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Latest NWEA Research Shows K12 Educational Gaps Still Wide, but Show Signs of Stabilizing

PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ —  NWEA — a not-for-profit, research and educational services provider serving K-12 students — today released  new research that illustrates the scale and disproportionate nature of the disruption in student learning resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The research,  Learning during COVID-19: An update on student achievement and growth at the start of the 2021-22 school year, is the third in a series of research briefs by NWEA focused on understanding how the pandemic has affected student reading and mathematics outcomes.

The research examined   MAP Growth assessment scores from six million U.S. public school students in grades 3-8 from fall 2021 compared to students in the same grade in fall of 2019, the last quarter unaffected by COVID-19. The research found evidence of significant levels of unfinished learning, particularly in math, however, gaps between current achievement and pre-pandemic achievement have not increased since the end of 2020-21, which may indicate the impacts of the pandemic are stabilizing. 

Key findings include: …Read More

Texas Education Agency Approves FEV Tutor as a Full-Service Provider in New Statewide High-Impact Tutoring Initiative

WOBURN, Mass. – Sept. 7, 2021 – The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has approved FEV Tutor to be a full-service member of the state’s new Vetted Texas Tutoring Corps (VTTC). The corps is an initiative aimed at accelerating student learning through high-impact tutoring. The TEA vetted all VTTC members to ensure they have the research-based criteria for high-impact tutoring. The agency also confirmed that the VTTC providers can help districts meet House Bill (HB) 4545’s requirements for supplemental accelerated instruction. Local education agencies (LEAs) may use local ESSER funding to obtain these tutoring programs.

The TEA-approved providers include both full-service and partial-service providers. Full-service VTTC members, like FEV Tutor, will provide end-to-end services, including instructional materials, tutoring platforms and trained tutors.

“We are excited to have been chosen to support the Texas Education Agency’s and Texas legislature’s commitment to providing scaled high-impact tutoring to the state’s K-12 community,” said Ryan Patenaude, Sr. Vice President and Co-Founder of FEV Tutor. “We believe that TEA’s high-impact tutoring initiative has the potential to make a true difference in the lives of students throughout Texas. Our mission is to make a social impact through K-12 education, and we’re doubling down on our commitment to the state of Texas and our strategic K-12 LEA, charter and ESC partners.”…Read More

5 sites to lighten the lesson planning load

Teachers’ jobs involve much more than teaching in the classroom or online. Putting together the right materials and resources for student learning is critical–and that’s where the right lesson planning tool can be invaluable.

Customized resources, small group activities, and resource organization are all made a bit easier with a little help from lesson planning tools, leaving teachers to spend more active time teaching, giving real-time feedback, and supporting students on an individual basis.

Lesson planning doesn’t have to be daunting. In fact, it can be downright fun with these resources.…Read More

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4 steps to maximize summer learning

As we emerge from the darkness of closed school buildings, several studies have come out about the effect of the pandemic on student learning. “Learning loss” and “unfinished learning” are the main topics of conversation among educators, along with summer school programs and tutoring.

Research points toward the importance of maintaining on-grade-level instruction in the coming school year, as opposed to remediation. As such, providing access to on-grade material and instruction is paramount to helping students close gaps and move forward.

Areas of need…Read More

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DreamBox Learning® Equips Educators with Lesson Recommendations to Accelerate Student Learning

New Lesson Recommendations feature helps teachers understand where students are in their math learning to support academic growth toward proficiency

BELLEVUE, Wash. —June 21, 2021 — DreamBox Learning®, the company that pioneered Intelligent Adaptive Learning™ technology, today launched DreamBox Lesson Recommendations, a new offering that gives educators real-time student progress insights with actionable next steps to meet student learning needs. Teachers can use this formative data to plan for individual or small group differentiation and customize their instructional strategies at any point during the school year.

As studies show the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted student progress and widened the opportunity gap, districts are looking for solutions that provide up-to-date, useful information about where students are in their learning and what students need to support their growth in math. Whether educators are preparing for summer programs or the new school year this fall, DreamBox Lesson Recommendations provides teachers with instant access to a detailed view into each student’s progress, including insights about which concepts or skills students should learn next as well as which students in their class are ready to learn those concepts with them.…Read More

Think Together Brings in More Than $500,000 at Annual Raise A Hand Event to Support Expanded Learning, Afterschool and Student Learning Recovery Programs

The live virtual event held April 23 was attended by more than 300 guests from across the state of California.

Santa Ana, Calif. (April 28, 2021) – Think Together, California’s largest nonprofit provider of afterschool, expanded learning, and school improvement programs, held its annual Raise A Hand event raising $515,000 on Friday, April 23.

Think Together’s annual fundraiser was reimagined this year as a virtual experience with nearly 300 guests registered to attend. The event brought together passionate individuals and corporations to raise funds for student learning recovery programs amid the COVID-19 pandemic and honor students who have overcome challenges in pursuit of their education.…Read More

How using data during COVID becomes more important than ever

For Matt Reynolds, Assessment and Data Officer for the 64,000+ students that attend Douglas County School District in Colorado, running the usual assessment numbers was obviously useless last year.

That doesn’t mean that data collection was not an essential part of district operations. Quite the contrary in fact.

In this conversation with eSchool News, Matts talks about how they are supporting student learning during this time, as well as helping educators engage students and drive instruction.…Read More

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TEL Education Makes Learning Visible with Student Learning Dashboard

Students often struggle to make connections between what they learn in their college courses and the skills they need to be successful after graduation. TEL Education is launching the Student Learning Dashboard to help students clearly see and verbalize the 21st-century skills and competencies they learn across their general education courses and encourage students to take a more active role in their educational journey.

Students Lack Context and Ownership

According to TEL Education’s Executive Director, Dr. Rob Reynolds, “One of the biggest challenges in today’s education environments is that, for many students, learning has become a ‘black box’ of sorts. The purposes and processes of learning, the “why” and “what for,” are largely invisible and inaccessible to students.”

As a result, Reynolds says, students in secondary and postsecondary programs often lack a sense of context or connectedness in their learning. They are unable to answer critical, formative questions such as: What’s the big picture? Where am I on my learning journey? Why do I need to know this? How does what I’m learning today align with my interests and goals? How is what I’m learning in this course connected to what I am learning in other courses?…Read More

Gale In Context: For Educators Launches New Teacher Learning Center 

Gale, a Cengage company, is helping educators enhance skills for virtual lesson planning and online teaching. The company has launched Gale In Context: For Educators’ new Learning Center, an on-demand professional learning hub for finding, organizing and learning how to teach – virtually or in-person – using the content created within For Educators. Now teachers can take control of their own professional learning and find support as they work to use For Educators to drive student learning outcomes.

Studies show that lack of training and ongoing support around using technology for classroom instruction is a major pain point for educators, who increasingly rely on tools for teaching in remote, in-person or hybrid learning environments.[i] With the Learning Center, educators get on-demand training that provides immediate access to support and guidance, anytime, anywhere.

“In the last nine months, we have repeatedly seen educators given access to teaching tools without the support they need or the time for formal training,” said Paul Gazzolo, senior vice president and general manager at Gale. “The For Educators Learning Center enables teachers to take the lead, with on-demand training built right into their workflow to get up and running fast.”…Read More