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.

Long Island, NY School District Addresses Youth Mental Health Crisis With Opening of New Wellness Center

Baldwin, NY – Youth mental health is a crisis nationwide. Many are struggling to manage the stress and complications of everyday life. Studies show that students who are healthy both physically and mentally are more likely to excel in all aspects of academic achievement, including academic performance, education behavior, and cognitive skills and attitudes.

As a part of an ongoing initiative to enhance the health and wellness resources available to its students and families, the Baldwin Union Free School District (UFSD) is proud to launch the Baldwin Schools Wellness Center and to be among the first school districts in the nation to establish such a resource directly on campus at no cost to families.

In partnership with PM Pediatric Care and located at the Baldwin Middle School, the Baldwin Schools Wellness Center provides immediate access to behavioral health care and resources dedicated to mental wellness for students from elementary through high school, with convenient and flexible hours during and after school. This innovative, collaborative approach to connected care is key to supporting students’ whole health needs while optimizing their learning experiences.…Read More

The National Center on Intensive Intervention Adds Classworks® Evidence-Based Reading Intervention to Academic Interventions Tools Chart

Classworks®, an award-winning special education and tiered intervention platform, is validated by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as an evidence-based reading intervention. The best-in-class program is listed on the  Academic Intervention Tools Chart and joins Classworks Universal Screener and Progress Monitoring in the company’s highly rated, NCII-validated offerings.

“We are excited to see Classworks Reading Intervention added to our portfolio of NCII-validated resources. For 20 years, districts across the country have used Classworks individualized interventions as an essential component of their DBI processes with  tremendous results,” says Melissa Sinunu, Classworks president and chief operating officer. “The recent focus on literacy across the country makes it more important than ever for districts to have access to evidence-based, impactful reading resources. We are proud that Classworks meets NCII’s rigorous technical standards for inclusion.”

NCII is a nationally recognized organization whose mission is to “support the implementation of intensive intervention for students with severe and persistent learning and social, emotional, or behavioral needs using data-based individualization (DBI).” For the Academic Intervention Tool review, NCII’s Technical Review Committee examined study quality and design, psychometric reliability of study measures, and outcome measures, among other qualifications. Classworks Reading Intervention received convincing and partially convincing evidence in the categories of Study Design, Participants, and Broader Measures.…Read More

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

First-in-the-Nation Artificial Intelligence Framework for District Leaders

The ILO Group this week announced the release of its Framework for Implementing Artificial Intelligence in K-12 Education–a first-of-its-kind AI framework for school district and state education leaders–providing them with the tools, resources, and research-basis to thoughtfully embrace this game-changing technology.

The Framework for Implementing Artificial Intelligence in K-12 Education provides district and state leaders with a roadmap for understanding AI’s potential benefits, addressing associated challenges, and making well-informed decisions about implementation.

“AI is reshaping education as we know it. This isn’t about the future, it’s about the now” said Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer, ILO Group CEO. “Until now, district and state leaders have been without the comprehensive guidance they need to navigate AI’s complexities and have up until this point found piecemeal solutions and ad hoc tools. No more. Our Framework changes that. It provides strategic direction, real-world use cases, and department-specific applications. It’s also been stress-tested with input from a national working group of state and district superintendents. Our goal is to empower leaders with the knowledge they need to make informed, impactful decisions that will shape the future of learning.”…Read More

CASE Once Again Endorses Classworks® Special Education Platform

The Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) has re-endorsed Classworks® for an additional three years. The CASE Executive Committee designated the award-winning platform as a CASE-endorsed product that delivers high-quality assessment and instructional resources to special education teachers and students.

CASE has recognized Classworks as a tool that “successfully addresses the inherent challenges of special education,” since 2010. This month, CASE re-endorsed Classworks as a top-tier special education resource through 2027. Every three years, the platform undergoes a rigorous evaluation by the CASE Executive Committee. As part of the review process, CASE considers the impact on achievement for special education students as well as any new enhancements. In addition to the tremendous impact Classworks has on special education students, two significant product changes were made:

  • Classworks released a new student experience focused on student ownership over their learning and growth
  • Dyslexia and Dyscalculia indicators were added to the screener assessments

These and several other  new Classworks enhancements answer the imminent need in the marketplace for comprehensive, valid and reliable programs that simplify processes for special education teachers, and provide a more engaging and motivating experience for students. …Read More

Loudoun County Public Schools Offers New Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Resources for Parents and Students

SALT LAKE CITY – The Cook Center for Human Connection, a nonprofit dedicated to mental health and suicide prevention, has partnered with Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) to provide ParentGuidance.org to LCPS’ schools and families. Members of the LCPS community now have free access to a range of online mental health resources that empower families to help children thrive, including:

  • One-on-one parent coaching individualized for families;
  • Online on-demand lessons taught by licensed therapists; and
  • Live, interactive family mental health series webinars hosted by trained professionals – available in the fall of 2024;

“Talking about mental health and other concerns is the key to understanding,” says Jennifer Evans, M. Ed., LPC, Director of Student Mental Health Services at LCPS. “Through ParentGuidance.org’s parent coaching and webinars, we are aiming to help parents address important mental health and developmental topics to support their children. Parents will gain tools and strategies that will enable them to talk with their children, engage in, and normalize important conversations about mental health.”

The Cook Center’s model focuses on the protective factors for youth mental health and suicide prevention in which schools and parents play a critical role. Though only two years old, ParentGuidance.org has already been adopted by 229 districts and 3,617 schools, offering more than 2.4 million families access to services across 37 states.…Read More

95 Percent Group Announces Acquisition of Morpheme Magic

Lincolnshire, IL & Boise, ID – 95 Percent Group LLC, the trusted source for comprehensive, proven literacy solutions, today announced the acquisition of Morpheme Magic, a company founded by Deborah R. Glaser, Ed.D., to help learners build morphological awareness. Morphological awareness is the ability to recognize, understand and use the units of meaning that make up words, helping build student reading comprehension skills.

“Morphological awareness plays an important role in helping learners decode, build reading fluency and comprehension skills, and develop a strong vocabulary. Research shows that morphological awareness is a strong contributor to reading proficiency,” said Laura Stewart, Chief Academic Officer, 95 Percent Group. “The resources that Dr. Glaser created for Morpheme Magic provide teachers with the tools they need to enhance student growth in this important area of literacy skill development.”

Morpheme Magic’s two supplemental curriculum offerings are Morpheme Magic: Lessons to Build Morphological Awareness Grades 4-12 and Morphemes for Little Ones: Bringing the Magic of Language into K-3 Classrooms, complementing the morphology lessons included in 95 Percent Group’s flagship 95 Phonics Core Program®. Morpheme Magic: Lessons to Build Morphological Awareness for Grades 4-12 features 53 lessons, including assessments, covering suffixes, prefixes, roots, and Greek combining forms. Morphemes for Little Ones K-3 provides systematic, structured literacy lessons to help teachers teach morphological awareness appropriately to students.…Read More

Learn Applied AI with MindSpark: New Certification and Free Resources for Educators

DENVER–( BUSINESS WIRE)–MindSpark Learning®, a nonprofit organization that delivers extraordinary learning experiences for educators and professionals, launched three new AI resources for educators and others navigating AI, including their Applied AI Certification for Educators. The Applied AI Certification for Educators is an online learning experience that upskills educators to apply AI intelligently. Applied AI bridges theory with real-world application.

“First and foremost, this course really helped build my comfortability with AI. I really didn’t know much about it before and was hesitant to explore because of that. I appreciated how this course broke down parts of AI in a user-friendly way. I also really appreciated the practice prompts it had us do with the different AI models,” said Lauren Schafer, 5th Grade Teacher, Thompson School District, Johnstown, CO. “It was incredibly helpful to see the examples of how you may use it in education, so then I could take what I learned and use the models with things I wanted to create for myself.”

“After completing this course, I have discovered ways to improve my own personal productivity both at work and home because using AI will significantly assist me in managing life. I learned the correct ways to use these tools and how to distinguish which tool to use based on the educational goal I’m trying to achieve,” said Tina Rhoades, Middle School Teacher, Somers Lakeside School District 29, Somers, MT. “I was shown many ways you can use these AI tools to improve education for students, parent communication, personal organization, and streamline content creation making a better use of my time actually teaching.”…Read More

Virginia Adds to the Resources for its ALL In Tutoring Reading Initiative to Include Lexia Core5 Reading and Lexia PowerUp Literacy

BOSTON – The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has expanded its ALL in Tutoring reading initiative to include evidence-based resources from   Lexia, a   Cambium Learning Group brand. The resources are available for students in grades three through eight who are participating in the ALL In Tutoring Reading Initiative and who are not proficient on the Virginia Standards of Learning. Their participating schools can now access   Lexia Core5 Reading (Core5) for grades 3-5 and   Lexia PowerUp Literacy (PowerUp) for grades 6-8 as part of their school’s tutoring program in support of students with unfinished literacy learning because of pandemic learning loss.

Core5 and PowerUp are science of reading-based adaptive blended learning programs that provide students with personalized learning paths. “Many school divisions have been requesting additional literacy resources to help address the varied levels of literacy support their students need,” said Todd Reid, Assistant Superintendent. “Adding Lexia will help divisions meet the broad spectrum of student needs regarding the reading digital platform and literacy support.”

Both Core5 and PowerUp are built on 40 years of literacy expertise using a structured, explicit, and systematic approach. Virginia Standards of Learning are embedded in programs’ reporting, and instructors can easily identify Virginia SOL Primary Standards in the online libraries and offline materials.…Read More