Our history
Pentabilities emerged in 2019 from an EU-funded research project and the social and educational passion of its three founders:
Caterina Calsamiglia
A Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University, also part of the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Group at the University of Chicago, led by Nobel laureate James Heckman.
Maria Calsamiglia
A PhD in Health Sciences from the University of Minnesota, with over 14 years of experience as a secondary and high school science teacher and International Baccalaureate coordinator.
Jacek Dominiak
A technology expert with multiple patents and numerous technical and scientific publications. He has worked in fintech and researches the development of technological applications for entrepreneurship.
The Mission of Pentabilities
To promote the socio-emotional skills of students so that they improve their academic results and have resources for their personal and professional life.
How did we get here?
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The Challenge Begins (2015) – Caterina receives an ERC Starting Grant to explore how socioemotional skills shape life outcomes and how behavioral evidence can improve and guide education policy.
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Laying the Groundwork – She forms an interdisciplinary team, including Maria and Laura, working with innovative schools to ensure their research meets real classroom needs.
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Creating Pentabilities – Maria leads the development of key classroom behaviors, embedding them in a formative assessment methodology to help teachers support students effectively.
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Launching the App (2019) – Pentabilities officially takes shape with the release of its first beta app, developed by Jacek with Juan’s assistance, designed to enable 360° evidence collection and enhance student engagement.
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Proving the Impact – A large-scale RCT in 40+ schools and 120 teachers demonstrates improvements in classroom management and teacher-student relationships.
2024: Pentabilities turns 5
During this time, Pentabilities has been implemented in educational centers and projects from different contexts such as…
Students in a Vulnerable Situation Supportive Education
Pentabilities has been part of a project to improve the opportunities of vulnerable students. The initiative, funded by the EU, has been a golden opportunity to evaluate the impact of the program in the 80 participating centers.
Creation of Superior Learning Environments Fabilities
Fabilities arises from our work with the FabLab@School at the Liceu Politècnic over two academic years. The project covers all four years of secondary education with the aim of creating spaces and moments in the classroom that allow students to put socio-emotional skills into practice.
Protection of Mental Health KOA Program
KOA promotes mental health among young people in vulnerable situations through experiences such as KOA Theatre, KOA Adventure, and KOA Music. We implement the use of Pentabilities among KOA professionals to record and analyze the progress of their boys and girls.