More than 1.2 million students drop out of high school each year, according to reports from the National Center for Education Statistics. For an economic superpower with a renewed commitment to education reform, this is a sobering figure. In an effort to help schools combat the decision by at-risk students simply to "give up" and drop out, Pearson has launched Prevent, a data-driven software system designed to give early-warning alerts to educators and administrators that a student is in danger of falling through the cracks and allow them to intervene in the areas necessary.
- By Scott Aronowitz
- 10/28/09
Seeking to make reading proficiency and comprehension a priority, nearly 900 schools throughout California have implemented the Lexia Reading program, which helps students in grades pre-K through 12 improve their reading skills while offering teachers a tool for fully integrated assessment reporting.
- By Scott Aronowitz
- 10/26/09
As pervasive as the Internet has become, there is one group of people that is still unable to realize many of its benefits. However, thanks to the work of CANnect, a consortium of schools and philanthropists dedicated to overcoming this obstacle, the visually impaired may soon acquire unprecedented access to the Web and much of its affiliated technology.
- By Scott Aronowitz
- 10/21/09
Education social and professional network We Are Teachers (WAT) has partnered with special education resources provider PCI Education to give special education teachers their own forum for interacting and sharing methods and ideas.
- By Scott Aronowitz
- 10/19/09
San Antonio Independent School District in Texas has implemented a Web-based program to lower the rate of students dropping from its high schools.
Despite the technological strides made in recent years to aid the blind and sight-impaired--voice simulation reading software, peripherals that translate text into Braille, audiobooks in virtually every category--such readers have continued to face obstacles in the form of visual enhancements to STEM-related texts, such as charts, graphs, diagrams, and photos. However, Boston-based public television station WGBH has taken the next step, issuing a book of guidelines on how best to describe, in detail, such visuals.
- By Scott Aronowitz
- 10/01/09
The United States Department of Education is awarding $6.61 million in grants to eight states to help improving reading achievement among poorer students. The monies will fund a range of programs incorporating research-based methods and tools, including education technologies, to help deal with "the challenges of poverty and reading below grade level."
Two schools in North Carolina--South Granville High and Scotland High--have joined a statewide initiative to help bring graduation rates to 100 percent.
The United States Department of Education has followed through on its promise to speed up stimulus package spending for education. The department announced that it's released $11.37 billion to states a little less than a month earlier than planned, with funds targeting Title I, IDEA, and Vocational Rehabilitation. It's also published new guidance on the use of the funds.
Pearson has released WriteToLearn 5.3, the latest update to its writing development and reading comprehension tool.
- By Scott Aronowitz
- 08/31/09