “We’re really trying to understand why teachers teach and what the fundamental disconnect is in the reality of today with what they expected going into the profession.”
The platform begins by deeply contextualizing each classroom environment. Teachers share information about state standards and the unique composition of their classroom—knowledge that only trained educators possess about their students’ specific needs. From there, educators can input the topic they want to teach, and BrightBook conducts comprehensive research, aggregating over 50 sources to create a detailed teacher report.
Within this report, teachers receive fully formed lesson plans complete with teacher notes, procedures, adaptation strategies, and assessments that automatically map to state standards. This process takes less than 60 seconds, freeing educators to focus on what matters most: teaching.
Unlike some AI applications in education, BrightBook prioritizes the human element. “We see AI not as a replacement for teachers, but as a way to empower them and keep them sharp and help reduce burnout,” Tommy emphasizes.
This human-centered approach extends to data privacy as well. While many educational technology solutions rely on collecting student data, BrightBook takes a different path. “The wonderful thing about BrightBook is that we don’t use student data at all,” Tommy says. Instead, the platform relies on teachers’ professional observations and understanding of their students.
As a participant in Innovate@BU’s Innovation Pathway program since the beginning of last semester, Tommy continues to refine BrightBook’s approach and business model. The venture is currently competing in the New Venture Competition (NVC), which Tommy hopes will help them develop their prototype into a minimum viable product and gather broader support.
“The end goal is to elevate and empower the 21st century teacher,” Tommy shares. “In a world of unprecedented change, it’s to keep the educators sharp and help them think through and adapt on how to teach their subject to students who are dealing with modern struggles we’ve yet to experience.”
Related posts:
15 Student Teams Are Launching Sustainability Projects with the Help of Innovation Seed Grants
Seed Grants Help Fine Arts Students Launch and Scale Ideas
Innovate@BU Awards $15,000 to Students Who Came Up with Ways to Help Boston Face Climate Change
Meet the Finalists of the 2025 New Venture Competition!