Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Classworks® and Gwinnett County Public Schools Are Platinum 2022 Learning Impact Award Winners

Duluth, GA — June 15, 2022 — Classworks, provider of a best-in-class MTSS solution, and Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS), the nation’s 13th largest school district, were recognized with the 2022 Platinum Medal Learning Impact Award by 1EdTech™ Consortium, the world’s leading non-profit collaborative advancing educational technology and digital learning.

Institutional leaders and public voters selected from 34 finalists to honor innovative projects that successfully impact and elevate learning experiences. The platinum award-winning project features the partnership between Classworks and Gwinnett County to deliver a successful online summer learning program, powered by 1EdTech’s Competency and Academic Standards Exchange® (CASE®) framework.

The project mitigated learning loss precipitated by COVID and effectively prepared students for the 2021-2022 school year. GCPS decided to launch a districtwide, online Summer Enrichment and Acceleration (SEA) program using Classworks evidence-based instructional program. GCPS utilizes district-specific Academic Knowledge and Skills (AKS) standards in reading, language arts, and mathematics as part of its curriculum. The summer learning program required Classworks to align its standards-based learning progression to the GCPS AKS.

“As a district with our unique curriculum standards, the CASE framework allows us to more easily align content and resources from our partners with our standards so that teachers and students have the exact resources to match their instructional needs,” said Tricia Kennedy, executive director of instructional development and support for Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia. “Our partnership with Classworks leveraged CASE to create a customized summer school curriculum addressing district-defined targeted standards in a learning path scaffolded for understanding.“

The CASE framework simplifies the way systems manage learning standards information, making it easier for districts to provide standards-based learning experiences. Using CASE, Classworks instruction was quickly aligned to the GCPS-specific AKS, saving hours of manual work. The effort ensured that students had access to summer lessons that both reviewed focus standards from the prior year and prepared them for the upcoming year in a research-based learning progression.

“By replacing a manual and labor-intensive mapping project that typically takes weeks with a CASE-powered process, Classworks provided more than 180,000 students at Gwinnett County Public Schools with a high-quality, standards-based learning experience in just a few days,” ​​explains Jerry Henley, senior vice president of product experience for Classworks. “Classworks embraces 1EdTech’s philosophy on interoperability, and we’re proud to partner with forward-thinking and innovative districts like GCPS. Our success demonstrates why we are a best-in-class online intervention solution.”

To learn more about the Classworks and GCPS summer learning project download our whitepaper Using CASE to Power Standards-Based Learning for All Students. 

Learn more about the 2022 Learning Impact Awards.

About Classworks …Read More

Mississippi’s Vicksburg Warren School District and Discovery Education Launch New Partnership

SILVER SPRING, MD (Thursday, May 20, 2021)—Mississippi’s Vicksburg Warren School District (VWSD) today launched a new multiyear partnership with Discovery Education that helps educators connect current classroom instruction to students’ possible future career paths. Supported by the CVS Health Foundation and the CATCH Global Foundation, this new collaboration empowers district educators in grades K-6 with the dynamic digital resources and professional learning they need to equip every student to succeed in challenging courses, meet academic standards, and graduate from school prepared for college and career ready. Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms. 

The Vicksburg Warren School District (VWSD) serves all of Warren County, Mississippi, and has an enrollment of approximately 7,200 students in grades Pre-K through 12. VWSD consists of three high schools (grades 9 – 12), three middle schools (grades 7-8), ten elementary schools, and an alternative program. As VWSD’s 2019-2024 Strategic Plan calls for increased opportunities to build student’s college and career readiness, the district sought a flexible digital resource that could provide relevant, real-world learning experiences, expand digital learning in all disciplines and grades, and support instruction either in the classroom or remote environment. 

Following a careful review of available options, VWSD selected Discovery Education’s flexible K-12 learning platform for classroom use. Discovery Education’s platform connects educators to a vast collection of compelling high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, and professional learning resources. Together, these resources give educators everything they need to facilitate instruction in any learning environment and create lasting educational impact.…Read More

4 keys to supporting college and career readiness

Preparing students for college and a career is the mission of every public K-12 school system, and this work begins by establishing a strong foundation for success in the early grades.

At Marlboro Township (NJ) Public Schools, a K-8 district, we are doing several things to ensure that our students are on a path to college and career readiness before they move on to high school. Our efforts seem to be paying off, as all of our elementary and middle schools are rated by the state as either “shows progress” or “excels” in terms of reading and math achievement. Moreover, we have the largest number of students in our area who are accepted into highly competitive vocational schools.

Here are four strategies that we believe are essential to any college and career readiness initiative.…Read More

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Here’s how teachers think SEL can truly help students

A resounding majority of administrators, teachers, and parents say they believe social and emotional learning (SEL) is just as important as academic learning.

SEL is the process that helps students understand and regulate their emotions, understand different points of view and show empathy toward others, and develop intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies. Many believe these skills contribute to safer and more positive schools and communities.

Of the more than 1,000 people surveyed in McGraw-Hill Education’s 2018 Social and Emotional Learning Report, 96 percent of administrators, 93 percent of teachers, and 81 percent of parents overwhelmingly say SEL is as necessary as core academic subjects.…Read More

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6 steps to college and career readiness

A collaborative leadership model is critical when it comes to bolstering school policy and helping students meet college and career readiness goals, according to a new report from the Learning First Alliance.

The report, A New Philosophy on Education Decision-Making, urges governors to consider changes in practitioner-driven policies and practices that will empower local school leaders and stakeholders to work together toward school improvement.

In light of a frequently changing set of policies and initiatives that can follow each election, the report discusses how educational professionals too often are denied the opportunity to fully develop and implement promising programs and major initiatives, such as college and career ready academic standards.…Read More

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Obama urges states to raise academic standards

In order for U.S. to be first in world education, states need to raise their academic standards.
For the U.S. to lead the world in education, states need to raise their academic standards, Obama says.

Saying America’s “primacy in the world” is at stake, President Barack Obama on Feb. 22 prodded states to raise their academic standards by using the best leverage he has: money.

Speaking to governors gathered at the White House, Obama said he won’t “accept second place for the United States of America.” He noted that it continues to lag behind other nations in critical areas, including high school math and science skills.…Read More

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Obama to propose new rules for reading and math standards

In a proposed change to the No Child Left Behind law, the Obama administration would require states to adopt new academic standards to qualify for federal money from a $14 billion program that concentrates on impoverished students, reports the New York Times. The proposal, part of the administration’s recommendations for a Congressional overhaul of the law, would require states to adopt “college- and career-ready standards” in reading and math. The current law, signed by President George W. Bush in 2002, requires states to adopt “challenging academic standards” in reading and math to receive federal money for poor students under the program known as Title I, but leaves it up to states to decide what qualifies as “challenging.” The result was that states set their standards at widely varied levels, some as rigorous as those used in high-performing countries like Japan, but others at far lower levels that lay out mediocre expectations for their students at best…

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