personalized learning - Age of Learning

An Educator’s Perspective: Carmen Alvarez, Early Childhood Director, Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD)

Age of Learning — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 17:00:00 +0000

Throughout my journey over the past three decades as an early childhood educator, I have been a firm believer that investing in our youngest learners is one of the greatest decisions we can make. It is during the first few years of a child’s life that foundational learning occurs, and smart investments in effective early childhood programs can have enormous benefits for current and future generations. But unfortunately, for far too many students, inequality at the starting gate is a lifelong barrier to academic success.

Where I teach in Harlingen, Texas, just a few miles from the U.S./Mexico border, our student body is largely economically disadvantaged. I have a front-row seat in witnessing the impact that a lack of readiness for kindergarten and beyond has on students, and my colleagues and I are always looking for ways to solve that challenge.

In the fall of 2019, Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD) launched a universal full-day pre-K program for four-year-old children at no cost to families. Affordability is the number one deterrent to enrolling in pre-K, so we dedicated the resources to make it accessible to everyone in the community. Through this program, we began to instill a strong foundation in literacy and math in these young learners.

However, shortly after the program started, COVID-19 forced us to rethink how we could academically support the pre-K students. While remote learning was difficult for all, our youngest learners faced particularly acute challenges when in-school learning was no longer possible. Our priority was to ensure that district closures would not negatively impact our pre-K students academic growth and development. We also needed to make sure they had access to programs at home to keep them engaged in valuable learning experiences.

That’s when a longtime colleague with decades of experience in early education introduced me to My Math Academy, a personalized, adaptive math program from Age of Learning designed to help children in pre-K through 2nd grade master fundamental math concepts and skills. The program provides personalized instruction, giving teachers tools to help children whether they’re at home or in the classroom.

We began using My Math Academy in Harlingen during remote instruction at the start of the pandemic, and educators immediately found that it was an engaging and easy-to-use tool during virtual learning. I’d often hear from teachers about how they quickly saw a positive change in how their students were building math skills. Thanks to those individual student’s successes, we have continued using it in person as well.

One of the ways My Math Academy is a unique and effective solution is that it meets each student exactly where they are. The program continuously assesses math skills and personalizes instruction with fun, just-right challenges specific to each student’s individual learning progress. While students are learning math through highly engaging, game-based activities, educators can also track their progress in real time.

It reminds me of how great doctors approach treating patients. They use personalized data to enable more informed decision-making, which leads to better health outcomes. That’s what teachers in Harlingen are doing. My Math Academy’s technology empowers educators to identify accomplishments and points of struggle, and it provides guidance on student groupings and instruction recommendations.

This past fall, based on the overwhelmingly positive results we achieved with our initial pilot of My Math Academy, we expanded the program beyond pre-K students and classrooms. We now have 5,200 students and 300 teachers using My Math Academy from pre-K through early elementary school. We were already seeing progress early in the school year, and both teachers and students have been encouraged by this new way of mastering math.

For students in Harlingen, there have been remarkable academic outcomes in math.

Skill levels have nearly tripled for pre-K students and increased 50% for kindergarteners who participated in the program. And perhaps most impactful is that the students in each school started with different skills, with some students being further behind than others. But in every school, students mastered all pre-K skills and continued well into kindergarten, thanks to My Math Academy’s personalized instruction.

We had children entering kindergarten this year learning math at a 2nd-grade level, an accomplishment that I hope will become the norm over time.

Not only are we achieving demonstrable learning gains, but we are closing the equity gap and creating a strong learner identity. Children often wear their emotions on their sleeves, and after watching this math miracle take place over the last 15 months, not only is it evident that they are learning, but they love learning.

The post An Educator’s Perspective: Carmen Alvarez, Early Childhood Director, Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD) first appeared on Age of Learning.

Age of Learning Partners with Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools

Age of Learning — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 07:02:12 +0000

Age of Learning has expanded its relationship with Digital Promise, a leading nonprofit created to spur innovation in education and improve opportunities for learners. We are thrilled to partner with their League of Innovative Schools, which encompasses 125 school districts that serve more than 3.8 million students. Together, our goal is to advance equity and excellence in education for every child.

Age of Learning began its relationship with Digital Promise in 2020 with the launch of My Math Academy, our adaptive, personalized digital program designed to help PreK through second grade students master foundational math concepts and skills. The program is based in research and education best practices. Together with Digital Promise we worked to obtain their product certifications for Research-Based Design and Learner Variability. These endorsed My Math Academy as an effective solution that is based in research about how children learn and supports the unique needs of learners, and they serve as a guide to educators and administrators looking for reliable edtech to bring into their classrooms and schools.

As we enter this new chapter with Digital Promise, we will be working with the League of Innovative Schools to develop an early learning cohort to collaborate on an action research agenda centered around PreK through third grade teaching and learning. Additionally, Age of Learning will offer select League districts the opportunity to pilot My Math Academy and My Reading Academy programs.

To kick off our new partnership, the Age of Learning School Solutions team will attend the League of Innovative Schools Fall Convening October 20-22 in Washington D.C. This event brings together district and education leaders and features a packed agenda of nation-level policy and action meetings, notable guest speakers, and networking opportunities all intended to chart innovative new paths for League schools.

On November 10, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., we will be hosting a virtual Lunch and Learn event. In partnership with League members, this Lunch and Learn will present Age of Learning School Solutions and bring to life our approach to early learning, personalization, equity, and mastery. This webinar will be a kickoff to our Early Learning Cohort and action research projects throughout the school year.

We thank Digital Promise for our growing partnership and are honored to be supporting the League’s impactful work.

The post Age of Learning Partners with Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools first appeared on Age of Learning.

My Math Academy: Classroom Edition Wins Tech & Learning Award of Excellence, Named One of 2021’s Best Tools for Back to School

Brand Admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 02:28:16 +0000

It’s been a short but incredibly successful three-month journey for our Age of Learning’s Schools Solutions and My Math Academy.

In early June, we announced our new Schools Solutions, which we developed to provide schools and districts with standards-based early education programs proven to help teachers differentiate instruction and accelerate learning while helping students achieve mastery. We also announced the launch of our innovative My Math Academy, the School Division’s first product, which our curriculum and production teams spent six years of development, iteration, and testing. My Math Academy is a research-proven, personalized, adaptive math program for pre-k through second grade. Multiple randomized control trials have shown that students using My Math Academy for as little as 45 minutes a week over a twelve-week period experience significant learning gains, and the children have increased engagement, interest, and confidence in learning math.

In mid-July, we shared that two Age of Learning teams behind the successful launch and ongoing development of My Math Academy published chapters in the academic journal Adaptive Instructional Systems. Design and Evaluation and were to present their work at the HCI International 2021 Conference.

In late July, the head of our Schools Division and a senior researcher on our Learning Science team were featured presenters at the #NYCSchoolsTech Summit 2021, where they shared the truly amazing results we had already seen while rolling out My Math Academy in school district pilot programs nationwide prior to its public launch. Their presentation: Results Count, My Math Academy Delivers! A PreK-2 Game-based Approach that Tripled Math Gains for Early Learners, focused primarily on the truly amazing results achieved in our pilot program in the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD) in Texas.

This pilot program was also the focus of a Government Technology magazine website article: My Math Academy Improving Early Childhood Math Skills. The article reported that after offering our My Math Academy: Classroom Edition product to more than 900 largely economically disadvantaged pre-K students in the district, math skills more than doubled for 4-year-old pre-K students and tripled for 3-year-olds. The average pre-K student aged 4 is now at mid-kindergarten level, while the average pre-K student aged 3 is approaching kindergarten-level math skills. You can watch a HCISD school district board meeting discussing the unprecedented impact of My Math Academy on children’s skills and achievement (start at 8:50 for a quicker watch).

This past week, My Math Academy received another honor, winning the Awards of Excellence from Tech & Learning, which named our adaptive early math program one of 2021’s Best Tools for Back to School. Tech & Learning’s Awards of Excellence have long recognized innovation in the edtech industry, and its latest iteration, The Best Tools for Back to School, celebrates the most impressive products and solutions that support the work of teachers, students, and parents as they prepare for the new 2021-22 school year. Tech & Learning’s panel of advisors evaluated My Math Academy on ease of use, value, versatility, and (most importantly) the product’s ability to solve a problem.

Tech & Learning Group Publisher Christine Weiser framed it this way: “As we head into another uncertain year in education, technology will continue to be one of the key drivers for innovation. Our judges chose the winning products recognized here for their versatility, compatibility, value, and ability to help schools solve challenges and support continuous instruction. Congratulations to all of our winners.”

In addition to this latest award, My Math Academy has already achieved an impressive list of certifications: Stemworks Design Principles and Rubrics for Effective STEM Programs, Digital Promise Certification for Research-Based Design, Digital Promise Certification for Research-Based Design and Learner Variability, and the kidSAFE Seal Program’s COPPA Certified seal of approval.

Click here to learn more about My Math Academy, or schedule a product demo.

The post My Math Academy: Classroom Edition Wins Tech & Learning Award of Excellence, Named One of 2021’s Best Tools for Back to School first appeared on Age of Learning.

GovTech.com Spotlights Amazing Success of My Math Academy in Texas School District

Brand Admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 23:10:00 +0000

We’ve been quietly (and successfully!) rolling out My Math Academy—our new personalized, adaptive math program for pre-K through second grade—in schools and districts across the U.S., including the Los Angeles Unified School District, Chapel Hill Academy, Lakeport Unified School District, and EPIC Charter Schools, where it has driven significant gains in students’ math skills.

But it’s our latest pilot program that’s been generating an exceptional amount of excitement and interest. More than 900 largely economically disadvantaged pre-K students in the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District in Texas, started using My Math Academy in the fall. As recently reported on the Government Technology magazine website, “math skills more than doubled for 4-year-old pre-K students and tripled for 3-year-olds. The average pre-K student aged 4 is now at mid-kindergarten level, while the average pre-K student aged 3 is approaching kindergarten-level math skills.”

According to Carmen Alvarez, Director, HCISD Early Childhood, for the school district, My Math Academy, which includes a robust teacher dashboard, is giving teachers unparalleled insights into the learning needs of each individual student: “It’s kind of like being a great doctor,” she said. “A great doctor is going to look at the data before they go see a patient, and that’s exactly what the teachers are doing.” She also noted that the program allows students to learn at their own pace and “gives teachers more flexibility to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction.”

Read the full article on GovTech.com…

The post GovTech.com Spotlights Amazing Success of My Math Academy in Texas School District first appeared on Age of Learning.

Age of Learning Schools Division Presenting at NYCSchoolsTech Summit 2021

Brand Admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 18:48:00 +0000

Teachers, principals, and administrators—if you’re looking for new strategies to support your learners, Age of Learning’s new Schools Division invites you to join us at the #NYCSchoolsTech Summit 2021 on July 28^th. This virtual event draws thousands of PreK–12 educators annually to explore new education technologies, participate in PD sessions, and connect with inspiring industry leaders and researchers. Age of Learning is a proud partner of this year’s event, sponsored by Tech & Learning and the NYC Department of Education.

Tomorrow, from 3:15 p.m.–3:45 p.m. (EST) , the head of our Schools Division and senior researcher on our Learning Science team will introduce Age of Learning’s newest classroom solution—My Math Academy—to Tech Summit attendees and share the truly amazing results we have seen while rolling out this new product in school district pilot programs. We hope you’ll join their presentation: Results Count, My Math Academy Delivers! A PreK-2 Game-based Approach that Tripled Math Gains for Early Learners.

Age of Learning spent six years applying the latest research and learning science to develop My Math Academy, which is a highly-individualized learning solution designed to bring equity and efficacy into every classroom. From the creators of ABCmouse, My Math Academy guides PreK through grade 2 learners through a highly-personalized learning adventure featuring engaging and just-right challenges that empower children, encourage persistence, and lead to a love of math.

During our session at #NYCSchools Tech Summit, participants will see detailed pilot results showing how My Math Academy tripled learning gains for PreK and Kindergarten students during the 20-21 school year despite the pandemic, hybrid learning conditions, and other community challenges.

Additionally, there will be an active virtual exhibit hall where participants can explore new education technology, including My Math Academy, and network with other Summit attendees. Our virtual booth will give you access to documents outlining My Math Academy’s alignment to academic achievement and funding guidelines, efficacy research, a My Math Academy Program Overview, and two instructive videos: My Math Academy Teacher Overview and Harlingen School District Spotlight.

We hope you can join us as we continue to inspire and connect through new learning techniques and resources!

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Age of Learning Teams Publish Chapters in Adaptive Instructional Systems. Design and Evaluation, Present at HCI International 2021 Conference

Brand Admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 18:57:00 +0000

In the U.S., four out of five teachers report a significant range in student math abilities in their classroom, and teachers also report that this variability in math skills impacts the effectiveness of their teaching. Teachers’ reporting of the significant range in student math abilities is consistent with what leading education innovation researcher Digital Promise found in their paper, “Learner Variability is The Rule, Not the Exception.” Differentiating instruction to account for learner variability is challenging for even the most expert teachers.

Age of Learning has long recognized that learner variability in the classroom and the demands of differentiating instruction may be one of the biggest obstacles to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to succeed. However, recent advancements in technology, data science, and adaptive instructional systems (AISs) offer an opportunity to provide a solution for learner variability at scale. Age of Learning has spent years developing and iterating a mastery-based Personalized Mastery Learning Ecosystem (PMLE)—the platform for our adaptive, game-based My Math Academy and My Reading Academy—to empower teachers to differentiate instruction through real time diagnostics and a robust collection of resource materials.

We have taken a Learning Engineering approach to developing these innovative products. Our Learning Engineering team at Age of Learning is interdisciplinary—consisting of curriculum experts, learning scientists, data scientists, design researchers, efficacy researchers, and game developers—and their work applied learning sciences research to inform pedagogy and instructional design, as well as in applications of user-centered research methodologies, evidence-centered design, and learning analytics to drive learning outcomes.

Members of two Age of Learning teams developing, testing, and iterating on the development of these products have recently published chapters in the book Adaptive Instructional Systems. Design and Evaluation, which will be presented at the upcoming HCI International 2021, the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction.

To share their insights, we are highlighting these chapters and presentations and encourage everyone to read and attend if possible.

The post Age of Learning Teams Publish Chapters in Adaptive Instructional Systems. Design and Evaluation, Present at HCI International 2021 Conference first appeared on Age of Learning.

Age of Learning Enters Schools Business — Launches Personalized, Adaptive Early Learning Math Program, My Math Academy

Brand Admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 19:11:00 +0000

My Math Academy provides a proven personalized approach that identifies and addresses learning gaps to accelerate learning.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of My Math Academy, a personalized, adaptive math program for pre-k through second grade. This is the first product offering from Age of Learning’s new Schools Division, which provides schools and districts with standards-based early education programs proven to help teachers differentiate instruction and accelerate learning while helping students achieve mastery.

An independent study of over 1,000 teachers and administrators shows that educators are focused on critical priorities that emerged from school closures in March of 2020, including addressing learning gaps and learner variability among students in the areas of math and reading. Furthermore, the same study found that schools and districts are in need of resources that individualize instruction alongside an experience that is engaging for students to use.

Multiple randomized control trials have shown that students using My Math Academy for as little as 45 minutes a week over a twelve-week period experience significant learning gains, and the children have increased engagement, interest, and confidence in learning math. In fact, the skill levels of students using My Math Academy in the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD) in Texas have more than doubled since implementation of the program during the 2020-2021 school year.

“Our student body in Harlingen is largely economically disadvantaged and our administrators and teachers care deeply about providing each child the high-quality education they deserve. Our district was focused on addressing math deficiencies with our early learners. When we discovered My Math Academy, we were confident that it would be a powerful tool for both our students and teachers,” said Carmen Alvarez, Director, HCISD Early Childhood. “We have seen tremendous results across our classrooms with students fully engaged in math and developing a love of learning, and our teachers have been able to utilize the rich data from this program to differentiate instruction for each child and to track learning growth. Despite the pandemic, our students have been positively impacted, whether they have been learning remotely, in the classroom, or both.”

Powered by learning science and adaptive technology, the program continuously monitors students’ knowledge through embedded assessments, customized direct instruction, and formative feedback. This combination creates individualized learning paths toward mastery of foundational math skills. My Math Academy has earned both the Research-Based Design and Learner Variability product certifications from Digital Promise and is STEMworks certified by WestEd.

My Math Academy provides educators with real-time insights on student progress, accomplishments, and points of struggle, as well as actionable instruction recommendations and guidance on student groupings. These features enable teachers to spend more time teaching and less time assessing.

“Our curriculum and product teams spent six years developing My Math Academy, a truly unique program backed by research and learning science that has been proven to reduce the learning gap,” said Paul Candland, CEO of Age of Learning. “When millions of students began learning at home more than a year ago, we made it a priority to make our flagship products ABCmouse and Adventure Academy available to families in need of high-quality educational resources. We are now extending that effort by getting My Math Academy into the hands of students around the country as quickly as possible to help mitigate the impact of school closures.”

Age of Learning’s new Schools Division, headed by General Manager Sam Bonfante, is responsible for helping administrators and teachers implement My Math Academy in their districts and classrooms. Bonfante joins Age of Learning with 20 years of senior sales management experience within leading media and education publishing companies, most recently at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

For more information on My Math Academy, visit www.ageoflearning.com/schools/mymathacademy.

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