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.

How to Keep Your Teachers

Obviously, the past few years haven’t been easy for anybody. But the strain on school intervention specialists thrust into remote learning during group trauma has been especially great. Rami Tulp, assistant director of intervention for Katy ISD in Texas details some of the ways her district has catered to the needs of both students and faculty by providing supportive professional development, access to resources like Boardworks lessons, and more. Have a listen and scroll down for some edited excerpts.

We support intervention teachers who work with the students who are most at risk of dropping out—the students who struggle the most. And, you know, that cannot always be the most appealing job when you’re looking at teaching. So we really have been making sure that we support our intervention teachers with good resources as well as professional learning where you want to come back every year and continue to be an intervention teacher and support struggling kids…Coming out of the pandemic, some student struggles with learning have increased. And we need new strategies on how to support these kids. We need to keep building on the strategies that we already have, but also some new ideas, some new techniques. We’ve been doing a lot of campus visits, getting out to campuses and supporting teachers whenever they call, whenever they need an extra set of hands or an extra set of eyes with a class.

Some of the stories that some of our teachers shared when they were working with students virtually is that the home that the children were in wasn’t always somewhere they felt safe or comfortable. They didn’t want to unmute because in the background there might be screaming or something like that happening. We did have quite a few kids who were having to watch over their younger siblings. So there could be little screaming kids running around. We had some kids zooming from a bathtub because it was the quietest place in the house…Some kids were worried about how their hair looked because they haven’t been able to go out and get their hair fixed. …Read More

BenQ Sponsors the Undisputed Texas High School Esports State Championship

COSTA MESA, Calif. — BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of visual display solutions, sponsored the Undisputed Texas High School Esports State Championship, April 28-29 at the Esports Stadium Arlington. The crowd was up close to the action, thanks to BenQ’s donation of 40 BenQ Board smart boards. Also at the show, BenQ’s esports product line, ZOWIE, showcased its premium gaming monitors.

The Undisputed Texas High School Esports State Championship is put together by the Texas Scholastic Esports Federation, a teacher-run, 501c(3) nonprofit organization serving Texas schools with a mission of making esports an accessible, inclusive, and equitable path to college, career, and military readiness for all Texas students. Over two days, the championship brought together 500 competitors, 30 high schools, and five titles — Valorant, League of Legends, Overwatch 2, Rocket League, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

“BenQ has a long history of supporting teachers and the esports industry with state-of-the-art visualization solutions built around an arsenal of tools and features that define a positive learning and gaming experience,” said Bob Wudeck, senior director of business development at BenQ Education. “Designed to be an intuitive and innovative hub in the classroom, our BenQ Boards are unlike anything else on the market and now attendees will see them set up to support an esports competition. We’re excited to be part of this local event and showcase BenQ’s investment in education and esports in one place.”…Read More

New Meridian Names Eileen Shihadeh as Chief Operating Officer

AUSTIN — New Meridian, a nonprofit assessment company committed to advancing quality education for all students, today announced that Eileen Shihadeh has joined the executive team as chief operating officer.

Shihadeh has two decades of experience in strategic planning and execution, product management, branding, sales, and marketing in various senior leadership roles at major companies that include Texas Instruments, Raptor Technologies, and Compass Learning.

“Eileen brings enormous capability to the New Meridian team,” said Arthur VanderVeen, founder and CEO of New Meridian. “Her breadth and depth of experience in organizational management, strategy, and enterprise value creation will add tremendous energy and expertise as we continue to grow.”…Read More

CYPHER LEARNING Builds Out Proven Executive Team

PLANO, Texas —   CYPHER LEARNING, a leading provider of intelligent learning platforms for schools, universities and organizations around the world, today announced the expansion of its executive leadership team with Jennifer Geisler as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Matt Kane as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Combined with the prior appointment of Hank Courson, CFO, these proven leaders will help fuel CYPHER LEARNING’s global growth, customer success and innovation — helping the company achieve its mission to improve education by fundamentally changing the way people teach and learn worldwide.

“Jennifer, Matt and Hank bring a new and invigorating level of experience and leadership required to drive scale and high growth with a strong go-to-market strategy,” said Graham Glass, CEO of CYPHER LEARNING. “The large $8.1 billion LMS market has created significant growth opportunities for CYPHER LEARNING, as its leading-edge learning platform continues to gain traction due to its intuitive user experience, powerful functionality and innovative approach to teaching and learning. With our recent $40 million growth round and the addition of this power trio, we are now full speed ahead.”

In her role as CMO, Geisler will define and lead CYPHER LEARNING’s global marketing strategy with tight alignment across the company that drives scale, customer value and clear differentiation from the traditional learning management system (LMS). She brings more than two decades of marketing leadership experience, including two successful initial public offerings (IPOs), category creation and accelerated adoption of innovations. Geisler has previously held leadership roles at Vectra AI, Forescout, McAfee, Cisco and more.…Read More

Best School District in El Paso, Texas Partners With BibliU to Secure Universal Learning Benefits for Dual-Credit Students

NEW YORK and LONDON – BibliU, the EdTech innovator democratizing content accessibility, announced today that the Ysleta Independent School District has implemented its Universal Learning solution.

Ysleta ISD, which was recently named the best school district in the El Paso, Texas area for the second consecutive year, is adopting the BibliU solution to provide first-day content access for its Early College Academy and dual-credit students. Universal Learning is projected to reduce the school district’s administrative overhead and operational burden of maintaining and distributing print inventory costs by more than $500,000 in the first year. It will give students and instructors seamless access to content through the Clever digital learning platform. 

While BibliU is currently providing a percentage of books online, it is working with the Ysleta ISD to expand the booklist and increase the number of students using BibliU in the spring semester. …Read More

Growing Number of Texas School Districts Partner with ParentSquare to Unify School-Home Communications

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. SEPT. 22, 2022 — ParentSquare, continuing its momentum in partnering with Texas schools, announces over a dozen additional independent school districts (ISD) have adopted the platform to streamline communications and empower administrators and teachers to engage every student’s family. To further support Texas districts, ParentSquare is now a platinum corporate partner in the Texas Fast Growth School Coalition.

Recent ISDs to adopt the ParentSquare school-home engagement platform for K-12 include:

  • Barbers Hill ISD
  • Brenham ISD
  • Del Valle ISD
  • Huffman ISD
  • Hutto ISD
  • Midway ISD
  • New Braunfels ISD
  • Northwest ISD
  • Odem-Edroy ISD
  • Pampa ISD
  • Roma ISD
  • Stafford MSD
  • Stratford ISD
  • Transformation Waco in Waco ISD
  • United ISD
  • Waxahachie ISD

These districts join a long list of over 60 districts in the state that have already been utilizing the benefits of ParentSquare. Through these partnerships, over a quarter million Texas families are being positively impacted by the platform features in some of the fastest growing areas in the country.…Read More

Custom Acoustic and Staging Equipment From Staging Concepts Optimize Function and Flexibility at New High School Performing Arts Complex

Located in the far northeastern suburbs of Dallas, Texas, Melissa High School provides numerous creative opportunities for students to exercise their ingenuity as performers through fine arts programs such as band, choir and theatre.

Recognizing the importance and growing popularity of these disciplines, as well as the potential to host events such as University Interscholastic League (UIL) competitions, the school recently underwent a dramatic renovation and expansion that included the addition of a new 65,000-square-foot performing arts complex.

At the center of the new complex is a 1,000-seat auditorium featuring an expanded stage and state-of-the-art acoustic system engineered by Minneapolis-based Staging Concepts, a Trex Company with more than 30 years of experience as an industry leader in designing and engineering staging equipment. Working in tandem with theater consultant Schuler Shook, Staging Concepts custom-designed an acoustically flexible, multipurpose facility to support the school’s varied visual, musical and theatrical productions.…Read More

From Katrina to COVID: Kids heal in communities

Some moments in life are unforgettable. For me, the experience of evacuating from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina with my two young children and pup is one of those moments. Katrina became a marker in the life of our family. We used to talk about the timeline of our experiences in terms of “before Katrina” or “after Katrina.” While our home only sustained significant wind damage but no flooding, we witnessed firsthand the considerable tragedy across the city.

My husband is a Coast Guard pilot and was part of the rescue efforts immediately after the storm. As a young mother and teacher, I was focused on setting up a temporary home in San Antonio, TX. I had very little information on how long we would be living in Texas, whether my house was destroyed, what would happen to my teaching job and salary, and how long I would be apart from my husband. The uncertainty combined with the sudden nature of the disaster was, at times, almost too much to bear. I spent hours watching the news showing pictures of people on roofs trying to survive the flooding and the helicopters bravely swarming the airspace to save as many people as possible.

After two months, in October, we were able to return to the city once electricity was restored to our area on the west side of the river. Imagine a home in the deep heat of a New Orleans summer, closed, with no electricity or air conditioning. Imagine a refrigerator and freezer in that house with food left behind. Imagine thousands of those! Imagine wind and water damage and destroyed backyards, sheds, patios, and plants. We returned to that scene, and we were by far one of the lucky ones! We focused on cleaning out our home for several weeks, installing a blue FEMA tarp over a damaged roof, burning the left-behind branches and fallen trees in our yard, and attempting to find food and water. We were grateful for organizations that sent volunteers to cook, assisted with cutting down trees, and did various other tasks.…Read More

Backed by ECMC Group, Dell Foundation and Others, New Apprenticeship Closes $2.5M Seed Funding to Solve Entry Level Tech and Diversity Hiring Gaps

San Antonio, Texas (Sept. 14, 2021) – New Apprenticeship (NEW), the federally recognized digital apprenticeship solution that is bridging the tech skills and opportunity gap, announced today the close of a $2.5M seed funding round. The financing was led by Minneapolis-based ECMC Group’s Education Impact Fund, with participation from the Dell Foundation, Michelson 20MM Foundation, Learnstart, and others. This funding will allow the company to build out its management team while also making significant investments in sales operations and technology to efficiently scale and serve the growing number of tech employers and their surrounding communities.

“We believe apprenticeship equips employers to become the engines of digital talent production. Forward-thinking companies partner with us to build sustainable talent pipelines, fueling their short and long-term talent needs. Modern degree apprenticeships represent the greatest breakthrough in workforce innovation because they create accessible pathways for students to high-value careers without requiring access to costly 4-year universities.” said Brad Voeller, CEO, New Apprenticeship.

NEW partners with leading employers to fundamentally change the way tech talent is recruited and developed. This maximizes return on talent investments through ownership and control of talent pipelines, ensuring faster onboarding, improved performance, higher retention, and overall lower cost of talent. The company was founded to support diverse communities of students, veterans and the underemployed with an innovative “earn-and-learn” pathway that combines on-the-job experience with expert training. A NEW apprenticeship leads to a Department of Labor (DOL) Apprenticeship Certification, including up to 30-hours of credit towards a bachelor’s degree from accredited partner colleges. In collaboration with education and workforce partners, NEW offers learners a direct on-ramp to tech careers where they previously did not exist. And employers get direct access to a diverse rich, tech talent ready pipeline yielding substantial ROI savings in both hiring and retention gains.…Read More