THE Journal — Accountability/Assessment
GlobalScholar.com To Acquire Excelsior
GlobalScholar.com, a developer of education-focused Web resources, announced late last week that it's secured $27 million in funding and that it's now in a deal to acquire Excelsior Software, a developer of K-12 assessment management solutions.
(2/4/2008)
Orchard Taps PracticePlanet for Intervention Strategies
Education software developer Siboney Learning Group has updated Orchard, the company's targeted instruction software for math, language arts, and science for K-9. Enhancements to the software include expanded platform support, a variety of design tweaks, and a new technology that ties in the company's PracticePlanet service to help generate data for developing intervention strategies.
(2/1/2008)
NetRTI Monitors Achievement for Struggling Learners
Education technology developer Netchemia earlier this month released netRTI, a response to intervention program targeted at struggling learners and special needs students.
(1/28/2008)
Renaissance, Pearson Partner for Classroom Response System
Education publisher Pearson Wednesday unveiled a new student response system for K-12 and higher ed at the FETC conference in Orlando, FL. The system, developed in partnership with technology provider Renaissance Learning, is designed to be integrated with Pearson's Prosper assessment system.
(1/23/2008)
IBM To Develop California Student Achievement System
The California Department of Education has contracted with IBM, through its Global Business Services division, to deliver its next-generation student achievement system. Dubbed the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS), the new system is expected to be deployed in the next three years to provide tracking and reporting on student data.
(1/7/2008)
U.S. Students Below Average in Science and Math
Validating the long-standing theme in science and math education, the results of the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) were released Dec. 4 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), showing that in math and science students in the United States are lagging behind most of their counterparts in other countries. The results of this latest research place the United States 25th out of 30 OECD countries in math achievement among 15-year-olds and 21st in science achievement.
(12/4/2007)
Inform 4.2 Adds Academic Intervention Plan
Pearson School Systems has released an update to Pearson Inform, a data analysis tool for K-12 schools. The new release, Inform 4.2, adds a new Academic Intervention Plan feature for planning individualize and group instruction.
(11/29/2007)
eInstruction To Acquire Interwrite
Denton, TX-based eInstruction today signed a definitive agreement to acquire Interwrite Learning. Both companies develop classroom technologies for K-12 and higher education environments, including whiteboards and student response systems and software. The combined company will go by the name of eInstruction.
(11/26/2007)
Apex Test Prep Targets State Blueprints
Apex Learning is rolling out new test preparation tools focusing on high school exit exams. The online prep courses target state-specific high stakes exams and are "aligned to each state's test blueprint and designed around its unique exam architecture," according to Apex.
(11/16/2007)
Wireless Gen Brings DIBELS to Harcourt Reading
Harcourt School Publishers and Wireless Generation have formed a partnership to bring assessment to Harcourt's StoryTown and Trophies curricula. Through the partnership, the two will develop mCLASS:DIBELS StoryTown Edition and mCLASS:DIBELS Trophies Edition, which will use Wireless Generation's mCLASS:DIBELS assessment and reporting/analysis system to deliver formative assessments to the classroom reading instruction tools.
(10/25/2007)
Calif. Law Brings Remediation to Exit Exams (Updated)
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Oct. 12 Assembly Bill 347, amending existing portions of the state's Education Code covering high school exit examinations. The new law addresses, among other things, the issue of remediation for students who are unable to pass the English and/or math portions of the exams. There are presently some 65,000 students in California from the classes of 2006 and 2007 who have met all other requirements for graduation but have not yet passed the exit exam, according to law firm Morrison & Foerster, which challenged the exit exam requirement in court last year.
(10/15/2007)
Test Prep and Math Realities
As another school year is getting well under way, educators are faced with starting the process all over again for preparing students for standardized testing. It's not something that can be put off until the last moment. Failure to pass "the test" sometimes prevents high school students from receiving their graduation diplomas. Elementary students might be retained in a grade. There is the usual dilemma of teaching to the test versus incorporating activities that help students develop 21st century skills valued in the real world.
(10/1/2007)
Missouri Says 'Show Me' the Test Results
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has tapped Riverside Publishing to create a series of high school end of course assessments that will gauge student learning and achievement in the context of the state's Show-me Standards and course-level expectations.
(9/28/2007)
Autodesk Launches Academic Certs
Software developer Autodesk is expanding its certifications to secondary and post-secondary students through its new Autodesk academic certification program. The credential students earn is the same as the professional-level credential but is offered at an academic discount.
(9/27/2007)
LA District Expands Assessments
Louisiana's LaFourche Parish School District, which serves approximately 15,000 students in 30 schools, has expanded its license of formative assessment and instructional offerings from Plato Learning.
(9/26/2007)
MetaMetrics Launches Lexile Framework for Writing
Adding to its Lexile Framework for Reading and Quantile Framework for Mathematics, MetaMetrics this week debuted its latest assessment tool, Lexile Framework for Writing, which is designed to measure student writing achievement on a "common, developmental scale over time and across the curriculum."
(9/13/2007)
Atomic Adds Assessments to Lesson Accelerators
Curriculum developer Atomic Learning this week announced that it's added an assessment rubric to its Lesson Accelerator lesson plans.
(9/13/2007)
ePals Delivers Free E-Mail, Blogging for Schools
Education technology provider ePals is making its formerly subscription-based services available to schools free of charge. These services, available to all schools around the world, include SchoolMail, SchoolBlog, and In2Books.
(9/10/2007)
OnCourse Expands Support for State Standards
Online education tool provider OnCourse Systems now supports education standards for all 50 states and has integrated those standards into its Lesson Planner, Grade Book, and Student Stats offerings, according to the company.
(8/21/2007)
Texas District Implements Plato Online Curriculum
El Paso Independent School District will implement an online intervention curriculum from Plato Learning, a developer of K-12 and adult education e-learning solutions. The new content will provide online credit recovery and state test remediation courses to 15 secondary schools in the district, with plans for additional implementation in the future.
(8/15/2007)
Ann Arbor Expands MY Access Deployment
Ann Arbor Public schools recently purchased additional licensing for Vantage Learning's MY Access, a writing software for K-12 students. With the purchase an additional 5,000 students within the district will gain access to the software. MY Access is designed to track reading and writing competency using AI technology and a rubric-scoring method to gauge student progress.
(8/7/2007)
Tucson USD Gives SmartMusic Subscriptions to Students
Tucson Unified School District in Arizona has signed on with MakeMusic to deliver the company's SmartMusic solution to 3,000 of its students. The move is part of the Opening Minds Through the Arts project, initiated in Tucson USD in 2001.
(8/7/2007)
Pasadena ISD To Deploy SIS in 56 Schools
Pasadena Independent School District in Texas has signed on with information management provider Mizuni to deploy a student information system, including a data warehouse and Web-based information portal, across all of its 56 schools, encompassing some 50,000 students.
(8/6/2007)
Wireless Generation Unveils Second Edition of mClass Reading 3D
Brooklyn, NY-based K-12 education technology and services provider Wireless Generation has released the second edition of its mClass Reading 3D K-3 assessment tool.
(7/24/2007)
NYC DOE To Deploy Acuity Assessments
The New York City Department of Education has inked a five-year deal with CTB/McGraw-Hill to deploy the company's Acuity assessment system. The contract is designed to support the city's ongoing periodic assessment program, which is meant to identify knowledge gaps and determine when interventions are needed.
(7/24/2007)
