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.

Using data to strengthen writing instruction

Writing is often difficult for educators to teach, challenging for students to do, and hard for administrators to monitor and evaluate. Yet writing well—and the high-quality writing instruction behind it–has become an increasingly important 21st century skill due to online college and job applications, as well as the reliance on email and collaborative documents in many 21st century careers.

Ways to compile and use data to guide writing instruction were explained during an edWebinar sponsored by Texthelp, which featured Joni Degner and Mark Schwartz, a Director and a Product Evangelist for Texthelp. The software automates and accelerates many aspects of the writing-evaluation process, though each teacher’s grading and feedback also remain crucial parts of the process.

Related content: 10 writing lessons for distance learning…Read More

Trox Launches New SHIELD Protection Program for Chromebooks and Other Mobile Devices

Trox, a leading North American provider of education technology and collaboration solutions, today announced the launch of its new proprietary Trox SHIELDSM Protection Program for Chromebooks and other mobile devices.

Trox SHIELD helps educators protect their technology investment by ensuring that mobile devices and remain in circulation. Offering a zero cost of ownership guarantee for devices, Trox SHIELD extends the original manufacturer’s warranty and covers accidental damage. Trox certified technicians repair damaged devices, which allows IT teams to focus on supporting students and teachers.

“Demand for Chromebooks and laptops is at an all-time high for schools. Devices that are damaged in transit puts significant strain on limited budgets and IT resources,” said Sarah Kydd, Chief Operating Officer, Trox. “With many schools offering remote or blended learning, ensuring that students have working devices is more important than ever. That’s why we added Trox SHIELD to our robust lifecycle management services.”…Read More

2020 Green-Garner Award Recognizing Outstanding Leadership

As part of its support of urban education, Curriculum Associates has partnered with the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) as a sponsor of the 31st annual Green-Garner Award. This year’s award recipient, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa of Dallas Independent School District in Dallas, Texas, was selected for this esteemed honor for his strong dedication to the needs of students, profound commitment to improvement, and significant community involvement and leadership.

“We are proud to partner with the CGCS as they recognize exemplary leadership in urban education through this coveted and long-standing award,” said Woody Paik, executive vice president of Curriculum Associates. “Superintendent Hinojosa is an exceptional district leader who is so well-deserving of this recognition. His ongoing work, as well as his commitment to urban education as a whole, has positively impacted students and educators across the district.”

The Green-Garner Award, which is presented each year at the CGCS’s Fall Conference, recognizes a board member or superintendent for their outstanding contributions in urban education. As the nation’s highest urban-education honor, the award is named in memory of urban school leaders Richard R. Green, the first African-American chancellor of the New York City school system, and Edward Garner, a businessman and former school board president of the Denver Public Schools. Superintendent Hinojosa was chosen for this recognition among 20 superintendent nominees from districts across the nation.…Read More

5 simple ways to integrate STEAM education into elementary classrooms

As educators, our goal is to shape our students’ lives by teaching them in ways that produce well rounded individuals. Whether STEAM education is new to you or you’re already familiar with it, it’s a great way to excite students about learning.

Some people like to debate STEM vs. STEAM. In case you’re unfamiliar with these terms I’ll tell you what they mean. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math. STEAM is all of those, plus the A for Arts. I once had an actual rocket scientist (he’s a genius & a truly brilliant man) debate STEM vs. STEAM with me. He said there is no place for art in STEM education. Well, I disagree!

When you look at a beautiful building or a breathtaking bridge, do you not see the artistic value? When engineers design something, I have to think that they take the aesthetics of their design into account to produce something unique and beautiful!…Read More

New Gaggle White Paper Helps Districts Understand and Support Students Struggling With Mental Health

According to the NEA, at least 10 million students ages 13–18 were suffering from depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or bipolar disorder before the crisis of the pandemic. Now, with the social isolation and increased stress caused by the novel coronavirus, schools and districts are facing even more extensive student mental health needs. To help educators understand and respond to this deepening crisis, Gaggle has published a new white paper titled “Addressing the Crisis in Student Mental Health: How Districts Can Identify and Support Struggling Students.”

The white paper reveals some of the research citing the rise of anxiety and depression among teens as well as causes of the “mental health tsunami” among teens and young adults. “There is real urgency for early treatment of mental health disorders,” said Gaggle CEO and founder, Jeff Patterson. “Suicide is now the second-leading cause of death among 10- to 19-year-olds in the United States. The Center for Suicide Prevention and Research reports that one in six teens has seriously considered suicide in the past year.”

To help teachers and administrators develop more comprehensive services to support students’ physical and mental health, the white paper shares solutions such as additional student services, more professional help, schoolwide interventions, social and emotional learning, and community-wide conversations. Additionally, the paper discusses how districts use Gaggle’s safety management solution as part of their physical and emotional safety initiatives. It shares four case studies highlighting different ways of accomplishing this goal. The white paper also mentions the new Gaggle Therapy service, which matches students who need mental health support with counselors licensed in their state for weekly teletherapy sessions.…Read More

EVALYON’s DataCapture Ed™ for Teachers and Educators is Now Available

Evalyon’s DataCapture Ed App allows educators to capture student data to help comply with Federally mandated RTI (Response to Intervention) requirements. Data is easily digitally captured by educators on iPads, and can be tracked, evaluated, shared, and safely stored to create detailed reports for teachers, administrators, and for parent/teacher conferences.

It’s available now at $43.99, for a limited time.

The App allows teachers to have more quality interactive time with each student, to monitor, in real time, daily progress toward goals, to capture audio/video/images of student work products, and to evaluate them for any issues that might need immediate intervention. This data capture is ENTIRELY PAPERLESS!! Data is categorized, charted, permanently stored. This data can be used in reports to help educators quickly determine RTI progress toward goals, interventions and placements, and to properly place students in appropriate RTI Tiers.…Read More

100+ Strategies for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning

In the midst of a global pandemic and a movement to fight systemic racism, there is a renewed focus on making sure that every child feels welcomed and honored in school. On a mission to help educators create inclusive classrooms, BetterLesson, in partnership with The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, announces the publication of 100+ 100 strategies, tools and resources that help educators implement culturally responsive teaching and learning (CTRL). These are the culmination of work that started in the spring of 2019.

As a part of their “Master Teacher Project” model, BetterLesson selected 21 teachers and school leaders based in and around Kansas City who utilize CTRL best practices in their schools. These experienced educators participated in Professional Learning Communities and created resources to support educators in teaching all students to be racially conscious, equity-minded, anti-bias, and anti-racist.

For the full news release, click here.…Read More

Renaissance Answers: Has There Really Been an Impact from COVID on Student Performance?

Renaissance, a global leader in pre-K–12 education technology, today announced the upcoming release of How Kids Are Performing: Tracking the Impact of COVID-19 on Reading and Mathematics Achievement, a report detailing the learning effects associated with COVID-19 school closures. Designed to end the speculation and provide guidance for educators as they address learning gaps, the report will be based on the results of millions of student assessments.

“We’re as eager as the rest of the education world to end the speculation and get to the truth of where our students are as they begin this year,” said Dr. Gene Kerns, vice president and chief academic officer at Renaissance. “This year more than any other, data is going to be key in understanding where our students are and how we can best tailor instruction to meet them there.”

Using data gleaned from Star Assessments—one of the most widely-used assessments in K–12 education—the report will explore key questions including:…Read More

CatchOn Launches Student-Level Data Module, Provides Visibility into Engagement and Learning

To provide enhanced visibility into student digital engagement and learning patterns, CatchOn, an expansive data analytics and application monitoring tool for K-12 schools, has launched an industry-leading student-level data module. With this tool, educators can monitor when and how each student is using online tools and resources on their school-owned device which is an essential component of digital learning .

“With education transcending the traditional classroom, staying on top of students’ and educators’ evolving use of edtech is even more pressing,” said Jena Draper, Evangelist and Founder of CatchOn. “The student-level data module offers additional clarity regarding students’ usage of tools and resources to ensure they are engaged and receiving the right support.”

The student-level data module enables district leaders to:…Read More

Lexia Core5 and PowerUp Helped Students and Teachers Succeed with Remote Blended Learning

The 2019-20 school year drew concern for students’ learning when the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to rapidly transition to remote learning. To understand the impact to student learning, Lexia Learning, a Rosetta Stone company (NYSE: RST), surveyed 3,500 educators and found that

during the educational disruption period brought on by school closures during the spring semester, 86% of survey respondents using Lexia® Core5® Reading (Core5) or Lexia® PowerUp Literacy® (PowerUp) with their students felt that the products helped them more efficiently support student needs and learning. Moreover, those students who were able to access Lexia Learning products during the disruption were able to spend more time using the products each week, resulting in increased progress.

“During the stress and uncertainty of COVID, teachers were able to not only provide continuity of instruction, but they were able to support students in making independent progress in these extraordinary times,” said Dr. Liz Brooke, chief learning officer of Rosetta Stone. “Districts need to remain vigilant in choosing blended learning tools that provide some method for monitoring student learning/progress and deliver results in a variety of learning environments. Providing products that are proven to drive progress in closing literacy gaps, and support educators with actionable, real-time data on student progress, whether used in the classroom or at home remains our top priority.”…Read More