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.

Equity and Access at the Core of Learning Without Tears’ Breakthrough Literacy Program, Phonics, Reading, and Me™

Cabin John MD – Early learning leader, Learning Without Tears, today affirmed that equity and access are at the core of Phonics, Reading, and Me™—its K–3 supplemental literacy program designed to help students learn the skills they need to become proficient readers. While the content itself provides multicultural access through decodable texts and small group activities, Phonics, Reading, and Me also benefits from artificial intelligence-driven speech recognition technology powered by SoapBox Labs, the first company in the world to achieve independent certification for identifying and mitigating racial bias in AI design. This certification was awarded by Digital Promise, a non-profit established by the US Congress in 2011 to develop research, practice, and technologies to drive education equity, in partnership with the EdTech Equity Project.

“From the start, Phonics, Reading, and Me was designed to be different,” explained Learning Without Tears Chief Executive Officer, Terry Nealon. “In both content and technology and professional learning and support, Phonics, Reading, and Me raises the bar on delivering bias-free and equitable access learning for all students. This is at the core of Learning Without Tears’ commitment to delivering breakthrough learning programs.”

Partnering with SoapBox since June of 2022, Phonics, Reading, and Me leverages this AI technology to accurately capture data on skills proficiency—regardless of children’s race, background, or ethnicity. This data drives personalized pathing within the system: offering scaffolds and opportunities to stretch so all students progress along the skills sequence together. The data from child-specific, accurate speech technology from SoapBox coupled with Learning Without Tears’ activities and proprietary pathing formulas drive efficacy and empowers young learners with the essential literacy skills they need to access grade level text.…Read More

Student engagement remains a major concern

The vast majority of educators said they are concerned about their students’ engagement in classroom-based learning, according to the latest installment of the national Gradient Learning Poll, which examines the growing student engagement crisis in classrooms across the country.

The findings are bolstered by Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up research, in which 50 percent of student respondents claimed they are not engaged in what they are learning in school for the majority of their classes.

Teachers highlighted a number of reasons students are struggling to stay engaged in the classroom this year—from a lack of intrinsic motivation on core subjects to the long-term impacts of pandemic-driven disruptions.…Read More

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Why design thinking is important in early childhood education

In early childhood education, most parents are aware of the importance of teaching key academic skills such as early literacy and mathematics skills. Recent research also suggests that problem-solving is an equally important skillset to teach young children. While the design thinking model is implemented in K-12 education, it is relatively new in early childhood education but highly effective.

What is design thinking? Design thinking is an iterative process used to solve real-world problems. At its core, design thinking has several steps: Identify a problem, design potential solutions, test the solutions, redesign as needed and share the solutions with a wider audience. Design thinking is used regularly in many fields (engineering, business, IT, health care, etc.) and has recently gained wide popularity due to the effectiveness of this problem-solving approach.

Why is design thinking important? As pediatrician Laura Jana notes in her book, The Toddler Brain, 65 percent of today’s children will face unknown careers and problems when they are adults. Children will always need to solve problems throughout their lives and the difficulties they face will grow in complexity as they mature. Design thinking is a lifelong skill that children may use to tackle complex problems throughout their lives, so it is a valuable skill to learn early in life, particularly within the first five years. According to Dr. Jana, there is a direct connection between early skills and workforce development. The 21st century competencies valued by today’s business world are one and the same with the core social, emotional, language and executive function skills that can be fostered in early childhood. Forbes explains that design thinking is a way for businesses to increase productivity, foster innovation and eliminate wasted time and money on guesswork-based development by empowering front-line workers to collaborate on diverse teams and explore new ideas. Design thinking helps children build a resilience-focused mindset and teaches many of the 21st century skills, such as the four C’s: creativity, collaboration, compassion and confidence. These are skills children can use to address increasingly complex problems throughout their lives.…Read More

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Leading American Educator And Journalist, Esther Wojcicki, Joins Award-Winning Edtech Startup Pressto Ai

New York, NY — EdTech startup Pressto AI is thrilled to announce that Esther Wojcicki will be joining the leadership team as the Chief Academic Advisor. Wojcicki brings a plethora of experience to the role, ranging from journalist and educator to speaker and author. As Chief Academic Advisor, she will be guiding pedagogy, building a teacher task force, and creating a library of exemplary lessons for students. Having built the best student journalism program in the world, Esther and Pressto are together distributing her exemplary lessons to millions of students.

“Using AI to develop new and useful tools that help teachers improve their students’ education is at the core of empowering a successful next generation, and Pressto is doing just that,” says Esther Wojcicki, Pressto Chief Academic Advisor. “This means adapting to how we approach teaching overall to remain relevant with the times, so students not only learn the skills needed, but also become intrinsically motivated to learn more in all subject areas.”

Wojcicki is widely heralded as the one of the most successful parents, educators and journalists in the United States. She created a high school journalism program that changed the lives of thousands of kids, inspired Silicon Valley legends including Steve Jobs and raised three daughters – YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, Fulbright Scholar Janet Wojcicki, and 23&Me Founder Anne Wojcicki – each of whom have become distinctively successful.…Read More

4 edtech SEL trends to follow this year

Technology has become increasingly important to every level of education, and its value to social-emotional learning, or SEL, is no exception. Just as digital tools provide educators with innovative and flexible ways to reinforce learning in core academic subjects, they can be used to more effectively teach the social-emotional and life skills that students need to thrive in the classroom and beyond.

An essential part of my role as vice president of product for Committee for Children, an industry leader in SEL, is to keep a close eye on trends in education technology. After spending more than 25 years in edtech, I know how crucial it is for educators to understand how to leverage technology to support SEL in practical, meaningful ways.

Here are four of the latest SEL edtech trends that districts and schools can use this year to support the social-emotional well-being of students and staff, enhance students’ engagement with SEL content, and improve family communications.…Read More

95 Percent Group Unveils 95 Phonics Core Program for Grades 4 and 5

Lincolnshire, Ill. – 95 Percent Group LLC, the trusted source for comprehensive, proven literacy solutions, launched 95 Phonics Core Program® Word Study, Grades 4 and 5. The new program extends the evidence-based classroom success of 95 Percent Group’s K-3 program, a Tier 1 solution for whole class and small group instruction, supporting explicit, structured literacy instruction. It engages students with informational text and literary passages to help them develop fast and meaningful word recognition and build fluency, comprehension, and confidence. It also includes professional learning and ongoing coaching at the district and building level to support teachers in mastering phonics-based instruction.

Chief Academic Officer for 95 Percent Group Laura Stewart noted that 95 Phonics Core Program® Word Study, Grades 4 and 5 is a natural evolution for the company’s phonics ecosystem, a cohesive suite of products and professional learning services aligned with the Science of Reading.

“Expanding our phonics ecosystem to support fourth and fifth grade is the direct result of educators asking us for a solution to fill the continued, growing need for explicit Tier 1 phonics and word study skill development beyond the third grade,” said Stewart. “This is a unique offering for schools and it is exciting to be able to bring this resource to the classroom to help both struggling and on grade-level students improve their reading and spelling abilities.”…Read More

Oregon Public School Breaks State Assessment Score Record with Carnegie Learning

Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Learning, a leader in artificial intelligence for K-12 education and formative assessment, announced today that students from the Howard Street Partnership School achieved record-breaking results on Oregon’s state assessment, SBAC, using Carnegie Learning’s core secondary math solution that comprises MATHbook, a consumable write-in text that fosters collaborative classroom learning, and MATHia, the one-on-one, adaptive math coaching software.

Howard Street Charter School in Salem, Oregon, is a project-based institution that pushes students to achieve excellence in all areas of study. Howard Street Charter School is no stranger to academic success and had already achieved  curricular excellence with passing rates above the state average. Carnegie Learning’s math solution helped them achieve even higher.

“Our highest passing rate ever in the history of the school was fifty-two percent before Covid. And now that’s the mid-range,” Principal Christina Tracy states. “Our SBAC data was the best we’ve had for math in 25 years! And we did not teach to the test. We just used Carnegie Learning Math.”…Read More

Utah State Board of Education Approves 95 Percent Group Resources as Evidence-Informed, Recommended Supplemental Programs for Grades K-5

Lincolnshire, Ill. – 95 Percent Group LLC, the trusted source for comprehensive, proven literacy solutions, announced today the Utah State Board of Education approved its flagship 95 Phonics Core Program® and 95 Phonics Intervention and 95 Phonological Awareness Intervention as Recommended Supplemental Literacy Curriculum Resources. 

In 2022, Utah joined a growing number of states to realign reading instruction to structured literacy, grounded in the Science of Reading. The Utah State Board of Education convened a panel of experts to oversee the process of implementing a requirement that districts use materials backed by the Science of Reading. Its goal is to get 70 percent of Utah third graders reading at grade level by 2027. 

The selection of 95 Percent Group’s programs for state schools is based on rigorous review by Utah’s professional educators. …Read More

South Carolina’s State Board of Education Approves High School Biology Course From Discovery Education for Statewide Use

CHARLOTTE, NC —Following a comprehensive evaluation, the South Carolina State Board of Education has approved the South Carolina-aligned High School Biology course of the award-winning Science Techbook by Discovery Education for statewide use as a core instructional resource. South Carolina’s adoption of Science Techbook’s High School Biology course empowers school systems statewide to integrate this innovative blended curriculum into teaching and learning.  Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.    

The High School Biology course of Science Techbook offers a unique and engaging three-dimensional learning experience that aligns with SC College & Career-Ready Science Standards and supports learning and achievement. Delivered through Discovery Education’s award-winning K-12 platform, Science Techbook offers both print and digital editions designed to maximize classroom flexibility and student engagement. Technology tools streamline teacher prep with differentiation and auto-grading and lesson content is available in multiple Lexile levels and authentic Spanish, increasing accessibility for all learners. 

“Discovery Education appreciates the South Carolina Board of Education’s careful review of Science Techbook’s South Carolina-aligned High School Biology course,” said Anna Strassner, Discovery Education’s Director of Educational Partnership. “The engaging, phenomena-driven learning experiences this course makes possible will help South Carolina’s students develop the skills and knowledge important for success beyond the classroom.” …Read More