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.

Math is not a universal language—but it can be a universal thread

Key points:

Say what you will about the universality of numbers and symbols; I’d politely argue that it does not follow that mathematics is a universal language. The problem for many struggling math students is that often those “universal” numbers and symbols hide in surrounding contexts of unfamiliar vocabulary, settings, and narratives.

As math educators, we can help those students by finding ways to relate their classroom learning to more recognizable cultural frames of reference that are authentic to the range of experiences in the room. In the process, math can actually become a universal thread to connect many types of content and learners. Number sense and quantities are some of the very few things that tie us together in a common experience.…Read More

Personalizing history for more impactful student learning

Key points:

It is no accident that the new National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) definition of social studies is focused on “human experiences and the spaces in which we interact as humans.” The culture and climate of the social studies classroom has changed, and the way teachers teach social studies has to change with it. The modern social studies classroom should now be a classroom full of student inquiry and choice. Students should be learning the contextual background of a subject and working on the skills they need to critically analyze social studies content.

Personalized paths, oral histories, and local histories are strategies that resonate with the NCSS definition to bring the human experience into the K-12 classroom, because these strategies allow  students to determine how their life fits into the story of history and to discover why the past matters to them.…Read More

For school leaders, routine decisions aren’t so routine

Key points:

In the tapestry of leadership, decisions are often viewed through a lens of routine or regularity. It’s easy to fall into the belief that some choices are mundane, merely navigating the day-to-day operations of an organization. However, beneath this seemingly commonplace surface lies a profound truth: no leadership decision is truly routine. Each choice, whether seemingly minor or monumental, has the potential to send ripples through the fabric of an organization or impact an individual in ways that may extend beyond the leaders’ view.

Understanding the potential consequences of seemingly routine decisions is not just an important leadership skill; it’s a necessity. Every leadership decision, regardless of its apparent simplicity, possesses the potential to have a far greater impact than it appears viewed on the surface. A few examples illustrate this premise:  …Read More

Houston ISD Chooses SchooLinks for College and Career Readiness

Houston, TX (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Houston Independent School District in Houston, TX announced their decision to switch to the modernized College and Career Readiness platform, SchooLinks, starting the 2023/24 school year.

Serving over 194,000 students across 276 schools, Houston Independent School District understands the necessity to invest in technology that will holistically support all students on their journey toward academic and career success. SchooLinks, the platform of choice is able to  provide the support to HISD’s student population while also offering administrators real-time data to improve data-driven decision-making.

Houston ISD will be streamlining a number of initiatives using SchooLinks including college application management, academic planning, personalized graduation plans, CCMR and college and career exploration. This will enable Houston ISD to consolidate multiple redundant systems – reducing overall costs, driving student outcomes, and increasing staff efficiency. 

“SchooLinks is an essential piece to HISD’s CCMR strategy. As the district reorgs, we want to ensure we provide uninterrupted support to students and parents on their college & career planning journey while streamline process flows,” said Adrian Acosta, Executive Director of CCMR. 

“SchooLinks is excited to serve Houston ISD – one of Texas’ top school districts, to innovate college and career readiness for students! With 6 of the 10 largest school districts in Texas using SchooLinks, SchooLinks is becoming the go-to platform and network for communities to empower their students to achieve post-secondary success,” said SchooLinks CEO and Founder, Katie Fang.

SchooLinks is a web-based college and career platform that supports districts nationwide as they implement a comprehensive curriculum and framework to prepare students for the post-secondary pathway of their choice. School staff utilize the solutions within SchooLinks to effectively collaborate across departments, improve processes, and deliver lessons that support students’ post-secondary readiness. A full suite of reports provides real-time, actionable data for school and district leaders to measure student achievement and school staff impact. SchooLinks is dedicated to supporting district goals of expanding opportunities for all students to reach their potential and achieve their post-secondary goals.

…Read More

How to support student agency

Key points:

In my more than 20 years of supporting students on their academic journey, I’ve realized there are no “magic” solutions in education. But there are some strategies that have proven to be more effective than others in helping all students succeed.

One of the most basic, yet effective, strategies is giving students choice and agency over their learning.…Read More

BookmarkED Addresses the State of Challenged Books with Industry-First Technology to Enable Parental Choice in School Libraries

DALLAS, Texas – BookmarkED, the industry-first technology solution to personalize libraries with parental choice, has announced its official launch in Texas. With the passing of  Texas House Bill (HB) 900, school districts face a pressing need to meet the changing requirements for parental engagement on library books that children have access to. BookmarkED is a Texas-based company that enables parents to make individual decisions on literary options for their children and protects school districts from liability by ensuring compliance.

Library book challenges are increasing across the US. The  American Library Association (ALA) documented 2,571 unique library books and resources challenged in 2022, nearly double the number of challenges reported in 2021 and the highest since ALA began compiling data more than 20 years ago. BookmarkED’s technology addresses the current state of challenged books by fostering parental choice to decide what books their children have access to, based on their family’s values and interests. 

“BookmarkED is an innovative solution that fosters parent’s choices for their individual child so that decisions are one-to-one versus one-to-all. Our platform puts the power into the hands of their parents, so that they can decide the literary path for their children by setting parameters over what books their children have access to. We are driven to first empower Texas school districts with this technology, and then move to a national level,” said Steve Wandler, CEO and Co-Founder of BookmarkED.…Read More

Aperture Education Launches Annual SEL Impact Award

Charlotte N.C. – Aperture Education, the leading provider of research-based social and emotional learning (SEL) assessments for K-12 schools, debuted its SEL Impact Award program, designed to honor school systems that are taking innovative approaches to providing students and teachers with the tools they need to develop strong social and emotional skill sets that help address the anxiety and depression prevalent among both students and educators. The winner of the inaugural award is the Boerne (Texas) Independent School District, which was announced at the SEL Vision Summit in Denver on Sunday.

“Boerne ISD was an obvious choice to receive our first SEL Impact Award because their approach is unheard of in the education space – they are literally changing IEPs and behavior plans to get everyone in sync with the eight strengths included in our DESSA SEL suite and are incorporating these competencies at every level within the district,” said Aperture Education CEO Jessica Adamson.

Boerne ISD – located less than an hour north of San Antonio with 12 schools and 10,400 students – sought to implement a SEL program that would address negative student behaviors through every phase of the school day, including curriculum and Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs). As part of this program, they wanted to incorporate strength-building activities designed to prepare students for success after they graduated high school.…Read More

McAlester Public Schools Select BenQ Boards

COSTA MESA, Calif. — BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of visual display solutions, continues to be the chosen smart board of choice for schools across the nation. McAlester Public Schools in Oklahoma installed BenQ’s Premium RP Series Education smart boards in every classroom in the district. The BenQ Board is packed with features including a germ-resistant screen and Tap & Teach technology delivering instant access to files, cloud storage, and personalized settings. Its license-free and intuitive EZ Write annotation and whiteboard software, and built-in InstaShare wireless screen sharing solution, make the RP Series the central hub for collaboration in the classroom. Plus, BenQ includes tools for IT and admin staff to easily configure, monitor, and update every smart board in the district from a centralized location.

“One of the main reasons for choosing BenQ was flexibility,” said Delilah Rodriguez, instructional technology and STEM at McAlester Public Schools. “My teachers didn’t need a computer if they didn’t want to use one. They could use the BenQ Board as their instructional tool.”

BenQ has been developing and perfecting its BenQ Boards for 10 years, leveraging its leadership in cinematic, esports, and healthcare display technology. The culmination of which is easy-to-use, healthful, and feature-rich smart boards designed for hybrid and remote classrooms. All interactive displays in BenQ’s education portfolio feature a 4K UHD screen with ClassroomCare, a proprietary line of health-centric technologies that includes the industry’s only antimicrobial-certified screens, air-quality sensors, and low-blue-light, flicker-free, and anti-glare technologies to reduce eye strain and create a comfortable viewing experience.…Read More

How the COVID-19 pandemic changed how I teach

Ed Smylie is my hero. You may not recognize the name, but you probably remember that scene in Apollo 13 when, upon discovering the spacecraft’s lethally rising CO2 levels and the dilemma of mismatched equipment, flight director Gene Kranz commands his team to “invent a way to put a square peg into a round hole. Rapidly.” Engineer Ed Smylie led the way in an all-night race to do just that. Using nothing but the materials on hand, his quick thinking and adaptability saved the astronauts’ lives.

Spring 2020 required teachers to become Ed Smylie. Nearly every tool we normally used to reach our students was wiped off the table–we were left in complete upheaval. With no choice but to use whatever we had available, we dug deep into our resourcefulness to help our students (and ourselves!) survive distance learning. Amazingly, what we did served our purposes not only for the duration of remote learning, but changed our classroom practices for the better, even now with students back in the classroom.

Once the initial lockdown passed, my district allowed staff to teach from their classrooms (albeit empty ones), pushing us to find new methods of instruction. Just days before the shutdown, a new flat panel had been installed in my room; it seemed to be the perfect time to see what it could do.…Read More

Arizona Department of Education Selects Riverside’s CogAT for Statewide Universal Screening of all Second-Grade Students for Gifted Education Services

ITASCA, Ill. – Feb. 23, 2022 – The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) selected Riverside Insight’s Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®), the most respected and widely used test of student ability, to screen Grade 2 students state-wide for gifted programs. The ADE’s assessment choice supports the Department’s vision of promoting equity for all students to help them achieve their full potential. CogAT was specifically developed to be accessible to the broadest range of students and to ensure the greatest equity with valid and reliable results for identification and placement. 

“We are excited to provide this opportunity that will help our schools more equitably identify our state’s Gifted learners,” said Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman. “Universal screening removes barriers to access and is a proven strategy to help identify students that have been traditionally underrepresented in Gifted Education programs – especially students who may be culturally, linguistically and socioeconomically diverse.”

CogAT, the #1 ability test in the market, according to an EducationWeek report, is the assessment tool that most effectively addresses the challenges of equity by identifying each student’s unique learning potential and empowering educators with the insights to help them achieve it. With demonstrated effectiveness with special populations, CogAT is uniquely positioned to meet the ADE’s requirements, supporting all learners including students with a disability or students acquiring the English language. CogAT is standardized with a representative sample of students from across the nation to provide both national and local norms, and it offers age-based Standard Age Scores (SAS) for the most fair comparisons of young students at different development and maturation levels.…Read More