EdGate Correlation Services's blog

Most of us remember the nostalgic excitement of waking up on a snowy day and looking out the window; hoping for school to be cancelled.  Although we may remember those days fondly what we may not remember is making up those days during a spring or summer break.  For many school districts, inclement weather days pose a huge risk to student achievement. States are working hard to provide online course access and virtual school programs to make sure that students can access high quality instruction any time and any place. 

It has been some time since we last checked in on the status of the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. States have experienced a number of hurdles in transitioning from less federal control to greater state and local autonomy in setting their education policy.

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Standards within the K-12 school system. Studies have shown that by incorporating SEL curriculum into classrooms, students overall academic performance increased by 11%, compared with students who did not participate in SEL curriculum https://casel.org/impact/. Research is also seeing a positive impact on life outcomes outside of school.

Updates to The EdGate Standards Repository include:

Research indicates that the adoption of new textbooks, specifically math textbooks, are not showing there is a direct impact on improvement in student learning. The research suggests that one factor may be a lack of proper training sessions for the teachers in how to best utilize the textbooks.

The gamification in the education market was $450 million in 2018, and is expected to grow to $1.8 billion by 2023.  During this time frame, the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is forecasted at 32%. The increasing adoption of digital learning, growing need to enhance the learning experience for better outcomes, and adoption of AR/VR technologies are the major factors driving the growth of gamification in the education market. The lack of availability of skilled people to train instructors is one roadblock in the market growth, however.

Many publishers in the EdTech industry are being inundated with requests for standards-aligned lessons from educators who use their products and content daily in their classrooms. Educators want a “one-stop shop” where they can find easy-to-use lessons and materials. According to Matthew Lynch of The Tech Edvocate, “Every company must offer a variety of lesson plans for teachers to choose from on each standard.

In the last few weeks, 347 new resources have been added to the Curriculum Matrix from the sources listed below

• Bozeman Science
• TeachEngineering

Updates to The EdGate Standards Repository include:

• North Dakota Health Education (2018 - Grades K-2, 3-5, 6, 7-8, 9-12)
• Kansas Social and Emotional Learning (2012 – Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12)
• College Board AP Psychology Course Description (2014 - Grades 9-12)
• Arizona Early Childhood (2018 - 36-60 months)
• Common Career Technical Core (CCTC) Finance Pathway (2014 - Grades 9-12)

Visit our social media pages for more details