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.

The Social Institute Expands Staff to Meet Growing Need for Nurturing Student Well-Being, Including Positive Social Media & Tech Education

Durham, N.C. – The Social Institute today announced Chris Valada has joined the company as Head of New Partnerships, leading a team of representatives from across the country to bring positive social media and tech education to more schools. Valada spent his career in EdTech sales and has worked across K-12 and Higher Ed.  

“Chris joins us at an important moment for our company,” said The Social Institute Founder and CEO Laura Tierney. “Forward-thinking educators know that social media goes hand-in-hand with student well-being — and now that students are online more than ever, the need for positive social media education has never been greater,” she continued. “Chris has the background, skills, and experience to lead us into 2023 and beyond.” 

The Social Institute also announced that Andrea Jenkins has been promoted to Director of Partner Success. In this role, Andrea will lead the Partner Success team with the goal of continuing to expand district partnerships. Jenkins, a former educator, has been with the company for nearly two years in the sales department. …Read More

Edsoma Partners With MetaMetrics to Report Lexile Measures for Oral Reading

DURHAM, N.C. & WEATHERFORD, TX –  July, 2022 –  MetaMetrics® and  Edsoma today announced a new partnership that will help children using Edsoma’s innovative reading app build their oral reading fluency skills. Edsoma readers will receive Lexile oral reading measures and the app’s books will have oral readability measures from the  Lexile ®  Framework for Oral Reading. Edsoma is an app designed to improve literacy through real-time data. 

Edsoma’s scoring system is used to identify strengths and weaknesses in children’s reading. Using the app’s live follow-along technology, parents can help children develop a love of reading while learning to correctly pronounce the words that they are reading. Edsoma allows parents to read with their children from any location and automatically keeps track of a child’s reading activities so that parents and teachers can track their progress. 

Given the sobering numbers on children’s decreased reading performance since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, bringing with it repercussions from school closures and the challenges of virtual learning, educators and parents are looking for the help of innovative educational technology…Read More

National Alliance of Black School Educators Names Audrey Muhammad as Inaugural Recipient of the 2021 NABSE $10,000 Scholarship Award

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass., December 13, 2021—The National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) recently named Audrey Muhammad, college success instructor at Durham Technical Community College in Durham, NC, as the recipient of the 2021 NABSE $10,000 Scholarship Award, which is sponsored by Curriculum Associates. This inaugural award, The Dr. Charles Mitchell, Jr. Leadership Scholarship, will help support Muhammad as she pursues an advanced degree in educational leadership at Wilmington University.

“We offer our congratulations to Ms. Muhammad on being the recipient of the inaugural award and wish her continued success in her educational endeavors,” said Dr. Fadhilika Atiba-Weza, executive director of NABSE. “NABSE is proud to present this scholarship in honor of Dr. Charles Mitchell, Jr., a founding member of our organization, whose recognition of the importance of leadership contributed to the formation of NABSE. In addition, we thank Curriculum Associates for its support and look forward to our continued partnership.”

Muhammad has been an educator for the past 28 years. Prior to her current role, she worked for Toledo Public Schools in Ohio and San Bernardino Unified School District and West Contra Costa Unified School District in California. During this time, she served as a high school English teacher, mentor teacher, and facilitator of various education workshops. She is also the author of numerous books, including How to Set Worthy Goals and Rhymes of the Times: Black Nursery Rhymes, and is the publisher of the inspirational Virtue Today Magazine.…Read More

FastBridge From Illuminate Education Now Reports Lexile Measures, Providing Powerful Insights on Students’ Reading Habits

IRVINE, CALIF. & DURHAM, N.C. (PRWEB) NOVEMBER 09, 2021 — Illuminate Education and  MetaMetrics® today announced a new partnership connecting the Lexile® Framework for Reading with  FastBridge aReading scores, providing powerful insights on students’ reading skills.

The Lexile Framework for Reading evaluates reading ability and text complexity on the same developmental scale, providing a mechanism for matching each student’s reading ability with texts such as books or reading passages. This enables educators to identify reading materials that will appropriately challenge their students and help them grow as readers.

To link aReading scores with the official Lexile scale, a study was conducted with assessment results. FastBridge is Illuminate Education’s universal screening, diagnostic reporting, and progress monitoring solution for reading, math and social-emotional behavior.…Read More

The Social Institute Partners with Additional Public Schools to Bring Modern, Engaging SEL to More Students Across the Country

Durham, N.C. – The Social Institute today announced that its newly enhanced social-emotional learning curriculum is reaching even more students, thanks to several new partner schools that span the country, from Boston, Massachusetts to Juneau, Alaska. 

Juneau School District in Alaska, USD309 Public Schools in Reno County Kansas, and Washington Irving Middle School in Massachusetts are the latest public schools to partner with The Social Institute to empower their students to navigate social-emotional health, social media, and technology positively.

“Juneau School District (JSD) is looking for innovative ways to engage both students and staff in talking about how to best support themselves and each other as we return to in-person learning and recover from the trauma the last two years has brought,” said Ted Wilson, Director of Teaching and Learning Support at JSD. “Academic success is only possible when a person feels safe and secure, and isn’t distracted by unmet personal and social needs. #WinAtSocial provides a highly engaging platform to engage staff and students in discussions and activities that will help meet social emotional learning needs, leading to greater academic success as we work to move beyond COVID-19.”…Read More

MetaMetrics Unveils Lexile & Quantile Educator Academy for Teacher Professional Development

Teachers enroll now in new online professional development courses designed
to improve student achievement in reading and math

DURHAM, N.C. – June 15, 2021 – Today MetaMetrics® unveiled its new Lexile® & Quantile® Educator Academy. The Lexile Certification Course and Quantile Certification Course help teachers integrate the measurement frameworks and accompanying tools and resources into instruction, student career planning and parent engagement. Each year, more than 35 million students receive Lexile measures and 20 million receive Quantile measures.

Both the Lexile and Quantile courses offer an interactive curriculum featuring direct instruction, knowledge checks, summative assessments and performance tasks. Each course is 10-hours, self-paced and asynchronous. Upon completion of the professional development courses, teachers become Certified Lexile or Quantile Educators. In addition, in more than 20 states, teachers will be awarded CEUs or professional development hours on completion of each course.…Read More

The Social Institute Expands Team To Meet Increased Demand For Modern Day SEL

Durham, NC – As schools wind down a year like no other, The Social Institute is increasing staff, updating curriculums, and partnering with additional schools in order to empower even more students to navigate social-emotional health, social media, and technology positively for the 2021-22 school year. 

Amanda Sports joins the team as Associate Producer, and will bring graphic design, video production, and project management experience. She will work alongside Micah Adams, head of content, to help scale production of lessons and resources to support educators nationwide.  

The Social Institute has also hired Andrea Jenkins and Brianna Ingram as Account Executives to cultivate new partnerships with schools across the country. They join Stephanie Lane in that department, who came on board in 2020. …Read More

Charter experiment ‘spinning out of control’

What is happening in Durham County, N.C.,  is exactly what charter school critics have long feared: the destabilization of the traditional district system, the Washington Post reports. Ned Barnett, the editorial page editor of the News & Observer wrote in this piece that the spread of charter schools in the county since the state legislature lifted the cap on new charters in 2011 is out of control, serving to “undermine” the traditional system that educates most of the region’s children — without the kind of accountability that school reformers say they love…

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