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.

3 strategies to streamline K-12 data management

Key points:

  • K-12 educators have hundreds of data sources, but that data is siloed
  • Learning to manage a sea of data can help support your district’s strategic mission
  • See related article: Reaching data readiness: 10 steps to take

Think about all the data points available at your average school district.

Standardized test scores. Behavioral assessments. Attendance. And grades, of course. Not to mention, most districts are assessing grit, emotional wellness, and individual personal growth plans as well.…Read More

Trustifi Recognized with Four Awards for Data Protection and Classification in First Half of 2022

LAS VEGAS — June 30, 2022 — Leading cybersecurity and data management firm Trustifi has added four new awards as of this month, demonstrating its consistent reliability in protecting customers against email-related cyber threats. The latest slate of honors includes a Gold Globee, Gold Stevie Award, SourceForge’s Top Performers Award, and a place on Expert Insights’ Top 100 Most Innovative Cybersecurity Companies list for 2022.

“Our most important endeavor is protecting information. Our customers rely on us to keep their data safe, and we take that seriously because we know we are protecting their livelihood and all that entails,” said Trustifi CEO Rom Hendler. “Recognitions like these showcase our solutions and their efficacy across many different customer bases.”

Two awards were determined based on overall company performance, while the others were focused on specific product benefits. For instance, Trustifi’s Inbound Shield and Outbound Shield were recognized. Inbound Shield protects organizations and individuals by analyzing, detecting and classifying an abundance of malicious email types — including phishing, spam and viruses. Outgoing emails are protected with Outbound Shield, which secures information with data identification features and has quick implementation and automated integrations for common office suite software.…Read More

Accelerate Learning Names Philip Galati as New President and CEO

Accelerate Learning, developer of the award-winning STEMscopes line of PreK-12 STEM curriculum, today announced the appointment of Philip Galati as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Dr. Vernon Johnson who is retiring from the position ­but will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors.

Galati joins Accelerate Learning with a deep background in software and technology, most recently serving as CEO of Energy Services Group (ESG), a provider of back-office, billing and data management SaaS solutions for the energy industry. Under his leadership, ESG grew into an international technology leader serving millions of consumers in North America, Europe and Japan. Prior to that, Galati spent two years as CEO of Trillium Software, and earlier in his career he held numerous leadership positions in software, technology and professional services companies, including Sterling Commerce, Dell, IBM and Ernst & Young.

In his new position Galati will oversee Accelerate Learning’s continued expansion of digital product solutions for PreK-12 students, professional learning opportunities for educators, and the growth of the company’s recently launched STEMscopes Math product line.…Read More

Are your edtech tools really working?

Elkin City Schools (ECS) is my home. It’s a small district, located near the North Carolina border, with three schools and about 1,200 students. It’s a small, tight-knit community full of passionate leaders, dedicated teachers, and inspired learners. We rank considerably well in the state almost entirely across the board. We’re ranked 7th or better for ELA in grades 3-7. We’re also 10th in the state for ACT scores, 12th for high school math, 8th for English II instruction, and we’re 3rd in the state for biology.

As a small district, we’re proud to be recognized among the top academic school systems in North Carolina. Despite our strong academic standing within the state, however, we know there’s always room for growth. At the end of the day, we want to be number 1 in all areas. Attaining this goal comes down to two factors: 1) the people we have in place that deliver the instruction and 2) the apps and tools they’re using to differentiate lessons and embrace our support of the whole child.

I believe ECS’s teachers are one of our greatest assets. But determining if we’re using the best piece of technology for every student in every instance has often been a challenge.…Read More

The must-have for a SIS? It’s not what you think!

Earning buy-in from stakeholders is one of the most important factors when moving to a new SIS.

At Mooresville Consolidated School Corporation, where I work as a data management coordinator, our former SIS was unreliable, inaccessible, and had limited functionality. With frustration building among staff, we selected a new SIS that would allow us to become more efficient, engaged, and empowered.

It was at this time that we realized we needed to not only change our procedures for implementing a new solution, but also ensure the buy-in from staff, teachers, students, and parents. Change can be difficult, especially when you’re transitioning to a new SIS, and we wanted to make sure all stakeholders were on board throughout the entire process.…Read More

IO Education, EADMS merger will expand online formative assessment

Complementary formative assessment solutions will help educators better leverage tools

IO Education and Educator’s Assessment Data Management System (EADMS), a provider of K-12 assessment and data management software, have merged to better leverage online formative assessment capabilities.

With EADMS’ fully integrated assessment and data management capabilities, IO Education will continue to strengthen its ability to utilize all student data to drive educator insight and improve educational outcomes. These complementary solutions will give educators an integrated solution across assessment, analytics and reporting, talent management, professional development and classroom management.

EADMS offers a comprehensive formative assessment and data management solution that provides educators at all levels immediate results to measure student performance, and is optimized for online and paper-based assessment. EADMS enables K-12 districts to personalize instruction by providing the tools to identify performance gaps that prevent students from achieving standards mastery.…Read More

New software facilitates assessment and data management

Gradecam’s software uses an ordinary document or web camera to automate data entry into any electronic gradebook.

During recent ed-tech conferences, a number of companies introduced software intended to make assessment and data management easier for schools.

For instance, CTB/McGraw-Hill has introduced a program called TerraNova Common Core, a national achievement test that represents a field-tested, valid, and authentic measure of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the company says. It is available in reading, English language arts, and mathematics for grades 3-8. TerraNova Common Core offers a full range of item formats in one test, including multiple choice, constructed response, extended-constructed response, and integrated performance tasks. Through this “one test” approach, educators can compare student results on national and Common Core standards across grades and ability levels.…Read More

New assessment and data management solutions for schools

Here are some of the latest innovations in assessment and data management for schools.

With a strong federal focus on assessment and accountability in education, many ed-tech companies have released new products designed to help educators test their students’ understanding and track progress toward meeting state and federal benchmarks. Here are some of the latest innovations in assessment and data management for schools.

More than 500 school systems have been using CTB/McGraw-Hill’s Acuity product to assess students in grades 3-8 in the subjects of reading, math, and science. With Acuity, educators can administer predictive, diagnostic, and formative assessments to students online, with a pencil and paper, or via student response systems. The Acuity software helps educators analyze students’ progress, identify strengths and weaknesses, and target instruction more appropriately.…Read More