West Ada School District Approves Seven-Year Adoption of i-Ready® Classroom Mathematics as Its Core Math Curriculum

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass. (July 13, 2022) — West Ada School District in Meridian, Idaho has adopted Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready Classroom Mathematics as the primary math curriculum support material for Grades K–5 for the next seven years. Starting in the 2022–2023 school year, more than 800 teachers will use the discourse-driven, standards-aligned i-Ready Classroom Mathematics curriculum to help approximately 17,500 students throughout the state’s largest district become independent mathematical thinkers.

“Using academic data, West Ada has identified math as a primary focus for improvement in our continuous improvement plan,” said Dustin Barrett, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction. “Through our partnership with Curriculum Associates, we are optimistic that the robust nature of the
i-Ready Classroom Mathematics materials, applied in a guaranteed and viable manner for [Grades] K–5, will provide West Ada the ability to improve student math proficiency. The i-Ready Classroom Mathematics materials will allow West Ada to teach, assess, and intervene utilizing easily accessible and actionable real-time data to best support student learning.”

i-Ready Classroom Mathematics will be used alongside the online i-Ready Personalized Instruction and i-Ready Assessment programs, which have already been implemented by the district, to provide teachers with a comprehensive and aligned solution for supporting math achievement. i-Ready Classroom Mathematics was reviewed and chosen by a district adoption committee composed of educators, parents, and community members as part of the selection process.…Read More

5 steps to an engaging online elementary program

Elementary education is the foundation for early learning, providing students with the skills and community they need for future success in school and life. Thanks to today’s technology, helping them start on the right foot is easier than ever – especially with online learning opportunities.

Online learning has become a growing trend among K-12 students, including elementary students. In fact, we successfully launched our own online elementary schools, which grew by 10,000 students over the past four years.

If you are a school or district leader looking to build an online elementary program, knowing where to start can feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. Here are five steps that helped our teams successfully build and maintain an online elementary program that drives student and parent engagement:…Read More

ISTELive 22 wrap-up!

In this episode of Innovations in Education, host Kevin Hogan explores:

  • How esports and gamification have advanced classroom instruction and homework
  • Has AR/VR finally come of age?
  • Will empathy for students AND teachers remain once normality returns?

How you can bring pandemic tech into post-pandemic learning

As an Instructional Technology Coach in Georgetown County, South Carolina, I have the amazing opportunity to work closely with teachers and students as they use educational technology in meaningful ways. 

It is clear that COVID-19 has changed how teachers use educational technologies to support teaching and learning.  During the “Emergency Teaching Era” of the pandemic, educators grew quite familiar with edtech resources and developed many new competencies and strategies for integrating those resources into instruction.  However, as the education community tentatively moves into what I think of as the post-COVID world of education, the competencies and skills teachers built, and the edtech tools they acquired, can be used in new ways within your classroom.  Here are some of the best strategies and skills I’ve recently learned for the new technologies I began to use during the Pandemic:

Write Around the Room: This is a great activity to do with upper elementary through high school aged students, and capitalizes on devices students received and the keyboarding skills students picked up while learning remotely.  For those of you who have ever found yourselves searching for creative ways to inspire your students to write while also reinforcing important skills related to story structure, having your students “write around the room” is a fun way to get your students excited about writing. …Read More

The Hero Awards Program honors standout educators

eSchool Media is pleased to announce the return of the eSchool News  K-12 Hero Awards, and that the awards nomination period opens June 27, 2022.

This year’s K-12 Hero Awards Program, sponsored by JAR Systems and SAP Concur, will recognize the dedicated efforts of education professionals across K-12 departments, including IT, curriculum, instruction and administration.  The nomination period runs from June 27 – September 1, 2022.

Nominations will be judged by a panel of education experts including Laura Ascione, eSchool News editorial director, Kevin Hogan, eSchool News editor-at-large, and Eileen Belastock, CETL, Belastock Consulting. Three winners will be announced on eSchoolNews.com in early October.…Read More

How 3D printing is changing education

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we must invest in educational technology. When schools use technology to improve the quality and quantity of educational content, learners will thrive. Amid this technology-driven educational environment, 3D printing offers students the following: helping to facilitate differentiated instruction, increasing student engagement, expanding practice opportunities, and scaling up standardized instruction.

No More One-Size-Fits-All Teaching

Differentiated instruction is a teaching approach that tailors instruction to all students’ learning needs. Most students are unlikely to get much from “one-size-fits-all” instruction. Instead, it should vary based on students’ interests, preferences, strengths, and struggles.…Read More

New Jersey’s Middle Township Public Schools Initiates New Partnership with Discovery Education to Enhance Middle School Science Instruction

SILVER SPRING, MD (June 12, 2022)—New Jersey’s Middle Township Public Schools (MTPS) announced it has initiated a new partnership with Discovery Education that will enhance science instruction for middle school students districtwide. Through this collaboration, educators in grades 6-8 will be empowered to enhance their science lessons with an engaging new suite of dynamic digital services, hands-on resources, and professional learning opportunities supporting these resources’ integration into instruction. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports instruction wherever it takes place. 

Located in Southern New Jersey, MTPS provides excellence in education while celebrating the strength of its diversity. The curriculum and opportunities offered to district students are designed to help them see beyond the boundaries of traditional education, and faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to engage in meaningful discussions and activities that enable them to translate academic lessons into real world solutions. 

To help facilitate these types of learning experiences in the district’s middle school science classrooms, MTPS administrators sought a suite of engaging digital and print resources that promote connections between classroom learning and the outside world and are aligned to applicable science education standards. Following a rigorous review of several possible resources by a collaborative team of MTPS science teachers led by middle school Principal Jeff Ortman, the district selected the following services from Discovery Education: …Read More

New Partnership Provides Texas Educators Easy Access to Critical Data

Portland, Ore., June 7, 2022 NWEA — the not-for-profit, research and educational services provider serving K-12 students — in collaboration with the Region 7 Education Service Center (ESC 7) announced today a new partnership to better serve districts.  As a part of this initiative, MAP Growth data will transfer seamlessly into DMAC, enhancing this valuable tool used by Texas educators by providing quicker access to student data that supports instruction and student achievement.

The partnership was formed out of discussions around the need for a screener, used to determine which students may be struggling in a particular topic, across their 100 plus districts and, charter organizations.  MAP Growth (an interim assessment. which can measure academic growth and predicts performance on the annual STAAR state assessments) was selected, in part, due to its reliability and validity.  The rich data provided by MAP Growth allows districts to streamline their assessment programs, saving valuable time for instruction. Currently, this new integration is available to all ESC 7 districts who use NWEA MAP Growth assessments.

“We’re excited to have MAP Growth available for ESC 7 districts.  Our partnership will provide timely access to reliable data,” said Raquel Hamons, Senior Account Executive at NWEA serving Region 7. “We know there will be better outcomes for students when educators ground their decisions in high quality data and implement them with fidelity.”…Read More

Iowa’s Southwest Valley Community School District Broadens Partnership with Discovery Education Supporting Science Instruction in Elementary School Classrooms

SILVER SPRING, MD (Tuesday, June 7, 2022)—Iowa’s Southwest Valley Community School District (SVCSD) today announced it is broadening its partnership with Discovery Education to support science education in elementary school classrooms districtwide. In the newest stage of this multi-year partnership, elementary school teachers across SVCSD will receive access to a new suite of dynamic digital services, hands-on resources, and professional learning opportunities supporting the creation of engaging science lessons. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports instruction wherever it takes place. 

Located in Iowa’s rural Adams and Montgomery Counties, SVCSD consists of an early learning center, two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. Dedicated to creating enthusiastic learning environments promoting responsible and empathetic contributors to society, SVCSD’s teachers and administrators sought a unique combination of print and digital resources that would support the district’s goals and power science instruction in their Corning Elementary and Sylvia Enarson Elementary Schools. Following a careful review of available resources, the district selected the following services from Discovery Education: 

The Discovery Education platform.
Connecting educators to a vast collection of high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, intuitive quiz and activity creation tools, and professional learning resources, Discovery Education provides educators an enhanced learning platform which facilitates engaging, daily instruction in any learning environment.    …Read More

‘Digital skills gap’ threatens innovation

The skills required for success in the new economy were already changing. Now, COVID has sped up these changes dramatically.

As researchers warn of a growing “digital skills gap” that threatens to hold back innovation, experts are calling on schools to rethink instruction so that it more closely aligns with emerging workforce needs.

The global pandemic has quickened the pace of technological development around the world as services that had not been digital before moved online and others that were performed by humans became automated. This rapid digital acceleration has created a huge demand for more highly skilled workers who can develop software, program machines, and support new innovations.…Read More

Minneapolis’ Aim Academy of Science and Technology Selects Discovery Education to Support Science and Social Studies

SILVER SPRING, MD (Thursday, May 26, 2022)—The Aim Academy of Science and Technology in Minneapolis, MN, today announced it has selected  Discovery Education — the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place— to support science and social studies instruction in all grades. In collaboration with Discovery Education, Aim Academy of Science and Technology will integrate a suite of award-winning, flexible, digital resources into teaching and learning, creating real-world learning experiences that connect students to the world around them while preparing them for future success.

Located in South Minneapolis, the Aim Academy of Science and Technology provides students in grades 6-10 a successful path to college and STEM careers through culturally responsive mentorship, integrated STEM education, and curricular connections with technology-based businesses and industries. Seeking to update their curriculum with digital resources able to support the creation of engaging learning opportunities that empower students to discover, create and apply knowledge to real needs, Aim Academy of Science and Technology staff undertook a careful review of available solutions. Following this review, the Academy selected the following Discovery Education solutions:

The Discovery Education platform.
Connecting educators to a vast collection of high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, intuitive quiz and activity creation tools, and professional learning resources, Discovery Education provides educators  an enhanced learning platform that facilitates engaging, daily instruction in any learning environment.

Discovery Education’s team continues adding, contextualizing, and organizing exciting new content and timely and relevant resources to the platform each month in response to current events and the ever-evolving needs of educators. These resources, sourced from trusted partners, are aligned to state and national standards, and help educators bring the outside world into teaching and learning every day.

The K-12 learning platform is designed to work within the school systems’ existing infrastructure and workflows and provides safe, secure, simple access methods for educators and students. Through expanded, lasting partnerships with Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, Brightspace, and Clever, integrating Discovery Education’s K-12 learning platform into existing IT architecture is easier than ever.…Read More

What are your reasons to celebrate this school year?

We can all agree that the challenges we’ve seen in the last two years are unprecedented. However, when we consider all that’s happened and all that we’ve learned, there is also much to celebrate.

We can celebrate because students are back in school. We can celebrate the fact that libraries and librarians are in the spotlight. We can celebrate the fact superintendents no longer have to moonlight as meteorologists to call a snow day because we can deliver instruction virtually. 

We can’t forget specific challenges and controversies, though—we’ve argued about masks, vaccines, and books. Teachers are leaving the profession. Librarians are facing criminal consequences over their collections. District leaders are attempting to navigate an increasingly political landscape where it’s becoming nearly impossible to please everyone. …Read More