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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.

McGraw Hill Announces New Version of its Wonders K-5 English Language Arts Curriculum

NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2021 — McGraw Hill today announced updates to its widely used and trusted Wonders English Language Arts program for grades K-5, building upon the program’s proven instructional approach while offering a multitude of enhancements designed to meet the needs of today’s classroom. Since its initial release eight years ago, Wonders has been used by millions of students and hundreds of thousands of teachers across the United States. For its ©2023 update, McGraw Hill has drawn upon decades of rigorous literacy studies, collaborated with preeminent reading researchers and experts, and listened to and incorporated feedback from educators and users.

This newest update focuses on student agency and social-emotional learning (SEL) to build student self-confidence by encouraging them to take an active role in their literacy journey. Further enhancements include:

  • A dedicated English Language Learner Small Group Guide to enable flexible delivery of small group instruction in or out of the classroom
  • The addition of stronger phonics instruction
  • Enhanced writing activities
  • Text sets that provide additional time to engage with works more deeply

For more information about Wonders, visit: Mheonline.com/wonders…Read More

Three tips to conquer bilingual barriers in the classroom

More than 10 percent of students in the United States are English language learners (ELLs) – that’s more than 4.8 million children nationwide. While these children don’t learn any differently than their native-English-speaking classmates, they do have educational needs that should not be overlooked or go unmet.

From a teacher’s perspective, it’s difficult not to notice how challenging navigating educational environments is for a child for whom English is not their native language. They often walk into the classroom feeling intimidated and afraid, struggle to communicate even the most basic needs, and avoid interacting with peers and teachers due to the language discrepancy. As teachers, it’s our responsibility to help bridge that gap to not only support students as they learn English, but help them navigate their education in the meantime.

Thankfully, we’re not up to the task alone. There are many solutions to the most common teaching challenges, all of which serve to enrich the lives of students, streamline communication between parents and teachers, and help kids learn how to communicate and excel in everything they do.…Read More

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5 tools for classroom comic creation

While it may not seem a traditional learning tool, comic creation helps across an array of core subjects and learning objectives. Comics are engaging, fun, and help students take ownership of their learning.

Comic creation gives students flexibility for self-expression, while at the same time unleashing creativity and giving students a new way to demonstrate their learning.

And comics aren’t limited to art and English classes, either. Students can use comic creation to illustrate science concepts, translate historical events into informal stories, and break down complex topics into easily-digestible snippets.…Read More

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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

Lexia Learning Rebrands Award-Winning Rosetta Stone English as Lexia English Language Development

BOSTON (July 12, 2021) – Lexia Learning, a Cambium Learning® Group company, today announced the official rebrand of Rosetta Stone® English to Lexia® English Language Development™ (Lexia English). The name change follows Cambium’s divestiture of Rosetta Stone’s languages division.

Lexia English joins the robust Lexia suite of literacy products in helping all students to reach their academic potential, enhancing educational equity, and empowering Emergent Bilinguals to progress linguistically and academically. Lexia is now the sole source provider of the K-6 English language development solution.

“While the product’s name and look have changed, its curriculum remains the same,” said Lexia President Nick Gaehde. “In addition to renaming the product, we’re releasing version 2.0, which contains new tools to help Emergent Bilingual students as they learn academic English and empower educators to streamline instruction and ensure their efficacy.”…Read More

Data doesn’t talk–people do

A media friend was looking into a recent Vanderbilt study on six unidentified school districts across the state. The researchers found that “more students were chronically absent this fall than in previous years, and absenteeism increased the most among English Learners, students of color, and students who are economically disadvantaged.” I told her I was not concerned about the latest findings.

When pressed on the issue, I pointed out that the sample size was a little concerning. Only 6 districts were represented; my guess is they looked at the larger urban areas. I find the research misleading. There are 147 districts in the state, each with unique and distinct issues. If we rush in and try to apply a one size fits all solution to any issue, we would be making a mistake.

By failing to identify the six individual districts, the results from the research were problematic to me—as well as to other stakeholders and policymakers as well. The study has some interesting findings. It would be useful to those 6 unidentified districts. However, I am not certain there is a crossover for other districts.…Read More

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Scholastic Launches Early Childhood Program to Start Every Child’s Learning Journey with Both Academic and Social-Emotional Support

PreK On My Way™, Designed in Collaboration with UTHealth’s Children’s Learning Institute and Yale Child Study Center, Brings Together the Latest Early Childhood Education Research in Language, Literacy, Math, and Social-Emotional Development

NEW YORK, May 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Scholastic has announced the launch of PreK On My Way, a comprehensive PreK program, with print and digital resources available in both English and Spanish. At the heart of the program is the Mind Builder™ skill-building methodology, developed with the Yale Child Study Center to support social-emotional learning, executive function skills, motivation, and creativity. PreK On My Way also incorporates UTHealth’s Children’s Learning Institute’s Developing Talkers/Hablemos Juntos research model, which is proven to significantly expand children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary skills.

To learn more, visit: www.scholastic.com/prekonmyway.…Read More

Lexia Learning Wins Gold Stevie Award in 2021 American Business Awards

BOSTON (May 13, 2021) – Rosetta Stone® English from Lexia Learning, a Cambium Learning® Group company, was named the winner of a Gold Stevie® Award in the ELL/World Language Acquisition Instructional Solution category in The 19th Annual American Business Awards®.

The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.’s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. Nicknamed the Steviesfor the Greek word meaning “crowned,” the awards will be virtually presented to winners during a live event on Wednesday, June 30.

More than 3,800 nominations – a record number – from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories. Rosetta Stone English was nominated for a Stevie Award in the Education and Education Technology category group.…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

4 lessons the edtech industry should take from the pandemic

It happened slowly, then all at once. Vague news from Wuhan, stories from Seattle, then a run on hand sanitizer and paper towels. Within a few weeks, districts nationwide had canceled in-person classes, Chromebooks had sold out, and edtech companies were inundated as educators were forced to reinvent school in the digital space.

It has been a year since we started shutting our schools and transitioning to remote learning. Tragically, this has led to many students falling behind—especially low-income students and English language learners. The pandemic has compounded many of the systemic inequities that plague our schools. 

Edtech had the opportunity to help address these inequities. In some ways, edtech has risen to this challenge, but the field has also learned some things the hard way. Here are four major lessons our industry should take from the pandemic.…Read More

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