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.

SpringMath by Sourcewell Receives Highest Possible Ratings from National Center on Intensive Intervention

Staples, Minn. — SpringMath, an award winning, complete MTSS solution for math, recently received the highest possible rating for fall classification accuracy in every grade submitted to the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII).

SpringMath author Dr. Amanda VanDerHeyden said, “The SpringMath team is proud to once again have our work validated by NCII. We have expanded the number of grades for which we have offered evidence, including middle school, and we now have the highest rated kindergarten screening tool! These ratings offer further evidence of the quality of our assessments, which are novel in this space.”

NCII is the premier site for rating intervention and assessment tools for education. Funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), NCII is comprised of national content and methodological experts who review assessments and interventions. The ratings are designed to evaluate the technical adequacy of screening tools, progress monitoring tools and interventions programs to assist educators in the adoption of tools that address their needs.…Read More

Whitney Brothers® Live Edge Collection EarnsInterior Design Magazine 2023 Best of Year Honoree Award

Keene, NH – Acclaimed Early Learning furniture brand Whitney Brothers® today announced its new Live Edge Collection of furniture for preschool and kindergarten environments received a 2023 Best of Year Honoree award from Interior Design magazine.

Now in its 18th year, Interior Design’s Best of Year contest is the preeminent global design awards program recognizing the most significant products and interior design projects of the year across a spectrum of commercial, institutional, residential, educational and contract categories. In the 2023 program, Best of Year jurors evaluated 722 entries submitted by 418 manufacturers from 29 countries. Awards were announced on December 7 in a live event in New York City hosted by Cindy Allen, editor-in-chief of Interior Design. The complete list of award winners can be seen here.

“Best of Year is so crazy and so exciting,” said Allen. “These are the best of the best! There’s no shortage of innovation on display.”…Read More

STEM programs can’t keep up with AI–let’s focus on Power Skills

Key points:

First came headlines about AI-driven cheating. Next emerged a flood of time-saving tools for teachers. 

Attend any education event today, and one phrase will echo in the halls: artificial intelligence.…Read More

Building a representative STEM pipeline needs to start in kindergarten

Key points:

The demand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals outweighs the supply. The number of U.S. technology job vacancy postings in September 2022 exceeded 804,000, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a need for 3,800 new aerospace engineers every year until 2031–an industry that is already grappling with employee retention and workforce shortages. These numbers are reflective of the broader STEM community and related career fields, including scientists and mathematicians.

I believe that the low supply of STEM professionals can be attributed to significant barriers to entry originating in educational settings–this is to no fault of teachers and administrators, but how the educational system is structured. Many of these barriers disproportionately affect those from underrepresented communities. Women, for instance, make up only 28 percent of the STEM workforce, and Black, Hispanic, and Asian adults combined make up only 30 percent.…Read More

5 tips I’m excited to share with first-year teachers

Key points:

I’ll never forget my first day as a teacher. I was so excited to begin my career teaching kindergarten students who were deaf or hard of hearing. My enthusiasm petered out when I saw green paint spilled all over my classroom. Overwhelmed and flustered, I hadn’t accounted for mishaps like this to be part of my lesson plan and was quickly faced with the realization that there were many things that happened in the classroom that weren’t accounted for in my lesson. Thankfully, one of my fellow teachers reassured me in the aftermath by saying, “You clean it up and try again tomorrow. Now you know not to put as much paint in the cup next time.”

Throughout my 26 years of teaching, I’ve heard similar accounts from other first-year teachers anxious to get their footing in their new roles, but more than anything, they wanted to connect with their students and students’ families. They wanted to avoid cleaning up spilled paint, searching for the right lessons or managing repetitive tasks that took time away from their students.…Read More

3 ways superintendents can maximize resources this school year

Key points:

As the new school year kicks off, superintendents across the nation are evaluating resources needed for the year ahead to ensure that everyone–school leaders, teachers, students, and parents–has what they need to be successful.

During a time when many kindergarten through 12th grade education leaders are facing many challenges, including teacher shortages, declining math and reading scores, funding issues, student mental health, and more, it’s critical that superintendents maximize their resources. By doing so, they’ll be able to solve immediate challenges that may arise, giving them more time to focus on the long-term goals of their school or district.…Read More

Early Learners Across Minnesota’s Grand Rapids ISD 318 Set to Return to the Classroom this Fall with New Resources in Their Digital Backpacks

Charlotte, NC — Early learners in kindergarten and first grade across Minnesota’s Grand Rapids ISD 318 (District 318) will return to their classrooms this Fall with new resources from worldwide edtech leader Discovery Education in their digital backpacks. Thanks to a new multiyear partnership with Discovery Education, students and teachers in the district’s kindergarten and first grade classrooms will have access to the company’s award-winning Mystery Science service. With this new digital resource, educators are empowered to ignite student curiosity and more deeply engage young learners in science instruction as they explore the natural world. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports instruction wherever it takes place. 

Located in Minnesota’s picturesque Itasca County, District 318 serves approximately 4,000 students, along with additional programs that serve individuals from birth to adults. The district serves Grand Rapids, Cohasset, Bigfork, Marcell, Warba, and many smaller towns and townships over a 2,200 square mile area. The district mission is “Teaching and Learning for Life to Achieve Excellence,” and its strategic aims are “Highest Student Achievement, Safe Environment, Effective and Efficient Systems, and Partnerships.”

As part of the school system’s curriculum review cycle, District 318 staff sought new science resources with a proven record of success in other school districts, that included a significant hands-on component, and that were easy for educators to integrate into existing lessons and simple for students to use. Following a careful review of viable solutions, District 318 selected Discovery Education’s Mystery Science for kindergarten and first grade classroom use. …Read More

3 essential tools to make elementary science easier

Key points:

  • Interactivity and engaging resources can make science more approachable
  • Elementary school teachers need easy-to-use science tools that will grab students’ attention

During my time as a kindergarten teacher, I learned three major lessons about our youngest learners’ relationship to science. Specifically, I learned that elementary school students are predisposed to being excited to learn about their world, are naturally curious about how the world of nature works, and benefit highly from learning about the STEM/STEAM-related professions they might someday consider pursuing.  

My current role as a PreK-12 science curriculum specialist affords me the opportunity to work alongside a variety of elementary school teachers as they plan engaging lessons and activities for their students. Often, I hear that science is set aside for various reasons. While I recognize the critical importance of developing math and literacy mastery, we must ensure our elementary level learners are well-rounded and prepared with the scientific skills needed for future success. So, I see it as part of my role to provide the teachers I serve with easy-to-use resources and instructional supports they need to easily “sneak” scientific concepts into their lesson.…Read More

Frog Street Pre-K Curriculum Linked to Improved School Readiness

DALLAS (PRWEB) — Frog Street, an early childhood education company designed around the latest science in early brain development, has announced the results of a study conducted by the  Johns Hopkins School of Education evaluating the efficacy of the Frog Street Pre-K curriculum with students in Texas. The study found that using  Frog Street Pre-K curriculum was associated with positive gains in critical early learning domains and increased kindergarten readiness. Frog Street provides a bilingual pre-K curriculum organized into five subjects, five skill-content areas and supports for social-emotional development.

“Ensuring that children are prepared for kindergarten is crucial for their future academic success,” emphasized Jessica Bobo, Head of Product at Frog Street Press and a former Texas early childhood educator and leader. “The data speaks for itself: our students are developing a love for learning and building a strong academic foundation that will serve them well for years to come.”

The study analyzed approximately 78,000 Pre-K students from 316 school districts in Texas who were instructed using Frog Street Pre-K curriculum as their primary curriculum during the 2021-2022 academic year, compared to students who used a different Pre-K curriculum. The researchers assessed the performance of both sets of students in areas like reading, writing, language, health, and mathematics domains using the CIRCLE assessment from fall 2021 to spring 2022. Key findings include:…Read More

3 ways to ensure kindergarten readiness for all children

Ensuring that children are developmentally ready for school on day one of kindergarten is critical. The better prepared children are for kindergarten, the more successful they are likely to be in their school experience.

Kindergarten readiness involves more than just a child’s age and academic abilities. It also encompasses social-emotional competencies, including whether children can follow directions, regulate their own emotions, and get along well with others.

As a former principal for a large urban school district who has opened an early childhood center with more than 400 children, I have extensive experience in preparing children for kindergarten and working with parents to do the same. Here are three key steps that school systems can take to ensure that all children have the solid foundation they need to start kindergarten ready to learn with their peers.…Read More

3 ways teachers can navigate the evolving field of computer science

As recently as a decade or two ago, technology education consisted of typing, learning to draft emails, or doing a little work in a spreadsheet. Learning those skills may have been relegated to a business information class or weekly trips to a computer lab. Today, most students are expected to learn to code, and most states have coding requirements—some starting as early as kindergarten.

That’s a significant change in less than a generation. Computer science is a rapidly advancing field; educators have to make those changes if they are going to prepare their students for the modern world. Trying to teach a subject that’s ever-changing might feel a little intimidating to some teachers, especially if they don’t have a background in the field. Fortunately, the skills students learn in computer science are evergreen, and many of the changes within the field are manageable for the educators involved.

Here are three keys to preparing to teach this dynamic subject without feeling like the ground is constantly shifting under your feet.…Read More