ONLINE EDUCATION
PRnewswire | May 03, 2023
Teachstone, a leader in the field of classroom observation and professional development, is proud to announce a new partnership with Teach For America (TFA) to enhance coaching supports and educator-child interactions. TFA will be using Teachstone's Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) tool to prepare coaching staff to reliably and accurately observe and collect data across diverse classroom settings. As part of this partnership, 120 coaches will be trained, who collectively support 4,000 teachers who work in high-need schools.
Teachstone's mission is to help every child reach their full potential by measuring and improving the interactions that matter most, with the vision of ensuring that everyone experiences life-changing teaching.
For over 30 years, TFA has worked to recruit and develop teachers and leaders across the country. TFA is committed to pursuing their goal that by 2030, twice as many children in communities where they work will reach key educational milestones indicating that they are on a path to economic mobility and a future filled with possibility.
By using CLASS, TFA will have a new, research based tool to help them as they work to improve outcomes for children and communities. CLASS allows educators to focus on, measure and improve the classroom interactions that have been proven to support children developing in literacy, math, and social-emotional learning. The tool works across diverse settings and populations and helps teachers be more intentional in how they interact with students, enabling them to build stronger relationships and respond appropriately to each student, closing gaps in learning outcomes.
TFA will use CLASS data as steering metrics to: (1) Support corps members in their instructional development and provide customized supports based on rigorous data, identify corps members who are struggling and need intensive supports or interventions, (2) drive continuous improvement of program, policy, and/or practices, and (3) inform strategic decisions at the local and national levels.
And, finally, as a result of this partnership, TFA will have year-over-year data from thousands of classrooms enrolling historically marginalized students across the country. This is an unprecedented amount of data that will be used to improve practice and inform the broader field.
"We are excited to expand our impact by partnering with Teach For America," said Bridget Hamre, CEO of Teachstone. "Our organizations share a commitment to ensuring that each and every child has a meaningful and equitable education. We are excited to learn alongside TFA as we seek to understand how to create meaningful change in children's daily classroom experiences at a very large scale."
"Teach For America's partnership with Teachstone puts us on a path to train our teachers to use rigorous data to improve the quality of interactions students are having in classrooms. " said Noemi Wierwille, Teach For America's Chief Learning Officer. "By making meaning of the data, identifying areas for improvement, and building the skills to continuously evolve their practice, our teachers can maximize student learning and development. With thousands of classrooms in our network using CLASS, we can contribute important insights to the field and ensure more educators can foster dynamic and inclusive learning environments, especially early in their careers."
About Teachstone
Teachstone is a leader in the field of education from birth to 12th grade. Its CLASS tool measures and improves interactions between teachers and students, with the vision of ensuring that everyone experiences life-changing teaching.
About Teach For America
Teach For America is a national nonprofit organization that recruits and develops a diverse network of leaders committed to expanding educational opportunity. Its goal is that one day, all children in the United States will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.
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ONLINE EDUCATION
Stride | May 15, 2023
The nation’s four million teachers inspire students to make the impossible, possible. To honor their extraordinary contributions—to students and the country—K12, a Stride Inc. company, announced a unique “Be Kind 365” campaign that highlights special acts of kindness toward teachers.
Beginning this month and continuing throughout the year, K12 is expanding its efforts to champion teacher-centered accomplishments, initiatives, and programs nationwide. The company is launching Thank My Teacher, a new tool that allows families across the country to send messages of appreciation to their favorite educators. And through a new social media campaign, students and families are sharing posts and experiences that highlight the special and unique ways they show appreciation and kindness to their teachers.
K12’s new Teacher Appreciation Week campaign comes at a time when 44 percent of new teachers leave the profession within five years. Beginning teachers with little to no preparation are more than twice as likely to leave the classroom after one year compared to their better prepared counterparts.
That’s why this week, K12 is also launching a new “Teachers Win” initiative that supports new teachers. As part of this initiative, every 2023 teaching graduate in the U.S. is eligible to receive a one-year paid subscription to the Stride Professional Development Center: an ever-expanding library of interactive, mobile-friendly courses designed by educators, for educators.
“Our goal is to help new teachers get off to a strong start to their careers,” said Darren Reed, head of Stride’s Professional Development Center. “We want every teacher to feel confident in their ability to achieve early success in the classroom.”
Additionally, eligible teachers at every experience level can receive six months’ free access to Stride’s Professional Development Center through the company’s Learning Solutions Division. Learning Solutions is also launching a new video series featuring the stories of teachers who are making a difference in their communities.
This company-wide Teacher Appreciation Week effort is a launching pad to shine a light on who teachers are, their core values as educators, their resilience and dedication, and their critical role in shaping the people that students become. As part of their personalized and holistic approach to education, Stride’s K12-powered schools provide students with access to a rich curriculum taught by state-credentialed teachers who are specially trained in online instruction.
Throughout the year, K12’s new Be Kind 365 campaign will promote different ways to show kindness and outline strategies for fostering positive mental health and wellness.
About Stride, Inc.
At Stride, Inc , we are reimagining learning—where learning is lifelong, deeply personal, and prepares learners for tomorrow. The company has transformed millions of people’s teaching and learning experiences by providing innovative, high-quality, tech-enabled education solutions, curriculum, and programs directly to students, schools, the military, and enterprises in primary, secondary, and postsecondary settings. Stride is a premier provider of K-12 education for students, schools, and districts, including career learning services through middle and high school curriculum. For adult learners, Stride delivers professional skills training in healthcare and technology, as well as staffing and talent development for Fortune 500 companies. Stride has delivered millions of courses over the past decade and serves learners in all 50 states and more than 100 countries. More information can be found at stridelearning.com, K12.com, galvanize.com, techelevator.com, and medcerts.com.
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CONTINUING EDUCATION
Businesswire | May 24, 2023
Amplify, a publisher of next-generation curriculum and assessment programs, announced today it has raised a Series C funding round led by Cox Enterprises, a family-owned, Atlanta-based company committed to connectivity, mobility, and sustainable innovation. Cox joins Amplify’s current investors, including Emerson Collective, Learn Capital, and A-Street Ventures.
The funding will support Amplify in continuing to expand the breadth and depth of its K-12 product portfolio, which distinctly combines high-quality, evidence-based instruction with digital-forward delivery to help teachers celebrate and extend their students’ thinking, knowledge, and skills. Already a market leader in literacy and science, Amplify is launching a suite of math programs that will reshape mathematics education by bringing together the leading open-source curriculum (IM K-12 Math™ authored by Illustrative Mathematics®) with the most-beloved teaching and learning platform in math education, Desmos Classroom. The goal is to help every student learn – and learn to love – mathematics.
“Amplify has experienced significant growth and is now proud to serve close to a third of U.S. K-8 students today with programs that uniquely blend the best K-12 content and pedagogy with digital tools that help teachers reach all students and drive measurable academic gains,” said Larry Berger, chief executive officer of Amplify. “This investment will help us grow while ensuring that we elevate K-12 instruction and have as much impact as we can.”
Amplify currently delivers its products and services to over half a million teachers in the United States. Its existing core programs have earned all-green scores on EdReports, a third-party curriculum evaluation site. Amplify’s digital supplemental program, Boost Reading, continues to help schools drive gains in early reading, as does its gold-standard early reading assessment, mCLASS®. By meeting the demand for evidence-based, digital-forward programs, Amplify’s bookings have grown at over a 50 percent compound annual growth rate over the last five years (2017-2022). Amplify also continues to see measurable gains in student achievement when districts and schools implement its programs with some measure of fidelity, e.g., recent studies on Amplify Science, Boost Reading, and Desmos Math 6-8.
“At Cox, we are committed to investing in companies that will reshape their industries over the next generation, bringing positive impact to communities across the country and around the world,” said Mark Lewis, vice president of strategy and investments at Cox Enterprises. “We are excited to help Amplify continue to scale its product offerings and footprint.”
About Amplify
A pioneer in K–12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our captivating core and supplemental programs in literacy, math, and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively, and for themselves. Our formative assessment products turn data into practical instructional support to help all students build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs provide teachers with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify reaches more than 10 million students in all 50 states.
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