CSDE Announces New Partnership to Launch Statewide K-12 Social-Emotional Learning Assessment System

Universal Screener Provides Data to Strengthen Social -Emotional Skills, Informs Instruction for Students Who Need Additional Support

The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) announced it is entering into a partnership with Aperture Education to provide a statewide SEL assessment for K-12 schools. Starting in the fall of 2021 and after a thorough procurement process, CSDE will make Aperture’s research-backed social-emotional learning assessments, the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) System and the DESSA-mini, available to all Connecticut districts at no cost.

“Reinforcing a strong, statewide system of supports around SEL and mental health is how we will most effectively address the unprecedented level of trauma, anxiety, and uncertainty that both students and school staff have experienced over the past year. Outside the context of the pandemic, we know the integration of SEL is a key component in PK-12 education and contributes to whole-child success in school, life, and career,” said Acting Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker. “As we continue to advance this important work together, adding DESSA as part of a coordinated approach to providing SEL supports will allow us to build upon existing efforts already underway in districts across the state.”…Read More

7 Mindsets Introduces SELEQUITY Platform to Help K-12 Schools Prioritize SEL and Equity

While social emotional learning (SEL) and equity have always been important, the events of the past year have brought these issues to the forefront. From social isolation to civil unrest to equity gaps, students and educators are facing challenges that a myopic focus on academics cannot address. To help K-12 districts and schools support SEL and equity in education, 7 Mindsets, the leader in online SEL solutions, today announces SELEQUITY™.

Coming in summer 2021, SELEQUITY is the latest iteration of the 7 Mindsets portal. The 7 Mindsets portal currently includes a wealth of resources and tools to help build the social emotional health of educators and students, and support equity in schools and classrooms. With the new SELEQUITY portal, 7 Mindsets is taking intentional actions to infuse the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) into the 7 Mindsets curriculum and professional development for the 2021-2022 school year.

Within the 7 Mindsets curriculum, all lessons are aligned to 10 SEL competencies. For the 2021-2022 school year, all lessons will be aligned to the Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance) Social Justice Standards, American School Counselor Association Mental Health Standards, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Health Standards.…Read More

New Data Analysis from CatchOn Finds Digital Engagement in K-12 Districts Increased Despite Pandemic Challenges

“Student Level Data Engagement Analysis” aggregates device and app usage data to assess student engagement

New analysis from CatchOn, an expansive data analytics and application monitoring tool for K-12 schools, finds that while districts experienced a significant decline in student engagement at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many quickly rebounded, reaching higher levels of digital engagement than before the pandemic.

“What this data shows us is that despite the many obstacles and challenges thrown at our school districts this past year, educators and staff worked together to leverage the power of technology and keep students engaged and learning,” said Monica Cougan, CatchOn’s Manager of Strategic Relationships and Initiatives. “At a time when so much is being reported on the detrimental impact this pandemic has had on learning, and while it certainly has, this data paints a picture of hope and demonstrates the tenacity, commitment, and innovation of our educators, parents, and students in their pursuit of excellence.”…Read More

PresenceLearning Hits Three Million Teletherapy Sessions Delivered

PresenceLearning, the leading provider of live online special education related services for K-12 schools, reached the milestone of delivering more than three million teletherapy sessions to students nationwide. This comes at the one-year mark of schools dealing with learning during a global health crisis.

“This year districts across the country embraced digital solutions to ensure that students receive the continuity of care they so urgently need, and more and more school providers experienced firsthand how teletherapy can positively impact the lives of their students. As we look ahead, we’re excited to continue working with our school partners to address gaps in equity and access,” said Kate Eberle Walker, CEO of PresenceLearning.…Read More

Osmo For Schools Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

Osmo for Schools, the educational division of Tangible Play that promotes in-classroom usage of Osmo’s award-winning educational systems, celebrates its fifth anniversary March 30, 2021 and highlights recent achievements. These include upgrading to plastic pieces in all its school bundles to maintain the highest standards of classroom hygiene, along with reaching 100,000 downloads of the Osmo Projector App intended for teachers, which helped grow Osmo’s community of active users. 

“Osmo for Schools began thanks to all the incredibly enthusiastic teachers across the U.S. and Canada who adopted Osmo as an educational device for classroom settings, promoting its usage, so that schools and districts started to purchase it,” explains Jan Richards, head of education sales and marketing at Osmo for Schools. “In early 2016, Osmo began our division by forming a sales team, a conference strategy, plus a Classroom Kit for schools, which really took off. It’s come a long way since!” The division now has 15 sales and consulting executives who work under Richards, offers nine different learning system bundles, and works with thousands of school districts.

All Learning System Bundles Upgraded To Plastic Manipulatives for Effective Sanitization…Read More

Illuminate Education and Education Advanced Announce Partnership to Integrate Products

Companies will integrate SchoolCity and TestHound assessment tools to improve teaching and learning

In an effort to provide greater visibility and support to K-12 school districts,  Illuminate Education announces the integration of its SchoolCity assessment platform with TestHound, a test enablement tool from  Education Advanced. Through this partnership, school districts will be able to more effectively coordinate assessments and manage student accommodation data.

“Our goal is always to help educators bring teachable moments to light. This includes making the assessment process easier for all our students. By partnering with Education Advanced, we hope to save educators a significant amount of time when planning assessments and coordinating student accommodations,” said Christine Willig, CEO at Illuminate Education. “Users will have additional options for customizing assessments, and the ability to dive deeper into students’ progress and accommodation needs.”…Read More

Pivot to Remote Learning Allows TCS’ Ignite My Future in School Program to Reach 1 Million U.S. K-12 Students

Tata Consultancy Services’ Pioneering Computational Thinking Initiative Accelerates Adoption by 350+ U.S. School Districts Across all 50 U.S. States and Expands to 70+ Countries

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, announced that its Ignite My Future in School (IMFIS) STEM/computer science education program — which was created in partnership with Discovery Education, the global leader in K-12 digital resources and professional learning — surpassed its five year goal of reaching one million U.S. K-12 students, a full year ahead of schedule. The pioneering program empowers educators to teach computational thinking, which are the critical skills that help students solve real-life problems and challenges by expressing them in a way that computers can solve.

In the wake of COVID-19, TCS moved the IMFIS program to a 100 percent virtual format, helping improve equity and access to high-quality digital content for educators and students, specifically those from under resourced communities. TCS will continue growing its investment to bring IMFIS to every student and educator in the U.S. and abroad, while focusing on supporting disconnected and marginalized student populations and empowering girls in STEM. Beyond the U.S., the virtual program is now enabled to be rapidly adopted by educators in more than 70 countries in response to the growing global interest in computational thinking resources to engage students.…Read More

How education data helps optimize hybrid learning

Schools worldwide face difficult choices as they try to balance student and staff safety with their educational mission during the pandemic. All-remote learning eliminates the risk of an outbreak at the school, but at-home education doesn’t provide the most productive learning environment for everyone, and it can put at-risk students at a disadvantage for a variety of reasons.

Schools and districts are making decisions about their approach by taking into account factors like virus prevalence in their area and student and family needs. An August 2020 McKinsey report notes that in the U.S., about 75 percent of the 50 largest districts started this school year on an all-remote basis. Others returned to all in-person learning, and some had to shut down again due to outbreaks.

Some districts have adopted a hybrid model where online instruction alternates with in-person teaching in classrooms that have reduced class sizes and social distance protocols in place. Hybrid education can help schools address the needs of vulnerable learners, including younger children who are difficult to engage online, as well as low-income and special education students, along with English-language learners.…Read More

New Collaboration Gives Online Teachers a Standard for Improving Successful Outcomes

Standard for Success, the industry-leader in teacher evaluation software, and Stride, Inc., the nation’s leading provider of online and blended education, have entered into a new agreement that will allow online teachers at Stride K12-powered schools, and even school districts to evaluate online teacher performance, competencies, and domains in real-time.

“After a school year like no other, parents, students and districts have worked hard to provide educational solutions for their students.” said Todd Whitlock, CEO and co-founder of Standard for Success. “Our custom tool standardizes the feedback opportunities for teachers and administrators. This aggregates teacher observations for real-time coaching, to celebrate excellence, and to help improve teacher and student growth all in line with our goal to help schools develop better teachers, better students, and a better world.” 

The tool is expected to roll-out across all Stride K12-powered schools this school year providing teacher feedback to improve outcomes as students head toward end of year testing.…Read More