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.

Certiport Recognizes Washington Teacher as Educator of the Year

Salt Lake City — Certiport, a Pearson VUE business and the leading provider of performance-based IT certification exams that accelerate academic and career opportunities for learners, today announced that Karen Coulombe, career and technical education (CTE) teacher at Lake Stevens High School in Washington state, has been named Certiport’s Educator of the Year. The award was announced at Certiport’s 2023 CERTIFIED Educator Conference, where educators gather to explore the full promise and potential of business and technology certification in the classroom.

Karen teaches both computer applications and computer science to first-year high school students in Lake Stevens. She is also a robotics advisor for the largest VRC Robotics team in Washington. Before becoming a teacher, Karen worked for more than a decade as a licensed avionics technician and airframe and powerplant mechanic for the U.S. Air Force, DynCorp Aerospace, and the Boeing Company. She was also selected for special assignments involving Air Force One and the B2 stealth bomber.

Throughout her career, Karen has been a passionate believer in continuing education and giving back to her community. She has participated in the U.S. Naval Academy’s SET SAIL, Certiport’s National CERTIFIED Conference, STEM Guitars, Space Camp for Educators, the Washington Alliance for Better Schools STEM Externship, and multiple nanotechnology conferences. Karen also serves on the teacher advisory board for the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, and as a member of two technical advisory committees.…Read More

Dallas ISD Selects Carnegie Learning Math Curriculum for all Secondary Schools

PITTSBURGH–( BUSINESS WIRE)– Carnegie Learning, a leader in AI-driven technology, curriculum, and professional learning solutions for K-12 education, today announced a new partnership with all Dallas Independent School District (ISD) middle and high schools to provide math education for over 66,000 students. The program starts this fall.

The second-largest public school district in Texas, Dallas ISD encompasses 12 counties and is recognized as one of the fastest-improving school districts in America. Led by Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde, the district is committed to providing the highest-quality math curriculum for students.

According to Executive Director of STEM at Dallas ISD Michael Ruiz, Carnegie Learning’s Texas Math Solution provided a new approach to teaching math. “For me, it was really clear how the curriculum was going to benefit secondary students. Carnegie is taking the parts and changing the way we put them together and doing it in a way that makes sense for more kids. Once we started with the program, it was a snowball of success.”…Read More

These Education Startups Are All Business

The pandemic forced the greatest beta test in education history—billions of students pushed home and online. And while there were obvious devastating effects with which we are still coming to terms, there were also plenty of innovations that sprung from the experience. Many of those ideas and techniques are reflected in this year’s crop of finalists for the Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC) according to John Gamba, Penn GSE’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence. 

Catalyst @ Penn GSE—a global center for education innovation at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE)—and the Michael and Lori Milken Family Foundation announced the selections this week. The finalists’ ventures are focused on some of the biggest challenges in education, including college access and persistence, social-emotional learning, literacy, adaptive learning, and more. 

Considered the most prestigious and well-funded competition of its kind, the EBPC attracts innovative education ventures from around the world. To date, the EBPC has awarded over $1.8 million dollars in cash and prizes. Winners and finalists have gone on to secure more than $180 million in funding.…Read More

Intervene K-12 Receives $150,000 Grant From National Nonprofit Accelerate To Make High-Impact Tutoring Sustainable And Cost-Effective

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Intervene K-12, a Houston-based online tutoring platform, announced today it will receive a $150,000 Innovation grant from Accelerate, a national nonprofit working to make high-impact tutoring a standard feature of the American school day. The grant will advance research on the impact of Intervene K-12’s signature tutoring method that pairs high-impact tutoring with mentorship to encourage academic success and career exploration. The grant will also support Intervene K-12’s unique curriculum integration and staffing model to hire tutors from various business sectors to expose scholars to diverse professionals. 

“Our unique combination of tutoring and career exploration has been implemented in dynamic, urban districts with measurable and replicable results,” said Aaron McCloud, founder and CEO of Intervene K-12. “With this grant we will be able to hire even more tutors from diverse personal and professional backgrounds to allow scholars to connect with tutors who look like them and work in highly desirable fields.” 

Intervene K-12 uses evidence-based lessons that are designed especially for Intervene K-12 scholars to meet them where they are. These lessons are leveraged using high-impact, online tutoring within the school day, during which small groups of three to five students facing similar challenges are paired with a tutor. …Read More

Flexible, hybrid learning is key to student success

Key points:

  • Virtual learning expanded access to student mental health support
  • Hybrid learning offers improved satisfaction during IEP meetings

In the business world, we’ve seen a sea change in the way people work. While some have returned to the office full time, some are still working remotely, and others are opting for a hybrid approach of being in-person just a few days a week. If the pandemic showed us anything, it is that flexibility is in the best interest of the employee and the company in a competitive marketplace. 

The same lessons are true in schools. Forced to go online, in some cases for a year or more, schools quickly turned to video conferencing and online tools to facilitate the development of Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) and even deliver mental health services to help students cope with the changes resulting from the pandemic. These new approaches offered ways to reduce many of the traditional barriers to services and support. Plus, they provided flexibility to create individualized plans that best meet the needs of students and their families.  …Read More

Paycom Donated Nearly $300,000 To Local Public School Districts

OKLAHOMA CITY – Paycom Software Inc. (NYSE:PAYC), a leading provider of HR software, celebrates the end of the 2023 school year by awarding grants to four local public school foundations. These two-year commitments will provide Edmond, Millwood, Oklahoma City and Putnam City with funds needed to support ongoing and new educational programming specific to each district.

“Partnering with the public schools in the area is an important way Paycom supports our communities,” said Tiffany Gamblin, director of human resources business services at Paycom. “We know the power these programs can have on children and young adults. We’re grateful to play a part in helping tomorrow’s leaders shine.”

Each school district has a unique plan for the donations they received from Paycom.…Read More

3 ways teachers can navigate the evolving field of computer science

As recently as a decade or two ago, technology education consisted of typing, learning to draft emails, or doing a little work in a spreadsheet. Learning those skills may have been relegated to a business information class or weekly trips to a computer lab. Today, most students are expected to learn to code, and most states have coding requirements—some starting as early as kindergarten.

That’s a significant change in less than a generation. Computer science is a rapidly advancing field; educators have to make those changes if they are going to prepare their students for the modern world. Trying to teach a subject that’s ever-changing might feel a little intimidating to some teachers, especially if they don’t have a background in the field. Fortunately, the skills students learn in computer science are evergreen, and many of the changes within the field are manageable for the educators involved.

Here are three keys to preparing to teach this dynamic subject without feeling like the ground is constantly shifting under your feet.…Read More

Labor market problems start with the K-12 system

The U.S. has a two-pronged labor market problem: a labor shortage and a skills gap. If every unemployed individual in the U.S. found a job right now, there would still be 4 million open jobs. Furthermore, a National Federation of Independent Business survey found that 54 percent of business owners struggle to hire qualified workers. As it becomes increasingly evident that schools are not providing students with the requisite skills to succeed in the labor market, the root of the persistent labor shortage and skills gap in the U.S. can be traced back to the K-12 education system.

However, career and technical education (CTE) programs have shown great promise in addressing this issue. The Department of Education (ED) notes that students who focus on CTE courses in high school have higher median annual earnings, graduation rates, and employment rates than non-CTE students. Despite the proven efficacy of CTE programs, inadequate federal investment remains a primary barrier to implementing successful programs nationwide.

It’s essential to adopt new funding methods and policies to mitigate this barrier, expand CTE programs in K-12 schools, and encourage widespread adoption of these programs to bridge the skills gap and foster student success. Like most education programs, CTE programs are primarily funded by state and local resources. Accordingly, increasing the implementation rates will be predicated on encouraging outside funding sources, such as private-sector partnerships and philanthropic organizations, to bridge the gap in federal funding and support the growth of CTE programs.…Read More

Renaissance’s All New Visual Identity Champions a Teacher-Led Ecosystem, Empowering Educators to “See Every Student”

BLOOMINGTON, MINN. (PRWEB) — Renaissance, a leader in pre-K–12 education technology, announces a rebrand and new visual identity reflecting the company’s transformational teacher-led learning ecosystem and demonstrating how the right technology can help educators truly see every student. The new brand identity embraces the company’s almost 40-year history as a leader in pre-K–12 education technology, while taking a fresh and forward-looking approach to the future of Renaissance.

“Our business has changed dramatically over the past few years,” said Sarah DiFrancesco, Chief Marketing Officer at Renaissance. “The rebranding marks a new Renaissance, demonstrating how we help every student succeed by providing teachers and administrators with the digital tools they need to unlock personalized teaching.”

Nationwide, schools and districts face unprecedented challenges from teacher burnout, teaching vacancies, and the pressure to deliver results like never before. In addition, supporting students’ academic learning is a source of job-related stress for almost half of teachers, according to a  RAND Corporation survey. To address these issues, solutions that cater to the unique needs of each student are crucial. Together, Renaissance’s assessments, instruction, and insights provide a complete, comprehensive solution—while keeping educators at the forefront of classroom decisions and instruction.…Read More