The March will also serve as a fundraiser supporting United Way of New York City’s programmatic work with the New York City Department of Education including ReadNYC, an initiative started in Mott Haven to improve early-grade reading, and EducateNYC, which supports the NYC Community Schools Initiative.

“This March is a call to all New Yorkers to support our city’s students and teachers,” said Sheena Wright, President and CEO, UWNYC. “I am so grateful for the enthusiasm we are already seeing from not only our partners and sponsors, but from New Yorkers across the city as well. United Way of New York City invites all New Yorkers to come join us on October 13th as we march to support our public schools.”

This celebratory March kicks off with a VIP invite only breakfast honoring teachers at the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) NYC headquarters and concludes with an open-to-the-general-public K-12 family festival with student performers, bands, cheerleaders and choirs.

The “Future Festival” will feature a curated art tent showcasing the best art submitted and judged by a prominent committee and an arts and crafts zone where kids may make their own. The story time tent presented by Scholastic, Age of Learning, and Amazon will feature children’s authors reading throughout the day. Featured readers will include TODAY’s Willie Geist. The Future Festival will also showcase a pop-up shopping village, presented by CHASE and Essence Magazine, featuring small, local, women, minority and veteran-owned businesses. The festival is from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., free and open to the general public.

Age of Learning is proud to be partnering with UWNYC to support NYC students and teachers and will be on site demonstrating how ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy’s research-validated curriculum engages and educates young learners.

“We share United Way of New York City’s commitment to fundamentally improving early reading skills by effectively supporting students, families, and teachers,” said Doug Dohring, founder and Executive Chairman of Age of Learning. “Expanding on the thousands of classroom teachers and tens of thousands of families in New York City that are currently using ABCmouse and ReadingIQ, we are excited to grow our partnership with the United Way to help more young students build a strong foundation for academic success.”

The festival will include special performances by: 10-year-old DJ Annie Red, 12-year-old Drag Kid “Desmond is Amazing”, Coney Island’s teen rapper Lil Dee, LaGuardia High School Show Choir, LaGuardia High School Jazz Band, Brooklyn School of the Arts Creative Artist Ensemble, Brooklyn Tech’s Organized CHAOS, Brooklyn Tech’s Lady Dragon Steppers, The Big Apple Circus, Rock Bands for Kids, Dancing Classrooms Youth Dance Company. Panel discussions and VIP interviews led by 13-year-old Scholastic Kids Press reporter Amelia Poor will take place on the main stage. Come meet PwC’s Code-E the Robot and join 12-year-old “Chelsea Chats” talking Currency Conversations with her mom and grandmother. Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures Dental Van will provide free dental education, screenings and treatment referrals to children up to 12 years old.

For more information on how interested individuals and companies can join in marching, starting a fundraising team within their organization, performing at the festival, or becoming a sponsor,  email jwaks@uwnyc.org. Everyone is invited to march with no fundraising minimum. Key person interviews available in advance or on-site day of event.

The post Age of Learning Supports United Way of New York City, NYC Students and Teachers, and the “March United for Public Schools” first appeared on Age of Learning.

In February, we held a friendly internal “competition” where we asked Age of Learning staff to form teams and submit design concepts for these two beautification projects. Our talented designers and visual artists came up with six creative, original mural concepts to delight the students, and three teachers’ lounge proposals, which we shared with the school to vote on.

According to Western Ave.’s principal, Dr. Shilby Sims, selecting a single favorite for each project was difficult because of the quality of the submissions. Writing to thank us, she expressed that they were, “Simply amazing! Thank you all so much for caring for us and for our students in this profound way. I’m so moved and grateful. I’m not sure how we’re supposed to pick! The talent is insane!”

After the winning design concepts were chosen, more than 70 staff members from all departments, plus family members, arrived at the school to bring the concepts to life. We truly enjoyed contributing our time to this cause, bonding with our colleagues, and feeling connected to the community.

The post Age of Learning’s First Staff Volunteer Day Helps Transform Local Elementary School first appeared on Age of Learning.

The discussion, moderated by our SVP of Strategy Sunil Gunderia, provided a fascinating look at how machine learning and big data are impacting millions of students around the world and creating new professional opportunities. Speakers included Age of Learning’s Director of Data Science and Learning Elizabeth Owen PhD, alongside Armen Toorian, Professor of Robotics and Engineering at Glendale Community College and Mechanical Engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The speakers focused on three key themes: How digital learning resources expand access to education, how machine learning can help improve educational outcomes for K–12 students, and how understanding coding can improve students’ job prospects. Here are some highlights from the discussion:

Access

We are living through an exciting time when more and more people have digital access to educational content through relatively low-cost devices. This is the case both for our youngest learners and for aspiring professionals. At Age of Learning, we expect to serve more than six million children on ABCmouse this year alone! Some of these children will be reached through our partnerships with public libraries, schools, and community centers—we provide ABCmouse at no cost to these institutions. And Massive Open Online Course platforms such as Coursera are making it possible for higher education to transcend time and place. One million students signed up for Andrew Ng’s course on machine learning, allowing students from around the globe to learn from this influential thinker.

Outcomes

In the U.S., we are systematically failing most of our young learners when it comes to foundational skills. By the time children reach fourth grade, only 40% of them are proficient in math and 36% in reading (Source: The Nation’s Report Card). “In this age of big data, we have the opportunity to leverage the computational power that’s available to us to understand and drive educational outcomes,” said Sunil. Through products such as ABCmouse Mastering Math, we can support students’ individualized needs at a large scale. “When done well, it’s like having your own personal tutor,” said Liz.

Employability

As the largest education technology employer in the greater Los Angeles area, with nearly 600 employees, we understand the high demand for trained professionals across several technical disciplines, including software engineering. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that by 2020 there will be 1.4 million computer science jobs available but only 400,000 qualified graduates to fill them. We can do more as a society to prepare students for careers in coding and machine learning. It begins with understanding data, engaging in project-based learning, and using tools to bring ideas to life. Liz noted that “computational literacy is a basic literacy of our time,” and Armen added that “every single person in this room should know how to program.”

Glendale Tech Week 2017 offered a fun and inspiring environment through panels, site tours, and networking events. We look forward to participating in future events as we continue to partner with Glendale schools, libraries, and community centers to help make a difference in early learning.

The post Age of Learning Talks Machine Learning and Education at Glendale Tech Week 2017 first appeared on Age of Learning.

The room erupted with applause.

Mr. Carvalho also noted that we already know from research what works in early education to help all young children become 3^rd-grade ready, so there’s no excuse for inaction.

The summit was sponsored by Age of Learning to help superintendents from across the country share ideas, best practices, and resources related to early learning. Mr. Carvalho gave a keynote address and engaged in an informal chat with Age of Learning Chairman Sky Dayton about the intersection of technology and education, and the participating superintendents discussed effective approaches to meeting the early learning challenge.

The Age of Learning for Schools team also shared how ABCmouse for Schools helps children from age 2 through 2^nd grade build a strong foundation for academic success and become 3^rd-grade ready.

We look forward to continuing to work with school leaders and other educators to help make 3^rd-grade readiness a walk in the park instead of a walk on the moon.

The post Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho Calls for 3rd Grade Readiness ‘Moon Shot’ at Age of Learning – AASA Event first appeared on Age of Learning.

Families In Schools (FIS) is the leading organization working in Los Angeles and beyond to strengthen family engagement as a critical component of school reform and improved student outcomes. FIS’s mission is to involve parents and communities in their children’s education, recognizing that students are more likely to succeed when schools, families, and communities partner to support student learning. In its first 10 years, FIS has helped over 140,000 families through school and community partnership programs.

FIS’s Passport to Success education initiative is designed to help address what educators call the “summer slide” —the common and problematic learning loss experienced by many children over their summer vacation. The program encourages families to explore free and low-cost learning activities throughout the summertime. These activities can include visiting the public library to check out books or to use digital learning resources; learning about animals at the zoo or aquarium; and going to museums, science centers, and other cultural and educational institutions. Age of Learning has partnered with FIS to make ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy available through Passport to Success as an effective, low-cost resource for families to combat the summer slide.

How critical is the summer slide? Children who aren’t engaged in regular summer learning can lose up to one month of academic progress each year. So even if they ended the previous school year on track, they enter the new school year behind. This learning loss can be cumulative, leading to serious academic deficiencies over time. By the end of 6th grade, children who don’t practice their reading skills over the summer can be two years behind their peers.

The challenge is that young children often choose more traditionally “fun” activities over learning—especially during the summer. But highly engaging learning resources can help prevent the summer slide by getting children to make learning an important part of their summer vacation.

Age of Learning is looking forward to partnering with Families In Schools to support additional initiatives during the upcoming school year.

The post A Partnership to Help Prevent the Summer Slide first appeared on Age of Learning.