Frequently Asked Questions
Certification Questions
LTS offers five Market-Ready Certifications focused on specific skill sets: Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Creativity, Leadership, and Enterprise. Each certification is made up of four skills. All twenty skills are employability or durable skills that are necessary to succeed in every industry.
To earn the certifications, participants must prove proficiency in each skill through three specific actions. Students can choose the order in which they certify.
- Critical Thinking Certification: Comprehension, Learning Agility, Research Literacy, and Data Analysis.
- Collaboration Certification: Time Management, Communication Across Mediums, Influence and Collaboration, and Digital Etiquette.
- Creativity Certification: Adaptability, Innovation, Self-Discipline, and Risk-Taking.
- Leadership Certification: Structured Problem-Solving, Public Speaking, Proactivity, and Digital Literacy.
- Enterprise Certification: Conflict Management, Financial Literacy, Modeling, and Project Management.
Participants can submit for certification in the first year of the program. On average, students earn one certification in the first year, two in the second, and two in the third year.
Accreditation Questions
Learn to Start does not seek accreditation from educational institutions. LTS has chosen to maintain its integrity by not creating the state required exam necessary to earn accreditation. Instead, LTS has been built from the market for education and is a direct partnership with Industry where our programming and certifications are recognized and endorsed by a broad and diverse representation of industry. Therefore, when students enroll in LTS they gain Market-Ready™ Certification which has industry backing, recognition and endorsement. Any state accreditation can be achieved through a student's traditional education.
Grade Levels Served
LTS has programming for all grade levels.
LTS has designed a K-Market system with specific programs for elementary, middle and high school and college-aged students that connect and build off one another.
The curriculum is automatically adapted to the students’ interests and skill sets. LTS curriculum is designed to meet the individual regardless of where they are developmentally.
Four Stages Questions
- Who am I?
- What can I do?
- How do I prove it?
- Start.
- The Who am I stage aligns students to the industry they want to enter. They are able to develop the agency and self-awareness necessary to communicate their value to the jobs market.
- The What can I do stage demonstrates a students productivity inside of the industry they want to enter. They are able to communicate the skills they have developed and the value they produce with those skills.
- The How do I prove it stage demonstrates a student’s competitiveness inside of the industry they want to enter. They are able to communicate actual proof of their skills and their ability to produce real outcomes of value.
- The Start stage demonstrates a person inside of the market producing efficient, sustainable, and profitable solutions.
The entire curriculum is task-based so students are producing proof of development in each task. Every LTS student creates a market-ready portfolio and submits for Market-Ready Certifications as their official assessments.
In-School Programming Questions
The school identifies a current course to be taught co-curricular with the Learn to Start courses. The LTS program offers the infrastructure through which the original course can be taught. It allows the emphasis to switch from content learning to action-based student learning.
LTS offers programming for all age groups.
All teachers have access to the full LTS Instructor Platform that houses all training, curriculum, student platform features, and industry resources.
When Learn to Start is added as a co-curricular integration, the original course’s diploma credit still applies.
Virtual School Questions
Yes. Learn to Start offers its Virtual Academy through which individuals and cohorts can enroll directly into the LTS programs.
For Learn to Start Virtual Academy please visit this page for pricing and sign up information.
The LTS Virtual Academy offers flexibility in scheduling and cohorts.
Participants must have their own laptops and access to wifi. They must attend their required live virtual sessions.
Virtual classes are live.
When the LTS Program is taken as a part of an encoded course that earns diploma credit.
Pricing Questions
For school programming or technology-only programming please contact us for pricing information at info@learntostart.com.
Schools pay an annual licensing fee whereas individual learners pay a tuition fee. Every student pays the same technology fee.
A limited number of need-based scholarships are available through the One Idea Foundation.
Yes, pricing is inclusive.
Data/Metrics Questions
We collect all progress data from student development to student proficiency in certification skills and the earning of the complete Market-Ready Certifications. We collect outcome data such as student’s industry opportunities including immersion, spotlight, internships, and employment. We access unique KPI data by tracking student pathways that reflect a student’s progress towards real alignment, productivity, and competitiveness in a specific industry.
Through students’ access and earning of industry opportunities.
Daily.
For in-school programming parents access metrics from the teachers. In the Virtual School Academy, LTS provides direct updates to parents each semester.
What Data Do We Provide?
Schools and partners are provided with their user data and metrics.
Administrative platform accounts have direct access to their data and metrics.
Students have access to their data on their platform account pages.
LTS is an iterative solutions company. We continue to improve and update our programming and technology to provide the best user experience and increase connections between students and industry.
Industry Partner Questions
Learn to Start is constantly adding new Industry Partners to its website. You can view some of our Industry Partners on our LTS Marketplace page.
LTS bridges the gap between education and industry. In order for students to graduate aligned to a specific industry, they need access to industry while in school.
Technology Questions
LTS offers interconnected technology platforms designed for specific use for instructors, students, administrators, certifiers, and market verifiers.
- Data Encryption
- In Transit: We use HTTPS (TLS) to ensure that all data transmitted between the client (React application) and the server (Node.js) is encrypted. This prevents interception and eavesdropping by unauthorized parties.
- At Rest: Data stored in our MySQL databases and on AWS S3 is encrypted using industry-standard AES-256 encryption. This ensures that even if the data is accessed without authorization, it remains unreadable.
- Access Control
- Authentication: We implement robust authentication mechanisms, such as JWT (JSON Web Tokens), to ensure that only authorized users can access the application.
- Authorization: Role-based access control (RBAC) is used to restrict access to specific data and functionalities based on the user’s role (e.g., student, teacher, admin). This ensures that users only access data they are permitted to view or modify.
- Data Minimization
- We collect and store only the necessary data required to provide our services. This reduces the risk of exposure of sensitive information and ensures compliance with data minimization principles.
- Regular Audits and Monitoring
- Logs: We maintain detailed logs of access and changes to student data. These logs are regularly reviewed to detect any unauthorized access or anomalies.
- Monitoring: Continuous monitoring of our systems helps us detect and respond to potential security incidents in real-time.
- Data Backup and Recovery
- Regular backups of all student data are performed and stored securely on AWS. In the event of data loss or corruption, these backups allow us to restore data to its original state promptly.
- Secure Development Practices
- We follow secure coding practices to prevent common vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, XSS (Cross-Site Scripting), and CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery).
- Regular code reviews and security assessments are conducted to identify and mitigate potential security risks.
- Compliance with Privacy Laws
- We comply with relevant data protection regulations, such as GDPR, COPPA, and FERPA, to ensure that student data is handled lawfully and ethically.
- Privacy policies are clearly communicated to users, detailing how their data is collected, used, and protected.
- User Consent and Control
- Users are informed about the types of data collected and the purposes for which it is used. Explicit consent is obtained where necessary.
- Users have the right to access, correct, or delete their data. Mechanisms are in place to facilitate these requests.
- Physical Security
- Our AWS infrastructure is hosted in data centers with strict physical security measures, including 24/7 monitoring, access controls, and secure facilities.
- Incident Response Plan
- A comprehensive incident response plan is in place to handle data breaches or other security incidents. This includes notifying affected users and relevant authorities promptly, as well as taking corrective actions to prevent future incidents.
LTS technology is proprietary so it does not integrate into other school platforms or LMS systems. However, schools can add their own courses and credentials to the LTS platforms.
AI Assistance
LTS Platforms are equipped with Spark AI to aid in the first steps of business content creation along with the guidance to turn that generated content into the individual’s own work.
Spark AI provides generative capabilities for content like value proposition creation, startup names, and more.
Spark AI does not simply allow for content generation. The individual has to create their own version of the content in order to use the generated version
