Sometimes being on top isn’t enough.
In 2017, Fort Mill School District in South Carolina became the top-rated district in the state, garnering national acclaim for its students’ academic achievements, and being named to The College Board’s AP District Honor Roll. But the district’s leaders knew they could reach even greater heights. The challenge was – how can they get there?
When it underwent its AdvancED accreditation in 2017, the district had every right to expect great results. So when officials got the accreditation report back, they were surprised to find one small note of discord: Student engagement, while satisfactory, was lower than administrators wanted.
“It was not where we wanted to be as compared to our normally high achievement results,” says Marty McGinn, the district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and human resources.
At the time, district officials were in the process of reexamining their curriculum, mostly to make sure students were college and career ready according to the state’s Profile of the Graduate.
When officials considered the engagement of their students, as well as the recognition that various schools were offering different STEM activities, only one choice addressed all these issues. The choice—to increase offerings in STEAM topics—was quickly agreed upon. STEAM refers to the basic STEM topics, science, technology, engineering, and math, with the arts included.
But even administrators couldn’t have guessed how well the changes would be accepted both inside and outside their classrooms. In just the first year of the district’s shift in focus, the effort has been well received by students, the school board, and especially teachers.
“We had a lot of STEAM activities going on here and there,” says McGinn of the district’s 16 schools. “But we’re a growing district, and we needed something that could bring everyone to the table.”
After mapping where district leaders knew they needed to be, they had to decide how to get there, which meant weighing the options for programs to implement and who could help them through this transition. In April 2017, the leaders hosted a strategic planning session.
To provide some guidance, Fort Mill’s leaders invited Cindy Moss, vice president of global STEM initiatives at Discovery Education, to speak with school and district leaders, along with students. Moss envisioned a classroom ecosystem where all teachers and students were immersed in STEM.
“Schools need to provide experiences that allow students to become ‘glocal,’” said Moss. “They should walk outside their school to find local problems and be able to see how their local problems fit into the global scheme of things. Adults should stop just dispensing knowledge and allow students to solve real-world problems.”
Chad Allen, the district’s STEM coordinator, said Moss’ passion filled the room with energy. It became the ignition for their STEAM engine.
“After she spoke, our students said, ‘We need our teachers to teach like that,’” said Allen. “We did not expect that strong of a reaction from our students, but they were immediately engaged.”
Fort Mill’s move to emphasize STEAM topics districtwide was initially complicated by the district’s tremendous growth. In just 15 years, the district, located in a town of 50 square miles, has grown from fewer than 6,000 students to more than 15,000. In that time, two new high schools were opened, and the district hired new teachers to compensate for the growth in student population.
Despite this growth spurt, these sudden changes haven’t had a negative impact on student achievement. Fort Mill remains the top-performing district in South Carolina, with a graduation rate of 94 percent—12 percentage points higher than the state average. Also, 85 percent of its graduates went on to a two- or four-year college, well above the state’s average rate of 71 percent.
But these changes did emphasize for district leaders the need for a unified curriculum, said McGinn. Redistricting has shuffled both students and teachers to different schools, so streamlining the curriculum made it easier for both groups to change addresses without losing ground.
“Our superintendent continues to say, ‘It doesn’t matter which school you go to in Fort Mill—they are all equally excellent,’” said McGinn.
In order to better formulate their goals, Fort Mill officials visited Santa Rosa County District Schools in Florida to see how it integrates STEAM activities into its everyday education.
In recent years, Santa Rosa has emerged as an international leader in STEAM education. Its students have continued to show promise after embarking in 2015 on a five-year strategic partnership with Discovery Education called STEAM Innovate!, where educators receive intensive professional learning and job-embedded coaching. Santa Rosa’s classrooms have become STEAM-infused learning environments, with lessons that nurture student achievement and critical 21st-century learning skills.
“We were struck by the common language and the common vision,” McGinn says. “Everybody moves in the same direction, from the district office to the classroom. It inspired us.”
Now, Fort Mill was moving with purpose toward a STEAM model, but still had some hills to climb. Leaders knew that they would need a strong professional development basis from which to launch into STEAM, but the district’s central office is slim.
“We believe in funding our schools, but we simply don’t have the capacity to do something like districtwide PD all by ourselves. So we had to find a great solution,” said Allen.
Fort Mill partnered with Discovery Education’s STEAM Leader Corps, a comprehensive program that helps scale digital and instructional leadership in school districts. Schools in Fort Mill were already using the company’s Science Techbook digital textbook, and it plans to expand into Discovery Education STEM Connect in the future.
The district’s partnership with Discovery Education has been powerful and unique, said Allen, adding that it was unlike any of his previous experiences with education service providers.
“Discovery Education’s people have been right alongside us every step of the way.
“They’ve invested themselves in the community, they talk to parents at PTO meetings, and they’re involved in planning and designing posters—it’s almost like they work for the district,” said Allen.
Through the Leader Corps, Fort Mill’s educators are being prepared for effective STEAM instruction and establishing a team of teacher leaders that will help drive systemwide change.
“Having a clear professional development structure for implementing STEAM is important to focus our efforts to achieve our goals,” said McGinn. “It also fosters communication and collaboration within and between our schools.”
Initially, the district sought volunteers to start, asking for eight teachers at its high schools and four at each middle and elementary school. McGinn wasn’t sure that many teachers would be interested, But the opposite proved true. More teachers applied than they could immediately use. While those not chosen were disappointed, the district has included them on trips to conferences and other schools to see STEAM activities in person to prime them for the future.
The training took a strategic approach, beginning with principals, says McGinn.
“Principal leadership is so vital. If the administration doesn’t understand what teachers need, such as time for planning and collaborating, it’s hard to support them,” she said.
Now, one year into the four-year STEAM Leader Corps program, teachers are beginning to showcase the effects of their training, said Allen.
He can tell teachers are embracing the new methods when he hears them discussing STEAM concepts in side conversations in the hallways. They’re also active on their own Twitter hashtag, #FM21STEAM where they regularly share their accomplishments.
“Some of those who came out of this process surprised us, and they’re surprising themselves,” he said. “These teachers are starting to demonstrate their skills as leaders. They’re stepping up and responding to the extra autonomy they’re being given.”
These teachers will lead model classrooms for others, organically growing the STEAM initiative internally throughout the district. And more leaders are being added each year.
“We still have a lot of work to do, but it’s exciting work,” McGinn said.
Teachers are learning how to create project-based learning lessons that meet the district’s standards, she says. Once teachers immerse themselves in using units from STEM Connect, they will better understand how to create their own interactive units.
In classrooms throughout the district, a combination of project-based learning and student-centered teaching can be seen in full practice. In place of stand-and-deliver instruction, students are empowered to be at the core of their classrooms, leading their own explorations in learning.
“We’ve seen the level of student engagement increase in our schools. They’re doing more rigorous work, and there is more creativity on display,” said Allen. “We had 400 people show up for one of our student-led district art shows recently. That was huge for them.”
Also emerging are STEAM-based lessons grounded in real-world issues. Springfield Middle School students embarked on a service-based learning exercise recently while studying what life is like for those living in refugee camps. To provide context for the lesson, they left the classroom behind and went outdoors.
They crossed a river, and using the limited materials they’d carried with them, built their own tents and spent some time in the wilderness.
They experienced a small taste of the life of those without homes of their own. Beyond the hands-on learning experience, it’s an exercise in communicating the power of compassion, said Allen.
“The definition of caring comes from understanding someone else’s perspective. When you design solutions, you’re trying to think of how people will experience that,” said Allen.
“I think giving kids a firsthand account of life experiences really helps them understand what it is they’re learning.”
Another major shift is on the teacher’s side of things. They’re encouraged to experiment with new ideas in the classroom and not be afraid of failure.
“If something goes bad, or fails, it’s okay. We’re giving them the freedom to explore. It’s allowed us to open our minds and be more intuitive about how we teach our kids,” said Allen.
Silver Spring, Md. (Friday, August 7, 2020) Kansas’ Topeka Public Schools (TPS) today announced it is partnering with Discovery Education on a new initiative supporting the expansion of innovative equitable learning experiences for all students. Through this new partnership, TPS is investing in Discovery Education to provide TPS’s approximately 1,300 teachers dynamic, digital resources that improve their capacity to provide the district’s almost 14,000 K-12 students new, more personalized lessons and activities. The new lessons and activities will serve as the foundation for more equitable learning experiences for all students at home, in the classroom, or wherever learning is taking place. Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms.
“As part of our effort to provide all students equitable learning opportunities, we are expanding online learning,” said Dr. Tiffany Anderson, Superintendent of the Topeka Public Schools. “Through this new partnership, all educators and students will now have access to the engaging, high-quality digital resources available from Discovery Education.”
The Topeka Public Schools is strengthened by diversity, and is dedicated to educational equity and promoting an inclusive environment for all students. To engage its diverse student body in the highest quality learning in the classroom or remote environment, the district sought a flexible, digital resource that would propel students’ academic and social-emotional development. Following a period of rigorous review, TPS selected Discovery Education Experience for use in all 33 district schools and programs.
Experience—Discovery Education’s flexible K-12 learning platform—connects educators to a vast collection of compelling high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, and professional learning resources. Together, these resources give educators everything they need to facilitate instruction in any learning environment and create lasting educational impact.
Discovery Education’s team continues adding, contextualizing, and organizing exciting new content and timely resources to Experience each month in response to current events and the ever-evolving needs of educators. These resources, sourced from trusted partners, are aligned to state and national standards, and help educators bring the outside world into teaching and learning every day.
Finally, Experience is designed to work within school systems’ existing infrastructure and workflows. Through expanded partnerships with Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, and now Clever, integrating Experience into existing IT architecture is easier than ever.
TPS middle school and elementary teachers and students will also receive access to Discovery Education Coding. With Discovery Education Coding, students will gain a secure understanding of coding concepts, like algorithms, sequences and variables, and develop critical computational thinking skills through decomposition, logical reasoning, and imaginative problem-solving. In addition, students and teachers alike will be able to demonstrate their creativity and build confidence by creating their very own apps and sharing them with their classmates and colleagues.
To help TPS’s educators integrate their new digital resources into instruction in the coming school year, Discovery Education will provide selected district educators dedicated professional learning. Through these interactive professional development sessions, participants will learn best practices for integrating technology and digital content into teaching and learning in ways that will maximize the power of their digital resources, increase student engagement in instruction, and improve students’ academic achievement. These educators will then share their knowledge with their peers so that all educators are prepared to use these resources for instruction.
TPS’s partnership with Discovery Education also provides district teachers access to the Discovery Education Community. A global community of education professionals, the Discovery Education Community connects members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events, fostering valuable networking, idea sharing, and inspiration.
“Discovery Education is incredibly excited to partner with the Topeka Public Schools on this new initiative,” said Steven Weniger, Discovery Education’s Senior Manager of Education Partnerships. “Going back to Brown v. Board of Education, the Topeka Public Schools has been at the center of the movement to make education more equitable for all. Today, the district is led by Superintendent Dr. Tiffany Anderson, a nationally known leader in improving educational equity and a featured speaker for Discovery Education who shares innovative education strategies. Discovery Education is honored to be a part of the Topeka Public Schools’ rich history of improving educational equity, and we look forward to supporting the implementation of Dr. Anderson’s vision for using digital resources to create equitable learning activities for all students.”
For more information about Topeka Public Schools, visit the district website here.
For more information about Discovery Education’s digital resources and professional learning services, visit www.discoveryeducation.com, and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through Facebook, follow us on Twitter at @DiscoveryEd, or find us on Instagram and Pinterest.
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About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms. Through its award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia resources, and the largest professional learning network of its kind, Discovery Education is transforming teaching and learning, creating immersive STEM experiences, and improving academic achievement around the globe. Discovery Education currently serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in over 140 countries and territories. Inspired by the global media company Discovery, Inc., Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and like-minded organizations to empower teachers with customized solutions that support the success of all learners. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.
Contact:
Discovery Education Stephen Wakefield Email: swakefield@discoveryed.com Phone: (202) 316-6615
Silver Spring, Md. (Wednesday, August 5, 2020) — Illinois’ Peoria Public Schools (PPS) and Discovery Education—the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms—today launched a new partnership that supports teaching in-class, online, or wherever learning is taking place. Through this multiyear collaboration, all PPS educators serving the district’s more than 13,700 students in grades K-12 are now empowered to integrate Discovery Education Experience into instruction and support students’ continuity of learning now and in the future, either in a classroom setting or at home.
PPS is a rapidly growing, world class school system located three hours from St. Louis, Chicago, and Indianapolis. The talented team of educators use time-tested, research-based teaching strategies, an engaging curriculum aligned to the highest standards, and the latest educational technologies to deliver differentiated instruction to all students. With the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, PPS sought a dynamic digital resource that would continue fostering the creativity and talents of the district’s students as it prepared and inspired them to succeed in our ever-expanding global economy.
Specifically, the district sought a resource that supports the continuity of learning in the in-class, remote, or hybrid scenarios; replaces existing supplemental solutions with one, collection of high-quality, standards-aligned vetted resources; and increases student engagement and rigor. Following an extended trial, PPS selected Discovery Education Experience.
“The COVID-19 Pandemic has made Peoria Public Schools and school districts across the country rethink how we can achieve our mission to ensure that each student reaches his or her full academic and personal potential and is a well-balanced citizen,” said Lisa Gifford, the district’s Literacy & Social Studies Coordinator. “Tools like Discovery Education Experience, which support excellent, engaging instruction in either the physical classroom or remote environment, will play a critical role in helping Peoria’s teachers fulfill their mission now and in the future.”
To help PPS educators integrate their new digital resources into instruction in the coming school year, Discovery Education will provide division teachers dedicated professional learning. Through these interactive professional development sessions, participants will learn best practices for integrating technology and digital content into teaching and learning in ways that will maximize the power of their digital resources, increase student engagement in instruction, and improve students’ academic achievement.
PPS’s new partnership with Discovery Education also provides district teachers access to the Discovery Education Community. A global community of education professionals, the Discovery Education Community connects members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events, fostering valuable networking, idea sharing, and inspiration.
“We are incredibly excited to be partnering with the Peoria Public Schools,” said Dak Jordan, Discovery Education Manager of Education Partnerships. “The district’s innovative approach to addressing the challenges of teaching in the COVID-19 era mark them as leaders in the effort to ensure the continuity of learning for all students.”
For more information about Illinois’ Peoria Public Schools, visit the school system’s website here.
We’ve prepared a powerful, ready-to-use toolkit to make it as easy as possible for schools to get started with engaging activities and meaningful learning resources for leaders, educators, and students.
Explore this page to find sample principal, parent, and teacher letters (in multiple languages) along with graphics and text you can use for other types of outreach like social media and SMS/phone messages.
Click the links below to download and share individual assets or click the button at the bottom to download the full toolkit.
To add an image, simply click on it below to download. Then click the tweet button and add it to the pre-populated social post.
With @DiscoveryEd, help your student start the school year off on the right foot! Explore exciting + educational content from any internet connected device across multiple languages.
Find a comprehensive guide for getting started with #DEexperience https://bit.ly/DE_GSG
Tweet
Whether your student starts the year in the classroom or #remotelearning from home, @DiscoveryEd ensures continuity of learning with our vast library of engaging digital resources.
Dig into #DEexperience with this step-by-step guide: https://bit.ly/DE_GSG
Use the copy below for mass text message communications to teachers and parents.
PARENTS: Keep your kids engaged this school year with Discovery Education. Explore exciting and educational content from any internet connected device. Log in at DiscoveryEducation.com.
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This press release was originally distributed by the University of Richmond. You can find the University of Richmond’s Newsroom posting here.
Richmond, Va. (Tuesday, August 4, 2020) — University of Richmond’s School of Professional & Continuing Studies will begin offering two new online graduate courses this fall designed to support educators teaching in online learning environments.
The courses, designed for classroom teachers, instructional coaches, and other educational professionals, were developed in partnership with Discovery Education, the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms.
“We’re excited about our new partnership with Discovery Education, which will allow us to have an immediate impact on supporting the professional development of educators,” said Jamelle S. Wilson, dean of the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies. “Courses offered in this partnership respond directly to the pressing need that schools across the state have to adopt varied models for teaching and learning as they continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The first of the two courses is entitled Digital Video Development for Learning and Teaching. This course focuses on helping current educators develop the skills needed to capture, edit and publish quality video segments enhancing the educational experience. The course also examines the best ways to curate new and existing visual elements critical for creating engaging online learning environments.
The second course now available to educators is entitled Technology Integration Coaching. Through this course participating educators investigate the basic tenets of instructional coaching and delve into new strategies for improving their digital literacy and effective application of technology within the online or in-class learning environment.
UR is the latest institution of higher education to join Discovery Education’s Impact Network. Each member of the Impact Network offers working educators online access to Discovery Education’s high-quality graduate-level professional learning content.
“The students participating in University of Richmond’s online graduate level courses this fall will join a powerful cadre of educators working to create high quality learning experiences while maintaining continuity of learning amidst the challenges of shifting to a partial or fully online learning environment,” said Kelli Campbell, Discovery Education’s President, International & University.
For more information about these courses or to register, visit urspcs.info/DiscoveryEd.
Silver Spring, Md. (Monday, July 27, 2020) Arkansas’ Conway Public Schools (CPS) today announced it has initiated a new, multi-year partnership with Discovery Education supporting middle school science instruction. Through this new collaboration, Discovery Education will empower educators serving approximately 3,380 students in the district’s four middle schools and junior high school with a unique science curriculum solution and robust capacity building model. Together, these resources will help CPS educators accelerate the transition to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and continue building the district’s rich and growing tradition of academic excellence. Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms.
CPS is located in Central Arkansas’s Faulkner County. CPS sought a suite of engaging, simple-to-use curriculum resources flexible enough to support instruction in the classroom, online, or in the hybrid environment. Following a review of possible solutions, the district selected Discovery Education’s ScienceX as its digital curriculum solution. The ScienceX suite of resources is comprised of the following award-winning Discovery Education services:
Discovery Education Science Techbook and print resources. Science Techbook empowers educators to transform science instruction through a seamless print and digital curriculum that includes video, audio, text, interactives, hands-on activities, and virtual labs that help educators differentiate instruction and provide a rich and engaging learning experience for students. Additional student features include Spanish/English text-to-speech, leveled reading tools, note-taking and highlighting capabilities. Science Techbook also includes valuable STEM resources including STEM Project Starters that encourage students to connect math, technology, and engineering to their understanding of science concepts to produce creative solutions to real world problems. In addition, the STEM In Action resources help students connect their work to STEM careers, which promotes a clearer understanding of how skills used in school can be applied to jobs “in the real world.”
Discovery Education Experience. Experience—Discovery Education’s flexible K-12 learning platform—connects educators to a vast collection of compelling high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, and professional learning resources. Together, these resources give educators everything they need to facilitate instruction in any learning environment and create lasting educational impact.</>
Discovery Education Professional Learning. With Discovery Education’s Professional Learning, educators will learn how to use their new digital resources. In addition, participating teachers will explore best practices for integrating technology and digital content into instruction and discover new ways to increase student engagement and improve academic achievement.
ScienceX also includes ready-to-use instructional strategies, and the grab-and-go lab materials teachers need to support the learning needs of every student regardless of abilities, learning styles, and language needs.
“The realities of teaching and learning we face as we return to school this fall require a new approach to instruction,” said Conway Public Schools Curriculum Coordinator Paula Harris. “As we reviewed potential solutions for our middle school science curriculum, we wanted a resource that not only was engaging and aligned to the NGSS and Arkansas state standards, but also a resource that could keep students and teachers connected to science wherever instruction is taking place. We are excited to begin this new partnership with Discovery Education and look forward to using ScienceX in our middle school classrooms.”
The commencement of CPS’s partnership with Discovery Education provides district teachers access to the Discovery Education Community. A global community of education professionals, the Discovery Education Community connects members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events, fostering valuable networking, idea sharing, and inspiration.
“Discovery Education is excited to begin working with the educators of Conway Public Schools,” said David Mitchell, Discovery Education’s Manager of Education Partnerships. “Through their selection of Discovery Education’s dynamic digital resources, the Conway Public Schools are charting a new direction for science instruction in the state of Arkansas. I look forward to working with the talented CPS team on this endeavor.”
For more information about Arkansas’ Conway Public Schools, visit the district website here.