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.

AeroFarms Celebrates World Environment Day with Bronx School PS 85

Newark, New Jersey (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AeroFarms®, a Certified B Corporation and leader in indoor vertical farming, will celebrate World Environment Day this coming Monday, June 5, at PS 85 The Great Expectations School with the official launch of its AeroFarms Community Farms program. This program promotes hands-on environmental education and year-round access to fresh and nutritious leafy greens through the proprietary AeroFarms unit and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) curriculum. The launch and celebration will help create life-long nutrition learners and will cultivate students and parents’ interest in incorporating more healthy leafy greens into their daily diets.  

“Our PS 85 community is extremely excited to celebrate World Environment Day together and partner with the AeroFarms Community Farms program to bring hands-on, STEAM learning to life in such a unique way for our students to experience growing and tasting their own food from seed to plate,” said Sara Medina, Principal at PS 85. 

World Environment Day is a time to reflect on how our society can encourage worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment, an important component to both the PS 85 community and AeroFarms. Being built with circular solutions in mind and creating opportunities for environmental protection is vital to AeroFarms product line and mission, which is to grow the best plants possible for the betterment of humanity.   …Read More

Labor market problems start with the K-12 system

The U.S. has a two-pronged labor market problem: a labor shortage and a skills gap. If every unemployed individual in the U.S. found a job right now, there would still be 4 million open jobs. Furthermore, a National Federation of Independent Business survey found that 54 percent of business owners struggle to hire qualified workers. As it becomes increasingly evident that schools are not providing students with the requisite skills to succeed in the labor market, the root of the persistent labor shortage and skills gap in the U.S. can be traced back to the K-12 education system.

However, career and technical education (CTE) programs have shown great promise in addressing this issue. The Department of Education (ED) notes that students who focus on CTE courses in high school have higher median annual earnings, graduation rates, and employment rates than non-CTE students. Despite the proven efficacy of CTE programs, inadequate federal investment remains a primary barrier to implementing successful programs nationwide.

It’s essential to adopt new funding methods and policies to mitigate this barrier, expand CTE programs in K-12 schools, and encourage widespread adoption of these programs to bridge the skills gap and foster student success. Like most education programs, CTE programs are primarily funded by state and local resources. Accordingly, increasing the implementation rates will be predicated on encouraging outside funding sources, such as private-sector partnerships and philanthropic organizations, to bridge the gap in federal funding and support the growth of CTE programs.…Read More

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3 ways ChatGPT can reduce teachers’ workloads

Everybody’s talking about ChatGPT and how it’s going to impact K-12–and generally not in positive terms!

Granted, ChatGPT might make writing that 11th-grade essay on symbolism in “The Great Gatsby” a whole lot easier (which, to be fair, does make grading a whole lot harder). Aside from that, there are real positives to our new AI pal, and overworked teachers can embrace it as the gift that it is: a free personal teaching aide. The one who sketches out the lesson plans and assessments, finds source materials, and just generally carries out the grunt work.

In other words, ChatGPT can save teachers a whole lot of time.…Read More

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Students know best when it comes to transforming education

Since formalized education was in its infancy, legislators, educational leaders, and governments worked together to develop models that make education more efficient and cost effective–but they often fell short of serving the needs of students or enriching their lives. And, while people under the age of 18 comprise 25 percent of the global population, it never occurred to most people in positions of authority to ask what they need from their educational systems.

Students experienced great tumult these past few years, especially because of the global pandemic. This singular event put a spotlight on the challenges of quality and equity in education. And it is students who can help change how the world’s young people learn.

In September 2022, the UN convened the inaugural Transforming Education Summit, with the ambition to elevate education to the top of political agendas and spur action considering global school closures caused by COVID-19 to address the issues faced by students during this time. 2023 also marks the “halfway point” to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, with SDG4: Quality Education to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030. …Read More

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How to use micro-coaching for teacher PD

The United States is experiencing a national education shortage of teachers leaving the profession in droves, coined “The Great Resignation” due to high anxiety, burnout, safety concerns, low salaries, and challenging job demands. This shortage is further fueled by plummeting enrollment in teacher preparation programs.

The Wall Street Journal reported that at least 300,000 public school teachers and other staff left the field alone between February 2020 and May 2022. Recent McKinsey research shows that nearly one-third of U.S. K-12 educators are considering leaving their jobs.

While this situation creates immediate problems for schools, like hiring qualified teachers from a shrinking pool of candidates, it also creates secondary problems, like the troubling trend that the teacher shortage is creating surrounding professional development (PD).…Read More

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Council of the Great City Schools Selects Dr. Lily Wong Fillmore as the 2023 Recipient of the Dr. Michael Casserly Legacy Award for Educational Courage and Justice

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) has named Dr. Lily Wong Fillmore as the 2023 recipient of the Dr. Michael Casserly Legacy Award for Educational Courage and Justice. The annual award, which is sponsored by Curriculum Associates and named after the Council’s former executive director, recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions in the field of Grades K–12 urban education by taking courageous and passionate stances on the issues of educational justice and equity.

Fillmore, who received her Ph.D. in linguistics from Stanford University, was a faculty member of the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Education from 1974 to 2004. During this time, she focused much of her research, teaching, and writing on issues related to the education of multilingual learners. She specifically focused on social and cognitive processes in language learning, cultural differences in language learning behavior, sources of variation in learning, and primary language retention and loss.   

In her research, Fillmore has conducted studies of second language learners in school settings of Latino, Asian, American Indian, and Alaskan Native children and has held steadfast in calling for high expectations for such children. Before her research work, she was instrumental in establishing a volunteer corps to teach in farm labor camps in California from 1954 to 1964.…Read More

Savvas Learning Company Acquires Whooo’s Reading

PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY — Savvas Learning Company, a K-12 next-generation learning solutions leader, announced today that it has acquired Whooo’s Reading and its AI-driven technology that enables teachers to quickly and easily determine whether their students comprehend the books they are reading.

“Artificial intelligence technology has the power to transform K-12 education by dramatically helping to personalize the teaching and learning experience,” said Bethlam Forsa, CEO of Savvas Learning Company. “The AI-driven technology that supports Whooo’s Reading is a great example of this. It gives students personalized and adaptive feedback on their writing and reading skills, empowering them to grow as learners. It also provides teachers with valuable insights into which skills their students need extra support with, allowing them to customize instruction.” 

Backed by the National Science Foundation, the AI technology behind Whooo’s Reading helps students practice reading comprehension skills with in-the-moment feedback on their written responses to open-ended critical thinking questions about the content they are reading. Its proprietary machine-learning algorithm automatically assesses student writing, saving teachers time while also providing them actionable data on their students’ strengths and weaknesses — enabling them to differentiate instruction. …Read More

Engaging Presidents’ Day videos for students

Though schools are closed on Presidents’ Day, discussing topics related to the holiday is a great way to engage students in their learning, taking historical processes and events and linking them to the present.

Use these short videos from TED-Ed Lessons to introduce concepts and activities related to the presidency–and the history and process behind it.

Teachers can use TED-Ed Lessons to liven up long days and highlight students’ different personal interests. On the TED-Ed platform, educators can build lessons around any TED-Ed Original, TED Talk, or YouTube video.…Read More

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