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.

New York State Education Department Approves IXL’s Real-Time Diagnostic to Assess K-12 students

SAN MATEO, Calif.  — IXL, the personalized learning platform used by more than 13 million students, announced that the New York State Education Department (NYSED) has added IXL’s Real-Time Diagnostic to its list of approved assessments. All schools and districts in New York can now use the diagnostic to more accurately track student progress and teacher effectiveness, as required by state regulations. IXL is used by nearly 30 percent of all K-12 students in New York, accounting for approximately 900,000 learners.

New York evaluates the impact educators, schools and districts have on student achievement through Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) and Annual Professional Performance Reviews (APPRs). SLOs are ambitious, measurable academic goals set for an educator’s students based on past performance data.  To evaluate teachers and principals in the state, districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services are required to conduct APPRs.

Following NYSED’s approval of the Real-Time Diagnostic, all New York districts can use the assessment to track student progress for SLOs and personalize educational opportunities for learners. Additionally, purchasing IXL gives districts access to an end-to-end learning solution. The Real-Time Diagnostic is part of IXL’s personalized learning platform, which guides each student to specific skills in IXL’s curriculum that will fill the knowledge gaps identified by the diagnostic. This seamless connection between assessment and instruction helps educators more efficiently tailor their lessons to ensure every student meets key learning objectives.…Read More

New Mexico State Department of Education Partners with 7 Mindsets to Launch New Online Social Emotional Learning Portal

ATLANTA  – Sept. 14, 2021 – 7 Mindsets, the leader in online social emotional learning (SEL) solutions, and New Mexico’s Public Education Department have partnered to make free SEL resources available through a new online state portal. Starting in early September, the portal will give students, parents, and educators no-cost access to 7 Mindset’s SEL courses and curriculums, leadership training, and teacher professional development.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has found that SEL positively impacts students’ school performance and decreases behavior problems and emotional distress.

Additionally, New Mexico’s education department reports that 26% of the state’s children live in poverty. Consequently, families of those students have fewer resources and supports for fostering their children’s development. Plus, severe stress and depression resulting from such hardships often interfere with effective parenting.…Read More

5 ways to use stimulus funds for long-term success

According to the U.S. Education Department, energy costs are the second biggest expense for K-12 schools after salaries, with districts spending nearly $8 billion on those costs annually. Given the massive influx of stimulus funds coming to districts, they have an enormous opportunity to target the infusion toward their energy usage. In addition to upgrading aging facilities, energy investments offer cost savings that can help fund future priorities while providing a safe and comfortable learning environment.

One district that successfully did that is Port Allegany School District. Superintendent Gary Buchsen invested $1.9 million in federal stimulus funds into much-needed capital improvement projects that, once complete, will provide dramatically improved indoor air quality and a comfortable learning environment through renovating aging restrooms and kitchen facilities.

Not only will the project cut energy and operational costs by 23 percent, but it will also leave 60 percent of the total funding received for additional projects.…Read More

New Mexico Public Education Department Names Curriculum Associates to Its High-Quality Professional Learning Marketplace List for 2021

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass., July 6, 2021— The New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) recently named Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready Classroom Mathematics and Ready Reading programs to its High-Quality Professional Learning (HQPL) Marketplace List for 2021. The list acts as a guide for teachers, schools, and districts across the state to identify professional learning provider programs that support orientation and ongoing implementation of high-quality instructional materials. Today, Curriculum Associates’ programs are used by more than a dozen districts across the state, including Las Cruces Public Schools, Gadsden Independent School District, and Grants Cibola County Schools.

According to NMPED, the HQPL Marketplace List includes provider professional learning programs that were reviewed and vetted to ensure they demonstrate evidence-based strategies and results. Local education agencies can use the list to begin the selection process for professional learning needs at the local level. Both Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready Classroom Mathematics and Ready Reading received the highest “green” rating, signifying the programs met the review criteria without any reservations.

“We understand that ongoing professional development is necessary for educators to be successful in the classroom and when using our programs,” said Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates. “As such, we work to provide educators with a robust set of materials and supports to help facilitate their teaching and to help them create an engaging learning environment for all students.”…Read More

New York State Education Department Approves Curriculum Associates as a Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) Sponsor

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass., September 14, 2020—The New York State Education Department has approved Curriculum Associates as a Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) sponsor. With this approval, educators across New York can now receive state-approved CTLE credits by completing Curriculum Associates’ active, personalized, and research-based professional development courses which can be delivered online or in-person.

“Professional development is so critical to educators’ growth and success, especially now given the challenges of this school year,” said Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates. “Our courses are tailored to meet the unique needs of each school and district and to support all educators in an engaging and effective way. With the CTLE sponsorship, we look forward to continuing to provide New York educators with both timely and topical professional learning facilitated by former educators who truly understand the ins and outs of classroom teaching.”

Curriculum Associates was chosen as a CTLE sponsor after completing a rigorous review that examined the organization’s procedures to identify, design, and evaluate CTLE activities; procedures and criteria for selecting instructors; procedures to evaluate effectiveness; plan to maintain records; and more. As part of the state requirements, educators must complete 100 CTLE hours every five years.…Read More

How Owen J. Roberts School District made the remote transition

That COVID “where were you when” moment from last March is still fresh in Paul Sanfrancesco’s mind. Watching neighboring districts announce closures and realizing his own faculty would be stranded at home, contingency plans were hatched and devices were launched to prep students for remote learning.

And while no one could have been completely prepared for what has since developed, schools in the Owen J. Roberts School District (OJRSD) were already using several learning management tools that eased the transition. They also continue to learn new techniques and strategies as all schools everywhere move into the unknown.

Sanfrancesco is Director of Technology for OJRSD. The district, located in northern Chester County, Pennsylvania, comprises five elementary schools, one middle school, and the Owen J. Roberts High School. The student population for the entire district is around 4,800 students. Sanfrancesco teaches as a professor in the Graduate Education Department at Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA and Neumann University, Aston, PA. He was named CTO of the Year by the Pennsylvania Association for Educational Communications and Technology and one of the “20 to Watch” educators by the National School Boards Association for his work in IT.…Read More

Trump’s ed budget: A ‘betrayal’ and a ‘meat cleaver’ to public education

Under President Trump’s proposed FY 2018 education budget, school choice would receive a massive $1.4 billion while the Education Department undergoes a $9 billion, or 13 percent, cut.

Overall, the proposed education budget cuts the Education Department’s budget from $68 million to $59 billion.

Within the proposed $1.4 billion school choice investment, charter schools get a $168 million boost, and $250 million is allocated toward a new private school choice program.…Read More

College cost website raises questions about Romney’s higher-ed stance

The for-profit Florida university that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney supports as a model for holding down college costs is one of the country’s priciest schools, according to a new Education Department (ED) website that helps prospective students compare tuition costs.

The College Affordability & Transparency Center, launched June 12, compares college and university net prices, or the tuition and fee costs minus grant and scholarship money given to its students. The federal website also lets students see where net college prices are rising at the fastest rate.

Full Sail University, a school based in Winter Park, Fla., has the third highest net price of all U.S. for-profit colleges, and it costs more for students than any public or nonprofit college, according to the Transparency Center’s online calculator.…Read More