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.

The Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) Announces New Regional Directors

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 30, 2021) – The Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) has elected Pedro Rivera and Dr. Frank Rodriguez to its Board of Directors. Rivera, who is the former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education and currently serves as president of Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Pennsylvania, was named the Director of Region 6 Northeast. Rodriguez, who is superintendent of the Beaufort County School District in South Carolina, was named director of Region 7 Southeast.

ALAS announced the appointments during the ALAS 18th Annual National Summit in October. As regional directors, Rivera and Rodriguez will support the work being done by the ALAS State Affiliates in their respective regions. Region 6 Northeast includes the Washington DC area, New York, and Pennsylvania. Region 7 Southeast includes Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.

“Our regional directors are an incredible resource for school and district leaders in their regions,” said ALAS Executive Director Dr. Maria Armstrong. “President Rivera and Dr. Rodriguez understand the education issues that impact the Latino community and have long histories of educational leadership. We look forward to their support of our state affiliates and the Latino-serving leaders in these regions.”…Read More

A tale of three cities: Emerging from the pandemic…or not

New York City, New York. Cleveland, Ohio. Williamston, South Carolina.

In the height of the pandemic, nearly every community looked similar. Schools were closed.  Restaurants were closed. Families stayed home. 

As our world is emerging from the pandemic, there is a distinct division in our communities that was clearly articulated by the three librarians who participated in a recent panel for publishers who create content for schools and public libraries.…Read More

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Reading Plus Announces Expanded Partnership With South Carolina’s Beaufort County School District

WINOOSKI, Vt. (September 29, 2021) – Reading Plus, an evidence-based online program that uses personalized instruction to improve students’ reading proficiency, today announced the expanded use of its platform within the Beaufort County School District in South Carolina. Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, all middle and high school students within the district will have access to Reading Plus for the following three years.

The significant expansion follows a successful pilot program and small implementation at six of the district’s middle schools.

“Reading Plus provides individual, strategic support that increases the fluency of our readers,” said Melissa Murray, director of literacy, Beaufort County School District. “As our students become more fluent readers, they will also be able to comprehend at a higher level. The science behind Reading Plus focuses on creating efficient readers, which allows the brain to focus on comprehension. The team at Reading Plus is extremely supportive and I look forward to our continued partnership.” …Read More

New Schools in Six States and Internationally Give Students Courses from VHS Learning

Boston – Aug. 30, 2021 – VHS Learning, a nonprofit empowering schools with the industry’s best teacher-led online learning programs, today announced that schools in New Jersey, North Carolina, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, along with Sierra Leone, are now offering their students access to more than 250 core and elective courses online.

The new partner schools include:

  • American International School of Freetown – Freetown, Sierra Leone
  • Barnstable Academy – Oakland, New Jersey
  • Block Island School – Block Island, Rhode Island
  • JEDI Virtual School – Whitewater, Wisconsin
  • St. Patrick Academy – Providence, Rhode Island
  • Southside Christian School – Simpsonville, South Carolina
  • Stonington High School – Pawcatuck, Connecticut
  • Sugar Creek Charter School – Charlotte, North Carolina

VHS Learning has a distinguished 25-year history of supplementing face-to-face education with quality online learning that provides high school students expanded curriculum offerings. Currently, the nonprofit serves students in 66 countries and 46 states, offering hundreds of unique online courses, including 24 AP® offerings, innovative STEM programs, and a wide variety of unique electives.…Read More

South Carolina Department of Education Selects DreamBox Learning® to Support COVID-19 Academic Recovery

DreamBox Learning®, the K-8 digital math company that pioneered Intelligent Adaptive Learning™ technology, announced today that the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) has selected DreamBox Learning Math to support teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate student learning loss. The SCDE will offer DreamBox Learning Math through June 2022 to 21 districts reaching more than 32,000 students in the most underserved communities in the state.

“We conducted an extensive evaluation of math solutions that could help our districts as we transition from emergency instruction towards ‘academic recovery,’ and DreamBox stood out as the only solution that is both proven to increase student achievement and able to provide actionable learning insights for our teachers,” said Dr. David Mathis, Deputy Superintendent at the SCDE. “DreamBox provides a prescriptive approach to help educators determine where students are in their learning, where they need to be, and a clear path to close that gap.”

Effective for in-person, hybrid, or remote learning and available in both English and Spanish, DreamBox uniquely personalizes the learning experience for each student through an engaging and motivating environment that adapts in real-time within and between math lessons based on how students are solving problems. DreamBox also offers educators interactive professional development courses to learn best practices for using DreamBox to teach online or in the classroom in ways that meet students exactly where they are.…Read More

S.C. education leaders want $30 million to help schools go wireless

The S.C. Education Oversight Committee wants state lawmakers to spend $30 million next year on technology to improve wireless access in school buildings across the state, reports the heraldonline.com. The request, said members of the state’s education research and accountability arm, comes as public school districts increasingly set goals to give every student a computer or wireless device, and as testing and classroom instruction move online. The request is about $20 million more than lawmakers have been spending on internet technology. The General Assembly has spent $10 million annually for the last five years to increase internet bandwidth in school buildings, many of which have hard-wired internet access. Going wireless requires an investment in more expensive technology, said Melanie Barton, the Oversight Committee’s executive director…

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