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.

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

6 time-saving tech tricks for school librarians

Is there an educator on the planet who would turn down a bit more time in their day?

With time-saving technology strategies, school librarians can find ways to connect with their school’s teachers and students on a deeper level, forming relationships and helping with research and skill development.

During an ISTELive session, Kristina A. Holzweiss, a high school educational technology enrichment specialist librarian, shared her tips to help school librarians engage with students, support teachers, and make their school libraries dynamic and welcoming learning spaces.…Read More

1 2

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

1 2

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

Promoting student choice through SEL self-assessment

There is abundant literature on the many benefits of promoting student choice (for an accessible overview see, “The key to making improvements: as the students”).

Among the positive outcomes associated with giving students authentic choices in what they will learn, how they will learn it, and how they will demonstrate their learning are:

  • Better attainment of learning objectives
  • More engagement in the classroom
  • Better generalization of classroom learning to real life situations

I would like to suggest another reason for providing students, especially adolescents, with meaningful choices and then honoring those choices – they know better than adults what is really important to them.…Read More

1 2

FEV Tutor Named Winner of the Inaugural 2021 Supes’ Choice Award for Virtual Instruction Experience

WOBURN, Mass. – Dec. 16, 2021 –  FEV Tutor was selected as an inaugural 2021 Supes’ Choice Awards winner in the Virtual Instructional Experience category. The awards were presented by the Institute for Education Innovation (IEI), an organization that serves as the bridge between district leaders and organizations to support the greatest challenges in K-12 education.

FEV Tutor was selected by a panel of esteemed superintendent judges from across the nation. Their assessment was based on FEV Tutor’s commitment to student outcomes, innovation and ingenuity, client support, interactivity, and engagement. The Supes’ Choice Awards are the only industry awards judged exclusively by school district superintendents.

“We are honored to be recognized by the Supes’ Choice Awards as the inaugural winner in the virtual instruction experience category for our commitment to high-impact online tutoring,” said Ryan Patenaude, Sr. Vice President and Co-Founder of FEV Tutor. “This recognition by district leaders serves as a testament to our decade-long dedication to best-in-results-driven support for the students we serve. We provide continuous data-driven individualized learning plans with designated tutors; 24/7 homework and coursework support as well as test prep tutoring to effect positive change for priority students.”…Read More

4 ways to incorporate student voice, choice, and SEL into learning

Research shows that giving students agency and influence in their learning makes them more engaged and invested in their education. It also empowers them to take control, show initiative, and adopt leadership roles. Giving students voice and choice also helps them feel valued, encourages them to realize their interests and potential, and can improve their academic outcomes.

Student voice, choice and social and emotional learning (SEL) go hand-in-hand. SEL helps students develop agency because it teaches them to engage authentically as leaders, problem-solvers, and decision-makers. It also improves students’ communication skills and their ability to advocate for themselves.

Here are four ways schools can incorporate student voice, choice, and SEL in students’ learning.…Read More

1 2

3 simple—yet powerful—practices for student-centered learning

It is encouraging to observe an increasing number of educational leaders calling out the importance of student-empowered, student-owned, and student-centered learning.  A.J. Juliani, John Spencer, Katie Martin, and Alan November, to name a few, are inspiring the shift that so many educators already know needs to happen–from a mechanical, soulless approach to learning to an inspired, student-honored approach. 

Personalized learning defines a learning experience for the student and teacher that is intrinsically motivated and student empowered/owned. True personalized learning occurs when the student is a partner with the teacher, not only in student voice and choice, but a partner in content and curriculum creation as well. 

The necessity for students to have a student-centered learning experience at school directly addresses three specific areas of educational need:…Read More

1 2

Delaware Ensures Every Student Has Digital Access to Curriculum and Choice Reading Titles

CLEVELAND – June 29, 2021 – With schools facing the challenge of unfinished learning due to the pandemic, one state is proving itself a pioneer. The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) announced an agreement with OverDrive Education to provide access to online books to every K-12 student in the state. Students use their school credentials to read required and recreational digital books in the Sora student reading app. Students will also have seamless access to age-appropriate popular ebooks and audiobooks from the Delaware Libraries’ digital collection as a result of the new partnership with the DDOE.

The DDOE invested federal Education Stabilization Funds (ESF) to provide students with access to educational and popular digital books that will be available to 221 schools and their 144,000 students. This “ Delaware Accelerate Learning” digital collection is available for students to borrow and read on any device inside the classroom, at home and anywhere 24/7. Sora is a popular reading app used by millions of students in over 48,000 schools around the world.

“We are excited all public school students in Delaware will have the opportunity this summer to immerse themselves in literacy,” Secretary of Education Susan Bunting said.…Read More