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.

Research-Based Digital Family Engagement Program Set to Expand Student Support

SAN FRANCISCO/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ —  ParentPowered PBC, an education technology company that provides research-based digital family engagement, today announced the appointment of Terri Soutor as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Melissa Palmer as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). These moves coincide with ParentPowered’s preparations for substantial growth as it continues expanding its product portfolio to further enhance student support.

Soutor is an experienced C-suite leader and go-to-market strategist, skilled at building and growing education technology companies. As CEO at FastBridge Learning, Soutor scaled the company over a four year period to $11M ARR at a 45% annual growth rate and delivering more than 25 million assessments to over 1.6 million students across the country and earning the company the honor of becoming the second fastest-growing private company in the Twin Cities. Her business acumen, leadership and accomplishments have been publicly recognized. She made the list of CEOs in The Real Power 50 by Minnesota Business and was a recipient of a Titan of Technology award from Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. She has served since early 2022 on the ParentPowered Board of Directors and brings an in-depth understanding of the organization’s mission to support student learning.

“We are poised to make a real difference in student learning with a dedicated team and a mission that truly matters. I’m proud and excited to lead the charge and amplify our impact together,” said Terri Soutor, ParentPowered’s incoming CEO.Tweet this…Read More

3 ways superintendents can maximize resources this school year

Key points:

As the new school year kicks off, superintendents across the nation are evaluating resources needed for the year ahead to ensure that everyone–school leaders, teachers, students, and parents–has what they need to be successful.

During a time when many kindergarten through 12th grade education leaders are facing many challenges, including teacher shortages, declining math and reading scores, funding issues, student mental health, and more, it’s critical that superintendents maximize their resources. By doing so, they’ll be able to solve immediate challenges that may arise, giving them more time to focus on the long-term goals of their school or district.…Read More

Savvas Announces New Math and Reading Solutions that Engage and Inspire Students While Giving Educators the Resources to Help All Learners Achieve

PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY — Savvas Learning Company is excited to announce new and enhanced math and reading solutions that engage and inspire students to learn, while giving educators the evidence-based instructional resources they need to accelerate learning and help all students achieve.

“At Savvas, we are committed to empowering educators with the highest-quality instructional materials and effective teaching strategies to increase student achievement,” said Bethlam Forsa, CEO of Savvas Learning Company. “Long committed to developing evidence-based, student-centered learning solutions, Savvas this year is delivering new math and reading programs that continue to give educators what they need to help all students succeed.”

Savvas solutions focus on putting the student at the center of learning. The company’s award-winning blended programs — delivered digitally on its innovative Savvas Realize platform and visually through engaging print resources — feature real-world learning experiences designed to increase student engagement along with high-quality instructional materials to accelerate academic outcomes.…Read More

Hadley Introduces Social 529 App Transforming The Way Americans Save For College And Career Training

LOS ANGELES, CA — Hadley, a new app seeking to make it easy and social to save for school and career training costs, announced today its official launch after a successful beta period. The app, named after Founder and CEO Yosh Miller’s niece, simplifies finding and funding 529 savings accounts, helping others plan for future education and career training expenses without any advisory or monthly subscription fees.

Hadley breaks down systemic barriers that blocked people from starting 529 accounts sooner. Traditionally, parents are the main contributors to their 529 plans and wait on average until their children are seven years old before setting up an account due to the reality that many families face immediate financial needs like daycare and doctor visits that make long-term saving for education more difficult. Now, families can open and link their 529 accounts to Hadley for free, even before their child is born, so others can contribute to it – allowing families to take full advantage of the power of tax-free compounded growth. In turn, Hadley helps families to start saving more, sooner.

Miller, a former Deloitte Strategy and Operations consultant for government agencies and strategy executive for MRC Entertainment, created Hadley to address families’ challenges when planning and saving for education. One of Hadley’s most impactful features allows family members and friends to contribute to a 529 plan, even if they don’t directly own the account. App users can quickly link their new or existing 529 plans to their Hadley account, making it easy for others to contribute to a child’s or adult’s education. App users can make one-time gifts or set up recurring contributions to their own or others’ accounts. Hadley works with all 529 Plans, 529 Advisor Plans, and 529 ABLE Plans.…Read More

Leadership coaching as a catalyst for change

Key points:

Education is the key to unlocking opportunities and breaking the cycle of inequality. Yet, education leaders working in underserved communities face a daunting task as they confront disparities that hinder students’ access to quality education. To address these challenges, leadership coaching has emerged as a valuable tool–it’s like a secret weapon to unleash the potential of these brave education superheroes! By providing targeted support, guidance, and professional development, coaching can empower education leaders to navigate the complexities and catalyze transformative change in underserved communities.

For instance, picture this: When I, the brave Head of The Science Department at St. Anthony Charter School, first stepped foot into the low-income neighborhood, I knew I had my work cut out for me. The school’s infrastructure was so ancient that even the dinosaurs would have felt nostalgic! Our budget was probably smaller than the average kid’s allowance for a week, and the students were facing academic challenges, making it feel like I needed a time machine to fix everything.…Read More

The Future of Canvas

Drop the company name Instructure on the average educator and you may get a blank stare in return. Now mention the company’s flagship product Canvas and be ready for a flash of instant recognition. Founded in 2008, Instructure reports having more than 6000 customer organizations with more than 35 million users around the world in both K12 and higher education.

I had the opportunity to attend InStructure Con23 in Denver last month—the company’s first user conference since the pandemic—and met many educators, partner companies, and senior leadership including Chief Product Officer Shiren Vijiasingam, Ryan Lufkin, Vice President of Global Strategy, and CEO Steve Daly. We hit on a number of topics that will affect the way educators and students teach and learn, including post-pandemic behaviors, student security, the pursuit of equitability and education, and the future of hybrid learning. Plus of course, AI, AI and yes, a little more AI. This was the first Innovations podcast recorded in person, but it certainly won’t be the last.

Steve Daly
Ryan Lufkin
Shiren Vijiasingam

More Highlights from InstructureCon23:…Read More

eSchool Live@ INSTRUCTURECON 2023

Breaking news out of day two at Instructure‘s professional learning event for educators and edtech users in Denver. The company announced a partnership with Khan Academy to integrate Khanmigo, Khan’s AI-powered student tutor and teaching assistantCanvas, into Canvas, the market-leading learning management system. We caught Instructure CEO Steve Daly just after the announcement to provide some context and provide a timeline for when Canvas will be updated with Khanmigo. Scroll down for more details and look for more in-depth conversations With Daly and other senior executives on the Innovation Insights podcast next week.

From the press release: This integrated solution will put the transformative power of generative AI into the hands of students and educators using the Canvas learning environment.

Generative AI represents an opportunity to enhance the role of technology in supporting educators and creating efficiencies in their day-to-day instruction. This new solution will harness this transformative moment by enabling educators with an integrated Khanmigo experience that supports human-driven, technology-enhanced essay feedback and grading, lesson planning and rubric creation. This solution is a large step forward in delivering personalization for each student while allowing busy educators to scale their excellence and impact in ways unimaginable a few short months ago.…Read More

How Phys Ed and Ed Tech Can Fit

Concerns over kids and screen time versus play time are legitimate. According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, 17.0% of youth ages 10 to 17 had obesity in 2020-2021. That rate has increased slightly from 15.5% in 2018-19, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. And yet it’s pretty plain that the screens aren’t going away. Educators and parents need to figure out ways to work around the devices and get kids moving.

Fit and Fun Founder and CEO, Pamela Gunther, has some suggestions. In this conversation, she breaks down the various scenarios schools face when trying to get students up, out, about and goes into some other ideas about how technology can encourage activity, not taking them from it. Have a listen and scroll through for some edited highlights: 

In the work that we do, which is to design and develop physical activities for kids, there are a couple of different ways we get inspired. And how we approach and develop our products. First of all, it’s got to be fun. It’s got to be colorful. It’s got to work and when I mean work, a lot of our products are backed by science-based movements, movements that hit particular parts of the brain.…Read More

Houston Business Journal Honors Intervene K-12 CEO as One of “Most Admired” CEOs in Houston

HOUSTON — Intervene K-12, a Houston-based online tutoring platform, is proud to announce that CEO and founder Aaron McCloud was recently named one of Houston’s “Most Admired” CEOs by the Houston Business Journal (HBJ). An independent panel from multiple industries selected the 49 honorees for the Houston Business Journal recognition based on their strategic leadership, career achievements, contributions to the greater Houston community and more. 

“The City of Houston has been an ideal home base for Intervene K-12 and I am honored to be recognized by the Houston Business Journal for the work we do to support more than 30,000 young scholars in our community and throughout the country,” said Aaron McCloud, founder and CEO of Intervene K-12. “While it feels great to be recognized as a leader, it is important to note that the work my team and I do is not self-serving. Everything we do is focused on serving scholars, as we work to equip them with the tools they need to flourish in the classroom, the community and the workforce.”

Intervene K-12 pairs data-driven instruction with high-dose online, small-group tutoring to help K-12 schools improve student outcomes through a fully integrated intervention program that drives measurable student growth. This outcome is achieved through deep analysis of student skill deficits, differentiated lessons and live online, small-group instruction, either during the school day or after school. Intervene K-12 provides tutoring in a variety of subjects, including math, reading, and English language support.…Read More

SmartPass Launches New Product Innovations Expanding Beyond Hallway Management

NEW YORK – SmartPass, a digital solution for hallway management, expands its SmartPass Hall Pass product by adding three new products SmartPass Flex, SmartPass Attendance, and SmartPass ID Cards (which is completely free for schools) to support educators with student management tasks throughout the school day.

“We found that our customers were jury rigging our hall pass product to use it for other needs,” said Peter Luba, CEO of SmartPass. “We listened to their feedback and created new products built for specific student movement management tasks. They got a great reception at ISTELive 23 and we look forward to helping more schools manage student movement through technology.”

More than 1,000 schools across the country use SmartPass to manage hall passes, improve time on task, reduce disruptions, and help ensure all students feel safe and are accounted for while at school. In addition to SmartPass Hall Pass, SmartPass now offers:…Read More