Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.
6 Key Questions to Ask
With the right assessment tools, K–12 educators can accurately measure students’ progress toward learning goals. Teachers can use this information to deliver more effective instruction, and administrators can use it to make system-wide planning decisions. When choosing assessments that can support better student outcomes, here are six key questions to ask.
…Read MoreKey points:
Students are spending more and more time using digital devices, both in and outside of school. In fact, the amount of time teenagers spend in front of screens per day for entertainment alone is equivalent to that of someone with a full-time job!1 While those numbers might be lower for younger children, when in-school technology use is factored in, the total time adds up quickly.
Almost three-quarters of educators believe that physical comfort while using edtech has an impact on student engagement.2 And, over half of students report discomfort when using laptops3. Ergonomic problems are likely contributing to discomfort and sapping engagement in today’s schools.…Read More
Key points:
In 2024, career and technical education (CTE) is not simply an alternative for students whose future plans don’t include college. It’s a fundamental part of the K-12 experience and a viable career pathway for many students.
CTE lets students understand the relevance of what they’re learning in school. It exposes them to career pathways they might not have known about otherwise. It prepares them for rich and rewarding careers in high-paying, high-demand jobs, whether they go on to attend college or not.…Read More
The Georgia Department of Education (GA DOE) recently added the Classworks Reading Universal Screener assessment to two state-approved lists. The Classworks screener is now approved by the state as a Universal Reading Screener and a Qualified Dyslexia Screening Tool for Grades K–3.
In April 2023, the Georgia Early Literacy Act (HB538) required the state to, among other requirements, establish a uniform standard for measuring literacy, approve high-quality literacy instructional materials for teaching students in K-3, and provide for the approval and use of universal reading screeners for K-3 students. The state provided a list of approved universal screeners and dyslexia screening tools to support school districts in choosing high-quality resources.
“Classworks Universal Screeners are already widely used by Georgia districts to effectively assess students’ proficiency and identify students who may need additional support,” notes Melissa Sinunu, Classworks President and Chief Operating Officer. “We are thrilled the GA DOE has added the valid and reliable resource as an approved assessment tool to help teachers identify students who may be at risk for dyslexia and as an essential part of school district’s comprehensive literacy programs.”…Read More
Key points:
- School-home communication is critical for a healthy school community, but too often, communication efforts miss the mark
- Choosing the right system, protecting data, and including all parent groups are essential steps for success
- See related article: Here’s why we put all of our district communications on one platform
Implementing a unified communication solution focused on family engagement provides school districts with multiple benefits. An intuitive, easy-to-use program can standardize communication between school and home, for example, and increase overall family engagement.
Selecting the right K-12 communications platform that supports the needs of everyone and is purpose-built to engage families can save everyone time, increase technology adoption, save money, and diminish or eliminate any confusion.…Read More
Key points:
- Size isn’t the only important part of classroom visual displays
- Brightness, contract, interactivity, and resolution are all critical factors
The transfer of knowledge is an educator’s principal concern–one that has led them, along with researchers, to ask: “What’s the best way to help transfer that knowledge and help students learn?”
Research has shown that students learn better with visuals than words alone. Visual presentations using a projector or interactive display can help to promote a much more active learning environment and more successful outcomes. However, in the last few years, as interactive displays have become more popular, there has been a significant debate on which is the best display type–projectors or interactive flat panel displays–for the classroom.…Read More
This month, hundreds of thousands of graduating high school seniors are weighing their college options. For many, it’s an intensely stressful time as they are rejected or waitlisted by schools they aspired to attend and decide where they will spend the next four years of their lives. Unfortunately, most will base those decisions on criteria that don’t actually determine the quality of their education and ignore the criteria that do.
Choosing a college to attend is not like choosing a product to purchase, though students often approach the decision with a consumer’s mindset. There is no Consumer Reports to rely on, leaving students and their parents unduly influenced by a school’s reputation, the glitziness of the admissions materials, the amenities in the student housing, the impressiveness of the recreational facilities, and the quality of the campus tour. None of these bears any relation to the quality of the instruction you will receive as a student.
Even sampling a class or two while visiting a school tells you virtually nothing meaningful. As any teacher knows, there are good days and bad days in every course. What you experience is not generalizable to the course as a whole, much less to the entire school.…Read More
Educational institutions in the United States have long promoted and prided themselves on their campus grounds, endowments, opportunities, and student achievements. Student life and athletics are also powerful messages and motivators for applicants, and can be the deciding factor when students are choosing between multiple institutions. Comprehensive esports programs effectively combine these two ideas, offering modern education and skills necessary to enter a growing industry while creating a new competitive team for the school to promote.
As a result of growing esports popularity and institutions’ recognition of its educational value, esports competitions have made their way into the hearts and minds of students and youths across the country. An increasing number of schools are launching esports clubs and competition teams as extracurricular activities that appeal to a broad range of students and can excite fans and viewers all over the world.
Esports Takes on Traditional Sports…Read More
BEAVERTON, Oregon — Vernier Science Education has named the 10 recipients of its inaugural Vernier Science Education Inspiration Grants. These STEM educators will each receive $1,000 in Vernier technology of their choosing, an annual license for the Vernier Graphical Analysis ® Pro app, and three hours of virtual professional development to further support their teaching as they foster students’ STEM literacy.
“There are so many educators who are passionate about bringing exciting, hands-on STEM learning opportunities to students,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Science Education. “Our Inspiration Grants were designed to provide some of these educators with data-collection technology and professional development to help them offer hands-on, socially relevant STEM learning in their classrooms.”
The 10 grantees were selected from more than 400 submissions by a panel of fellow educators and Vernier employees. The panel considered how the grantees will implement the $1,000 worth of Vernier technology in their classroom or laboratory, their educational institution’s needs, and how the funding and professional development will enhance their instruction and engage their students.…Read More
The edtech marketplace is quite extensive, and there are now literally hundreds of instructional apps and software programs for educators to choose from. With all the choices available, choosing appropriate classroom technology can seem like a daunting task.
But it doesn’t have to be. With the right process in place for evaluating instructional technology, K-12 teachers and curriculum directors can choose the most suitable tools for their classrooms with minimal effort. Here are seven important factors to consider when evaluating technology for the classroom.
…Read MoreDuluth, GA – Classworks Universal Screener for Reading, an NCII-validated formal assessment used to measure grade-level readiness, is approved by South Carolina as a high-quality Literacy Screener. The best-in-class academic screener is on the approved list for the 2022-23 school year.
In 2019, South Carolina implemented Act 213, requiring all districts to implement Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). When implemented effectively, an MTSS framework addresses the whole child, including students’ academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs. To support school districts in choosing high-quality resources to support MTSS, the state provided a list of approved screeners.
“Classworks is a perfect fit for the South Carolina Literacy List list due to the validity and reliability of our widely-adopted screening assessment,” notes Melissa Sinunu, Classworks President and Chief Operating Officer. “As an all-in-one MTSS solution, we share South Carolina’s vision to address the needs of the whole child. We look forward to working closely with South Carolina districts to achieve that goal using Classworks. Our platform makes it simple for teachers and effective for students.”…Read More