Arkansas’ Conway Public Schools Initiates New Partnership with Discovery Education Supporting Middle School Science Instruction
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’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.
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.
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.
###
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