Learning through gaming

When students are so deeply engaged in a task that they can’t wait to dive in — and at the same time, they’re learning fundamental skills that are critical for their success — it’s a magical combination.

That’s what a lucky group of 20 students at Horace Mann UCLA Community School are about to experience as they take part in an innovative afterschool program. The students will practice and reflect on 21st century skills such as problem solving, communication, and teamwork as they compete against each other in the popular online video game League of Legends.

A partnership between UCLA and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Mann is a public school serving students in grades 6-12. As director of the UCLA Community Schools Initiative, Dr. Christine Shen serves as a liaison between the school and the university. Her typical day consists of interacting with others and solving problems, and so she knows firsthand the value of these skills.…Read More

ST Math and Los Angeles USD Partner to Bring Math Program District-Wide

MIND Research Institute has announced a partnership with Los Angeles Unified School District to bring ST Math®, MIND’s patented approach to math instruction, to the largest school district in California, and second-largest school district in the nation. The program will impact over 240,000 students and 18,000 teachers across 600 schools.

MIND’s partnership with LAUSD began over 20 years ago when 95th Elementary School implemented ST Math. In 1999, ST Math’s first efficacy studies with that school were published. From there, ST Math expanded to other schools in the district which began to show improvements on California Standards Tests. Through the years, math scores continued to grow and philanthropic partners took notice. More than 30 foundations and companies have provided financial support to bring ST Math to LAUSD students and educators over the history of this partnership.

“MIND Research Institute has truly grown up with LAUSD,” said Brett Woudenberg, CEO of MIND. “LAUSD has partnered with MIND for the twenty-two years that this organization has existed. That is why it is such an honor to see this partnership expand district-wide. This milestone speaks to the exemplary work LAUSD has done in mathematically preparing their students. I want to thank all of the educators, administrators, and donors who have contributed to this great partnership.”…Read More

Los Angeles Unified, Annenberg Learner and Discovery Education Launch New Partnership Bringing Dynamic Digital Resources

Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles Unified), Annenberg Learner and Discovery Education today launched a new partnership providing educators, students and families access to high-quality digital resources.

Through this new partnership, Los Angeles Unified educators, students and families are empowered to interact with more than 300,000 exciting digital resources, standards-aligned activities and vetted, high-quality content carefully curated by grade level. These new digital resources will play a critical role to support continued learning on any device; whether at home or in the classroom.

“We are grateful to Annenberg Learner and Discovery Education for helping us provide students with the tools they need to receive a great education.” said Austin Beutner, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent.…Read More

How to bring global learning to your classroom

The sun was high overhead as we stood in the open, slowly baking in the hundred- degree heat, which was abnormally hot for late October, even by southern California standards. It was late in the afternoon of day three of our expedition, and we weren’t sure what to expect as we got out of the van.

As one of 26 middle school teachers participating in EarthEcho International’s Water by Design Expedition, part of an annual program sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Foundation that leverages exploration and discovery to bring STEM education alive, I had been ferried about this bustling metropolitan area to learn how Angelenos use and manage their water. We were in good company, joined by various scientists, experts, and explorer and EarthEcho Founder, Philippe Cousteau, Jr.

Our destination was the terminus of the Los Angeles aqueduct, near the Van Norman Bypass Reservoir in Sylmar. Try to picture several hundred cubic feet of water per second cascading–no, raging–through a 12-foot diameter cement channel down the hillside and then leveling off in front of us. The snowpack in the Eastern Sierra Nevadas that feeds the aqueduct was abundant last winter, and the torrent of meltwater that had traveled over 400 miles to reach its destination was an astounding sight. I knew that I could use this powerful image with my students, along with the story of the aqueduct’s construction, as an engaging example of how people can engineer solutions to complex, real-world problems.…Read More

TED-ED clubs give students a platform for sharing ideas

The clubs are fashioning the next generation of TED speakers one big idea at a time

One of Mitzi Stover’s biggest challenges as a teacher is convincing her students they have a voice. Stover teaches speech and English at North Torrance High School in a working-class area of Los Angeles where kids seldom travel or even leave the neighborhood.

“Their world is very small geographically,” Stover said during a recent presentation at the CUE 2016 national conference in Palm Springs. “And teenagers are already so dismissed most of the time.”

From her years of teaching, Stover knew that having students delve into their interests and personal experiences was one of the best ways to develop their passions — and in turn their public speaking. But presenting to the same classmates they saw every day was decidedly low-stakes and hardly helped her convince students they had a voice, let alone a global reach.…Read More

Report: Los Angeles Schools Supt. Deasy to resign

John Deasy, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District who has been at the center of a  troubled $1 billion technology initiative, has told Board of Education members that he will soon resign just weeks after getting a one-year contract extension, the  Los Angeles Times reported. Deasy has abruptly resigned from a schools superintendency before; in 2008, he quit as chief of the Prince George’s County public school district after two years to accept a job as deputy director of the education division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Los Angeles newspaper did not offer a reason for the latest move by Deasy, who took over the district in April 2011 and proceeded to push a series of controversial school reforms, including a new teacher assessment system that based part of a teacher’s evaluation on the standardized test scores of students and an ambitious project to give an iPad to every child in the 650,000-student district and their teachers for home use…

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