New York Elementary Schools Adopting Digital Curriculum
Twenty-one elementary schools in New York are adopting digital curricula for the 2010-2011 school year. Beginning this fall, these schools will start shifting to a digital platform for math and reading designed for 1:1 classroom environments.
All of the schools are adopting Time To Know's digital teaching platform, which provides an interactive core curriculum targeted toward grades 4 and 5, along with collaborative tools designed to support group activities and discussions; various summative and formative assessment capabilities; interactive lesson planning with content previews; and a range of real-time classroom management utilities.
One of the schools moving to Time To Know is Public School 69--The New Vision School, which, prior to adoption, had already seen dramatic improvements in student performance on tests. According to Principal Alan D. Cohen, the decision to shift over to Time To Know was based on a desire to improve student performance even further.
"When your school test scores are in the mid-90s, it's difficult to maintain and improve upon that level of performance. But when I saw Time To Know, I knew this was a tool to bring my school to the next level. A key benefit of the program is that it allow teachers' individual personalities and teaching styles to shine," Cohen said in a prepared statement.
"If you look at the demographics and poverty level in our school community, the statistics say our children should be failing," Cohen said. "My job is to level the playing field to make sure the children here get the same opportunities as the children in a rich suburban area. Time To Know will allow us to provide targeted instruction and support to our students, with a standards-based curriculum that scaffolds learning for children who aren't achieving proficiency and provides enrichment for children who are."
Public School 69 serves about 570 students in grades 1 through 5. Teachers at PS69 have already received training on the system; teachers at other schools that will be implementing the system next year will undergo training over the summer.
"My teachers are thrilled with the professional development they've received," Cohen said. "The Time To Know staff members are very knowledgeable about the standards for New York City and for the state, and how to meaningfully connect the standards with curriculum and assessment to improve student achievement."