News - KEH Communications

Wanderful Apps Receive Six Coveted Parents’ Choice Awards

Includes Parents’ Choice Gold Awards for Arthur® and Berenstain Bears® Apps

San Francisco, September 13, 2013 – Parents’ Choice Foundation has awarded six of its coveted Parent’s Choice Awards to Wanderful for their highly acclaimed interactive storybooks Apps. This makes a total of eight Parents Choice awards received by Wanderful – an award for every Wanderful App that has been submitted to Parents’ Choice for review.

Learning First Alliance Welcomes New Board Member Kristen Amundson from the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE)

Amundson brings two decades of experience to LFA’s board as Alliance continues its work for the advancement of public education

Washington, D.C. – September 17, 2013 – The Learning First Alliance (LFA), a partnership of 15 leading education associations with more than 10 million members dedicated to improving student learning in America's public schools, welcomes Kristen Amundson, executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), to its board. Amundson brings more than two decades of experience as a policymaker to her recently-appointed position at NASBE, which represents America's state and territorial boards of education, as well as to this position within the LFA.

Epson Adds Robust DC-12 Document Camera to Existing Portfolio of Classroom Solutions

DC-12 Helps Teachers Take Lessons to the Next Level with HD Image Quality, Picture-in-Picture Zoom and Easy Setup

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Sept. 17, 2013 – Epson America today announced the new Epson® DC-12 document camera, Epson’s latest classroom imaging solution designed to help educators deliver engaging lessons and enhance the learning experience. With HD image quality and HDMI connectivity to deliver sharp text and bright, colorful images, the DC-12 is a valuable and easy-to-use tool that can be utilized for a wide range of learning applications, in turn creating a large impact in the classroom environment.

Providence Public Schools Selects Teachscape to Help Empower Teachers to Improve Teaching Practices

Rhode Island’s largest school district to deliver individualized PD based on fair and reliable teacher evaluations

SAN FRANCISCO, September 12, 2013 – Providence Public Schools, Rhode Island’s largest school district, has selected Teachscape, the leader in delivering Web-based solutions and expert services to improve teaching practice, to advance its teacher evaluation and professional development processes. Teachscape will help the district implement its evaluation system for 2,000 educators, including teachers, administrators, and support professionals. Teachscape will also help Providence deliver individualized online professional learning for each of its teachers.

SPARKTM Helps Classroom Teachers Get Students Moving With New SPARKabc’s Physical Activity Program

New curriculum was designed to increase students’physical activity while supporting academic learning standards

San Diego, CA, September 10, 2013 — Extensive evidence shows positive associations between physical activity and improved academic performance; yet many schools struggle to incorporate movement into their busy days. To help schools provide students with more structured physical activity minutes in each day, SPARK™, provider of the world’s most-researched physical education (PE) program, has launched SPARKabc’s (Activity Break Choices)—an innovative solution for incorporating physical activity in the classroom, during recess, and throughout the school day.

Washington County School District in Florida Selects Teachscape to Help Improve Instructional Delivery and Teaching Effectiveness

District builds a culture of professional development for administrators and teachers by starting with fair and reliable teacher evaluations

SAN FRANCISCO, September 10, 2013 – To help achieve its goal of improving teachers’ instructional delivery and effectiveness, and in turn to increase student achievement, Washington County School District (WCSD) in Chipley, FL has selected Teachscape, the leader in delivering Web-based solutions and expert services to improve teaching practice. Teachscape will help the district’s administrators and teachers collaborate on data-driven professional learning based on fair and reliable teacher evaluations using Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (FFT).

Curriculum Associates Expands ‘Ready® Common Core Reading’ for Grades K–1

Multicomponent program uses best-practice teaching strategies and routines to help students in early grades develop reading comprehension skills assessed by the Common Core

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass., September 9, 2013 – Curriculum Associates, LLC, has expanded its Ready® Common Core Reading program with Grades K–1 content to help students in early grade levels meet the new demands of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Ready Common Core Reading offers K–1 students age-appropriate instruction and practice to build reading comprehension skills and supports teachers with point-of-use professional development to help them teach the new, more rigorous standards.

Education Visionary Tom Vander Ark Discusses Blended Learning for Special Education in Webinar

PresenceLearning sponsors October 1st webinar to help administrators understand how to deploy blended learning in special education

SAN FRANCISCO, September 5, 2013 – As blended learning continues to become more popular in ed-tech discussions, educators want to understand the practical considerations and implications for their schools and students. Blended learning offers special opportunities in special education, allowing new levels of individualization and engagement for students with special needs. PresenceLearning, the leader in online speech therapy and other special education-related services for K-12 students, is partnering with Getting Smart to present a free, one-hour webinar featuring Tom Vander Ark, a leading champion of blended learning: “Getting Smarter About SPED: 5 Blended Learning Decisions & Implications” is being held on Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 12 PM ET (9 AM PT). To register for the webinar, visit http://plearn.co/1doemDE

Sumter County School District, FL Selects Teachscape to Strategically Build Upon their Teaching Effectiveness Success

District to further enhance its culture of continuous improvement through ongoing PD based on fair and reliable teacher evaluations

SAN FRANCISCO, September 4, 2013 – To build upon its success, and maintain its designation by the Florida Department of Education as an academically high-performing school district, Sumter County School District (SCSD) in Bushnell, FL has chosen Teachscape to help them drive teacher effectiveness and promote a culture of continuous professional improvement. SCSD will implement the Teachscape Effectiveness Platform based on Charlotte Danielson’s 2011 Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument (FFT), with plans of implementing the 2013 Edition of the FFT in the 2014-15 school year.

NYSED names Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready® Diagnostic for Grades 9-12 as an Approved Measure of Student Growth

Online diagnostic for reading and math to help New York State school districts and BOCES define student growth for teacher and principal evaluations

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass., September 3, 2013 – Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready Diagnostic for Reading and Math for Grades 9-12 has been approved by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) as a measure of student achievement or growth. As a result, i-Ready Diagnostic will subsequently contribute to teachers’ and principals’ annual performance appraisals per the state’s teacher evaluation requirements.