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 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.

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.

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.

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!

The post Age of Learning Schools Division Presenting at NYCSchoolsTech Summit 2021 first appeared on Age of 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.

The post Age of Learning Enters Schools Business — Launches Personalized, Adaptive Early Learning Math Program, My Math Academy first appeared on Age of Learning.

Developed by assessment experts here at Age of Learning, in cooperation with leading education and assessment research organization SRI International, Reading Level Assessments provide children age-appropriate passages and accompanying comprehension questions. The assessments, which take just minutes to complete, dynamically adjust their degree of difficulty in response to each child’s performance. ReadingIQ then recommends books at the appropriate level for the child. As children use ReadingIQ and improve their reading skills, the platform periodically prompts them to retake Reading Level Assessments to adjust their recommended level. Reading Level Assessments are currently available for ReadingIQ families and will be available for ReadingIQ teachers well before the upcoming school year.

ReadingIQ now includes three widely used book leveling systems, Accelerated Reader^®, Lexile^®, and Guided Reading, enabling teachers and parents to use their preferred system to adjust the reading level for each child.

We also announced the launch of ReadingIQ Show What You Know quizzes, a new listening and reading comprehension feature. Show What You Know quizzes provide engaging, voiced questions at the end of ReadingIQ books, helping pre-readers and readers build their comprehension and critical thinking skills.

According to recent nationwide surveys of more than 1,000 teachers and 1,000 parents, two-thirds of parents do not know their child’s reading level, making it difficult to provide appropriate reading materials. And teachers consistently report that children do not spend enough time reading outside of school. We developed ReadingIQ to address these challenges by providing children through 6^thgrade with access to high-quality books that match their interests and reading abilities.

Age of Learning founder and CEO Doug Dohring summed up the benefits of these new ReadingIQ enhancements this way: “ReadingIQ is more than a collection of nearly 10,000 high-quality books–it’s a literacy platform with the goal of developing and advancing children’s reading skills. These latest enhancements help ensure young readers more easily find books at the appropriate reading level to engage, inspire, and delight them.”

Today we also announced the recent launch of PlayCrew, a group consisting of a wide range of educators, parents, and children who test the company’s products and provide direct feedback to inform product design and development. Extensive in-person and remote research sessions with teachers and families helped shape many ReadingIQ capabilities, including the new Reading Level Assessments.

Available on computers, tablets, and smartphones, ReadingIQ offers nearly 10,000 expert-curated titles from leading publishers. To help strengthen the school-home connection around reading, Age of Learning provides the entire ReadingIQ platform at no cost to teachers, with the ability to assign books to their students. ReadingIQ is available at www.ReadingIQ.com and can be downloaded to smartphones and tablets through the Apple App Store or Google Play.

The post Age of Learning Introduces First-of-Their-Kind Reading Level Assessments in ReadingIQ first appeared on Age of Learning.

ReadingIQ

Building on the success of ABCmouse.com® Early Learning Academy, we are bringing the same research-based, educator-led approach to the ReadingIQ digital library. ReadingIQ provides the best of children’s literature, including Caldecott and Newbery award winners, National Geographic and National Geographic Kids books, the complete Boxcar Children series, Curious George, more than 1,000 exclusive titles, and thousands of additional high-quality fiction and nonfiction books from leading publishers.

The entire ReadingIQ library is easily searchable by topic and leveled with both the Guided Reading and Lexile® systems so that children can find titles that match their interests and reading ability. ReadingIQ also includes more than 1,000 professionally voiced titles to support engagement and comprehension for pre-readers and developing readers.

As with ABCmouse, ReadingIQ is available at no cost to teachers for use in their classrooms, with the ability to assign an entire reading level of books to each student to read at home, completely free. Families who would like full home access to all of the ReadingIQ library can subscribe for less than $5 a month or $30 a year. ReadingIQ is available at www.ReadingIQ.com, or can be downloaded to smartphones and tablets through the Apple App Store or Google Play.

According to recent nationwide surveys of more than 1,000 preschool and elementary teachers and 1,000 parents of children 12 and under, sponsored by Age of Learning, lack of access to books is a major challenge for children’s reading development. More than 8,000 elementary schools in the U.S. – 10% of schools – do not have a school library. Yet teachers report that students with access to both physical and digital libraries are significantly more likely to be reading above grade level than peers without such access.

Seven out of 10 teachers report that students would benefit greatly from more parental involvement in reading outside of school, but only one third of parents know their child’s reading level. Moreover, 85% of teachers expect students to read between 15 minutes and one hour per day outside of school, but most students are reading less than the 15-minute daily minimum, and millions are not reading at all. To view our Reading Study, visit www.AgeofLearning.com/readingstudy.

ReadingIQ was created to address these challenges by expanding access to high-quality, high-interest books; strengthening the school-home connection around reading; and encouraging consistent at-home reading. In addition to making entire reading levels of books available for students to read at home for free, ReadingIQ enables teachers to set daily reading challenges, parents to create profiles for up to three children, and parents and teachers to track students’ reading progress.

“When kids master reading in elementary school, it sets them on a path to success for the rest of their lives, but only one third of fourth graders are proficient readers,” said Dr. Rebecca Palacios, member of Age of Learning’s Curriculum Board and the National Teachers Hall of Fame. “ReadingIQ is a game-changer for parents and teachers, giving all children a greater opportunity to become fluent and engaged readers.”

The post Introducing ReadingIQ, an Expert-Curated Digital Library  first appeared on Age of Learning.

According to the Nation’s Report Card, more than 6 out of 10 U.S. 4th graders are not reading at grade level. For low-income students at high-poverty schools, that number is worse: 8 in 10 are not proficient.

To understand some of the causes of this reading gap and identify solutions to help close it, Age of Learning recently conducted nationwide surveys of more than 1,000 parents and 1,000 teachers of children ages 2 to 12. Participants reported on children’s access to books and reading habits, and described what they see as the major obstacles to developing confident and successful readers. The data reveals three important factors contributing to the reading gap.

Read the full study to learn about these findings…

The post National Children’s Reading Habits Study: Understanding the Reading Gap and How to Help Close It first appeared on Age of Learning.

See a full list of our new back-to-school features and capabilities for teachers and schools here.

The post Back-to-School 2018: A New Teacher Experience first appeared on Age of Learning.