TRENDING  //  The stakes are high. Set your literacy class up for success.  //  Putting the Science of Reading Into Practice

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.

How Bullying in Schools Affects Our Children

There’s nothing worse than going to school every day only to become a victim of intense bullying that often takes place within our communities. While bullying in schools certainly isn’t a new phenomenon, and many anti-bullying policies have been put into place to combat it, it still continues to hurt many of children every year.

According to the latest study done by the Institute of Education Sciences, in 2018 alone there were 836,100 instances of victimization by peers at school and 410,200 instances of victimization by peers outside of school for kids between the ages of 12-18. These instances of bullying and cyberbullying included anything from theft to nonfatal violent acts including social/emotional abuse along with physical and sexual violence.

And during the 2019-2020 school year alone, there were 75 school shootings with casualties in both public and private elementary and secondary school districts in the United States with an additional 37 school shootings that did not result in any casualties. …Read More

How to Combat the “Hey Look! A Squirrel!” Syndrome

If creating fascinating lesson plans and delivering them to a highly engaged group of kids was what teaching was really like, teaching would be a whole lot easier than it actually is.

We all see students in television shows and movies sitting in neat little rows, listening attentively to the teacher, and answering questions. But somehow, the directors always fail to capture the huge distractions teachers deal with on a daily basis.

Many people actually think these fictional classrooms resemble something close to the reality. Any teacher with more than a day of experience can assure you this is hardly the case.…Read More

DreamBox Learning® Enters ELA Market with Acquisitions of Reading Plus® and Squiggle Park

BELLEVUE, Wash. —July 19, 2021 — DreamBox Learning, the leading education technology provider that in 2006 pioneered intelligent adaptive learning, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Reading Plus, an evidence-based online reading program for grades 3-12 designed to help students boost their literacy skills and reading confidence. This move complements DreamBox’s recent acquisition of Squiggle Park, a K-2 reading solution designed to help students gain proficiency in early literacy. The combined programs offer school districts the only dual-discipline solution rated “Strong” by Johns Hopkins’ EvidenceforESSA.org in both mathematics and reading.

“These strategic additions to the DreamBox family represent a significant milestone toward achieving our mission to radically change the way the world learns and unlock learning potential for all students – regardless of race, gender or zip code,” said Jessie Woolley-Wilson, President and CEO of DreamBox Learning. “We believe the winning formula to shape the future of learning has three components:  dual-discipline offerings that cultivate a strong foundation in mathematics and reading; strong data and analytics solutions that leverage formative data to personalize the learning experience; and professional development to help educators develop their blended learning knowledge and skills.” 

Currently, DreamBox supports over 5 million students and over 200,000 educators in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated DreamBox’s growth as most district administrators rapidly adopted and scaled blended learning solutions to support remote learning. During this time, teachers’ attitudes towards blended learning changed and they began to see it as a powerful and effective strategy to deliver engaging, personalized, and effective learning experiences that enabled them to keep learning “on” even when schools were closed.…Read More

IXL Wins 2021 CODiE Awards for Best Math and English Language Arts Solutions

SAN MATEO, Calif., July 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ —  IXL Learning, developer of personalized learning products used by more than 12 million students, announced that the IXL platform won two  SIIA CODiE Awards in the Best Advanced Mathematics and Best Foundational English Language Arts (ELA) categories.

The CODiEs honor the most innovative educational technology products around the world. IXL’s recent achievements mark its sixth CODiE win in five years: IXL secured a second consecutive Foundational ELA win and is also a three-time winner of the prestigious  Best Educational App award.

“It’s incredibly rewarding that IXL Math and English Language Arts are recognized by the CODiE Awards as the most effective ways for learners to master essential concepts,” said Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning. “These honors underscore IXL’s commitment toward addressing the evolving needs of educators and reinforce our deep sense of responsibility to inspire all students to excel.”…Read More

5 ways to address inequities in pandemic teaching and learning

Remote learning is consistently associated with decreased instructional opportunities and student outcomes when compared to in-person schooling, according to data from a RAND Corporation study.

Researchers surveyed teachers and principals to gain a better understanding of K-12 students’ learning opportunities across a variety of learning models (in-person, hybrid, and fully remote) during the 2020-2021 school year.

The decreased outcomes associated with remote learning include less curriculum coverage, more student absenteeism, and lower principal-reported math and ELA achievement.…Read More

1 2

Data-informed instruction can affect every lesson; here’s how

Teachers from previous decades may have focused on “What did I teach?,” but the new focus is “What did the students learn?” Whether classroom resources are digital or not, educators can collect data every day to inform their instruction. In the presentation “Authentic Learning Starts with Informed Instruction,” Michael Haggen, chief academic officer at Scholastic Education, and Suzanne Lucas, vice president of product marketing for Scholastic Education Digital Solutions, discussed how teachers can use formal and informal data to guide ELA lessons and make sure all students are receiving the education they need.

Although the majority of teachers now use some form of data-driven learning, Haggen and Lucas reminded attendees that both formal and informal data are essential to informing instruction. Reading assessments and other measures can provide a picture of where a student is at the moment and how they have progressed over time, but there are daily opportunities for teachers to collect important information. For example, unit projects, observation checklists, graphic organizers, and portfolios all provide insights into students’ progress and needs. Haggen said he liked to use writing portfolios with comments on each assignment. Both Haggen and the student could see how their writing improved over time as well as areas where the student still struggled.

A place for data-informed instruction

And while the ultimate goal is to improve individual student achievement, Haggen sees a place for data-informed instruction for every level of classroom lessons.…Read More

1 2

Florida Department of Education Approves Lexia Learning for ELA Intervention Courses

Rigorous review process confirms Lexia Core5 Reading and PowerUp Literacy programs are strongly aligned to Florida’s newest standards

BOSTON (June 8, 2021) – Lexia Learning, a Cambium Learning® Group company, announced today that Florida’s Commissioner of Education has approved Lexia® Core5® Reading (Core5) as curriculum in elementary intervention courses. Lexia® PowerUp® Literacy (PowerUp) has also been approved for intervention courses in grades six and above. The two programs have been approved for a five-year period, beginning April 1, 2021 and ending March 31, 2026.

Core5 and PowerUp underwent a rigorous review process before obtaining approval. In fact, Lexia was the only company to make the list across K-5 intervention courses. The process saw education experts review the materials and ensure they aligned with Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards. In addition, each school district superintendent nominated a classroom teacher or district-level content supervisor to perform independent reviews. Members of the public were also able to review the materials online for two weeks. Finally, the Commissioner of Education assessed the state and district reviewer evaluations, public feedback and cost of the materials before giving approval.…Read More

Adventure 2 Learning Acquires Mission Move, An Activity-based Education Provider

Mission Move’s standards-based video program utilizes kinesthetic movement to make math, language arts, and nutrition fun for elementary-aged students.

New York, NY – Adventure 2 Learning, a leading video-based education platform, announces the acquisition of Mission Move to expand its offering of fun, interactive programs to help educators and parents make learning exciting.

Mission Move was developed by educational experts to utilize kinesthetic teaching and amplify learning for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Mission Move incorporates movement with lessons in math, English language arts (ELA), and nutrition to make learning fun and engaging for kids. Mission Move won the 2016 Wisconsin Innovation Award following the initial success of its program in schools throughout the state. An independent research study across 3 school districts that was subsequently published in the Journal of Childhood Obesity found that Mission Move not only increased students’ general physical activity and desire to learn, but also resulted in an 18% increase in math scores and 8% reduction in behavior-related incidents across the districts. …Read More

McGraw Hill Announces a Next Gen Update to Its Beloved Reading Mastery K–5 Instructional Solution

Learning science company McGraw Hill today announced the release of Reading Mastery Transformations, a long-awaited update to the beloved and effective English language arts solution for grades K–5, used in tens of thousands of classrooms across the country and trusted by educators for 65 years.

Reading Mastery, an evidence-based Direct Instruction program, is a comprehensive K–5 ELA curriculum that has been shown to improve reading performance for a wide range of students, including special education populations. Educators use Reading Mastery to systematically teach key foundational literacy skills and how to read, comprehend, and write narrative and informational text of increasing complexity—while building oral language fluency skills. Reading Mastery motivates learning, transforms teaching with greater efficiency, and achieves substantial results for children.

The Transformations Edition includes over 40% updated, meticulously curated, author-crafted content, combined with responsive data monitoring for identifying mastered skills, measuring achievement, targeting remediations, and facilitating mastery for all students. Leveraging the strong foundational skills pedagogy, the program now features multimedia and video content, critical classroom management updates, just-in-time remediations, and a focus on teaching students how to write and discuss, beginning as early as kindergarten.…Read More

Actively Learn Digital Platform Offers Content Area Products

Actively Learn, Achieve3000’s research-based, standards-aligned curriculum platform, announces the release of new sequenced curricular units: Actively Learn ELA, Actively Learn Social Studies, and Actively Learn Science. Educators can now purchase these singular units instead of having to pay for access content they may not need. These subject area products make it possible to make tight budgets go further while addressing the specific needs of core content area teachers and facilitating an enhanced search experience.

“This new focus enables Actively Learn to better address the distinct needs of ELA, social studies, and science teachers. They can create interactive, multi-media assignments in each content area providing engagement and focus where needed.” said Jay Goyal, President at Actively Learn.

For each core content area, Actively Learn provides a full year of sequenced curricular units that leverage the breadth and depth of its catalog and allow for deeper knowledge in each subject.…Read More