If I take the time to try top pull together my FETC reaction, this issue will be even later than it already is. Let me just report that though attendance seemed a bit light, energy was high. Organizer expected to host about 8,500 attendees, down from the show's glory days, but still a substantial turnout. The exhibitors I spoke with were quite satisfied. They noted that Exhibit Hall traffic was steady and that the people they were talking with were not just out browsing, but were looking for solutions to specific problems and ready to buy when they found what they wanted.

Lead of the Week A LEAD FOR YOU FROM QED's SCHOOL PURCHASING MONITOR
QED's School Purchasing Monitor is a subscription service that delivers daily email updates of what schools across the nation are planning to purchase -- from construction and equipment to curriculum and supplemental materials. To give you a preview of the service, each week we will publish one representative bid opportunity. For more information see www.qeddata.com/schoolfunding.htm.

WHAT: Online Assessment System Software and Hosting
WHO: Georgia Department of Education
CONTACT: Ann Maize, (404) 656-5916
DUE DATE: 04/14/2006 - Mandatory Pre-bid Meeting

Feature Story As Teaching Commission Closes Doors as Planned, It Issues Barely Passing Grades; Final Report Points to Significant Gains, Unfinished Business

WASHINGTON, DC – The Teaching Commission, the non-profit advocacy organization founded by former IBM chairman and CEO Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., this morning released a final report urging state and local leaders to go “far further, far faster” in transforming the teaching profession. The message comes as the Commission ends its work on schedule, three years after its inception.

“If teaching remains a second-rate profession, America's economy will be driven by second-rate skills,” said Gerstner. “We can wake up today—or we can have a rude awakening sooner than we think.”

Find the full story here.

K-12 Market HeadlinesJoint Education Venture Pairs Riverdeep and Microsoft

(Riverdeep Inc., March 23, 2006)
The joint education venture integrates the Riverdeep Learning Village® instructional portal and Destination Success® content and curriculum with Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4508

MIND Institute Introduces New ST Math™: Early Middle School Intervention Software

(MIND Institute, March 23, 2006)
ST Math™: Early Middle School Intervention teaches students crucial prerequisite math standards from elementary school, which they have not yet mastered, but which are required for success in middle school math and in preparation for pre-algebra or algebra courses.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4509

CDI Computers and RM PLC Launch the Mobile One Notebook Designed for Education

(RM PLC, March 22, 2006)
The RM Mobile One is robust enough to be moved around continuously, secure enough not to be damaged by meddling fingers and has a featureset that teachers and school technicians have requested.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4510

Evan-Moor Teacher File Box Offers Just-In-Time Downloads of Pre-K-6 Teaching Activities

(Evan-Moor Educational Publishers, March 22, 2006)
Tailoring lessons for children with a broad range of skills and learning styles is a daily challenge—and time-strapped teachers need all the help they can get. Evan-Moor introduces TeacherFileBox.com, a print on-demand library containing thousands of supplemental learning activities across the entire elementary school curriculum.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4511

LearningSoft's New Indigo Learning System Combines Formative Assessment with Handheld Computing

(LearningSoft, March 22, 2006)
LearningSoft's new Indigo Learning System incorporates both concepts via a wireless network and handheld devices that deliver fluid assessment and powerful student computing for the K-12 classroom. The handheld devices are comfortable to use and feature a thumb keyboard, 90 MHz ARM processor, high-resolution gray screen, integrated wireless networking, and stereo sound.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4512

netTrekker d.i. Matches Online Resources with Students' Reading Levels ; Thinkronize Is the First Company To Apply Lexile(R) Framework To Online Resources

(Thinkronize, Inc., March 22, 2006)
Because the use of online resources for learning has become an everyday occurrence, Thinkronize, Inc., the developer of the netTrekker suite, has assigned readability ratings to its bank of online resources for the classroom.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4513

Pearson Digital Learning Enhances Knowledgebox System with Sophisticated System Tools and New Lessons

(Pearson Digital Learning, March 22, 2006)
KnowledgeBox 4.0, a K-6 digital learning system, takes its national and state standards alignment to a new level by allowing teachers to drill down to the objective level. KnowledgeBox 4.0 also features 11 new lessons across content areas and 240 updated pre-built lessons.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4515

Pearson Education Launches Online Assessment and Remediation System

(Pearson Education, March 22, 2006)
Pearson Education launched Success Tracker, an online, whole-class assessment and remedial management system aligned with textbook content and state standards and designed to help teachers monitor Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and provide easy-to-use tools to help students improve.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4516

STI, Alabama Association of School Boards and Fairbanks LLC, Partner To Help Schools Reclaim Millions in Medicaid Funding

(STI, March 22, 2006)
STI, the nation's leading provider of education data management solutions for K-12 schools, has partnered with Fairbanks LLC and the Alabama Association of School Boards (AASB) to assist Alabama school systems in tracking special education services and facilitating the Medicaid billing process.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4517

Sunburst Technology Launches New Version of Let's Go Learn's Diagnostic Online Math and Reading Assessments

(Sunburst Technology, March 22, 2006)
Sunburst will launch a new version of Let's Go Learn as an essential assessment tool that it will debut through its new “Sunburst Learning Solutions” program. Through this program, educational specialists work with schools and districts to customize and create targeted intervention solutions to improve students' achievement.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4518

TechLiteracy Assessment(TM) by Learning.com Helps Districts Measure K-8 Students' Proficiency with Information and Communication Technology

(Learning.com, March 22, 2006)
Learning.com today announces nationwide availability of TechLiteracy Assessment, a new online authentic assessment tool to measure elementary and middle school students' proficiency with information and communication technology. .
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4519

Texas Regional Collaboratives Use Mentorship Training Model To Inspire Excellence in Science Teaching

(Fourier Systems, March 22, 2006)
The Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science Teaching (TRC) is partnering with Fourier Systems to meet a large-scale goal of improving elementary science performance, by providing training along with materials.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4520

Thomson Delmar Learning and Project Lead the Way Collaborate on New Pre-Engineering Curriculum; New Textbook Series To Support Pre-Engineering in High Schools and Middle Schools

(Thomson Delmar Learning, March 22, 2006)
Under the agreement, Thomson Delmar Learning will produce either adaptations of existing texts or wholly new works that, when combined with the Project Lead The Way curriculum materials, form integrated learning packages for nine courses.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4521

Promethean Increases Teacher Collaboration Capability, Multimedia Support with Release of Activstudio 2.5 for PC

(Promethean, March 21, 2006)
Promethean released Activstudio 2.5, the latest version of its lesson development software. The new release facilitates streamlined lesson development, incorporates additional interactive teaching tools and provides features to maximize the investment of existing multimedia resources.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4522

Scholastic Education Launches FX Books Collection To Engage Struggling Adolescent Readers While Building Phonics Skills

(Scholastic Education, March 21, 2006)
Scholastic Education launched Scholastic FX Books, a new collection of 24 high-interest, age-appropriate fiction and nonfiction texts for struggling readers and English-language learners in middle school and high school. The collection is designed for students who need to practice and review essential phonics concepts.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4523

ETS's 90 New CriterionSM Topics Prove Popular With Educators

(ETS, March 20, 2006)
ETS announced today that since it added 90 new essay topics to its CriterionSM Online Writing Evaluation three months ago, more than 40,000 essays have been submitted and scored on those topics alone.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4524

GTCO CalComp's InterWrite Interactive Classroom Chosen Solution for More than 1,000 Seventh-Day Adventist Schools in North America

(GTCO CalComp, March 20, 2006)
CalComp Inc. announced a national partnership with the North American Division Office of Education (“NAD”) for the Seventh Day Adventist. NAD's 1,000 K-12 schools and 15 colleges will be able to purchase InterWrite interactive products and software at special pricing and be serviced through a dedicated reseller channel.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4525

Chicago Public Schools Selects SAFARI Montage for Video-on-Demand Solution

(Library Video Company, March 16, 2006)
Library Video Company announced that Chicago Public Schools has recently selected SAFARI Montage as its enterprise video-on-demand solution for 182 schools, grades K-12, to improve visual learning in the classroom via digital technology.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4526

School Districts Across Southeast Kansas and New York Connect with a Vast Selection of Media and Curriculum Resources

(CLEARVUE & SVE, March 16, 2006)
PowerMediaPlus.com has teamed up with the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center (Greenbush) and six New York BOCES systems to bring digital media to school districts across the regions, CLEARVUE & SVE announced today.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4527

New, Electronic, Spanish/English GED Test Prep Materials Now Available from InterLingua Educational Publishing

(InterLingua Educational Publishing, March 10, 2006)
InterLingua has translated and published on CD-ROMs the excellent GED preparatory series developed by Thomson Peterson's, one of the world's largest educational publishers. Presented in both English and Spanish on mirror image pages, the five CD-ROM set is the most extensive preparation tool available
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4528

Higher Ed Headlines

University of San Francisco Turns to SunGard Higher Education To Help Unify its Digital Campus

(SunGard Higher Education, March 22, 2006)
The University of San Francisco (USF) has chosen SunGard Higher Education Solutions to help build a stronger community and increase student participation in the University, SunGard Higher Education announced today. USF is a premier Jesuit Catholic University and one of the country's most ethnically diverse student bodies.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4529

Eduventures' Examination Of Online Higher Education Marketing Shows Institutions Losing Battle in Fight for Distinction in Competitive Market

(Eduventures LLC, March 21, 2006)
In the face of stiffening competition in the online higher education market, online institutions are struggling to identify and communicate a position of competitive advantage that resonates with consumers, according to an analysis of selected online institutions' websites by Eduventures LLC.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4530

Internet/Telecom

Newbridge Publishing Looks to EdGate Correlation Services and Cuesta Technologies for a Unique Web-Based Solution That Matches Product Correlations with E-Commerce

(EdGate Correlation Services, March 22, 2006)
Newbridge Educational Publishing has joined forces with two of the industry's top educational technology companies. EdGate Correlation Services and Cuesta Technologies have collaborated to bring standards correlations to Newbridge's already powerful Online Catalog and Web site.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4514

New Standards Engine within Sunburst's Quickmind.Net Learning Environment Provides the Highest Standards Alignment Possible for Activities and Resources

(Sunburst Technology, March 22, 2006)
Sunburst Technology announced that its QuickMind.net online learning environment has a powerful new standards engine that provides up-to-date standards for all 50 states in the U.S. and aligns the lowest level benchmark for each state to every activity and resource in QuickMind.net.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4531

SchoolSpan Sponsors Authorship of First National Rubric for School Web Sites

(SchoolSpan, March 22, 2006)
SchoolSpan sponsored the authorship of the first national rubric for district web site development. “Building Blocks to Electronic Communication” represents the first attempt to standardize web publishing methodology on a national level.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4532

Texthelp Systems, Inc. Announces the Latest Version of Browsealoud To Speech-Enable Websites, Improving Accessability

(Texthelp Systems, Inc., March 22, 2006)
Texthelp Systems, Inc. announced Browsealoud 3.1, the latest version of its text-to-speech software that reads website content out loud for those with literacy difficulties, dyslexia, mild visual impairments, and where English is a Second language.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4533

New Mexico Purchases Scholastic's Grolier Online's® La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre for all Libraries in the State

(Scholastic Library Publishing, March 20, 2006)
New Mexicans statewide can now enjoy free unlimited access to La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre from Grolier Online— the extraordinary educational portal designed to make research easier and more productive. Cumbre will be available state-wide to public school students, customers of public libraries, and attendees of New Mexico's institutions of higher learning.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4534

International Headlines

Financials/Mergers/Corporate

LearningSoft Awarded Patent for Adaptive Assessment System

(LearningSoft, March 20, 2006)
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted LearningSoft LLC, a hand-held computing and assessment company, Patent No. 6,988,096. Entitled “Adaptive Content Delivery System And Method,” the patent covers the company's proprietary Learningtracä adaptive assessment system.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4535

ETS Acquires Assets of Assessment Training Institute (ATI); Combination Broadens ETS's Products and Services in K-12 Education Market

(ETS, March 8, 2006)
ETS has acquired the assets of Assessment Training Institute (ATI), which specializes in helping educators improve student achievement by integrating classroom assessment with day-to ATI, based in Portland, Oregon, provides research-based professional development to teachers and school leaders to improve their use of formative assessment in the classroom to support student learning.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4536

Product Announcements
DyKnow Selected by Microsoft as One of 10 Independent Software Vendors to Participate in UMPC ISV Early Adopter Program

(DyKnow, March 21, 2006)
Microsoft has selected DyKnow as one of 10 independent software vendors (ISV) to participate in the Ultra-Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC) ISV Early Adopter Program. The program is designed to help ISVs optimize their software to support the UMPC and take their applications to market.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4537

EASI and TecAccess Partner To Enable Accessible Technology for All

(Equal Access to Software and Information, March 15. 2006)
EASI and TecAccess LLC today announced a strategic partnership that builds on the mission of both organizations to reach a new and expanding audience in the push for more accessible electronic and information technology for all users regardless of age or disability.
http://www.qeddata.com/myaccount/ViewArticle.aspx?Id=4538

The Snoop is in sunny Orlando this week for the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC)! Things are busy and good…it is only mid-week now, but here is the news thus far this week..

Paul Presley , recently with Mobile County (AL) Public Schools System, has joined STI as Chief Technology Officer. A veteran of the technology industry experienced in enterprise architecture and business development, Paul will be responsible for providing the vision and direction for STI product development. He will pave the way for more robust data systems integration and best-in-class web-based offerings that further enhance the user experience. Please join me in warmly congratulating Paul on his new position.

Jessie Woolley-Wilson , Executive Vice President of LeapFrog Enterprises and President of the Education & Training Group, has joined the Board of Directors of the National Education Association (NEA) Foundation for the Improvement of Education . The NEA Foundation provides grants to public schools and employees for professional development, teacher retention, arts education and improving achievement for minority students. It supports a variety of efforts by teachers, education support professionals and higher education faculty and staff to improve student learning in the nation's public schools, colleges and universities. The NEA Foundation's partners include corporations, foundations, associations and individuals; foremost among its partners are the 2.7 million members of the NEA, all of whom contribute annually to the foundation's endowment. Board member duties include determining the foundation's mission and purposes, ensuring effective organizational planning and raising funds in support of the foundation's programs and services. Please join me in sending warm congratulations to Jessie on this wonderful appointment.

I missed seeing Paget Hetherington , recently with Soliloquy Learning, at FETC, but she is focused on a new job at Teachscape as Sales Executive for New England. She is busy developing the New England region for the company. She reports that she is thrilled to join their talented team and strongly supports their philosophy and approach to professional development. Send your best wishes to Paget on her new position.

Tom O'Brien dropped me a note this week to let me know that one of his papers on the use of handheld computers to promote inferential thinking in children is currently the lead article on the international Handheld Learning Forum that is based in London. Tom added that the Forum is the leading community of academics and educators working in the field of handheld and mobile computing in learning. He encourages any of you to take a look ( www.handheldlearning.co.uk/content/view/24/2/ ) and add your reactions to his paper to keep the discussions flowing.

Patric Edmondson has been promoted to Vice President of Development at Campus Management Corporation . He had formerly been Director of Product Development and Integration and prior to Campus Management, Patric was Deputy CIO for Broward County (FL). And also at Campus Management, Bennett Klein , recently with Citrix Systems, has been appointed Director of Marketing. He brings over 15 years broad marketing knowledge and experience having held senior and executive level marketing positions at a number of international technology leaders. Please join me in warmly congratulating these two gentlemen on their new positions!

Dr. Mary Ann Wolf has been named to lead the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) following the recent resignation of Melinda George, as reported by the Snoop last week. Mary Ann will be responsible for leading the direction of the organization, including policy recommendations regarding No Child Left Behind (NCLB), development of membership professional development services and sharing data about the Enhancing Education Through Technology grant program to federal policymakers. She will also continue working with key partners to emphasize the role of educational technology in data and accountability, teacher quality and student achievement. The very capable Mary Ann has more than 13 years of experience in educational leadership, administration and policy planning. Prior to this position she was SETDA's Deputy Executive Director. And Sara Hall , who was SETDA's Director of Strategic Relations, will take over for Mary Ann as SETDA's Deputy Executive Director where she will further develop the organization's corporate partnership program, tools and resources, conferences and partnerships. Please join me in sending warm congratulations to these two talented women.

I enjoyed meeting Kevin Alansky , Director, Marketing, Discovery Education , who joined the company's great team about four months ago. He had previously been with Blackboard and reports he is loving his new position. I hope you got to meet him in Orlando, but if not, join me in congratulating him on his (relatively!) new position.

Our friend Carol Marcotte , recently with School Specialty Children's Publishing, is currently working as a consultant to Words & Numbers , focusing on development and services in the areas of math, science and technology.

Well, you know the Snoop loves those pictures, especially baby pictures… Bob O'Dell , President, eInformation Strategies , and proud new grandpa, showed me pictures of the beautiful Alexis. He will be heading to Connecticut after FETC to start his spoiling responsibilities! Bob was busy in Orlando making lots of connections in conjunction with his new consulting business. I predict he is going to be very busy indeed. And Allison Knapp , Western Regional Account Manager, Technology & Learning , had pictures of her adorable twins, son Cole and daughter Tyler, who are almost 8 months old. I think she could sign these two up as models, and let me tell you, they demonstrate their own fashion flair in hats!

The very special Christine Whelan, The Greaves Group , was seen celebrating her birthday while representing client Fourier in the C. Blohm & Associates media suite. Charlene made sure the occasion was heralded with a yummy-looking birthday cake and wine. Raise your virtual toast to our friend Chris and send your own birthday wishes.

And the Snoop has returned tonight from one of our DOLS (Dirty Old Ladies of Software) dinners. DOLS Mom Ellen Bialo outdid herself again in planning for our networking and fun event. I am so blessed by the friendships of these women and love the networking and sharing with long-time friends while we get to know and welcome the DYLS (Dirty Young Ladies of Software) into our midst.

The Snoop has been enjoying her conversations with this year's EdNET Industry Advisory Board, as we start building the programming for the conference. We have an outstanding board of executives on this year's Board! Let me introduce them to you:
- Rachelle Cracchiolo , President and CEO, Teacher Created Materials
- Christopher Curran , Managing Director, Berkery, Noyes & Co.
- Keith Garton , Senior Vice President, Publishing and Licensing, Weekly Reader Publishing
- Pat Henry , Director of Marketing & Business Development, Promethean Inc.
- Ken Kay , Chairman and Co-Founder, Infotech Strategies
- Bill Kelly , CEO & Chairman, Learning.com
- Leanna Landsmann, Leanna Landsmann Inc.
- Julie McGee , President and CEO, Harcourt Achieve, Professional And Trade
- Kevin Pawsey , VP, International, RM Educational Software, Inc.
- Anthony Salocito , General Manager, U.S. Enterprise - Education, Microsoft Corporation
- Tom Schenck , President, Follett Software Company
- Mike Soules , Vice President, Sales and Business Development, Teachscape
I am privileged to work with these individuals who have generously volunteered their time and expertise to help shape the dialogue for EdNET 2006 . Be sure you have EdNET marked on your calendar - September 17-19th in Boston. You won't want to miss the networking or the program!

I have lots more scoops to fill you in on next week - lots of news breaking at FETC this week. Let me nail down the details, and I will share more with you next week. Be well, friends - Vicki, the Snoop

What's happening that you'd like to share? Do you have personal news or know about promotions or job moves? Submit contributions to bighamv@aol.com to share them with the ed tech community.

The Heller Reports/Quality Education Data News Alert

The Heller Reports/Quality Education Dta News Alert is edited by Anne Wujcik, Education Analyst for Quality Education Data. If you have news or information pertinent to the industry, please contact Anne at anne@hellerreports.com. News Alert uses press releases and other news resources as sources for its contents. The material presented in each issue is not independently verified; readers are advised that press releases reflect the views of those issuing them.

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