IXL Math Meets Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Tier 1 Requirements in Randomized Control Trial Conducted by Johns Hopkins University

BALTIMORE, Maryland — IXL Learning, developer of personalized learning products used by millions of people globally, has unveiled the findings of a Johns Hopkins University study that affirms  IXL Math’s effectiveness in boosting student achievement. The evaluation of IXL Math’s impact meets the required rigor of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Tier 1 and What Works Clearinghouse standards for evidence-based interventions. 

The  Center for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE) at Johns Hopkins University conducted an independent, randomized control trial in Spring 2023 at Holland Public Schools in Michigan. The goal of the study was to determine IXL Math’s efficacy on students in grades 3-5. Half of the classrooms were assigned to the treatment group and used IXL Math to supplement instruction, while the remaining students continued learning as usual. 

The  research revealed the following key findings:…Read More

Board of Education President Joyce S. Wilkerson Receives The Benjamin Elijah Mays Lifetime Achievement Award

PHILADELPHIA – Board of Education President Joyce S. Wilkerson received the Benjamin Elijah Mays Lifetime Achievement Award today for her longstanding commitment to the educational needs of urban school children. The Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) presents this award each year to recognize current or former school board members who have made a difference for the students they serve. 

During her six-year tenure with the School District, Ms. Wilkerson guided the School District’s transition from the state-controlled School Reform Commission to the locally controlled Board of Education in 2018. The Board then oversaw the transformation of a District in fiscal and academic distress to one that improved educational outcomes for students, while it developed strong financial management, attaining an investment grade rating from Moody’s Investor Services for the first time since 1977.

Under Ms. Wilkerson’s leadership, the Board has developed partnerships that have generated additional support for students and has made investments to advance the Board’s strategic plan, known as Goals & Guardrails. In 2019, Ms. Wilkerson led the Board’s work to create and implement Goals & Guardrails, a plan designed to increase student achievement while providing the necessary conditions that support learning. …Read More

5 learner-centered education models to inspire reform

School models are, for the most part, outdated–and very overdue for replacement. When students reach high school, research shows that close to 66 percent of students are disengaged. But even students who do successfully navigate their schooling emerge with only a specific (and often narrow) skillset that may or may not match their strengths or interests.

Conventional schooling often leaves students disillusioned, questioning their intelligence and value as it is framed by a system that needs an overhaul.

Learner-centered education can play a critical role in reshaping education systems, offering a more holistic approach to meeting learners’ needs and helping students find fulfillment in their academic accomplishments.…Read More

4 challenges–and solutions–around assessments and accountability

A new report examines some of the biggest challenges related to assessments and accountability, and offers recommendations for educators and policymakers as they move past spring 2021 and aim to improve student success rates.

The report comes from NWEA and Education Reform Now (ERN), which worked together with organizations representing state departments of education, school districts, policy and advocacy groups, and universities, to identify recommendations and potential policy options that re-envision assessments and accountability measures this spring—and–beyond to better advance student success.

The overall goal? Through productive meetings and discussions, identify ways to ensure systems support deeper learning and give educators and policymakers the critical data they need to support students, improve achievement and outcomes, target resources, and develop new instructional policies and practices.…Read More

How an edtech innovation is giving performance assessments new life

Across the country, educators and policy makers are searching for ways to develop and implement innovative assessment programs to address accountability requirements and to reform instruction. As both local and state educators consider new assessment models, they find themselves coming up against many issues of time. It’s widely agreed that there’s too much time spent on testing and test prep, and there’s too little time to teach and take on additional responsibilities to transform instruction. Educators often feel that innovation represents an additional burden on their time rather than a benefit.

Since the last big push to reform instruction and assessment nearly a quarter century ago, we’ve developed new psychometric techniques as well as new technologies to assist us in our attempts to innovate.

Internet access, electronic collection of student work, and online distributed scoring, for example, can all play significant roles in making performance assessments more manageable and efficient.…Read More

5 school areas that desperately need student voices

As a graduate journalism student over 20 years ago, I worked on a thesis project centered on education reform news reporting. I was analyzing how often education reporters included students in their stories about education. Probably no surprise…it was almost non-existent.

Traditionally, no entity has ignored their primary customer, consumer or constituent more than education with students. I was fortunate enough early on as a beginning teacher to discover the power of student voice and student-generated ideas. Throughout my career, I have always benefited from asking my students what they thought, what they are interested in and where they would like things to go.

If we are serious about providing each and every student a truly transformational 21st century education, then we should consider including student voices in the following five school areas:…Read More

The 2 edtech fields with the most potential under Trump

The tumultuous early weeks of the Trump administration have produced plenty of headlines and controversy, but almost nothing on higher education. The nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, has only recently been confirmed, and given her background in K-12, higher education was not a major theme of her Senate hearing. The announcement of a task force to reform higher ed, to be led by Liberty University President, Jerry Falwell, Jr., gave little detail about its policy priorities or objectives but remains the young administration’s only substantive action on higher ed to date.

Why the Administration Matters

Ultimately, public policy is just one of many factors shaping the edtech environment; and, regardless of policy direction, any administration should provide consistency and stability for the institutions and investors that purchase our products and services.…Read More

8 incredibly easy steps to a professional development makeover

School district expert says good professional development takes common sense, taking advantage of your best resource

creativityresizedThere’s a lot of talk these days, especially with the implementation of Common Core, about how to reform student learning. However, there’s a group of learners education is leaving behind, say experts: Teachers. Professional development (PD) needs a makeover, they say, and it’s a lot easier than you may think.

One of the first slides Tom Murray, director of technology & cyber education for Quakertown Community School District in Bucks County, Penn., shows to his audience during his recent edweb.net webinar, “How to personalize learning plans for your teachers,” can resonate with any professional.

Listening to a lecture, a grown man in a business suit is slowly falling asleep in his chair. The title of the slide is “If I Die:” with the cutline, “I hope it’s during a staff meeting because the transition to death would be so subtle.”…Read More

Does middle school need an image makeover?

Middle school has a terrible reputation, The Atlantic reports. The titles of James Patterson’s middle-school series say it all: From the number-one New York Times bestseller Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, which launched the series in 2011, to last summer’s Middle School: How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill, to this spring’s Middle School: Ultimate Showdown!, the titles reflect a dystopian vision of life in middle school. And he’s far from alone in this. When it comes to young adolescents in schools, Americans seem determined to perpetuate a narrative of hormones and horror…

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A real school reform agenda for 2014

If you remember your No Child Left Behind history, 2014 is the year that all children were supposed to be scoring proficient on standardized tests, the Washington Post reports. That was, of course, a ridiculous goal, which the authors of the bill knew full well when they wrote it, and a symbol for just how misguided school reform has become. Here, George Wood, superintendent of Federal Hocking Local Schools, offers four things that reform really should be targeting…

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Accountability without autonomy is tyranny

When educational research reaches the public through the corporate media, the consequences are often dire, explains P.L. Thomas for the Daily Kos. Chetty, Friedman, and Rockoff released “The Long-Term Impacts of Teachers: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood” and immediately The New York Times pronounced in “Big Study Links Good Teachers to Lasting Gains”. The simplistic and idealistic headline reflects the central failure of the media in the education reform debate…

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