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.

Utah STEM Action Center Adds IXL Math to K-12 Personalized Learning Grant List

SAN MATEO, Calif.  — IXL, the personalized learning platform used by more than 14 million students, announced that it has been added to Utah’s K-12 Math Personalized Learning Software Grant list by the state’s STEM Action Center. The approval signals to educators that IXL Math is backed by rigorous research to support its effectiveness in Utah and opens up grant funding for schools and districts to adopt the platform.

The Action Center promotes STEM education in Utah by identifying and providing funding for resources that are proven to help learners grow. Before adding IXL Math to the state’s grant list, the Action Center and Utah Education Policy Center (UEPC) rigorously evaluated the platform to determine its efficacy. 

The UEPC’s research, Associations Between IXL Personalized Learning Software Use and Student Mathematics Achievement in Utah: 2020-2021, found a statistically significant relationship between IXL usage and an improvement in math outcomes, writing: “…on average [Utah students that] use IXL for 20 minutes or more per week perform better on statewide math assessments than students who do not use IXL.” …Read More

Oregon Public School Breaks State Assessment Score Record with Carnegie Learning

Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Learning, a leader in artificial intelligence for K-12 education and formative assessment, announced today that students from the Howard Street Partnership School achieved record-breaking results on Oregon’s state assessment, SBAC, using Carnegie Learning’s core secondary math solution that comprises MATHbook, a consumable write-in text that fosters collaborative classroom learning, and MATHia, the one-on-one, adaptive math coaching software.

Howard Street Charter School in Salem, Oregon, is a project-based institution that pushes students to achieve excellence in all areas of study. Howard Street Charter School is no stranger to academic success and had already achieved  curricular excellence with passing rates above the state average. Carnegie Learning’s math solution helped them achieve even higher.

“Our highest passing rate ever in the history of the school was fifty-two percent before Covid. And now that’s the mid-range,” Principal Christina Tracy states. “Our SBAC data was the best we’ve had for math in 25 years! And we did not teach to the test. We just used Carnegie Learning Math.”…Read More

Teachers are burning out. Can AI help?

The teaching profession is in crisis. K-12 teachers report the highest burnout rate among all industries nationally, according to a June 2022 Gallup poll. Job satisfaction is at the lowest it’s been in 40 years. There is an estimated teacher shortage of over 300,000.

Many blame COVID-19, but if you look at the facts: the pandemic only revealed the cracks, long buckling under pressure.

But what if every single teacher could have an AI assistant? Would that change the game?…Read More

Carnegie Learning Recognized as Global Innovator on 2023 GSV 150 List

Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Learning, a leader in artificial intelligence for K-12 education and formative assessment, announced today it has been selected for the GSV (Global Silicon Valley) 150, a list of the world’s most transformative private companies in education.

Carnegie Learning was chosen from over 4,000 venture capital and private equity-backed private companies revolutionizing the world of education technology. GSV estimates that together, these 150 companies reach roughly 3 billion people—almost half of the global population—and generate approximately $25 billion in revenue.

“It’s an honor to be recognized among such a distinguished list of companies,” says Carnegie Learning CEO Barry Malkin. “Innovation is at the heart of everything we do—from our products to our culture to our people. Not only do we embrace change, we create it. Our commitment to research, more than any other edtech company, and to producing world-class content and technology puts us in a unique position to really make a meaningful impact on education.”…Read More

How K-12 IT leaders can protect schools from ransomware

Cyberattacks on public schools are becoming more common and more severe every year. Between 2020 and 2021, more than 56 percent of K-12 education organizations suffered ransomware attacks with an average cost of $268,000.

Most recently, an attack on the LA Unified School District in September 2022 conducted by the Russian hacking group Vice Society shut down access to emails, computer systems, and applications for more than half a million users. Before that, a ransomware attack on the school system in Buffalo, NY cost the state more than $10 million in damages.

How can these K-12 school districts defend themselves from these ransomware attacks? And why are they being targeted so frequently?…Read More

HMH to Acquire NWEA

Boston and Portland, Ore.—Learning technology company  HMH and  NWEA, a not-for-profit, research and educational services organization serving K-12 students, announced today they have signed an agreement for HMH to acquire NWEA. Upon closing, NWEA will operate as a division of HMH, with its current offerings, including its flagship assessment—MAP Growth—remaining under the NWEA brand. NWEA assessment solutions will be integrated with HMH curriculum on HMH’s platform to create a combined offering that links interim assessment to instruction. HMH is a portfolio company of Veritas Capital, a private investment firm that focuses on companies that provide technology and technology-enabled solutions to government and commercial customers worldwide.

By combining NWEA’s assessments with HMH’s curriculum, HMH is expected to deliver a holistic solution for educators that helps them understand how students are growing academically and what areas need the most focus to maximize that growth. Most importantly, this solution will turn insights from assessments into content recommendations that help teachers address student-specific skill gaps and advance student learning.

“We are thrilled at the potential this acquisition brings for K-12 educators, at a time when the connection between instruction and assessment is increasingly critical for student success,” said Jack Lynch, CEO of HMH. “HMH and NWEA have great alignment in mission and long-term vision and share the collective belief in the transformative power of education. Both teams are deeply focused on helping all children learn and serve millions of K-12 educators and students across the globe.”…Read More

How a cloud-based ERP helps schools innovate and be nimble

As school districts emerge from the worst of COVID-19, they’re bringing with them new priorities. Many of the changes that districts have made during the pandemic, such as giving employees the flexibility to work remotely, will be carried forward. Other processes are being reevaluated to serve the needs of students and other stakeholders more effectively.

In looking to update everything from teaching and learning processes to school district operations, one of the most basic steps that K-12 leaders can take to position their schools for success is updating their education resource planning (ERP) solution by moving to a cloud-based system.

We can’t really talk about modernizing and streamlining district operations without discussing ERPs. An ERP is the backbone of a district’s operations, helping administrators manage essential financial functions related to payroll, HR, accounting, and more.…Read More

The Social Institute Expands Staff to Meet Growing Need for Nurturing Student Well-Being, Including Positive Social Media & Tech Education

Durham, N.C. – The Social Institute today announced Chris Valada has joined the company as Head of New Partnerships, leading a team of representatives from across the country to bring positive social media and tech education to more schools. Valada spent his career in EdTech sales and has worked across K-12 and Higher Ed.  

“Chris joins us at an important moment for our company,” said The Social Institute Founder and CEO Laura Tierney. “Forward-thinking educators know that social media goes hand-in-hand with student well-being — and now that students are online more than ever, the need for positive social media education has never been greater,” she continued. “Chris has the background, skills, and experience to lead us into 2023 and beyond.” 

The Social Institute also announced that Andrea Jenkins has been promoted to Director of Partner Success. In this role, Andrea will lead the Partner Success team with the goal of continuing to expand district partnerships. Jenkins, a former educator, has been with the company for nearly two years in the sales department. …Read More

Charting a path forward in K-12

After several years of disrupted learning, schools are taking stock of the range of challenges that need to be addressed—challenges resulting from the most significant disruption to K-12 education in history.

Across the nation, the pandemic has taken a toll on our children’s mental and physical health, behavioral development, social and emotional well-being, academic achievement, and plans for their future. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. Rather, educators anticipate a multi-year process of helping struggling students recover from pandemic-related school disruptions.

Addressing the complexity and scale of these challenges requires school and district leaders to make critical choices. But they don’t need to do it alone. All those serving the education community must come together as trusted partners to find solutions, support evidence-based research, and ensure successful implementation of instructional practices to address education’s most critical challenges. …Read More

Risk assessments are awful, but necessary

Between 2021 and 2022, 56 percent of K-12 education organizations were hit by ransomware, a nearly 25 percent increase from the previous year. That’s a staggering number, and a clear indication that threats against schools are only getting worse.

While risk assessments are one of the best things a K-12 school can do to understand their cybersecurity vulnerabilities in order to be strategic about how to protect against them, this critical tool is often avoided. After all, they can be absolutely awful to perform, taking up valuable time, involving confusing jargon and often not even seeming to solve any problems.

If this sounds familiar, there’s some good news. Yes, risk assessments are far from sunshine and roses. But you can get through them with less friction and pain, and ultimately improve your security posture, if you adhere to the following guidelines.…Read More