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Volume 3, Number 41, March 21, 2008 Prepared for |
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| Editor's Note | |
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Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings is carrying through on the promise to use her office’s administrative powers to make changes to No Child Left Behind. This week she announced a plan to allow states added flexibility in the way they assign consequences to schools based on the degree to which they miss annual progress goals. Currently the law uses a one size fits all approach to the way schools are treated. Educators complain that more differentiation is needed, saying there’s a big difference between a school that misses it annual goals by a small measure and those in which many groups of children fail by a large degree. The issue is especially touchy when a school fails to meet its AYP goals because one group of ELL or special education students failed to make adequate progress. The issue of how special education students and children with limited English language skills are tested is one of the areas that everyone says will be “fixed” in the reauthorization. But that may be a long way off. Washington insiders are now saying that it may be 2010 before NCLB is actually reauthorized. If that’s true, it will be business as usual for the next 18 months. The Secretary is proposing a plan under which 10 states will be given the freedom to determine which groups of students and which schools need the most help. The idea is that the most help will go to what Spellings calls the “chronic underperformers.” The Secretary says that priority for acceptance into the pilot program will be given to states that have been “pioneers for reform.” States will need to have strong assessment systems in place and the ability to manage and manipulate student data. Any state whose assessment system and plan to provide highly qualified teachers in every classroom is approved by the Department is eligible to apply for the pilot program. States must submit their applications by May 2. This seems like a pretty common sense type of accommodation. The SEAs are stretched very thin right now in terms of both financial and people resources. States that are selected for the pilot will be able to concentrate their limited resources on schools with serious problems and hopefully begin to move these troubled schools forward. On a different note, Intel has announced that it will make a second-generation version of its Classmate PC available to U.S. and European consumers. The computers are expected to go on sale in time for Christmas and to be priced in the $250 to $350 range. Like One Laptop Per Child’s XO computer, Intel’s Classmate PC was originally designed for children in developing countries. Unlike the XO, it is much closer to a conventional laptop in design. Though no specifications have been released for what Intel is calling a second-generation machine, it’s likely to run the Windows operating system. While the One Laptop Per Child project may not reach the lofty goals Nicholas Negroponte set out for it, there is no question that the project has spurred a rapid evolution of the low-cost computer market. Several new low-end laptops have launched in Europe and there are more in the wings. What a welcome development as the economy slows and schools are challenged to do more with less. |
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LEAD FOR YOU FROM QED's SCHOOL PURCHASING MONITOR WHAT: Math Equipment |
Contents Feature
Story K-12 Market Headlines Higher Ed Market Headlines Internet/Telecom International Headlines Financials/Mergers/Corporate Product
Announcements She Snoops for Scoops: The
Personal Side of the EdNET |
Feature Story Internet Gets Lion's Share of Kids' Attention and Increasingly Influences What They Watch on TV BETHESDA, Md., March 10, 2008 -- TV, once the dominant kids media, no longer gets their undivided attention, according to a study on social networking by Grunwald Associates LLC, an independent research firm that specializes in new media market intelligence. Sixty-four percent of kids go online while watching television, and nearly half of U.S. teens (49 percent) report that they do so frequently -- anywhere from three times a week to several times a day. Multitasking on the Internet, on cell phones and MP3 players, and on other new media suggests that companies must respond with much more creative, multimedia marketing campaigns for their messages to penetrate. The study reveals that 73 percent of TV-online multitasking kids are engaged in "active multitasking," defined by Grunwald Associates as content in one medium influencing concurrent behavior in another. This trend represents a 33 percent increase in active multitasking since 2002. While kids are using more media, their attention primarily and overwhelmingly is focused on their online activities. Find the full story here. |
K-12 Market HeadlinesApex Learning's New Digital Curriculum Empowers Struggling Students; Online Courses Enable Differentiated Instruction (Apex Learning, March 19, 2008) Archdiocese of Washington Approves New ABCTE Certification Option for Teachers (American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, March 20, 2008) Calhoun County Public Schools Business Operations, Selects Windsor Management Group's Infinite Visions© Software (Windsor Management Group, March 19, 2008) Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and Glencoe Help Teachers Bring Struggling Students Up to Grade Level With Math Triumphs (Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, March 19, 2008) Insight School of Kansas Opens Its Virtual Doors for Enrollment (Insight School of Kansas, March 19, 2008) U.S. Department of Defense Schools Choose Pearson's Reading Programs for Elementary Students Around the Globe (Pearson, March 18, 2008) Palm Springs Unified School District Invests $800,000 in Vantage Learning's MY Access!© Instructional Writing Program (Vantage Learning, March 18, 2008) Atomic Learning Offers Free Series on Google Docs (Atomic Learning, Inc., March 17, 2008) Blackboard Launches New K-12 Professional Development Solution (Blackboard Inc., March 17, 2008) South Carolina Virtual Charter School Announces Approval To Enroll Students Across the State for 2008-09 School Year (South Carolina Virtual Charter School, March 17, 2008) MIND Research Institute’s ST Math Instructional Software and Research-Based Textbook Build Critical Foundations for Algebra (MIND Research Institute, March 13, 2008) Bookshare.org Partners with Don Johnston To Provide Free Text Reader for Print Disabled Students (Don Johnston Incorporated, March 13, 2008) CGP Education’s Innovative Curriculum Approach Is Confirmed by the National Mathematics Advisory Panel Report (CGP Education, March 13, 2008) |
Higher Ed Headlines Eduventures Launches Learning Collaborative To Address Key Challenges Facing College and University Leaders (Eduventures, Inc., March 17, 2008) |
Internet/Telecom NetSupport Manager Remote Control Software Now Offers Smart Card Support (NetSupport, March 20, 2008) NTC JumpStart Enables Any School To Begin Sending Electronic Transcripts Immediately (National Transcript Center, March 17, 2008)
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International Headlines (EnglishForums.com, March 20, 2008) Leading Musicians, Colleges and Companies Donate over 6,500 Sampled and Synthesized Sounds to One Laptop per Child (One Laptop per Child, March 17, 2008) |
Financials/Mergers/Corporate America's Most Praised Reading Software Firm Selects Crossbow Group for Lead Generation Campaign (Crossbow Group, March 14, 2008) |
Product Announcements (Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, March 19, 2008) Linworth Introduces New Title to Bring Authentic Multicultural Booktalks to Students! (Linworth Publishing, Inc., March 18, 2008) |
| She Snoops for Scoops: The Personal Side of the EdNET | |
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Hi friends – let me start this week’s scoops with more news from the recent Consortium for School Networking Conference and then move on from there! CoSN honored exemplary leaders in education during the annual awards ceremony. This year's award winners include: SharpBrains.com has just released its report, The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market 2008, the first report to cover this emerging market. Even if the first impetus for the growth has been healthcare-related, the company is seeing more interest from an education point of view. You can find an excellent recent feature article in Reuters, “Brain Fitness Seen As a Hot Industry of the Future”, based on the report, at www.reuters.com/article/BROKER/idUSN1218668920080312. This is a fascinating set of information and a timely analysis of this new and emerging market. See information about the press release describing the report elsewhere in this weeks’ ezine and drop a note to congratulate Alvaro Fernandez, founder and CEO of the company, on his work at afernandez@gmail.com. Peter Quandt has teamed up with Chris Gaffney at Great Hill Partners once again. They will be seeking to acquire a significant on-line company and will be focusing on specialized Internet companies that are transforming their markets with mission-critical product. They have created a holding company, New Castle Media, and are looking to invest between $50 to $125 million in equity in this acquisition. You can drop a note to Peter about business or to say hello at PJQuandt@gmail.com. I am happy to let you know, if you did not already, that Alexander Pusey was born to Stacey Pusey, Communications Director for the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP), and her husband, on December 20th and is doing fine. Stacey's back at work now, and you can connect with her to say hello and wish her well at spusey@aepweb.org. There is a great article in a recent issue of VentureBeat about Jason Barkeloo and Somatic Digital, where he is President. I hope you have had a chance to meet Jason at EdNET or another industry event. He has an exciting vision about a touch user interface. The company has created an electronic folder that serves as a connection between a print publication and the Internet and sees its potential as a publishing platform. Check out the article for yourself at venturebeat.com/2008/03/06/somatic-digital-will-try-to-extend-print-publications-into-digital-world/ or say hello to Jason and wish him success on his efforts at jbarkeloo@somaticdigital.com. Scholastic has announced the appointment of Michael Hansen as Executive Vice President of the Company and President of Book Fairs and International. Michael, who has served as President and CEO of Harcourt Assessment, Inc. since 2006, is an experienced executive with significant accomplishments in publishing and media businesses. In his new role, he will be responsible for the strategic direction of two important divisions of Scholastic that, combined, generate more than $800 million in annual revenue. He will join the Management Executive Committee and will report to Richard Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO of Scholastic, who has been overseeing Scholastic Book Fairs since last September. Michael was born in Germany and has lived and worked in the U.S. for more than 20 years. He began his career in 1989 as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, where he stayed for 11 years, becoming a partner and developing a New York-based media practice. Following a one-year position at Proxicom, Inc., he joined Bertelsmann AG in 2001 as Executive Vice President, Operational Excellence. At Bertelsmann, he helped improve operations in consumer publishing, direct marketing and the music business. Most recently, as CEO of Harcourt Assessment, he was responsible for one of the strongest business performance improvements in the education field in which sustained revenue growth and rapid operating income improvement led to the successful sale of the business to Pearson PLC. Please join me in congratulating Michael on joining the Scholastic team! Alan Boyko, President of Scholastic Book Fairs, located in Lake Mary, Florida, remains in that role and will report to Michael Hansen. Hugh Roome, who has been President of Scholastic International since 2001 and built the international business into a major contributor to the Company, has been named to a new position of President of Consumer and Professional Publishing. He will continue to operate Scholastic consumer and professional magazines, Quality Education Data (QED), and Scholastic Marketing Partners. In addition, he will develop a plan for online courses for grades 11-12 and post-secondary. Join me in congratulating Hugh on his new role! The recent Grunwald Associates Kids’ Social Networking Study is getting a lot of press - in Media Post, eMarketer and many other web publications for the advertising industry. And an article in this week’s New York Times mentions the survey results in the flagship column of the Media + Advertising section – you can check it out at www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/business/media/18adco.html. Peter Grunwald, President of the company, will be discussing the results of this study in this week’s EdNET Virtual Roundtable on March 21st. He will be joined by Chris Brown, Senior Vice President at Pearson Education, and Scott Traylor, Chief KID, 360KID. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear these three industry executives share their thoughts on social media in K-12!. Dr. Anne Miller, recently with the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), has joined Edison Schools, effective March 24th, as Chief Quality Officer, and she will be relocating to New York City. She wrote that APQC has been fun to work with for the past two years, especially leading the start-up and first year of the Texas Education Agency’s “Texas Principal Excellence Program”. But she could not resist the opportunity to join Edison Schools in this capacity and get closer to schools with great challenges. This position leverages her experiences from Kodak, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and Association of School Business Officials (ASBO). After visiting some of the schools Edison partners with, she became excited by what was happening in the classrooms and in leadership development. She added that Edison has learned much in its history and intends to keep developing new ways to provide an excellent education for every child - Anne looks forward to being part of that. Send her a note of congratulations on her new role at awmiller@edisonschools.com. NewBay Media has announced that Kevin Hogan, recently with Scholastic Administr@tor, has been named Editorial Director of the Technology & Learning Group, which includes the magazine, websites and events associated with the Technology & Learning brand. He will oversee the editorial content of all products, ensure proper communication among staff members and use his knowledge of the industry to help NewBay Media continue to produce the most compelling and relevant content for its readers. Kevin has been Executive Editor at Scholastic Administr@tor since September 2004. Prior to Scholastic, he was Senior Editor of MIT Technology Review and Editor of the magazine's website. He was also formerly a Features editor for Business2.0 magazine. He has been reporting and writing about the intersection of business and technology since 1993. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Wired, Forbes ASAP and Small Business Computing magazines. Kevin assumes the duties of former Editor in Chief Susan McLester and reports to Group Publisher Jo-Ann McDevitt. Send congratulations to Kevin on his new position at khogan@nbmedia.com. Happy anniversary to our friends at eSchool News! In March 1998, they launched the publication as a resource to help education leaders usher in a new era of school reform. And over the last decade, they have seen many developments that have transformed education through the use of technology in communities from coast to coast. Nice job! Join me in wishing a happy 10th anniversary to Gregg Downey, Editor, and his team at gdowney@eschoolnews.com. We wish you every continued success! And best wishes to Steve Palm, President and CEO, NewBay Media LLC, and his wife on the birth of Wyatt James, born March 11th and entering the world at 7 lbs, 5 oz and 19 inches. Steve reports that mom and Wyatt are both doing well and that their daughter Cooper (four and a half) and son Preston (three and a half) are very excited. Steve also reports it is a very busy house right now – well, yeah! I told him he better stay home and off his travels for a while – we will see! Join me in wishing the Palms best wishes on the new addition to their family at spalm@nbmedia.com. Let me tell you the news about the Divine Ms. M – no, I am not talking about Bette Midler (though she is divine, too!), but our own Maggie Sherrod, Director, Content Strategy, Texas Instruments. Ms. Maggie is turning the big 5-OH this weekend. Trust me, she is working on a year-long celebration, and you know the Snoop believes in that! Some of us women already have some plans to add to the festivities, and Maggie and her adorable father Joe plan a trip to England in September to celebrate “130 years of fun and frolic” – Joe turns 80 this year. We all love Maggie – what a bundle of brains and fun in that woman! Join me in wishing our own Divine Ms. M a most happy birthday at m-sherrod1@ti.com. You know the Snoop loves pictures. Kati Elliot, President, KEH Communications, dropped me a note and a different kind of picture this week. She has a friend who is deployed to Afghanistan right now. He sent her the picture she then shared with me of the school where they delivered supplies – so stark and with no windows or playground or anything we might imagine in a school. The picture only made me want to study this further. Going online, the first search hit I found was to the popular White House Kids site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/backtoschool/01.html. There I learned more. It turns out that this Saturday, March 23, will be a great day of celebration. It is the first day of school in Afghanistan. This is the first time in several years that many Afghan boys and girls--especially girls--will have the chance to attend school. When the Taliban regime was running the country (from 1996 through 2001), girls were banned from the classroom. Women teachers weren't allowed to teach. Not many boys went to school either. Only 32 percent of Afghanistan's 4.4 million children were enrolled in school in 1999. Nearly all girls, 92 percent, were not in school. You can find more pictures online at this site. Many schools don't have windows or even walls. Some schools meet under trees, and others don't have desks, blackboards or even basic school supplies like pencils, paper, erasers and schoolbooks. As Kati remarked, it is interesting as we look at our own school system and think about this country. We express concern over our schools but really have so very much to be thankful for and proud of in our education system and thankful too for the freedom we have to attend school. Thanks, Kati! You can drop a note to say hello to Kati or share your thoughts about this at kati@kehcomm.com. I am very sad to bring you the news that our friend Diane Rapley’s mother suffered a stroke in the UK and passed away last week, as Diane reported, very peacefully after a long and good life. Diane was there for her last days. There is no easy way to lose someone you love. Let Diane know you are in our thoughts and prayers at rapley@pacbell.net. If you would like her home address, drop me a note. Thanks for the flood of very nice notes about my column last week – it was a winner for a lot of you, and that always makes me happy. This is a fun job for me – I kind of like being the Liz Smith of the ed industry!;-) Robert Martellacci, President of Mindshare Learning, was one who wrote me, saying he thought I might have set a record length – he even checked out and reported a 2,398 word count! Too funny! I don’t think I topped that this week, but someone called me loquacious at a very young age, and I have worked to live up to that description! By the way, Robert has recently launched the MindShare Learning Report for Canadian business and educators. His early response has been phenomenal, and I am not surprised. Robert is bright and a connector, and his newsletter is excellent. The monthly report, tagged Canada's Source for Learning & Technology Industry News, will incorporate the latest in web 2.0 technologies that will feature Canadian & International News headlines, Successful Practices, Ask a Teacher, Podcasting, People on the Move, The MindShare Learning Network, research, careers and Webinars. Congratulate Robert on this new product and ask to be added to the distribution list at robert@mindsharelearning.com. Have a wonderful weekend, friends. As we enter this weekend of time with family and friends, we have much to celebrate and be thankful for. Among my many blessings, I remain thankful for my many friends in this industry and wish each of you your own special celebrations and a most blessed Easter for all who observe this holiday. – Vicki, the Snoop
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