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.

Houston ISD Chooses SchooLinks for College and Career Readiness

Houston, TX (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Houston Independent School District in Houston, TX announced their decision to switch to the modernized College and Career Readiness platform, SchooLinks, starting the 2023/24 school year.

Serving over 194,000 students across 276 schools, Houston Independent School District understands the necessity to invest in technology that will holistically support all students on their journey toward academic and career success. SchooLinks, the platform of choice is able to  provide the support to HISD’s student population while also offering administrators real-time data to improve data-driven decision-making.

Houston ISD will be streamlining a number of initiatives using SchooLinks including college application management, academic planning, personalized graduation plans, CCMR and college and career exploration. This will enable Houston ISD to consolidate multiple redundant systems – reducing overall costs, driving student outcomes, and increasing staff efficiency. 

“SchooLinks is an essential piece to HISD’s CCMR strategy. As the district reorgs, we want to ensure we provide uninterrupted support to students and parents on their college & career planning journey while streamline process flows,” said Adrian Acosta, Executive Director of CCMR. 

“SchooLinks is excited to serve Houston ISD – one of Texas’ top school districts, to innovate college and career readiness for students! With 6 of the 10 largest school districts in Texas using SchooLinks, SchooLinks is becoming the go-to platform and network for communities to empower their students to achieve post-secondary success,” said SchooLinks CEO and Founder, Katie Fang.

SchooLinks is a web-based college and career platform that supports districts nationwide as they implement a comprehensive curriculum and framework to prepare students for the post-secondary pathway of their choice. School staff utilize the solutions within SchooLinks to effectively collaborate across departments, improve processes, and deliver lessons that support students’ post-secondary readiness. A full suite of reports provides real-time, actionable data for school and district leaders to measure student achievement and school staff impact. SchooLinks is dedicated to supporting district goals of expanding opportunities for all students to reach their potential and achieve their post-secondary goals.

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AtomicMind Launches College Admissions Technology Platform for a Personalized and Comprehensive College Application Experience

NEW YORK— AtomicMind, an education technology company that offers families a boutique coaching experience in the increasingly competitive college admissions landscape, today announced the launch of a unique technology platform. The new offering provides a comprehensive and personalized college application experience by combining hands-on expert guidance from dedicated advisors with robust virtual task management, communication and feedback tools.

The platform was designed by MIT and Harvard graduates using best practices identified over the course of their 40+ years of combined experience helping students get into top colleges. It gives college applicants the benefits of enhanced feedback and collaboration with a team of experts including strategists, writing coaches and former admissions staff members from elite colleges such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, MIT and Stanford. The AtomicMind platform addresses every aspect of the admissions process, from crafting compelling essays to mastering interviews to refining activity and college lists. The technology includes tools for keeping track of important deadlines and documents, while offering applicants key insights into what each college admissions committee is looking for. With the platform, a greater number of students will have access to the best resources regardless of where they live.

“The new AtomicMind platform offers families access to the tools and experts needed to navigate the increasingly high standards of the elite college admissions process,” said Leelila Strogov, the founder and CEO of AtomicMind. “The platform aims to maximize college acceptance rates by helping students more effectively build college lists, create tailored applications and stay organized. It also provides parents with an opportunity to monitor the progress of their student’s college applications. This spares busy applicants the extra stress of having to provide updates to their parents or the feeling that they are being interrogated.”…Read More

Web helps admissions officials demystify application process

Admissions officials at many colleges are trying to fight the Hollywood version of the college application process: A panel of ancient white guys in suits sitting in a stuffy wood-paneled boardroom as they discuss a pile of dusty folders, reports the Washington Post. To do this, dozens of admissions departments are producing YouTube videos, starting blogs, creating Twitter accounts and flocking to Facebook with this message: Look at how awesome, cool and approachable we are! Here’s the latest example: Last month, the admission staff at Centre College in Kentucky posted a You Tube video detailing how student applications are evaluated by the nine counselors on staff…

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Are video games the answer to college counseling shortage?

Recent high school graduate Edwin Brito plays the pilot version of USC's Pathfinder game.
Recent high school graduate Edwin Brito plays the pilot version of USC’s Pathfinder game.

A simple online search will turn up hundreds of web sites packed with advice for high school students applying to college. But few internet resources offer step-by-step guidance, and with college counseling dwindling in public schools, University of Southern California researchers have created a video game that lets student simulate the application process in all its complexity.

The online game, called Pathfinder, has been piloted among more than 100 Los Angeles-area high school students this year and could be available to school districts free of charge if USC’s Game Innovation Lab secures $1 million in grants and funding, said Zoe Corwin, a research associate in the university’s Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis.…Read More