SchoolStatus Announces Acquisition of ClassTag Strengthening its Suite of K-12 Data, Workflow, and Communications

RIDGELAND, Miss. —  SchoolStatus, a leader in K-12 data and communications, announced today the acquisition of  ClassTag, a unified family communication and engagement platform for educators, schools, and districts.

This strategic acquisition expands SchoolStatus’ current offerings with a robust communications app that enables sharing of essential student-level data in streamlined and easy-to-use ways. ClassTag’s smart messages reach all families based on their preferred channel (SMS, email, app, web or paper) automatically translated into 100+ languages. Seeing all relevant student information in one place helps families stay informed and get involved.

Based in New York, ClassTag is a unified family engagement platform used by over 5 million families. The platform enables teachers to efficiently communicate and coordinate with families and provides school and district leaders with insights on effective ways to build school-home connections that improve student outcomes.…Read More

4 ways to implement mental performance coaching in schools

Key points:

Picture this: Empowered educators are equipped with the insights and strategies of mental performance coaching in schools. They possess the transformative ability–well-established in athletics but yet to be fully realized in the classroom–to help students meet the challenges of life with greater resilience, self-esteem, and focus. Teachers, school coaches, and education leaders are catalysts that propel students towards this emotional and mental strength, using approaches that have benefited thousands of athletes at all levels.

To the cynic, “mental performance coaching” may sound like a passing trend. But in reality, mental performance coaching in schools holds immense value as an integral component of developing student well-being. …Read More

Linewize Selected as Preferred Technology Provider for Texas Schools in a Strategic Partnership with the Technology Alliance for Statewide Initiatives (TASI)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. /PRNewswire/ —  Linewize, a division of global safety and student wellbeing leader  Qoria, is proud to announce a preferred vendor partnership with Texas’ Technology Alliance for Statewide Initiatives (TASI).

Under the preferred vendor arrangements, Linewize and TASI have agreed to work together to promote and support the rollout of Linewize’s world leading suite of services to Texas Education Service Centers (ESCs) and K-12 districts.

Through this partnership, Texas’ ESCs and school districts will have access to premium tools with transparent pricing and the support they need to cater to the challenges of today’s schooling.…Read More

9 big ideas to bolster the teaching profession and boost student learning

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

This is part two in a two-part series. Part one focused on four major challenges facing the teaching profession. Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to get these stories and more delivered straight to your inbox.

America’s schools face a number of warning signs about the teaching profession: higher turnover, lower morale, declining interest in the profession among college students, persistent shortages in certain subjects. These problems could have big consequences for students.…Read More

Progress toward academic recovery stalled in 2022-23

Key points:

While students grew academically in the 2022-23 school year, achievement gains fell short of pre-pandemic trends in most grades, with the exception of the youngest students who bucked this trend and made above average achievement gains, according to a new report from nonprofit K-12 assessment and research organization NWEA

The report is the latest in NWEA’s efforts to track the impact of pandemic disruptions on academic gains and achievement levels for U.S. students using data from the 2022-23 academic year. This analysis provides the most current evidence to help guide recovery efforts and resource allocations in support of schools. While the pandemic is now deemed over, the impacts on students based on two markers, achievement in reading and mathematics, are still apparent.…Read More

Create a Common Language

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Make It Student Centered

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4 ways admins can support teachers’ technology use

Key points:

Technology is quickly changing the way we learn and teach. To keep up with these changes, administrators need to support teachers in using technology in the classroom.

Following are three ways administrators can help teachers become successful with technology in the classroom and help student engagement.…Read More

Will, skill, & thrill: How learner agency accelerates innovation

Editor’s note: This blog post originally appeared on CoSN’s blog and is reposted here with permissions.

When it comes to students in the classroom, they want to feel ownership and control of their learning. According to the American Institutes for Research, encouraging student agency is beneficial because:

  • students who believe their knowledge can grow over time perform better on IQ tests,
  • those with a growth mindset are more likely to set academic goals focused on mastering content versus studying for a test score or course grade,
  • students who set mastery-focused goals tend to process information in a deeper and more organized fashion, and
  • the skills and behaviors that learner agency fosters are positively related to higher education and career outcomes.

During CoSN’s Driving K-12 Innovation 2022-23 cycle, our esteemed Advisory Board of about 100 educators and technologists agreed that learner agency is, indeed, one of the top three accelerators in education today. Download the 2023 Driving K-12 Innovation Report: Hurdles + Accelerators to learn more.…Read More

First Look—Discovery Education Back To School ’23

Discovery Education today announced a slate of new services and curricula to coincide with the fall semester. eSchool snuck a sneak peek with Lance Rougeux, Senior Vice President of Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Engagement, on some specifics. Click below to listen and scroll down for details and selected edited highlights:

Creating Curious Classrooms is a free professional learning series for school and science curriculum leaders that takes a fresh approach to how the latest digital resources and tools can be integrated into instruction to drive engagement. Live and on-demand sessions will provide participants with examples of how teachers from across the country can create and deliver science lessons that unlock student curiosity in grades K-12 and inspire exploration of the world around them.

It’s new professional learning pathway that focuses on practical strategies. We know we have a lot of new teachers and teachers coming in from other fields, whether it’s from the military or from business careers. This really dives into ideas that ultimately are research based, but that also get kids interested and excited —LR.…Read More