NEW DIGITAL LEADER CORPS FROM DISCOVERY EDUCATION HELPS SCHOOL SYSTEMS DEVELOP TEACHER-LEADERS TO DRIVE THE DIGITAL TRANSITION Christina Scripps, Discovery Education240-662-6502christina_scripps@discovery.com — New Professional Development Program Empowers Educators to Actively Participate in their District’s Digital Transition — Silver Spring, Md. (April 25, 2014) – Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, today announced the launch of the Digital Leader Corps (DLC). A new professional development service, the DLC supports school systems as they develop teacher-leaders to serve as change agents powering their district’s digital transition. Under the DLC’s shared leadership model, Discovery Education works collaboratively with school district partners to develop comprehensive professional learning plans that scale to any size learning initiative, build a culture of continuous improvement and ultimately, create lasting, systemic change. The new professional development model builds and nurtures a network of teacher-leaders to design and implement successful and innovative teaching strategies that can be shared with their peers. Featuring a unique combination of professional learning, pedagogy and tools, the DLC helps participating educators learn to integrate educational technologies and digital media into classroom instruction. A new innovation included in the DLC is educator created, student-centered Learning Labs. In these labs, teachers bring to life new teaching strategies, and practice and adapt their skills in a classroom setting before sharing their successes broadly with their colleagues. The DLC program provides teachers with continuous customized, job-embedded consultation throughout the process with on-going modeling, coaching and feedback from Discovery Education DLC trainers in the pre-planning, stakeholder communications and implementation phases. "As an early adopter and thought-partner of the Digital Leader Corps, we are very excited to be embarking upon this systematic change movement in Wake County Public School System,” said Dr. Todd Wirt, Assistant Superintendent of Academics in Wake County Public School System. “We recognize the importance of having teachers at the forefront of transformation and we must support our teacher leaders in gaining the necessary skills to best prepare our students to be globally competitive, 21st century citizens." The DLC utilizes multiple measures of data to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of participants’ professional learning. Through surveys, direct observation, increased use of digital content and tools by teachers and students, and gains in student achievement, school systems can monitor the impact of the DLC and adjust their efforts as necessary to achieve desired outcomes. “The success or failure of any district’s digital transition is predicated on the preparedness of educators to embrace and facilitate change,” said Scott Kinney, senior vice president, Discovery Education. “We are proud to introduce the Digital Leader Corps to support school systems nationwide as they empower teachers to play a central role in their digital transitions.” Several districts across the U.S., including Wake County Public School System, Albuquerque Public Schools, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Houston Independent School District, Baltimore County Public Schools, Kent County Public Schools and Des Plaines Consolidated School District 62, are currently working with Discovery Education to implement the DLC model within their school systems. These districts have successfully instituted shared leadership models in their schools, allowing district leaders to focus on other aspects of the digital transition to impact student achievement more quickly and efficiently. For more information on Digital Leadership Corps and other Discovery Education services and initiatives, visit www.discoveryeducation.com About Discovery Education Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content and professional development for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content that supports the implementation of Common Core, professional development, assessment tools, and the largest professional learning community of its kind. Available in over half of all U.S. schools and primary schools in England, community colleges and in 50 countries around the world, Discovery Education partners with districts, states and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that accelerate academic achievement. Discovery Education is powered by Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one nonfiction media company in the world. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.