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Tag: standards

  • Lynx star Napheesa Collier rips WNBA: ‘worst leadership in world’

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    (Photo credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images)

    Minnesota guard Napheesa Collier blasted WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for ‘the worst leadership in the world’ in a resounding statement sending shockwaves around the league on Tuesday.

    ‘We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But right now we have the worst leadership in the world,’ Collier said in reading from a prepared statement lasting just over four minutes.

    Collier, a face of the league and runner-up for WNBA Most Valuable Player for the second season in a row, also criticized the league office for what she perceives as a ‘lack of accountability.’

    ‘I want to be clear this conversation is not about winning or losing,’ Collier began referencing a written statement in front of her at her season-ending press conference. ‘It’s about something much bigger. The real threat to our league isn’t money, it isn’t ratings or even missed calls or even physical play. It’s the lack of accountability from the league office.’

    She also revealed Engelbert purportedly made alarming commeints in a conversation in February about players’ compensation, an unsettled issue for a new collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA Players Association and the league. Collier wanted to know what star players like Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky and Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings aren’t making more money while on their rookie contracts.

    ‘I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that Caitlin,, Angel and Paige, who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league, are making so little for their first four years,’ Collier said. ‘Her response was, ‘Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.’

    ‘And in that same conversation,’ Collier continued, ‘she told me players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that (she) got them.

    ‘That’s the mentality driving our league from the top. We go to battle every day to protect a shield that doesn’t value us. The league believes it succeeds despite its players, not because of them,’ she said.

    Engelbert and the league had not commented as of early Tuesday afternoon.

    Collier’s criticisms followed the scathing comments made by her coach, Cheryl Reeve, about the officiating following the top-seeded Lynx’s 84-76 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Friday in Game 3 of their semifinal playoff series.

    Collier injured her left ankle in the final seconds of the game when no foul was called on the Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas, who stripped the ball from her and made a steal. Reeve was ejected for arguing for a foul, and her conduct and postgame comments got the veteran coach suspended by the league for one game.

    Without Reeve and Collier, who watched Game 4 in a walking boot, the Lynx were eliminated by the Mercury. Collier said on Tuesday that she tore some ligaments and severely sprained the ankle, and she wouldn’t have been able to play if the Lynx, who had the league’s best record in the regular season, had made a return trip to the WNBA Finals.

    ‘Since I’ve been in the league, you’ve heard the constant concerns about officiating and it has now reached levels of inconsistency that plague our sport and undermine the integrity of which it operates,’ Collier, who turned 29 on Sept. 23, said on Tuesday.

    ‘Whether the league cares about the health of our players is one thing, but to also not care about the product we put on the floor is truly self-sabotage. Year after year, the only thing that remains consistent is the lack of accountability from our leaders.’

    Reeve was fined $15,000 for her comments and conduct, ESPN reported on Monday. Collier said she is not worried about getting fined by the league for her comments.

    ‘Our leadership’s answer to being held accountability is to suppress everyone’s voices by handing out fines,’ Collier said. ‘I’m not concerned about a fine. I’m concerned about the future of our sport. At some point, everyone deserves to hear the truth, from someone who I hope has earned the benefit of the doubt to fight for what is right and fair for our athletes and our fans.

    ‘We serve a league that has shown they think championship coaches and Hall of Fame players are dispensable, and that’s fine, it’s professional sports. But I will not stand quietly by and allow different standards to be applied at the league level.’

    Collier has averaged 18.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 blocks in 193 regular-season games (all starts) in her career. She is a five-time All-Star in seven seasons, all with Minnesota. She was the WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2019 and first-team All-WNBA in 2023 and 2024.

    Collier’s full statement can be read below:

    ‘First of all, I’d like to congratulate the Mercury for advancing to the Finals. I want to be clear this conversation is not about winning or losing, it’s about something much bigger. The real threat to our league isn’t money, it isn’t ratings or even missed calls or even physical play. It’s the lack of accountability from the league office. Since I’ve been in the league, you’ve heard the constant concerns about officiating and it has now reached levels of inconsistency that plague our sport and undermine the integrity with which it operates.

    Whether the league cares about the health of the players is one thing, but to also not care about the product we put on the floor is truly self-sabotage. Year after year, the only thing that remains consistent is the lack of accountability from our leaders. The league has a buzzword that they rolled out as a talking point for the CBA as to why they can’t pay the players what we’re worth; that word is sustainability. But what’s truly unsustainable is keeping a good product on the floor while allowing officials to lose control of games. Fans see it every night. Coaches, both winning and losing, point it out every night in pre- and post-game media. And leadership just issues fines and looks the other way. They ignore the issues that everyone inside the game is begging them to fix. That is negligence.

    At Unrivaled this past February, I sat across from Cathy and asked how she planned to address the officiating issues in our league. Her response was, ‘Well, only the losers complain about the refs.’ I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin, Angel and Paige, who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league, are making so little for their first four years. Her response was, ‘Caitlin should be grateful she makes $60 million off the court because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.’

    In that same conversation, she told me ‘players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.’ That’s the mentality driving our league from the top. We go to battle every day to protect a shield that doesn’t value us. The league believes it succeeds despite its players, not because of them.

    I have the privilege of watching my husband run a league where he has to balance 100 different things at once. I won’t pretend the job is easy, but even with all of that on his plate, he always reaches out to players when he sees an injury, whether it’s Unrivaled or even during the WNBA season. That is what leadership looks like. It’s the human element, it’s basic integrity, and it’s the bare minimum any leader should embody. But do you know who I haven’t heard from? Cathy. Not one call, not one text. Instead the only outreach has come from her No. 2 telling my agent that she doesn’t believe physical play is contributing to injuries.

    That is infuriating. And it’s the perfect example of the tone deaf, dismissive approach that our leaders always seem to take. I’ve finally grown tired. For too long, I’ve tried to have these conversations in private, but it’s clear there’s no intention of accepting there’s a problem. The league has made it clear it isn’t about innovation, it isn’t about collaboration, it’s about control and power. I’ve earned this platform and I paid the price to get here, and now I have a responsibility to speak on behalf of the fans and everyone in this league that deserves better.

    Our leadership’s answer to being held accountable is to suppress everyone’s voices by handing out fines. I’m not concerned about a fine. I’m concerned about the future of our sport. At some point, everyone deserves to hear the truth from someone who I hope has earned the benefit of the doubt to fight for what is right and fair for our athletes and our fans. We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But right now we have the worst leadership in the world.

    If I didn’t know exactly what the job entailed, maybe I wouldn’t feel this way, but unfortunately for them, I do. We serve a league that has shown they think championship coaches and Hall of Fame players are dispensible, and that’s fine, it’s professional sports. But I will not stand quietly by and allow different standards to be applied at the league level.’

    –Field Level Media

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  • Districts eye proactive cyber threat protection as risks increase

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    This press release originally appeared online.

    Key points:

    Cybersecurity threats to K-12 schools are growing in frequency, sophistication, and cost, yet many school districts remain under-resourced and underprepared, according to the CoSN 2025 State of EdTech District Leadership report.

    The report highlights state-level actions to strengthen K-12 cybersecurity amid escalating threats and shrinking federal support and details recent legislative activity across five states. It also provides recommendations on governance, funding, workforce development, incident response, and data standards to help state and district leaders across the country secure the future of digital learning.

    Sixty-one percent of school districts rely on general funds rather than dedicated cybersecurity budgets to protect their networks and data, the report notes.

    Recent federal policy shifts, including the elimination of funding for the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), have weakened national support for school districts. In response, states such as Arkansas, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas are taking action. The 2025 legislative actions reviewed in the report provide ideas for developing and adopting policies that will help school districts and their partners address these challenges.

    “While federal support for K-12 cybersecurity is in turmoil, several states are advancing innovative, bipartisan legislation to help safeguard student data, improve incident response, expand insurance access, and build the cybersecurity workforce we urgently need,” said Keith Krueger, CEO, CoSN. “These states’ common strategies offer actionable ideas for state and district leaders across the country and underscores the importance of system-wide collaboration and strategic leadership.”

    Key findings

    • Eighteen K-12 cybersecurity bills were introduced in 2025 across the five states studied.
    • Seven bills became law–all in Arkansas and Texas–focused on insurance access, training and infrastructure support, cyberattack response, data practices, and risk assessments.
    • Sixty-one K-12-focused and broader cybersecurity bills were introduced across the five states in 2025 that would indirectly benefit K-12 cybersecurity, covering government systems, postsecondary institutions or crosscutting issues such as insurance, incident response, AI accountability and workforce development.
    • Several common policy strategies emerged across the cybersecurity legislation introduced or enacted in the tracked states:
      • Centralized cybersecurity governance and oversight
      • Cybersecurity insurance and risk management
      • Cybersecurity workforce development and education
      • Integration of cybersecurity into K-12 and higher education policy
      • Incident reporting and crisis response readiness
      • AI, privacy and cybersecurity intersection

    Policy recommendations

    • Establish or Strengthen Statewide K-12 Cybersecurity Governance: Designate a cybersecurity lead within the state education agency and ensure that school districts are included in state-level cybersecurity planning and governance bodies.
    • Fund and Require School District Cybersecurity Risk Assessments: Allocate funding for school districts to conduct risk assessments and develop mitigation strategies.
    • Align Workforce Policy with K-12 Needs: Support teacher certification in cybersecurity and create K-12 student pathways aligned with current and emerging workforce demand.
    • Mandate Incident Reporting and Create Response Protocols: Require timely reporting of cybersecurity incidents and support districts with coordinated response plans and training exercises.
    • Update Procurement and Data Governance Standards: Require that vendors meet minimum cybersecurity standards and align procurement processes with national frameworks.

    By adopting well-designed strategies–centralized oversight, insurance requirements, workforce investment, integrated planning and responsible innovation oversight–states can help their school districts move from reactive to resilient. Cross-sector collaboration and sustained investment will be critical to protecting students, educators and the integrity of public education systems.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

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    ESchool Media Contributors

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  • The advantages of supplementing curriculum

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    Key points:

    Classroom teachers are handed a curriculum they must use when teaching. That specific curriculum is designed to bring uniformity, equity, and accountability into classrooms. It is meant to ensure that every child has access to instruction that is aligned with state standards. The specific curriculum provides a roadmap for instruction, but anyone who has spent time in a classroom knows that no single curriculum can fully meet the needs of every student.

    In other words, even the most carefully designed curriculum cannot anticipate the individual needs of every learner or the nuances of every classroom. This is why supplementing curriculum is a vital action that skilled educators engage in. Supplementing curriculum does not mean that teachers are not teaching the required curriculum. In fact, it means they are doing even more to ensure student success.

    Students arrive with different strengths, challenges, and interests. Supplementing curriculum allows teachers to bridge inevitable gaps within their students.  For example, a math unit may assume fluency with multiplying and dividing fractions, but some students may not recall that skill, while others are ready to compute with mixed numbers. With supplementary resources, a teacher can provide both targeted remediation and enrichment opportunities. Without supplementing the curriculum, one group may fall behind or the other may become disengaged.

    Supplementing curriculum can help make learning relevant. Many curricula are written to be broad and standardized. Students are more likely to connect with lessons when they see themselves reflected in the content, so switching a novel based on the population of students can assist in mastering the standard at hand.   

    Inclusion is another critical reason to supplement. No classroom is made up of one single type of learner. Students with disabilities may need graphic organizers or audio versions of texts. English learners may benefit from bilingual presentations of material or visual aids. A curriculum may hit all the standards of a grade, but cannot anticipate the varying needs of students. When a teacher intentionally supplements the curriculum, every child has a pathway to success.

    Lastly, supplementing empowers teachers. Teaching is not about delivering a script; it is a profession built on expertise and creativity. When teachers supplement the prescribed curriculum, they demonstrate professional judgment and enhance the mandated framework. This leads to a classroom where learning is accessible, engaging, and responsive.

    A provided curriculum is the structure of a car, but supplementary resources are the wheels that let the students move. When done intentionally, supplementing curriculum enables every student to be reached. In the end, the most successful classrooms are not those that follow a book, but those where teachers skillfully use supplementary curriculum to benefit all learners. Supplementing curriculum does not mean that a teacher is not using the curriculum–it simply means they are doing more to benefit their students even more.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

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    Dr. Yuvraj Verma, Bessemer City Middle School and William Howard Taft University

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  • Education that convinces kids the world isn’t doomed – The Hechinger Report

    Education that convinces kids the world isn’t doomed – The Hechinger Report

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    Until she was 9 years old, Aisha O’Neil grew up in Zion National Park, where her father was a ranger. “That place raised me just as much as my family,” she said. Her love of the park’s sandstone cliffs and caverns became the bedrock of her passion for the environment, and for securing a future where her own children could enjoy the same experiences that she did.

    But O’Neil never learned much about climate change in school. What she did learn came from the news, and it was “dramatically horrifying,” she said. “I started seeing articles every day — this city’s on fire, these people were evacuated.”

    As a senior in high school last year, in rural Durango, Colorado, O’Neil started a statewide climate action group called Good Trouble. She and fellow students campaigned for state legislation to create a “seal of climate literacy” that high school graduates across Colorado could earn.

    Thanks in part to their lobbying, the bill passed with bipartisan support, and O’Neil became part of the first group of students to earn the seal on her diploma this spring. “An education without referencing climate change is not complete,” she said. “You can’t say you’re educating kids about our future without telling them what that future will look like.”

    But just what is “climate literacy”? What are the ABCs, the grammar and vocabulary, of climate change?

    Related: Interested in climate change and education? Sign up for our newsletter.

    The U.N. and other leading global organizations have identified education at all levels and across disciplines as a key strategy for fighting the climate crisis. The world is going through a historically rapid transition to clean energy and sustainable infrastructure, and the workforce is thirsty for people with the skills to do the necessary climate mitigation and adaptation work. Communities also need empowered citizens to push back against fossil fuel interests. But as of now, few states have comprehensive climate education, and most of the lessons that exist are confined to science classes — lacking in areas like justice and solutions.

    Colorado’s seal of climate literacy, which high school graduates can earn through a combination of coursework and out of school projects, is one attempt to build support for more comprehensive climate education. Another attempt was on display in late September. The U.S. Global Change Research Program, with input from agencies including the State Department, NASA and the Department of Transportation, released a document called “Climate Literacy: Essential Principles for Understanding and Addressing Climate Change.”

    The definition of climate literacy its authors arrived at, after 21 months of work, includes eight essential principles that I’m summarizing here:

          1. How we know: climate science, interdisciplinary observations and modeling

          2. Climate change: greenhouse gases shape Earth’s climate

          3. Causes: burning fossil fuels and other human activities

          4. Impacts: threats to human life and ecological systems

          5. Equity: climate justice

          6. Adaptation: social, built, natural environments

          7. Mitigation: reducing emissions, net zero by 2050

          8. Hope and urgency: “A livable and sustainable future for all is possible with rapid, just, and transformational climate action.”

    Related: One state mandates teaching climate change in almost all subjects — even PE

    During Climate Week NYC, dozens of educators crowded into a basement room beneath the grand marble Museum of the American Indian, in downtown Manhattan, to hear about the new guide. Standing at the front of the room was Frank Niepold, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He has been engaged in climate education within the federal government for 30 years, and he’s been as involved as anyone in helping this effort see the light of day. “This is a guide for educators, communicators and decision makers,” he said. “We’re not just talking to classroom teachers.”

    This guide is technically a third edition. The first one appeared in 2008, during the George W. Bush administration; it was rapidly updated in 2009 when President Barack Obama took office. Then came the Trump administration, and, in Niepold’s words, the thinking was, “Don’t try to do this really complicated thing at that time.” Efforts restarted after Joe Biden was elected president, many new staffers who came in as part of the Inflation Reduction Act provided input to the new guide— and now here we are.

    Niepold said that since the 2000s, there’s been a lot of evolution in our collective understanding of both the problem and the solutions. “Before, the document was called ‘essential principles of climate science literacy,’” he said. “We knew that was too narrow. We wanted something that gets you into an action, not just an understanding orientation.”

    Still, earlier editions of the document were influential: They informed the Next Generation Science Standards, some version of which is now in use in 48 states. The previous guide was also incorporated into K-12 and college curricula and into museum and park exhibits.

    With the new edition, Niepold hopes to see even more impact. The guide is unusually clear and accessible for a government report. The pages are laid out like a textbook, featuring artwork that depicts some of the core themes of climate literacy — as defined in the report – like climate justice and traditional and Indigenous knowledges (the plural s is intentional).

    “Success means it would activate all forms of education, all stages, across all disciplines,” and outside the United States as well as within it, Niepold said. He wants to see more prominent NGOs taking on climate education as part of their purview — such as Planet Ed at the Aspen Institute, where, disclosure, I’m an advisor. 

    Related: The climate change lessons teachers are missing

    Niepold would like to see community-based climate efforts take public communication and workforce development seriously, and to see media coverage promote a fuller picture of climate literacy as well. “Success is: People, regardless of where they’re coming from, understand [climate change] and address it.”

    His concern is similar to that of Aisha O’Neil in Colorado: that young people are currently learning about climate change primarily through the media, in a way that’s not solution-oriented, emotionally supportive, or trauma-informed. “That opportunity to be blindsided is high,” Niepold said. That’s why the guideline’s eighth principle unites urgency with hope. Said O’Neil:

    “Being taught about issues in a way that emphasizes solutions is telling our youth that they can be part of progress and that the world isn’t doomed.”

    Upgrading lessons to meet the moment is taking time. Even in New Jersey, known as a national leader for its comprehensive state-level climate education standards, teachers have shared concern about a lack of resources for implementation and training. Mary Seawell, whose organization Lyra campaigned for the climate literacy seal in Colorado, said her group wanted to take a grassroots, student-led approach. “We want to show demand. What the seal really is doing is creating an opportunity for youth to direct their own learning.”

    In order to earn the seal of climate literacy, Colorado students have to take at least one science class in high school — which currently is not a general graduation requirement — and at least one other class that satisfies principles of climate literacy. They also have to engage in some kind of out-of-school learning or action. “This is opt-in,” said Colorado state Sen. Chris Hansen, who co-sponsored the legislation. “The state can’t tell districts what classes to offer. This is for districts that want to have something that is easily recognizable across the state and beyond.”

    O’Neil, now a freshman at University of Colorado Boulder, said it’s a good start. Her student group at the college is campaigning for new state curriculum standards. “This is the only logical next move. “ she said. Although the climate seal of literacy encourages climate learning, “we need everyone to be educated, not just the ones who go out of their way.”

    O’Neil thinks students could especially use tutelage on taking climate action, something she has had to figure out on her own, with some mentorship from her debate coach and from a state legislator. Planet Ed, for one, has just released a Youth Climate Action Guide with the Nature Conservancy that engages many areas of climate literacy, from mitigation to adaptation to justice.

    “I feel like in an ideal world we would learn how climate impacts every element of our lives,” O’Neil said. “Not just the science, but social justice. Policy positions that have created it, and policies that can get us out. My goal right now would be to have students get to a place where they feel like they aren’t terrified by the climate crisis, but empowered by it.”

    Contact the editor of this story, Caroline Preston, at 212-870-8965 or preston@hechingerreport.org.

    This column about climate literacy was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger climate change and education newsletter.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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    Anya Kamenetz

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  • TEACHER VOICE: Here’s why teachers should help students develop logic and reasoning skills early on – The Hechinger Report

    TEACHER VOICE: Here’s why teachers should help students develop logic and reasoning skills early on – The Hechinger Report

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    As a special education teacher, I often encountered students who struggled with solving math problems. Many would simply add all the numbers they saw without grasping what the problems were actually asking.

    To help, I introduced keywords like “all together” for addition and “difference” for subtraction.

    However, this approach fell short when students focused solely on the keywords, missing the problem’s context. Today, elementary school teachers share similar struggles with their students.

    The issue isn’t just about teaching math; it also involves addressing gaps in literacy. Reading skills are closely related to children’s ability to solve math problems. And, as much as early literacy development plays a critical role in developing problem-solving abilities, early numeracy strongly predicts overall academic success, including literacy development: Research has found that literacy and math development are intertwined.

    Yet, pre-K teachers spend an average of only 2.5 percent of their day on numeracy skills — a gap that underscores the need for teaching approaches that bridge math and literacy.

    Teachers must do more to help students build foundational cognitive skills, such as logic and reasoning.

    Related: Our biweekly Early Childhood newsletter highlights innovative solutions to the obstacles facing the youngest students. Subscribe for free.

    Integrated teaching can help students view math and English language arts as complementary disciplines that help them solve real-world problems. It could lead to better academic outcomes and a richer understanding of the world. Unfortunately, most elementary schools teach math and English language arts separately.

    One way that teachers can address these comprehension gaps is to initially remove numbers from word problems and encourage students to read through the entire problems before they add or subtract. By solving “numberless word problems,” students can visualize and grasp the context before computing.

    We can also use the power of storytelling. In my classroom, I incorporated engaging literature into math instruction to help my students better understand word problems. We used “Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream,” a Marilyn Burns Brainy Day Book by Cindy Neuschwander, to explore multiplication concepts; the book’s illustrations helped students identify repeated addition and multiplication and allowed them to recognize similar scenarios in math problems. Incorporating math through storytelling helps children better understand and remember math concepts and also improves their confidence and reduces math anxiety. By building on the critical skills students need to excel in math and ELA, we can better equip them to apply math to real-world problems.

    Here is what this approach encourages:

    • Improved comprehension: Stories and real-world scenarios promote a better understanding of math concepts, making abstract ideas more accessible.
    • Math visualization: Using descriptive writing and storytelling to explain math concepts, such as measurement and fractions, gives students a tangible reference for math principles as they exist in the world.
    • Vocabulary development: Just as students learn new words in ELA, with math storytelling they learn math vocabulary to enhance their understanding of the math concepts needed to solve problems.
    • Critical thinking skills: When students analyze problems from various perspectives and use language to describe them, they’re better equipped to apply problem-solving skills across disciplines.
    • Contextualized problem-solving: By establishing context through literature, students are able to construct meaning to solve other problems.

    Administrators should encourage training for teachers and provide resources that effectively blend math and ELA. Supporting a curriculum that encourages the teacher to be a facilitator — rather than a sage on a stage — will encourage more students to talk about math, draw upon their language skills and solve problems together.

    Here are some approaches educators can use to blend instruction to challenge students and enhance math and ELA skills:

    • Project-based learning: Assign hands-on projects that require mathematical analysis and language arts skills, such as reviewing datasets, creating infographics and writing interpretations.
    • Collaborative learning environments: Ask groups of students to work together to solve complex problems that require mathematical reasoning and effective communication. Their work could include debates or reviews of written mathematical explanations.
    • Literature-based mathematical discussions: Read books that incorporate mathematical themes or concepts and include a character who uses math to solve problems; such books can spark lively debate and serve as a springboard to discuss how math applies to real life.

    These strategies strengthen the connection between math and ELA and promote deeper learning and engagement for all students.

    Related: You probably don’t have your preschooler thinking about math enough

    Using an integrated approach with literature also provides a level of comfort for teachers. Not surprisingly, most elementary school teachers didn’t choose their profession due to a deep love of mathematics — and some may suffer from math anxiety themselves. Teachers can model problem-solving beyond the classroom by expanding what it means to teach math through children’s books and hands-on activities.

    Math instruction will only improve if administrators, educators, parents and policymakers push for integrated curricula. Doing so will not only help students’ math, but promote a more effective education system overall.

    Thera Pearce is the learning services manager at ORIGO Education. She has experience in instructional design, curriculum consulting and professional development coordination. She has also worked as a special education teacher and coach for 15 years in North Carolina.

    Contact the opinion editor at opinion@hechingerreport.org.

    This story about early numeracy was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s weekly newsletter.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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    Thera Pearce

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  • How AI could transform the way schools test kids – The Hechinger Report

    How AI could transform the way schools test kids – The Hechinger Report

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    Imagine interacting with an avatar that dissolves into tears – and being assessed on how intelligently and empathetically you respond to its emotional display.

    Or taking a math test that is created for you on the spot, the questions written to be responsive to the strengths and weaknesses you’ve displayed in prior answers. Picture being evaluated on your scientific knowledge and getting instantaneous feedback on your answers, in ways that help you better understand and respond to other questions.

    These are just a few of the types of scenarios that could become reality as generative artificial intelligence advances, according to Mario Piacentini, a senior analyst of innovative assessments with the Programme for International Student Assessment, known as PISA.

    He and others argue that AI has the potential to shake up the student testing industry, which has evolved little for decades and which critics say too often falls short of evaluating students’ true knowledge. But they also warn that the use of AI in assessments carries risks.

    “AI is going to eat assessments for lunch,” said Ulrich Boser, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he co-authored a research series on the future of assessments. He said that standardized testing may one day become a thing of the past, because AI has the potential to personalize testing to individual students.

    PISA, the influential international test, expects to integrate AI into the design of its 2029 test. Piacentini said the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which runs PISA, is exploring the possible use of AI in several realms.

    • It plans to evaluate students on their ability to use AI tools and to recognize AI-generated information.
    • It’s evaluating whether AI could help write test questions, which could potentially be a major money and time saver for test creators. (Big test makers like Pearson are already doing this, he said.)
    • It’s considering whether AI could score tests. According to Piacentini, there’s promising evidence that AI can accurately and effectively score even relatively complex student work.  
    • Perhaps most significantly, the organization is exploring how AI could help create tests that are “much more interesting and much more authentic,” as Piacentini puts it.

    When it comes to using AI to design tests, there are all sorts of opportunities. Career and tech students could be assessed on their practical skills via AI-driven simulations: For example, automotive students could participate in a simulation testing their ability to fix a car, Piacentini said.

    Right now those hands-on tests are incredibly intensive and costly – “it’s almost like shooting a movie,” Piacentini said. But AI could help put such tests within reach for students and schools around the world.

    AI-driven tests could also do a better job of assessing students’ problem-solving abilities and other skills, he said. It might prompt students when they’d made a mistake and nudge them toward a better way of approaching a problem. AI-powered tests could evaluate students on their ability to craft an argument and persuade a chatbot. And they could help tailor tests to a student’s specific cultural and educational context.

    “One of the biggest problems that PISA has is when we’re testing students in Singapore, in sub-Saharan Africa, it’s a completely different universe. It’s very hard to build a single test that actually works for those two very different populations,” said Piacentini. But AI opens the door to “construct tests that are really made specifically for every single student.”

    That said, the technology isn’t there yet, and educators and test designers need to tread carefully, experts warn. During a recent panel Javeria moderated, Nicol Turner Lee, director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, said any conversation about AI’s role in assessments must first acknowledge disparities in access to these new tools.

    Many schools still use paper products and struggle with spotty broadband and limited digital tools, she said: The digital divide is “very much part of this conversation.” Before schools begin to use AI for assessments, teachers will need professional development on how to use AI effectively and wisely, Turner Lee said.

    There’s also the issue of bias embedded in many AI tools. AI is often sold as if it’s “magic,”  Amelia Kelly, chief technology officer at SoapBox Labs, a software company that develops AI voice technology, said during the panel. But it’s really “a set of decisions made by human beings, and unfortunately human beings have their own biases and they have their own cultural norms that are inbuilt.”

    With AI at the moment, she added, you’ll get “a different answer depending on the color of your skin, or depending on the wealth of your neighbors, or depending on the native language of your parents.”  

    But the potential benefits for students and learning excite experts such as Kristen Huff, vice president of assessment and research at Curriculum Associates, where she helps develop online assessments. Huff, who also spoke on the panel, said AI tools could eventually not only improve testing but also “accelerate learning” in areas like early literacy, phonemic awareness and early numeracy skills. Huff said that teachers could integrate AI-driven assessments, especially AI voice tools, into their instruction in ways that are seamless and even “invisible,” allowing educators to continually update their understanding of where students are struggling and how to provide accurate feedback.

    PISA’s Piacentini said that while we’re just beginning to see the impact of AI on testing, the potential is great and the risks can be managed.  

    “I am very optimistic that it is more an opportunity than a risk,” said Piacentini. “There’s always this risk of bias, but I think we can quantify it, we can analyze it, in a better way than we can analyze bias in humans.”

    This story about AI testing was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

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  • Do data science classes add up?

    Do data science classes add up?

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    Editor’s note: This story led off this week’s Future of Learning newsletter, which is delivered free to subscribers’ inboxes every other Wednesday with trends and top stories about education innovation. Subscribe today!

    Last year, I began reporting on the growing interest in teaching young people about data science amid calls that Algebra II and other higher-level math classes are being taught in outdated ways and need to be modernized. Experts were already raising concerns about falling math scores before the pandemic, and those scores nationwide have only continued to worsen.

    There’s no easy answer – math experts, STEM professors, high school educators, parents, advocates and even students have vastly different opinions on what math knowledge and courses should be required for students to succeed in college and careers.

    Nowhere has this been clearer than in California. As I wrote in my latest story, co-published with The Washington Post, the state’s public higher education system has gone back and forth on whether data science (an interdisciplinary field that combines computer programming, math and statistics) and other statistics-based courses fit into existing math pathways and can serve as an alternative to Algebra II in admissions.

    But missing from these debates was the voices of students and educators – those most affected by any decisions made by the state’s public university system. I wanted to see for myself what students were learning in high school data science classes, why they were signing up for the course and how decisions about which math classes to take were being determined.

    In December, I visited Oxnard Union High School District, which launched a data science pathway in 2020. The class targeted students who didn’t plan to major in STEM fields in college, as well as those who planned to attend a community college or go straight into the workforce or military. A “math class for poets” was how the district’s superintendent, Tom McCoy, had jokingly described it.

    From my visits to the district’s high school data science classes and my conversations with teachers and students, two things became clear: The course’s structure is very different than a traditional math class – it’s an applied, project-based learning course in which students collaborate closely as they learn the material. And the way different teachers and schools approach the class differs greatly, even within a single district. Some teachers emphasize data literacy (teaching students how to read and analyze data); others incorporate math concepts from algebra and statistics; and still others may inject more computer programming or coding.

    That variation — both in how the classes are taught and their content – has added to concerns that data science courses are low quality and insufficiently rigorous. And it’s in part why there’s an emerging push to develop standards around the course, and tackle the question of what an effective data science course should look like.

    Much of the concern around data science in California centers around three programs — Introduction to Data Science, Youcubed and CourseKata — that make up the majority of data science courses available there. According to a recent report from University of California committee that sets admissions standards, none of the courses “even come close to meeting the required standard to be a ‘more advanced’ course,” and are more similar to data literacy courses than advanced mathematics. (Oxnard Union uses a different curricula, one developed by ed tech vendor Bootstrap.)  

    Mahmoud Harding is the instructional design director at Data Science 4 Everyone, a national initiative based at the University of Chicago. He co-developed a high school data science program at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics and teaches a course  at North Carolina State’s Data Science Academy. He said a high school data science course should help students find more real-world applications for concepts they learn in algebra.

    In addition, the class should build conceptual knowledge of statistical topics through computation, visualizations and simulations, and help students understand bias within data and ethical concerns in using flawed data. Data science courses also need to be substantively different from statistics or computer programing courses, he said, noting that data science is “inherently interdisciplinary.”

    “I don’t think a data science course is the same as an Algebra II course,” Harding said. “But it doesn’t mean that a data science course isn’t rigorous, or it doesn’t mean that you can’t matriculate into higher forms of algebra because you’ve taken data science.”

    Harding’s group, Data Science 4 Everyone, is helping to lead the new effort to develop standards for data science. Zarek Drozda, the group’s executive director, said this year it will convene a working group of experts, K-12 educators, STEM professors, curriculum providers, state and district leaders, students and industry and workforce professionals including those with tech companies, to help create a list of recommendations of baseline data science standards.

    As career opportunities involving AI, computing and data increase, Drozda said it is “critical” that we think about the foundational knowledge students need by the time they graduate from college. The group is engaging people from all sides of the data science debate to look critically at the courses currently offered and identify how to create classes that will better meet the needs of students.

    Drozda said he also hopes the working group will consider how exposure to data science classes can help more students get excited about STEM fields that don’t necessarily require a four-year degree.

    “I think there’s a false perception that we are trying to replace fundamental mathematics,” Drozda said. “In reality, we are trying to modernize, add options and enhance the relevance of mathematics and prove to students that math matters in the 21st century.”

    This story about data science classes was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter. 

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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  • The climate change lessons teachers are missing       

    The climate change lessons teachers are missing       

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    “Mom, are there any more Earths?”

    Angelique Hammack, a teacher in California, creates lesson plans about climate change for the website SubjectToClimate. She often starts from a question posed by one of her four children.

    Her 7-year-old, who has autism, has been really interested in space lately. “He was asking me questions about the solar system and about black holes, and I started pulling out all these books I had on outer space,” she said. “He’s got a telescope for his birthday, he’s been looking at the moon.”

    When he asked the question about whether there were more Earths, Hammack saw the opening to create a climate-related lesson that explains how Earth is a “Goldilocks planet,” with just-right conditions for life to thrive.

    New York state is currently considering several climate education bills. If the proposed policies become law, the state will join California and New Jersey in mandating that climate topics be introduced across grade levels and subjects, not just confined to science class. A wide range of science and environmental groups such as the National Wildlife Federation and Earthday.org back this interdisciplinary approach to climate education.

    But as the movement for teaching climate grows, thanks to new standards and increasing student curiosity, teachers are on the hunt for materials and lessons they can rely on. “I think there’s a big disconnect,” said Lauren Madden, professor of elementary science education at The College of New Jersey. “Teachers really need materials that they can use tomorrow.”

    For the last few years, Madden has been researching the experiences of teachers who are tackling this topic. She shared some of her results with The Hechinger Report. SubjectToClimate, a large free repository of climate change lessons, also shared some data on its most popular lessons and materials.

    Madden said that what teachers need most are clear strategies that allow them to plug climate lessons into existing curricula, so that climate can be interwoven with existing requirements, rather than wedged into an already-packed schedule. “Teachers want and need straightforward starting points in terms of instructional materials,” she said.

    Yen-Yen Chiu, director of content creation for SubjectToClimate, agreed. In response to demand, she said, the organization is beginning to create teacher pacing guides, like a middle school math pacing guide that maps specific climate resources from their database to math standards.

    Here’s an overview of more key findings from Madden, and from Hammack and Chiu at SubjectToClimate.

    • Younger learners have big questions: At SubjectToClimate, the most-searched lessons are for grades K-5; and there is unmet demand for grades 3-5. Hammack said it can be tough to find materials that are simple enough for the youngest students. “I created a unit on energy — I intended it for K-2 but we ended up changing it to 3-4,” she said. “Energy is so abstract for a K-2nd audience.” 
    • Energy, extreme weather and humanities: Energy is the most popular topic on SubjectToClimate. There’s also growing interest in lessons related to extreme weather, and lessons that relate to non-science subjects, such as writing and public speaking. One art lesson — on “Energy and Art” is among the top 10 most popular on the site.
    • Facts and evidence: Madden finds teachers (especially new ones) want to gain familiarity with facts they might not have learned in a general education curriculum. They also need to be able to clearly and simply attribute scientific findings to specific data: i.e., how we know that atmospheric carbon is rising, or that storms are getting bigger. This presents a bigger challenge, requiring the development of scientific literacy, Madden said: “I think it’s important that we explain what counts as evidence.”
    • Debate, but not doubt: In the United States, climate change is still a highly politicized topic. Teachers need help to present debates in an evolving field of research without losing sight of the overwhelming scientific consensus. This also includes lessons that directly combat misinformation or disinformation that students might bring in from outside the classroom. “Teachers want to know where scientific debate is appropriate. For example, wind vs. solar is a topic that can yield productive discussion, while whether climate change is exacerbated by human activity is not,” said Madden. The New York Times recently reported that a Republican state representative wants to amend standards in Connecticut in a way that would obscure that consensus in the name of open debate.  
    • Climate brings up feelings: While a lot of introduction of climate topics is happening in response to new state standards, Madden said students are also bringing up the topic, for example, in response to extreme or unseasonable weather. And that’s making some teachers nervous. “Teachers worry that they are not knowledgeable enough about the science of climate change to answer students’ questions appropriately,” she said. “There is also concern about inciting dread and anxiety in children, especially at the lower grade levels.” Hammack said that she finds herself wondering how deep to go: “Some of the videos I’ve been watching are scaring me and I’m 44!” And Madden said those climate emotions are, if anything, stronger among kids in higher grades. “In my experience, it’s preteens and teenagers who have that sense of understanding the scope of these problems,” she said. “They are very concerned.”
    • English Language Learners: There’s a gap in resources for these learners. Madden points out that in Spanish, “clima” is the word for both “weather” and “climate,” which can at times cause confusion. SubjectToClimate lists 93 resources suitable for Spanish speakers and/or Spanish classes.
    • Focus on solutions: Related to concerns about climate anxiety, is a clear desire for lessons that deal with solutions. Among the SubjectToClimate top 10 most-trafficked lesson plans are two that deal with renewable energy, one about conservation, one about reducing, reusing and recycling, and one about green transportation. Underscoring the demand, This Is Planet Ed (where, full disclosure, I’m an advisor) and The Nature Conservancy are currently collaborating on an initiative to create more short-form content for children focused on hope and solutions.

    “I have to say that the message that comes across loud and clear to me has been — telling the truth is really important, and focusing on areas for solutions and optimism,” said Madden. “There are really great things happening at the edges of what humans are capable of right now.”

    This column about climate change lessons was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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    Anya Kamenetz

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  • Metrasens' Advanced Detection Technology Chosen by Moore Public Schools for Enhanced Safety at Extracurricular Events

    Metrasens' Advanced Detection Technology Chosen by Moore Public Schools for Enhanced Safety at Extracurricular Events

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    NAPERVILLE, Illiois and MOORE, Oklahoma (PRNewswire-PRWeb) —  Metrasens, a leading provider of advanced detection systems for security and safety applications, today announced its collaboration with Moore Public Schools (MPS), Oklahoma’s fourth-largest public school district. Together, they aim to bolster safety measures across the district by deploying Metrasens Ultra detection systems, ensuring a secure environment for extracurricular events at 35 campus sites and various large venues.

    Committed to maintaining the highest safety and security standards, MPS consistently evaluates and updates its protocols. The district, known for its proactive approach, embraces new initiatives and technologies to enhance existing security measures. Building on a successful pilot of Metrasens Ultra detectors in the previous academic year, MPS officially integrated them at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

    In alignment with their ongoing commitment to safety, several schools within the district have already incorporated Metrasens detection systems. The decision to choose Metrasens was influenced by the unmatched reliability and durability of its detectors, which seamlessly align with the district’s overarching safety goals, whether implemented district-wide or at individual campuses.

    Following a rigorous evaluation process of various detector options, Metrasens stood out with its comprehensive product offerings and exceptional service. The company provided on-location assistance and training, earning high praise from the district.

    Dustin Horstkoetter, MPS Safety and Security Director, expressed his satisfaction, stating, “The reliability and quality of Metrasens solutions are incomparable. We appreciate the partnership we have with Metrasens and the client care and technical support they can provide a district of our size.”

    Metrasens Ultra utilizes state-of-the-art sensor technology to swiftly and accurately identify potential threats, including concealed weapons. Its unique flexibility for both indoor and outdoor use, coupled with portability that allows easy movement within and between facilities without physical contact, set it apart from competitors. Metrasens Ultra met key MPS criteria, including non-threatening design, portability, flexibility, ease of use, battery power option, weather resistance, zonal indication, and accuracy.

    “We are thrilled to play an integral part in helping MPS achieve their objective to accurately identify prohibited threat items before entry into their venues,” said Chis Arbeitman, Vice President of Market and Business Development at Metrasens. “MPS is utilizing the Metrasens Ultra to screen patrons before entering middle school and high school events, including football and basketball games, cheerleading competitions, graduations, and school board meetings. We remain committed to supporting all of their security initiatives to ensure a safe and positive experience for all participants in these venues.”

    About Metrasens
    Metrasens is the world’s leading provider of advanced magnetic detection technologies. With a technology center and manufacturing facility in the United Kingdom, a North American sales and customer service hub in Chicago and a global network of distributors, the company’s innovative products are designed to address deficiencies in conventional screening methods and make the world safer and more secure. Metrasens’ mission is to take cutting-edge science from the laboratory and use it to create revolutionary, award-winning products that meet the distinct and diverse security needs of its customers. Metrasens’ core technologies have a wide range of real-world applications, embodied by solutions that are easy to adopt and simple to use.
    For more information, visit  http://www.metrasens.com.

    About Moore Public Schools

    Moore Public Schools is Oklahoma’s fourth-largest public school district, serving 24,191 students and their families. Our vision is “Shaping Today’s Students Into Tomorrow’s Leaders” and we strive to achieve this vision by providing exceptional and varied opportunities for every student’s personal, physical, and academic growth. We have produced countless National Merit Finalists and academic all-state students over the decades, along with innumerable 6A athletics titles and superior fine arts, STEM, and career exploration offerings. These opportunities work to develop our students into young adults of character and resilience, prepared for their next chapters after graduation.

    Learn more at www.mooreschools.com

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  • Tutor.com’s On-Demand Tutoring Meets ESSA II Standards, Demonstrating Positive Impacts on Student Grades and Attendance

    Tutor.com’s On-Demand Tutoring Meets ESSA II Standards, Demonstrating Positive Impacts on Student Grades and Attendance

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    NEW YORK —  Tutor.com, one of the world’s largest and most innovative online tutoring organizations, announced that it satisfies Level II requirements (Moderate Evidence) of the  Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for its on-demand tutoring services. 

    The findings come from an  effectiveness study independently designed and conducted by LearnPlatform by Instructure, a third-party edtech research company. The study results show four statistically significant favorable outcomes for  El Monte Union High School District students who used Tutor.com, as compared to demographically similar non-users. Highlights include:

    –       Students who used Tutor.com had higher GPAs. Students who used Tutor.com had higher spring-semester GPAs as compared to non-users (3.02 vs. 2.87), and the difference was statistically significant. 

    –       Students who used Tutor.com had fewer Ds and Fs. Students who used Tutor.com had fewer spring-semester D and F grades as compared to non-users (0.72 vs. 0.91 on average per student), and the difference was statistically significant. 

    –       Students who completed more Tutor.com sessions had fewer absences. Students who completed more than 20 sessions had fewer absences than students who completed 3–20 sessions, and fewer still than students who completed 1–2 sessions (5.14 absences for high Tutor.com usage vs. 6.42 for medium usage and 8.62 for low usage), and these differences were statistically significant.

    –       Students who engaged in more total minutes of Tutor.com tutoring had fewer absences. Students who completed more than 300 minutes of Tutor.com tutoring had fewer absences as compared to students who completed between 1 and 60 minutes of tutoring (5.42 absences vs. 8.30), and the difference was statistically significant.

    The study showed positive outcomes from on-demand tutoring, a service Tutor.com has delivered for more than two decades. Together with  High-Dosage Tutoring, an evidence-based intervention that Tutor.com and affiliate company The Princeton Review® launched earlier this year, on-demand tutoring can be utilized as an effective tool to enhance a district’s Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). 

    “This study confirms what we and the millions of students we serve have long known,” said Sandi White, Chief Institutional Officer at Tutor.com and The Princeton Review. “Students consistently tell us that Tutor.com is helping them improve their grades and confidence. This independent effectiveness study measurably attests to many of the student success stories we see every day.” 

    The study, which examined outcomes during the 2022–2023 school year, included a matched analysis sample of 746 students (373 treatment, 373 comparison) in grades 9–12 from El Monte Union High School District. Researchers used both administrative and state summative assessment data to examine the impact of Tutor.com on student outcomes. (Additional details can be found in the  study.) Given multiple positive outcome findings, the study provides results to satisfy ESSA evidence requirements for Level II. LearnPlatform by Instructure had previously completed a Tutor.com  logic model that satisfies  ESSA IV standards.

    “Every El Monte educator is dedicated to empowering our students to be resilient, college- and career-ready, lifelong learners and contributing members of our global society,” said Dr. Edward Zuniga, Superintendent, El Monte Union High School District. “We proactively implement programs to help students realize their full potential, and we are delighted to see the positive, measurable impact that online tutoring has had on their success.”

    Other case studies have shown positive outcomes with Tutor.com use. “As part of our commitment to student success, we examine impact data and continually innovate our services to support success for learners, schools, and districts,” said White. The company, which has delivered more than  25 million sessions, plans to release additional MTSS tools in the new year.

    About Tutor.com

    Since its incorporation in 2000,  Tutor.com has delivered more than 25 million online tutoring and homework help sessions to students. The company’s more than 3,000 vetted and qualified tutors provide learning assistance that is available 24/7 in a wide variety of subjects. The company’s mission is to instill hope, advance equity, and catalyze achievement in schools and communities. Tutor.com powers tutoring and homework help programs for the U.S. Department of Defense, colleges and universities, K–12 school districts, state and local libraries, and companies offering employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, Tutor.com is an affiliate of  The Princeton Review, an education services company not affiliated with Princeton University. Follow Tutor.com on X (formerly Twitter)  @tutordotcom, Facebook  @TutorDotCom, and LinkedIn  @Tutor.com.

    SOURCE Tutor.com

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  • TouchMath Executives Recognized in 2023 Excellence in Equity Awards

    TouchMath Executives Recognized in 2023 Excellence in Equity Awards

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    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo./PRNewswire-PRWeb/ —  TouchMath, a multisensory math program that makes learning crucial mathematical concepts accessible and clear for students who struggle to understand grade-level content, had three executives and three solutions recognized at the 2023 Excellence in Equity Awards, including a category win in Special Contribution to Equity. TouchMath was a finalist in the following categories: Company of the Year, Leader of the Year (Sean Lockwood, CEO), Best Special Education Solution (TouchMath Standards Edition), Product Enhancement of the Year (TouchMath PRO 2.0), and Author, Speaker, or Consultant (Dr. Sandra Elliott).

    Created by  The American Consortium for Equity in Education, the Excellence in Equity Awards program recognizes the companies, nonprofits, leaders, and educators whose work contributes to the critical goal of ensuring access and equity for every learner. The award program received more than 120 nominations across its 25 different categories, each demonstrating innovative, diligent work being done nationwide to improve learner outcomes.

    “We’re honored to have so many TouchMath team members and solutions recognized at this year’s Excellence in Equity Awards,” said Sean Lockwood, Chief Executive Officer at TouchMath. “This recognition is not only a testament and validation to the work my colleagues do every day, but it also serves as a reminder to prioritize equitable instruction in everything we do. Congratulations to the TouchMath team members who were selected as finalists and Scott for winning Special Contribution to Equity.”

    Named Special Contribution to Equity, TouchMath Manager of Products and Design, Scott Andrews has been a champion of equity in education for over a decade. His firm belief in universal access to quality math education has led to the expansion of TouchMath materials to Spanish, aiding linguistically diverse learners. Through these initiatives, Scott’s leadership has empowered educators and students alike, removing barriers and striving for educational equality.

    “I’m deeply grateful to be named a category winner for an aspect of education I’m passionate about. For me, TouchMath’s enduring commitment to inclusive education continues to be a driving factor for my work,” said Andrews. “Our upcoming initiatives are designed to fortify equity in learning by broadening our library of resources in support of our diverse student and educator communities.”

    Click  here to see the full list of winners in the Excellence in Equity Awards. To learn more about TouchMath, please visit  https://www.touchmath.com.

    About TouchMath

    TouchMath provides a wide range of curriculum and tools for educators and their students who struggle to understand grade-level content. TouchMath is committed to maximizing student potential through its worldwide delivery of hands-on math programs, cultivating success with individuals of all abilities and learning styles. To learn more, visit  https://www.touchmath.com.

    SOURCE TouchMath

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  • Teaching social studies in a polarized world – The Hechinger Report

    Teaching social studies in a polarized world – The Hechinger Report

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    Editor’s note: This story led off this week’s Future of Learning newsletter, which is delivered free to subscribers’ inboxes every other Wednesday with trends and top stories about education innovation.

    In recent years, division over how social studies should be taught has plagued school districts around the country.

    The irony, according to Lawrence Paska, executive director of the National Council for the Social Studies, is that in many places, the subject is “not being taught, period.”

    Social studies is sometimes seen as an afterthought, left out of daily instruction, he said. But instead of strengthening social studies or helping more students engage with the subject, the focus in recent years has been on undermining or attacking it, he said.

    The increasing politicization of social studies was a concern shared by many educators, education leaders, researchers and advocates at last week’s annual NCSS conference in Nashville. Sessions examined ways educators can navigate state laws that limit conversations on race and other difficult topics, as well as how they can develop the high quality materials and instruction those attending said was vital to preparing students for civic life.

    About 3,500 people attended the conference, among them K-12 and higher ed educators who teach the subjects that constitute social studies — including history, civics, geography, economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, law and religious studies.

    Last month, NCSS updated its definition of social studies as the “study of individuals, communities, systems, and their interactions across time and place that prepares students for local, national, and global civic life.” The revised definition is meant to emphasize an inquiry-based approach, in which students start by asking questions, then learn to analyze credible sources, said Wesley Hedgepeth, NCSS president.

    The group also chose to set out guidance for elementary and secondary school social studies instruction, to emphasize that education in the topic must begin in the early grades, Hedgepeth said.

    The inquiry-based approach is defined within the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards, a set of decade-old, Common Core-like guidance for social studies. The approach has received pushback from conservative politicians who want to see more “patriotic” social studies curriculums, experts at the conference said.

    Critics say revisions, or attempted revisions, to social studies standards by policy makers in states such as Virginia and South Dakota remove inquiry-based learning. The new standards instead emphasize “rote memorization of facts that are deemed to help children become more patriotic,” said James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association. Educators and researchers say these efforts are part of a pattern — deliberate or not — of flooding state standards and curriculums with so much content that it becomes impossible for teachers to spend the time needed to go in-depth on topics and for students to engage in critical thinking or questioning.

    Educators participate in an advocacy workshop led by Virginia teachers on preserving social studies state standard revisions at the annual National Council for the Social Studies conference in Nashville. Credit: Javeria Salman for The Hechinger Report

    While it isn’t new for state legislatures and boards to step in to dictate what’s taught, what’s different now is that laws prohibit teaching certain histories rather than requiring them to be taught, according to Grossman.

    While many educators at the conference seemed to want to avoid politics and focus on their instruction, they recognized that simply choosing to be a social studies teacher can be seen as taking a political side. Conservative politicians today increasingly see social studies teachers as targets, attendees said. Educators from Virginia, Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky, among other states, said fights over social studies standards or anti-critical race theory and anti-LGBTQ+ laws have been bruising. Some talked about receiving death threats and being doxxed, while others said they were increasingly fearful of losing their jobs.

    In a workshop on how educators can get involved in advocacy efforts surrounding state revisions of history and social studies standards, Virginia teachers shared how they organized to fight a controversial social studies standards revision under the administration of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Sam Futrell, a middle school social studies teacher and president of the Virginia Council for the Social Studies, said educators organized their state professional organizations and local unions to push back against a draft revision that she said included several errors and omissions such as referring to Native Americans as “America’s first immigrants.”

    Sessions at the conference also focused on how to strengthen and improve social studies materials and instruction. Educators from several states, including Maryland, Iowa and Kentucky, spoke about the need for curriculum and resources that don’t simply cater to big states like Florida, California and Texas. Social studies curriculum publishers from Imagine Learning, Core Knowledge and Pearson also talked about their efforts to update materials to make them relevant to kids from diverse backgrounds and to work more closely with educators in different states to meet their needs.

    Some school leaders said they need high-quality resources that can help teachers who aren’t specialists in a particular subject or area of history to fill gaps in their knowledge. Others said the absence of a national approach to social studies instruction is an obstacle to ensuring that all students have a common framework for understanding the country and its history and participating in civic life.

    Bruce Lesh, supervisor of elementary social studies for Carroll County Public schools in Maryland, said that while math, science and English have national frameworks for instruction, nothing equivalent exists in social studies. The C3 Framework discusses how to teach social studies, but it’s not like the Next-Gen science standards or Common Core English and math standards that lay the groundwork for what to teach and help all students gather a common set of knowledge and skills.

    In those other disciplines, said Lesh, “There was an effort to take the inequity out of what was taught to students.”

    This story about social studies was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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    Javeria Salman

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  • How To Find A Highly Ethical And Professional Broker

    How To Find A Highly Ethical And Professional Broker

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    It might seem obvious that you’d want to work with a broker who has high standards when you’re selling your home or commercial property. Certainly, there are various requirements that salespeople must have to operate in the market. However, it can be important to check for signs that the broker will act ethically throughout the sales process.

    Keep in mind that it’s essential to find someone who will take a long-term view of the relationship. A credible broker will act with your best interests over their own. They’ll be a fiduciary and make sure to do right by you, even if it’s to their detriment. As I mentioned in my previous article, it’s really important to have a professional put themselves in your shoes and be client centric.

    Follow these guidelines to learn more about a broker’s standards and evaluate if they align with yours.

    Check for Real Estate Credentials

    It’s common for brokers to have state licenses, and many also obtain higher levels of certification. In commercial real estate, this could include distinctions such as CCIM, which stands for Certified Commercial Investment Member and indicates they are a recognized expert in the real estate industry. They might also have obtained additional coursework from their local real estate board. They may have higher learning, such as continuing education, professional studies, or a master’s degree.

    Review the Commissions Landscape

    If a broker is representing your property for sale, they’ll be receiving offers which could come directly to them or be from another broker. If the bid comes straight to the broker, they could make a full commission on the deal; however, if the offer is from another broker, they might have to split the fee. This means that a direct offer could yield double the commission for a broker compared to a split commission with a co-broker involved.

    You’ll want to watch and listen to make sure your broker handles these situations wisely. If they are pushing to work with a direct buyer, it could potentially be a sign that they are hoping to get a full commission and avoid splitting a fee 50/50 with another broker. Observe conversations to see what statements they are making and which questions they are asking. You’ll want to be working with someone who is looking to get the best offer for your property, regardless of how the commission will be impacted in the end.

    Check the Broker’s Interest in Purchasing

    Some brokers sell properties, and also invest in real estate. I do this myself; however, it’s essential to follow certain guidelines to avoid a conflict of interest. If you’re working with a sales professional who offers to represent you to sell your home or building, and then shares that they would prefer to buy your property themselves, it could be a red flag. That’s because there is a possibility that they are not looking to get the highest price for your asset. In fact, they could be aiming to swoop in and buy the property for a lower amount.

    When I act as an investor, I always buy properties represented by another broker. That way, I know the owner is working with an advisory team to get the best price. The broker has the chance to run a professional marketing campaign and look at offers from various buyers interested in the property.

    As you carry out initial conversations with brokers, pay attention to their educational background and how they respond to your questions. During the sales process, be aware of the commissions landscape and look at the potential buyers that are approaching the property. If the broker asks to purchase your home or commercial space, it may be a sign to consider working with another sales professional. In the end, you’ll want to partner with a broker who has high standards and ethics, and who will act in a professional manner throughout the sales process.

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    James Nelson, Contributor

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  • Digital advertising is Meta and Google’s world, and everyone else is coping with it

    Digital advertising is Meta and Google’s world, and everyone else is coping with it

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    There are two certainties in the tech world when it comes to digital advertising: Google and Meta. And then there’s everyone else.

    Through economic thick and thin, Google and Meta are the gold standards by virtue of broad reach (billions of people globally), product dominance (in search and social media, respectively) and in their positions in the lightning-fast AI race. This week’s earnings results for Alphabet Inc.
    GOOGL,
    +2.46%

    GOOG,
    +2.42%
    and Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    +4.42%
    proved that emphatically once again.

    Both companies rebounded from recent wobbly digital ads sales of their own through gigantic consumer reach and aggressive plans to parlay AI into ad sales. Google has developed (or dabbled) in some form of AI for at least seven years, and in a conference call with analysts Wednesday, Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said his company will focus in the near term on AI to develop agents, ad features in existing products like Instagram and Reels, and internal productivity and efficiency. “We want to scale them, but they are hard to forecast,” he admitted.

    Read more: Meta’s stock jumps after AI, ad momentum drive earnings and revenue higher

    And: Alphabet earnings push stock up 6%, fueled by strong ad sales and strides in AI

    Conversely, for companies consigned to the also-ran category, such as Snap Inc.
    SNAP,
    +3.39%
    and X — the former Twitter — the news was bleak. Snap forecast disappointing third-quarter sales amid a spending push to draw advertisers.

    “We continue to believe it will take multiple quarters of improved execution for many investors to get more comfortable with the story longer term,” JP Morgan analysts said in a note on Snap earlier this month.

    Digital-advertising leader Google sought to remind everyone it has been doing AI a long time while Microsoft Corp.
    MSFT,
    +2.31%    ,
    a major investor in ChatGPT pioneer OpenAI, tempered its approach, Josh Wetzel, chief revenue officer at OneSignal, said in an interview. “AI’s greatest immediate value may be for Facebook advertising,” he said, pointing to it as an efficient and effective tool after Facebook encountered issues with data-privacy changes Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    +1.35%
    made to mobile devices.

    Read more: Alphabet earnings remind Wall Street of Google’s AI prowess

    “Meta’s solid quarter adds further evidence to the view that advertisers are choosing to spend their budget on the so-called market leaders, such as Facebook and Instagram, at the expense of the smaller social-media networks, like Snap,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com.

    Jon Oberlander, executive vice president of social at digital-marketing agency Tinuiti, added: “It is, to some extent, still Meta/Google’s game, especially for performance advertisers, as the ROI and scale advertisers can find in the mid-lower funnel gap above other platforms.”

    At the same time, Forrester analyst Kelsey Chickering said linear television ad revenue will slow between now and 2027 to about $65 billion from $70 billion as traditional TV continues to lose the under-25 crowd that has fled to streaming services and creator-heavy platforms like Snapchat and TikTok.

    Digital advertising is on track to grow in the high single digits, or more, in 2023, slightly ahead of June’s forecast estimates from GroupM and Magna of around 8% each, according to Brian Wieser, head of Madison and Wall, a media and advertising consultancy for investors.

    Most of that growth will benefit Google, Meta, and Microsoft’s LinkedIn, according to data from Emburse. Conversely, Emburse found ad spending on Twitter/X has plunged 54% from a year ago in May, before Elon Musk bought the company.

    “Google, Meta and LinkedIn are platforms where people go to consume information, search for ideas, or give context to what they experiencing in their personal or work lives,” Emburse Chief Experience Officer Johann Wrede said.

    While Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai boasted Wednesday of “continued leadership in AI and our excellence in engineering and innovation are driving the next evolution of Search” and other services, as well as improved YouTube ad sales, Meta’s addition of potential X-killer Threads could dramatically inflate its ad sales going forward.

    Zuckerberg sees potential in Threads long term despite a plunge in its user sign-ups because X is hemorrhaging advertising clients, and this week reportedly slashed ad costs to lure business customers.

    “The launch of Threads holds great promise for Meta. While there are currently no ads on the app, it’s inevitable that they will come and the ability to use data from other Meta properties for targeting is a highly lucrative proposition for brands,” Aaron Goldman, chief marketing officer at Mediaocean, said in an email.

    That translates to more near-term pain for smaller platforms such as Snap and X, which are posting negative growth, Michael Nathanson of SVB MoffettNathanson warned in a note Wednesday.

    “The truth is that Alphabet started integrating machine learning and artificial intelligence into their products and ad solutions close to a decade ago,” he said. Snap and others are scrambling to catch up.

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