To meet the requirements of a new state law, 22 of Florida’s 67 school districts have adopted an online system called FASTe.

Across the country, states and school districts are grappling with how best to evaluate teachers and administrators in a way that is rigorous, yet fair—and gives them opportunities to grow professionally. That’s true in Florida, too, where the passage last year of Senate Bill 736, the Student Success Act, requires Florida school districts to revamp their evaluation systems for teachers and school leaders.

To meet the requirements of the new law, 22 of Florida’s 67 school districts have adopted an online system called FASTe, the Formative Action System for Teacher Effectiveness, from Winter Park, Fla.-based Performance Matters. The company was on hand at the Florida Educational Technology Conference to showcase its FASTe platform.

Performance Matters describes FASTe as “an easy-to-use online platform that connects student outcomes to educator actions.” Among the most recent Florida districts to purchase FASTe is Citrus County, which launched a pilot implementation in selected schools in December and plans to roll out the online platform across all 23 schools this fall.

“We’ve already received feedback from several administrators … that it is easy to use and that it enables them to note in a natural, genuine way what is happening every day in their classrooms,” said Patrick Simon, director of research and accountability. “FASTe … not only helps teachers to know what their strengths and weaknesses are, but it connects them to the resources they need to improve their practice. This will play a very important role in our ongoing efforts to improve teaching and learning.”

The FASTe framework collects data on student assessments, teachers’ professional development activities, observational outcomes, and other metrics. The program then correlates all the data to show the relative effect these activities are having on instruction and learning, and it connects educators to the resources or support they need to improve.

Another company that makes software to help with teacher evaluations is Netchemia of Kansas. Netchemia was at the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education to discuss how its web-based TalentEd Perform software is helping school leaders manage their teacher quality initiatives.

TalentEd Perform includes teacher self-evaluations, principal walkthroughs and observations, professional growth plans, and more. Analysis and reporting tools help school and district leaders measure evaluation results and track staff improvement. The software is extremely scalable, Netchemia said, noting that districts ranging in size from the 125-student Shell Knob School District in Missouri to Oklahoma’s Tulsa Public Schools are using the program.

Other professional development news

Audio/video solutions provider AVI-SPL is best known for its AV systems integration, but during FETC the company also highlighted its professional development offerings—including a Summer Institute for Technology Integration that it’s hosting along with Florida’s Pinellas County Schools. During this four-day training event, Dr. Jennifer Brown King will teach attendees how to integrate technology into instruction through a unique scaffolding technique known as the Technology Integration Plan (TIP). The training will take place July 23-26 in the Gulf Coast city of Dunedin, Fla., and is open to all teachers or instructional leaders. For more information, eMail professionaldevelopment@avispl.com.

PBS TeacherLine says it has aligned all of its online professional development courses with the Common Core State Standards. That means all PBS TeacherLine reading and math courses now offer professional training and resources to help teachers develop lessons and deliver instruction based on the Common Core objectives, the company says. PBS TeacherLine offers more than 80 graduate-level online courses in reading, math, science, STEM, instructional strategies, and technology integration.

Here’s a quick tour of the ed-tech landscape.

The editors of eSchool Media have logged thousands of miles covering various ed-tech trade shows since the start of the year, from Florida and Texas to Washington, D.C.

We’ve spent time at the Florida Educational Technology Conference in Orlando, the Texas Computer Education Association conference in Austin, the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education in Houston, and the Consortium for School Networking’s K-12 Technology Leadership Conference in the nation’s capital, among other shows.

Here’s a roundup of what we’ve seen and heard. (To learn more about each topic, click the corresponding headline.)

New ed-tech products target classroom instruction

Software designed for touch-screen tablets, and new programs for teaching reading and math, were among the many products unveiled at recent ed-tech conferences. Some curriculum software providers also highlighted new research to support the efficacy of their products.

Companies aim to help schools create digital learning environments

As more schools make the shift to a digital-based teaching and learning environment, a number of new products and services have emerged to help ease this transition.

Controlling costs a key selling point for ed-tech vendors

For many of the companies exhibiting at recent ed-tech conferences, a key selling point was how their software or services could help schools save money during a tough economy.

A growing trend in school AV solutions: Convergence

School audio-visual solutions seem to be converging, with major suppliers of AV products releasing their own versions of solutions offered by competitors in an effort to keep pace. Interactive whiteboard makers are releasing projectors, and projector makers are releasing student response systems—making nearly every supplier a one-stop shop for a wide range of presentation tools.

Technology helps manage teacher quality initiatives

Across the country, states and school districts are grappling with how best to evaluate teachers and administrators in a way that is rigorous, yet fair—and gives them opportunities to grow professionally. Here’s how technology can help.

New software facilitates assessment and data management

During recent ed-tech conferences, a number of companies introduced software intended to make assessment and data management easier for schools.

Online tutoring, speech therapy among new eLearning solutions

New options for online tutoring and speech therapy are among the latest eLearning solutions introduced during recent ed-tech trade shows.

Index of ed-tech providers

Looking for news about a specific company and its products? Use this handy index to find what you need.

Classroom instruction was the focus of many new products introduced at recent ed-tech conferences.

Software designed for touch-screen tablets, and new programs for teaching reading and math, were among the many products unveiled at recent ed-tech conferences. Some providers of curriculum software also highlighted new research to support the efficacy of their products.

New tablet-based products

Capitalizing on the growing use of iPads and other tablet computers in education, the California-based nonprofit MIND Research Institute released ST Math Touch, a version of its ST Math visual learning software for students in grades K-5 that is optimized for use with touch-based tablets.

ST Math software has been shown to roughly double annual growth in math scores, particularly in schools with historically low achievement levels, MIND says. ST Math Touch works with most tablet operating systems, including iOS, Android, and Microsoft devices. It provides a multisensory experience for students with natural, gesture-based computing.

“The visual approach MIND has been pioneering is a perfect match for touch screens and provides a game-changing use of manipulatives, guided and made rigorous through software, through all of elementary school math,” said Andrew R. Coulson, president of MIND’s education division. “In this way, students literally see how the math works and learn new concepts by direct experience, before dealing with math’s abstract representations.”

Another new educational software program for tablet computers is Inspiration Software’s Inspiration Maps, which brings its visual mapping tools to Apple’s iPad. With Inspiration Maps, students in grades 6-12 can use the same mind-mapping and outlining tools they might already know from Inspiration to create visual diagrams and outlines that help them clarify their thoughts, organize and analyze information, integrate new knowledge, and learn to think critically using iPads, the company said.

McGraw-Hill Education now offers five high school math and science textbooks designed specifically for the iPad, and the company expects to double its offerings for the iPad during the year. The titles will be sold through Apple’s iBookstore. The initial group of McGraw-Hill Education titles made available as digital textbooks for Apple’s iBooks platform includes Common Core State Standard editions of Algebra 1 and Geometry, as well as Biology, Chemistry Matter and Change, and Physics Principles and Problems.

Research on ed-tech efficacy

MIDA Learning Technologies disseminated the results of an 18-month, mixed-methods study of the efficacy of its Espresso Elementary product in second-grade classrooms at 10 Pennsylvania schools. The study suggests that Espresso Elementary, which uses a multisensory approach to teaching, has helped students’ performance in math: The students in the experimental group “significantly outperformed” those in the control group on a post-test, the company says. Teachers, meanwhile, reported higher levels of engagement among students in the classrooms using Espresso.

Scientific Learning also released the results of a study suggesting its software has helped improve achievement. From 2006 to 2011, the St. Mary Parish Public School System in Centerville, La., posted double-digit gains in fourth grade proficiency levels on the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) tests, the company said.

A number of companies introduced new mobile learning products at recent ed-tech trade shows.

As more schools make the shift to a digital-based teaching and learning environment, a number of new products and services have emerged to help ease this transition.

From digital content collections intended to help educators personalize instruction for every student, to learning management systems that contain built-in analytics to help students succeed, here’s an overview of some of the latest offerings.

Personalizing instruction

Knovation (formerly known as netTrekker) has announced its newest product, icurio, a digital curriculum content solution for delivering personalized learning. Icurio, which includes a collection of 330,000 digital learning resources aligned with state and Common Core standards, is intended to help schools make the transition from teaching with print to digital materials. Students can build and organize content collections on their own for homework and projects, or access specific topic-based content that is organized and prepared by their teachers to address their individual learning needs.

The introduction of icurio comes on the heels of Knovation’s corporate transformation announcement, which reflects a new name and broadening vision for the company formerly known as netTrekker.

“Knovation is much more than a new name, it is a new mission,” said Joe Grieshop, president and managing officer. “This corporate transformation will allow us to build on the solid foundation of netTrekker Search and deliver breakthrough and disruptive learning solutions that focus on a fundamental shift from a one-way, one-size-fits-all approach to education to a learner-centered approach that minimizes environmental, emotional, functional, and stylistic learning barriers and is customized to the unique needs of every learner.”

Next-generation learning management

The Salt Lake City-based firm Instructure, whose open-source Canvas learning management system is available through a cloud-based model hosted by the company, has caught on in higher education, with more than 100 colleges and universities now using the software. At the Florida Educational Technology Conference in January, Instructure announced a new version of Canvas designed specifically for K-12 schools. One of its early adopters is North Carolina’s Rockingham County School District.

“Rockingham held big expectations for Canvas, and I’ve been extremely pleased with its performance and the reaction of our teachers,” said Dennis Frye, director of instructional technology and media, in a press release. “Our implementation process has been a huge success.”

Canvas K-12 saves teachers time and engages parents in their children’s education by co-enrolling parents in the software. Parents can opt for push-based notifications when their children miss an assignment or have a test scheduled. They also can log in to view their children’s grades and class participation in and to communicate with the teacher.

“With Canvas K-12, when a teacher makes a change to the calendar or to class assignments, parents are automatically notified through an eMail, a text message, or a Facebook notification,” said Brian Whitmer, Instructure co-founder. “The days of teachers having to stuff backpacks with paper are over.”

Canvas K-12 is pre-populated with state standards and Common Core objectives, so teachers can choose the relevant objectives and align them with course assessments. What’s more, it contains built-in learning analytics to help guide student success.

Another next-generation learning management tool is itslearning, which promoted its digital learning environment during the Texas Computer Education Association conference in February. Itslearning offers a range of tools to help educators plan, engage, teach, assess, reflect, and report, the company says—all with the goal of giving students a more personalized learning environment.

A key selling point for ed-tech companies is how their software can help schools save money during a tough economy.

For many of the companies exhibiting at recent educational technology conferences, a key selling point was how their software or services could help schools save money during a tough economy.

For instance, Wilmington, N.C.-based Education Management Systems, which makes the Windows-based Meals Plus suite of K-12 cafeteria software, demonstrated a new module that offers real-time analysis of the financial health of school meal programs, so food-service managers can control their costs more easily.

The module, called Financial & Statistical, provides a full array of financial reporting options for reviewing the current fiscal year, as well as statistical reports that can compare costs from year to year, from site to site, or other key metrics.

“The financial tools available in the Meals Plus system are great. We have been able to use up-to-date data to better manage revenue and expenses. Easily accessible data allows us to take action quickly rather than after the fact and gives us the information we need to make key operational decisions,” said Cynthia Sevier, director of school nutrition services for North Carolina’s Guilford County Schools, in a press release.

Financial reports that can be compiled with the system include income statements and balance sheets; plate costs and meals per labor hour, by school; expense allocation costs; and indirect cost calculations. All reports can be sorted according to various accounts, sites, or time periods, helping administrators run school food-service programs more like a business, the company said.

“Where other cafeteria software systems look at revenue only, Meals Plus compares revenue with expenses,” said Ben Hooks, president of Education Management. “We provide school nutrition personnel with a real [profit-and-loss] approach to the business of running individual school or district food services.”

In another example of cost-controlling technology, Follett Software Co. has introduced the newest offering in its Destiny suite of resource management software: the Instructional Materials Package, which gives schools the combined benefits of Destiny Textbook Manager and Destiny Asset Manager. Users can view all of their district’s instructional materials inventory by school, classroom, and student from one central, web-based platform, Follett says. They also can run detailed reports and generate district-wide itemized audits, making it easier to keep track of textbooks, videos, and other instructional assets.

At the Texas Computer Education Association conference, SchoolDude.com demonstrated its web-based software for managing school facilities, events, IT assets, technology help desks, and energy use. The company’s IT Direct and ITAM Direct products offer the ability to respond to help desk incidents from anywhere, maintain an accurate inventory of technology assets, understand product life cycle and IT cost projections, create a wide variety of custom reports, and improve customer service. SchoolDude’s Utility Direct helps track energy consumption and find hidden opportunities for energy savings, and its Conserve Direct helps school leaders plan energy conservation efforts.

FrontRow showcased a new touch-screen control panel for its ezRoom AV control systems. The new product (model CB6000) organizes all classroom device control into a single screen and gives IT administrators remote and scheduled control of practically any device over their network, saving potentially thousands of dollars per year in projector bulb life alone, the company said.

Interactive whiteboard makers are releasing projectors, and projector makers are releasing student response systems.

School audio-visual solutions seem to be converging, with major suppliers of AV products releasing their own versions of solutions offered by competitors in an effort to keep pace. Interactive whiteboard makers are releasing projectors, and projector makers are releasing student response systems—making nearly every supplier a one-stop shop for presentation tools.

For instance, ELMO USA now offers a student response system (SRS), which it demonstrated at the Florida Educational Technology Conference in January . Available in 24- or 32-unit bundles, ELMO’s SRS devices operate on the 2.4GHz radio frequency, with a range of about 50 feet. The software that drives the system works on Windows XP, Vista, or 7 computers.

In another example of this convergence, Promethean unveiled its own version of an interactive tabletop surface at FETC, the ActivTable. Like other companies’ interactive tables, it’s aimed at elementary and special-needs students in particular—but it includes several unique features as well.

At 46 inches, the high-definition LCD display allows up to six students to use it at any one time, with ample room for them to work together on tasks that require problem solving, critical thinking, and group decision making. The ActivTable includes web browsing and tools such as keyboards, math applications, and more, and it integrates with resources and content from Promethean and other vendors, including interactive whiteboards.

See the ActivTable in action:

Promethean also has teamed up with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to offer new interactive math content designed for use with interactive whiteboards and handheld learning devices. “Go Math! Interactive Lessons,” aligned with the Common Core standards for grades K-6, include hands-on activities to help students explore math concepts more deeply, the companies said. The content follows the scope and sequence of HMH math textbooks, but it includes embedded assessments so teachers can use student response systems to gauge understanding before they move on.

SMART Technologies, meanwhile, introduced its first interactive projector, the LightRaise 40wi. It’s a pen-enabled, ultra-short-throw projector that can turn nearly any surface into an interactive learning space. The LightRaise includes SMART Notebook collaborative learning software for collaborative learning, and it comes with a rechargeable interactive pen, a pen holder, USB and VGA cables, and an easy-to-install wall mount. The projector can produce screen sizes up to 100 inches in a widescreen format.

Epson, one of the pioneers in interactive projection technology, introduced a mobile app that lets iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch users present to any networked Epson projector right from their mobile device. Called iProjection, the app allows users to display documents and photos to Epson projectors wirelessly from most iOS Apple devices running iOS 4.2 or later. It’s available free of charge in Apple’s App Store, and it also supports cloud-based file services such as Dropbox or various eMail applications, Epson says.

Gradecam's software uses an ordinary document or web camera to automate data entry into any electronic gradebook.

During recent ed-tech conferences, a number of companies introduced software intended to make assessment and data management easier for schools.

For instance, CTB/McGraw-Hill has introduced a program called TerraNova Common Core, a national achievement test that represents a field-tested, valid, and authentic measure of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the company says. It is available in reading, English language arts, and mathematics for grades 3-8. TerraNova Common Core offers a full range of item formats in one test, including multiple choice, constructed response, extended-constructed response, and integrated performance tasks. Through this “one test” approach, educators can compare student results on national and Common Core standards across grades and ability levels.

GradeCam demonstrated its software that helps automate the testing process, allowing teachers to get instant feedback from pencil-and-paper tests. The software uses an ordinary document or web camera to automate data entry into any electronic gradebook. Students fill in answers for multiple-choice tests using a pen or pencil, then swipe their test under a document or web camera—or the teacher can do this after collecting the tests.

When a GradeCam form is moved into the camera’s field of view, the software reads the data it contains. GradeCam forms have an area for a student’s identification number (which is how the software knows whose test is whose) and an area for answer choices. The software also includes analysis and reporting tools, so teachers can make easy sense of the results for an entire class or multiple groups of students.

Pearson demonstrated PowerSchool for Parents and PowerSchool for Students, new apps for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Available free of charge from Apple’s App Store, these apps provide real-time access to attendance, grades, assignments, scores, and more for the 10 million students and their parents whose schools use Pearson’s PowerSchool student information system.

“Our new PowerSchool app revolutionizes the way that millions of busy parents can stay in touch with their children’s lives at school,” said Jonathan D. Harber, CEO of Pearson’s K-12 Technology group. “When I ask my children what they did in school today, the answer is usually ‘I don’t know.’ Now, parents will have the power in their pocket to stay connected. As we replace textbooks with digital personalized learning environments, parents will have more real-time access to their children’s lives, and students will have more ability to learn anywhere, anytime.”

Both apps were designed for fast, easy “one-thumb” browsing, helping students and parents quickly access the latest school information from any location. For parents, a “Live Feed” streams all information for all students for the current week in a single view. Integration with the social media sites Facebook and Twitter also allows students and parents to share official grades and scores with their friends and family.

“With our two new PowerSchool apps, we are moving the honor student bumper sticker into the 21st century,” said Bryan MacDonald, chief technology officer for Pearson’s student information systems. “Now, by using the PowerSchool apps to post scores and grades on Facebook or Twitter, parents and students can share their academic success with their friends and family members.”

To use the apps, students must attend a school that uses PowerSchool version 7.1 or higher.

Skyward Inc. unveiled a redesigned web user interface for its School Management System. The new version, SMS 2.0, makes it easier for users to navigate between screens in the software, reducing the time it takes to find and display important information to just two clicks in most cases. That, in turn, helps users manage their data and school operations more easily.

“By carefully watching how a number of Skyward’s customers perform their jobs, we were able to understand, at a very specific level, what we could do to streamline their tasks and help them to be even more successful,” said Tom Gomoll, principal for Gomoll Research+Design, which designed the new interface.

FLVS' online tutoring is tracked by the minute, so students only pay for the time they use.

New options for online tutoring and speech therapy are among the latest eLearning solutions introduced during recent ed-tech trade shows.

For example, the Florida Virtual School (FLVS)—a pioneer in online instruction—announced new online tutoring and professional development offerings at the Florida Educational Technology Conference in January.

FLVS is now offering online tutoring for math and science for any student, not just those taking an FLVS course. FLVS online tutoring is available whenever students need it, the school says: any time, any place, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. All students need to participate is a computer, smart phone, or other mobile device and access to the internet.

FLVS online tutors are all college-educated instructors with a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degree in their area of expertise. The live, online tutoring sessions are conducted one-on-one with students. Tutors are available to help students with basic scientific concepts in biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as math concepts from basic through college levels.

The online tutoring is tracked by the minute, so students only pay for the time they use. Students may prepay for a plan or purchase tutoring by the hour at $27.99 per hour. In addition, the tutoring sessions are recorded and archived, allowing students to revisit previous sessions at no additional cost from their personalized video archive.

To help teachers and administrators, FLVS Professional Development courses are now available as well. Courses address literacy, Response to Intervention (RTI), student motivation, school leadership, and online teaching and learning. Certification is available for successful completion of the courses, the school says.

At the Texas Computer Education Association conference in February, the San Francisco-based company PresenceLearning demonstrated its live online speech therapy services, also known as “telepractice,” for K-12 students. Schools and parents have anytime, anywhere access to a network of highly qualified speech language pathologists who work directly with students one on one via web-based video conferencing using a suite of online tools and evidence-based therapeutic activities.

A growing body of research, starting with a study by the Mayo Clinic in 1997, shows that telepractice is just as effective as face-to-face therapy, PresenceLearning says. The company’s services are especially useful for schools in rural areas, where connecting students with qualified speech therapists can be a challenge. (For more about online speech therapy, see here.)

The best teacher professional development happens in collaborative learning communities.

Terms like “work collaboratively,” “share what you know,” and “problem-solve as a team” are commonly associated with the kinds of 21^st-century skills that most people agree today’s students should learn—but according to a professional development expert with decades of experience in the field, those terms should apply to teachers, too.

During the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education, Stephanie Hirsch, executive director of Learning Forward (formerly known as the National Staff Development Council), discussed how her organization has redefined its standards for teacher professional development to keep up with what is being expected of today’s students.

“What we mean by PD is not some one-off seminar,” Hirsch said. “So many times I hear people say, ‘This was a waste of time. Nothing changed.’ Well, … PD is only as good as its implementation. So let me tell you what we know: PD [should be] ongoing, and it means teachers collectively sharing the responsibility for all students—from grades to lesson plans—and that happens by implementing teacher teams that meet up regularly.”

Hirsch encouraged school district leaders to think of teacher professional development as…

• The glue that fosters collective responsibility for the success of all students;

• The system for engaging all teachers in learning teams committed to continuous improvement; and

• The great equalizer that ensures that all—not just some—students experience great teaching.

“How many times have we heard of principals talking to parents [who are] concerned about what teacher their child will get?” asked Hirsch. “Imagine if this school had collaborative teacher teams using their meetings for continuous PD to foster student learning improvement and achievement. What if the principal could say, ‘I know your child will receive the best education from any of our teachers, because our teachers work as a team to take responsibility for your child and meet continuously to discuss all students in the grade, not just the students part of his or her class.’ Imagine how much better the parent would feel?”

Fewer than 20 percent of U.S. taxpayers have children in public schools, says author Jamie Vollmer—and that shows a need for school leaders to be proactive in reaching out to the community.

Think of it this way: Would you support a presidential candidate you knew nothing about? What does this candidate think about taxes? How is this candidate helping those around him? What does this candidate believe in, and heck, what’s his favorite food? Well, said Jamie Vollmer, a businessman, author, and supporter of public education, wouldn’t people like to know how their local schools worked, too?

Vollmer, president of Vollmer Inc., author of Schools Cannot Do It Alone, and opening keynote speaker at the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education, argued that both education leaders and U.S. citizens understand that it’s about educating the whole child and that there needs to be reform.

However, the people’s perception is that reform should come through the firing of school leaders and teachers, because that’s the rhetoric being peddled. Yet, school leaders and teachers know that reform needs to occur by changing an antiquated system that’s still focused on mass rote learning for testing and a one-size-fits-all-approach to learning.

“The ‘Great Conversation’ we need to have has to be between teachers and school staff and the community,” said Vollmer. “I guarantee you that if the community knew what their local school had to teach, support, and perform every day for their students, the community would become their school’s greatest supporter, not their biggest critic—helping to spur the true reform needed for schools rather than hindering it.”

According to Vollmer, fewer than 20 percent of all U.S. taxpayers currently have children in a public school. The rest of the taxpayers either don’t have children, their kids have graduated, or they have kids enrolled in private schools. This large percentage, said Vollmer, feels that issues concerning public schools are “not their problem,” and they either don’t care to help or join the national hate-wagon because that’s all they hear.

“What they don’t know,” explained Vollmer, “is that by supporting your local school, you’re reducing the crime rate and increasing your property value. You’re also decreasing teen pregnancies, therefore lowering insurance rates at the hospital. Self-interest doesn’t always trump altruism, but it’s a good bet every time.”

Vollmer believes the problem is that schools need to make the community more aware of who they are by going out into the community and spreading awareness at the community’s convenience.

One way, he suggested, is by making the community aware of what schools have been asked to add to the curriculum and their daily activities since the 1900s.