NEW MEXICO’S ROSWELL INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTNERS WITH DISCOVERY EDUCATION TO SUPPORT TRANSITION TO NEW MEXICO COMMON CORE STANDARDS Shawnee Cohn, Discovery Education240-393-5849, shawnee_cohn@discovery.com Stephen Wakefield, Discovery Education240-463-2894, Stephen_Wakefield@discovery.com – School System Adopts Dynamic Digital Math Textbook to Assist Educators as They Shift Instruction to Better Prepare Students for Success Beyond Graduation – Silver Spring, Md. (June 23, 2016) – New Mexico’s Roswell Independent School District (RISD) announced today an expansion of its two-year partnership with Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms. Beginning next school year, RISD will begin integrating the Discovery Education Math Techbook™ into teaching and learning at all of its middle schools. Math Techbook transforms the way students and teachers experience math through engaging instructional strategies and real-world problems that motivate and excite students with diverse learning styles. Discovery Education’s expanded partnership with Roswell Independent School District supports the district’s transition to the New Mexico Common Core State Standards, which call for several key shifts in math instruction. These shifts include coherent progressions from grade to grade so that students can build new understanding onto foundations built in previous years, and increased rigor, which is defined as the pursuit of conceptual understanding, procedural skills and fluency, and application with equal intensity. The district is also focused on improving literacy, with one of its main goals being that all students increase their comprehension and application of informational reading material across the curriculum. To support this effort, middle school educators will in the 2016-2017 school year begin using the Math Techbook as a core instructional resource. Educators and students districtwide will also continue using Discovery Education Streaming Plus, a comprehensive digital service supplementing instruction across all K-12 curricular areas which was introduced into district classrooms in 2014, as they transition to the new standards. “We are pleased to expand our partnership with Discovery Education, as it has been instrumental in our ongoing effort to prepare all students to succeed in college, career and life,” said Dr. Arsenio Romero, Assistant Superintendent at Roswell Independent School District. “Discovery Education’s Math Techbook will not only empower our teachers to bring mathematic concepts and ideas to life for all learners, but also help grow the problem-solving and critical-thinking skills students need beyond the classroom.” Developed by Discovery Education’s team of expert math educators with the input of teachers and administrators from across the country, Math Techbook uses a Discover, Practice, Apply inquiry-based cycle that is built on the three pillars of rigor: conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application. Technology enhanced items and formative assessments are woven throughout the entire instructional cycle and teachers have a data dashboard to monitor student progress instantaneously. Math Techbook engages students with real-world problems worth solving while supporting any device, anywhere, anytime in any secondary instructional setting. In addition to dynamic, standards-aligned content, interactives, videos, digital tools, and game-like activities that increase students’ motivation to learn math, Math Techbook includes useful student tools such as a graphing calculator, a geometry tool, a whiteboard tool, and a matrix solver. A Student Dashboard embedded within the Math Techbook helps students track their individual progress and take responsibility for their learning. Math Techbook also supports English language learners and struggling readers through an interactive glossary which includes illustrated and animated definitions to provide visual support to students, as well as definitions translated into Spanish. To promote the effective integration of digital textbooks into classroom instruction, Discovery Education is providing RISD educators using the Math Techbook customized, job-embedded professional development. This professional development helps educators explore the engaging resources embedded in Discovery Education Math Techbook and provides the strategies needed to engage students in inquiry-based instruction, math investigations, and collaborative, real-world problem-solving on any device and in any classroom configuration. Additionally, the Discovery Education Community will continue supporting RISD educators’ efforts to transform students’ learning experience with digital media. 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 proud to be a part of Roswell Independent School District’s drive to transform math instruction,” said Amy Knower, Director of Partnerships at Discovery Education. “Together, we are providing educators the engaging, high-quality resources they need to connect students to the real-world mathematics necessary to achieve college and career readiness.” For more information about the Math Techbook or other Discovery Education services, please visit www.discoveryeducation.com. About Discovery EducationDiscovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content, professional development, and the largest professional learning community of its kind. Serving 3 million educators and over 30 million students, Discovery Education’s services are in half of U.S. classrooms, 50 percent of all primary schools in the UK, and more than 50 countries. Discovery Education partners with districts, states and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that increase 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.