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Volume 3, Number 7, July 13, 2007 |
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| Editor's Note | |
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The U.S. Department of Education approved two more states – Arizona and Alaska -- for participation in its pilot program meant to test whether growth models can be fair, reliable and innovative methods to measure student improvement and to hold schools accountable for results under No Child Left Behind. Eight states now have full approval – Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Tennessee – and Ohio has conditional approval. The Department has indicated that it plans to approve no more than 10 states, so that leaves one more state still to be approved Growth models track individual student achievement from one year to the next, giving schools credit for student improvement over time. The pilot is a step in the right direction in terms of better aligning NCLB's accountability requirements with the real world conditions under which school operate. Anyone who's taught will recognize the frustration associated with making real progress with an individual child and not getting the credit because you failed to bring that child – who may have entered your classroom two to three years behind – to grade level. There's discussion of allowing more – or all – states to use growth models under NCLB's reauthorization. While that sounds good, a number of states are simply not ready for that. If a state is struggling to accurately report group progress, moving to tracking individual progress in a meaningful way will not be easy. And adopting a growth model still does not address the deeper question of what it is we want students to learn and what are the best measures to asses if that learning has occurred. The National Education Association held its annual convention last week. Seven Democratic presidential hopefuls and one Republican -- former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- addressed the delegates. In general, NEA delegates are not big fans of NCLB and all the candidates played to that bias, blaming the law's accountability requirements and the resulting emphasis on testing for many of education's current ills. The Democrats also lined up behind increased pay for teachers, while tiptoeing around more controversial issues like merit pay. It may be too much to expect real discussion of serious issues in a setting like the NEA Convention, but one can only hope that as the field narrows and public attention begins to focus more on the race for the White House, candidates will make an effort to encourage a national discussion on what it is Americans really want from their schools and how we might get there. I know many of you are selective readers and may have breezed over this issue's opening ad, asking for your input to a short survey QED is conducting on direct marketing practices in the education marketplace. Our readers have deep and unique insights and experiences in the education market that we hope to draw on to help us develop benchmarks and an overview of direct marketing best practices. Several months ago QED conducted a similar survey focused on integrated marketing communication. We used those insights to help shape a Heller Reports' Virtual Roundtable on integrated marketing and crafted the results into a short report that can be downloaded at the QED website ( http://www.qeddata.com/MarketKno/ResearchReports/IntegratedMarketing.pdf ). Results from the direct marketing survey will also be reported in the aggregate on QED's web site, protecting your privacy while growing the industry's knowledge base. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XjAXOW0Qx9gjS1Y77sf7JA_3d_3d And thank you! |
Lead of the Week A
LEAD FOR YOU FROM QED's SCHOOL PURCHASING MONITOR WHAT: Desktop Computer Refresh Program |
Contents Feature
Story K-12 Market Headlines Higher Ed Market Headlines Internet/Telecom Financials/Mergers/Corporate Product
Announcements She Snoops for Scoops: The
Personal Side of the EdNET |
Feature Story Secretary Spellings Approves Additional Growth Model Pilots for 2006-2007 School Year Washington, D.C. — U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced approval of two high-quality growth models, which follow the bright-line principles of No Child Left Behind. Alaska and Arizona are immediately approved to use the growth model for the 2006-2007 school year. To date, eight states have been fully approved to implement their growth models. In May 2006, North Carolina and Tennessee received full approval for the 2005-2006 school year. Last November, Delaware and Arkansas received full approval for the 2006-2007 school year. Additionally, Florida was conditionally approved by the Department in November and received full approval on June 26 to implement their growth model for the 2006-2007 school year. Ohio's growth model was approved in May on the condition that the state adopt a uniform minimum group size for all subgroups, including students with disabilities and limited English proficient students, in AYP determinations for the 2006-2007 school year. The Department plans to approve no more than 10 high-quality growth models for the pilot program. Find the full story here. |
K-12 Market HeadlinesHomewood-Flossmoor High School (3,600 Students) Selects CCC! Video on Demand (New Dimension Media, July 12, 2007) Pepperidge Farm® Goldfish® Crackers Continues Its Commitment to Children with City Year Sponsorship (Pepperidge Farm, Incorporated, July 10, 2007) Research-Based Model for Teaching Writing Used in SRA Imagine It! Helps Struggling Students (SRA/McGraw-Hill, July 10, 2007) SRA/McGraw-Hill Expands Number Worlds, Math Intervention Tool, To Middle School (SRA/McGraw-Hill, July 10, 2007) Channel One Partners with NBC News for Its Daily Award-Winning Newscast (Channel One, July 9, 2007 Hawaii Department of Education Partners with TrueNorthLogic for Comprehensive Professional Development Management (TrueNorthLogic, July 9, 2007) Kershaw County School District Installs Crisis Management System (Kershaw County School District, July 9, 2007) Trenton, NJ and Bridgeport, CT Participate in RAND Evaluation of Carnegie Learning Math Curriculum (Carnegie Learning, Inc., July 5, 2007) Adobe Ships Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Master Collection (Adobe Systems Incorporated, July 2, 2007) Curriculum Advantage Joins with MetaMetrics To Add Lexiles to New Classworks Science Instruction (Curriculum Advantage, Inc., July 2, 2007) Rye Neck Union Free School District Standardizes on Interwrite Learning Boards and Pads (Interwrite Learning, July 2, 2007) Atomic Learning Partners with the Florida Digital Educator Program (Atomic Learning, June 26, 2007) Software & Information Industry Association Releases Software Implementation Toolkit for Educators (SIIA, June 25, 2007) WGBH Teachers' Domain Announces Open Educational Resources Special Collection (Teachers' Domain, June 25, 2007) |
Higher Ed Headlines Blackboard Unveils Plagiarism Prevention Service(Blackboard Inc., July 10, 2007) Accelerating ELL: Vantage Learning and Thomson ELT Announce Global Agreement To Support ELL Students (Vantage Learning, July 9, 2007) Texas Tech University System Selects Solutions from SunGard Higher Education To Help Implement a Unified Digital Campus Environment (SunGard Higher Education, July 9, 2007) Security With Advanced Technology To Install Security System at Western Nebraska Community College (Security With Advanced Technology, Inc., July 5, 2007) |
Internet/Telecom Florida Virtual School Launches Global School(Florida Virtual School, July 10, 2007) LearningStation and Kan-ed Multi-year Agreement Supports Kansas Schools, Libraries and Hospitals (LearningStation, July 10, 2007) Digication Surpasses 1,000th School Milestone in First Academic Year (Digication, Inc., July 9, 2007) VIP Tone and San Mateo County Office of Education Extend Learning Beyond Traditional Classroom Walls (VIP Tone, Inc., June 28, 2007) |
International Headlines
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Financials/Mergers/Corporate Haights Cross Communications Enters into Recapitalization Agreement (Haights Cross Communications, Inc., July 6, 2007) ESM Solutions Corporation Acquires Freerain Systems; Freerain's Bid Information Management Solution To Complement Sourcing Suite (ESM Solutions Corporation, July 5, 2007) |
Product Announcements (Don Johnston Incorporated, July 9, 2007) Don Johnston Incorporated will host its 26th annual Technology Reading & Learning Diversity (TRLD) conference in 2008, from Thursday, January 24 to Saturday, January 26, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero Center, San Francisco. The 2008 keynote speaker will be Donald J. Leu, co-director of the New Literacies Research Lab at the University of Connecticut. Performance Pathways Announces SIF Agent for Performance Tracker (Performance Pathways, Inc., July 3, 2007) Performance Pathways, Inc. announced the development of its Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) Agent for its Performance Tracker software. In partnership with Integrity Technology Solutions, a leading provider of Schools Interoperability Framework services, Performance Pathways will be certified and have the new SIF Agent available to schools this fall. Tabula Digita Announces Winners of First Annual National Multiplayer Educational Game Tournament; Students Use Math Mastery To Best Tournament Competitors (Tabula Digita, June 28, 2007) |
| She Snoops for Scoops: The Personal Side of the EdNET | |
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Happy end of another week, everyone! Sit back and enjoy your scoops…. Scholastic Corporation has announced that that Cynthia Augustine has joined the company as Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Employee Services. She will be a member of the company's Management Executive Committee and will report to Scholastic Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, and CFO Maureen O'Connell. Prior to joining Scholastic, Cynthia was Senior Vice President of Talent Management for Time Warner, where she oversaw executive and staff development, global recruitment and executive search, and diversity programs. Before joining Time Warner, she was SVP of Human Resources at The New York Times Company, with responsibility for organizational development, compensation and benefits, and employee relations. She was also President of The New York Times Company Broadcast Group, where she was responsible for the improved performance of eight network affiliate television stations and a radio station. An attorney, Cynthia also was a partner at Sabin, Bermant and Gould LLP, specializing in employment law. Earlier in her career, she was a senior attorney in the Legal Department at The New York Times Company. Please join me in congratulating Cynthia on her new position. Some management changes have taken place at Soliloquy Learning. Vice President, Product Management and Strategic Partnerships, Louise Dube has been promoted to the position of President. She has extensive experience in the development and marketing of educational technology. Prior to joining Soliloquy in 2002, Louise was the Vice President, Business Unit Manager for the General Learning category with Vivendi Universal. At this position, she headed Syracuse Language Systems and the “Tween” study help category, for which she significantly improved the division's results. Please join me in sending warm congratulations to Louise on her promotion. In other Soliloquy changes, Founder and Chairman, Joe Costello, will be taking the role of CEO. And Jonathan Bower, the former CEO, is working with Soliloquy on specific key strategic initiatives. Tom Deliganis, after what he describes as a wonderful 26 months at Ignite learning, has accepted the position of Western Regional Vice President with Carnegie Learning. Tom is such a terrific person and will be an asset to the talented Carnegie team. Intelliworks, Inc. has announced the appointment of Todd Gibby as its new chief executive officer. He brings more than fifteen years of management experience, including seven years as a senior executive at Blackboard Inc., and active Intelliworks board participation to this role. Dev Ganesan, who served as president and CEO, will now assume the role of company chairman. Todd takes on the CEO role at a critical phase in the company's history, anchored by the launch of Orion - the first on-demand CRM solution for higher education institutions. During the past two years, Intelliworks doubled the company's customer base, opened markets in Europe and Asia and developed the infrastructure to support a multi-tenant SaaS model. Todd will work closely with Dev and the management team to scale operations, introduce new products to market, and build meaningful relationships with clients and partners. Prior to joining Intelliworks, Todd served as Blackboard's executive vice president of operations, where he was responsible for managing the company's day-to-day operations and overseeing strategic planning to meet the goals of clients, shareholders, and employees. He rose to this position after successfully expanding and managing the global sales team and serving as general manager for the company's initial software product lines. During his tenure at Blackboard, he was involved with several acquisitions and helped the company grow revenue from $2 million to more than $180 million. Please join me in congratulating Todd on his new role! I had a nice note from Jay Bryant this week. He has left TV Guide and joined LiveWorld.com as Vice President, Business Development. The company is based in San Jose, California and provides technology for online communities and social networking for companies and agencies. Jay will be working out of his home office in Princeton Junction, New Jersey. Part of his work will be taking LiveWorld's technology into the K-12, College and Adult education markets. The company is currently working with Tulane University and the Aspen Institute. Jay plans on being at EdNET in September and looks forward to seeing former colleagues in Chicago. And I had a lovely note too from our friend Linda Roberts, world traveler! She wrote that their trip to South Africa was amazing, and now she and her husband are off again - this time to the Dordogne region of France. How fabulous! Check in with Linda regarding her travels. Many of us have in the past supported Linda's son David Roberts in the annual Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) that benefits the lymphoma research going on at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. This will be David's fourth year doing this 2-day, 197-mile bicycle ride from Sturbridge (middle of Massachusetts) to Provincetown (the tip of Cape Cod). In the last three years, as a result of generous donations a total of nearly $50,000 has been put to good use supporting the important lymphoma research ongoing at Dana Farber. This year marks a special milestone for David - he is alive and well a full 5 years after he originally got sick. In the medical world, five-year survival is an important measure of success. While it doesn't mean that he no longer returns to the Dana Farber for regular appointments, it does lend a favorable prognostic outlook. He continues to be extremely grateful for the great care that he received at Dana Farber and is even more thankful that he was fortunate enough to have lymphoma in an age of modern chemotherapy (including a monoclonal antibody therapy). Advances like these come only after painstaking and expensive basic research and lengthy clinical trials. The money donated to the PMC is specifically earmarked for Dana Farber research programs that are helping advance knowledge of how better to diagnose and treat lymphomas. While many of us give to a number of charitable organizations and causes, as David writes, “Sometimes it is hard to imagine how donating to a ride like this really benefits anyone or makes a difference. I am here to tell you that it has, it does, and it will continue to make an enormous difference in the lives of many, many people. All along the PMC route are people clapping, cheering and thanking the riders. I am always touched by the folks who sit in their yards and at the roadsides under signs that say 'Thank you PMC riders, I survived thanks to you!'” If you would like to help David reach his goal this year of $25,000 to help support Dana Farber's work, just go to http://www.pmc.org/mypmc/profiles.asp?Section=story&eGiftID=DR0101 We continue to feel the loss of our friend Charlie Garten. As Eliot Levinson, CEO of BLEgroup remarked, “Although all of Charlie's friends knew he was sick, he had come back from the edge so many times in the past, we just thought he would keep doing it. That is why his death is so shocking.” I have learned that a memorial service is planned for Charlie on Saturday, August 4th at Julian High School (1656 Highway 78, Julian, CA 92036) at 2:00 pm Pacific Time. As I shared with you last week, expressions of sympathy may be sent to his wife, Jo Garten, at P.O. Box 2426, Julian, CA 92036. Information about memorial contributions will be forthcoming. Enjoy your weekend with family and friends - till next week… Vicki. the Snoop
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