The search for America's Top Young Scientist continued today as Discovery Education and 3M announced the names of 44 middle school students from around the nation selected as semifinalists in the 2008 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.  The view the full list of semifinalists, their hometowns and schools, visit www.DiscoveryEducation.com/YoungScientist.

Long-needed data are now available on the changing mix of instructional resources in K-12 schools and their effectiveness for the development of 21st century skills.  The new Ed Tech from the Trenches: Second Annual Survey of Shifting Media and Materials Use in K-12 Education report, authored by industry expert Sari Follansbee, Ed.D., and published by Marketing Projects, Inc., publisher of The Big Deal Book of Technology and other specialized K-12 publications, shows a continuing diversification of educational media and materials and the increase of Internet use for teaching and learning over the next two years.  The report highlights findings from two annual online surveys of more than 1,600 K-12 teachers, technology coordinators, media specialists, and administrators nationwide.  Copies of Ed Tech from the Trenches as well as report site licenses may be purchased from Marketing Projects, Inc.  Visit www.bigdealbook.com/edtech for additional findings, a sampler download, and online purchase, or phone 800-650-0034 for more information.

Curriki, an online community for creating and sharing open source K-12 curricula, announces the completion of phase one of its Web site redesign, part of the organization's ongoing efforts to provide an easy-to-use online collaborative environment for educators and learners worldwide.  In addition, Curriki has expanded its offering of open source curricula with a new educational program, Panwapa, from Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, in partnership with the Merrill Lynch Foundation.  Panwapa is a collection of educational resources designed to introduce and model the skills needed for global citizenship.

During the ePals Globally-Connected Classroom Conference at Alan November's annual Building Learning Communities Conference, ePals, Inc., and Etech Group announce a partnership to provide students and educators worldwide with access to the largest and fastest growing global network for meaningful learning through Studywiz Spark, the first and only Dynamic LearnSpace for K-12 education.  Beginning with the Maine Learning Technology Initiative, educators and students will have the opportunity to safely connect with schools around the world through ePals (www.epals.com) and the company's set of communication tools, including SchoolM@il and SchoolBlog.

The Kenyan Ministry of Education will provide the opportunity for their students and educators to safely connect with schools around the world through ePals (www.epals.com), the largest and fastest growing global network for meaningful learning.  Leveraging the safe, protected and collaborative learning and e-mentoring tools available through ePals, Kenyan students and educators can connect with classrooms in 200 countries and territories, conducting cross-cultural exchanges, language learning practice, and project-based collaboration to build the 21st century skills necessary to succeed in a global economy.

PBS today unveils a new online community for preK-12 educators that supports the advancement of digital media content and technology integration in education. PBS Teachers Connect (pbsteachers.org/connect) provides teachers, school library media specialists, technology coordinators, early childhood educators and other education professionals with opportunities to share ideas, collaborate and support the effective use of instructional technology and multimedia to enhance student learning. The new online community is built around PBS Teachers (pbsteachers.org), the Web portal to the wide-ranging multimedia instructional resources and professional development services PBS offers preK-12 educators. At no cost, educators can search more than 3,000 standards-based classroom activities, lesson plans, interactive resources and other materials on the PBS Teachers Web site, then easily bookmark, annotate, share and manage their tagged content within the PBS Teachers Connect community.

STI, a leading provider of education data management systems, today introduces five online courses that cover formative assessment and data analysis topics to train administrators and teachers to use assessment data effectively to modify instruction and accelerate student progress. The new courses, which begin Aug. 4, 2008, are offered as a part of STI Achievement Services, a comprehensive professional development and consulting service offering that helps schools and districts address student achievement shortfalls. Although the concept of using data as a change agent is not new, the practice has not been fully deployed in educational systems to integrate and use various data sets.  Using data in education to improve instruction requires a localized, systematic program, and it must be institutionalized in the school or district culture.

Committed to positively impacting student outcomes, Excelsior Software announces an extensive expansion to its Pinnacle Suite of products.  The Pinnacle Suite now allows administrators and educators to access and manage curriculum, formative and summative assessments, and supplementary resources through one flexible, easy-to-use system.  "Today's school districts face challenges in finding solutions to help map and deliver standards-aligned curriculum, offer quality professional development, aid educators in closing the achievement gap, allow administrators to measure progress across all levels and engage parents in their child's education," said William Zaggle, President of Excelsior Software.  "The Pinnacle Suite now offers educators and administrators one single interface to access the tools and data they need to accomplish these goals and to make decisions that directly affect the student learning experience."

ePals has developed a set of six questions to encourage educators and thought leaders to move beyond a discussion about just 21st century skills or technology integration to instead discuss constructing a framework of evaluating solutions that build the skills students need to thrive after graduation.  Join the conversation to discuss transformative solutions during the National Educational Computing Conference at the ePals NECC blog (sites.epals.com/necc2008/).

Sebit, LLC, developer of Adaptive Curriculum, announces a partnership with Learning.com, provider of digital curriculum.  This collaboration will offer teachers seamless access to Adaptive Curriculum Activity Objects through the Digital Learning Environment from Learning.com.  Combining conceptual learning with state-of-the-art graphics, Activity Objects provide teachers with an interactive way to engage middle grade students in math, with the goal of improving students' academic performance in the classroom.

PBS TeacherLine recently teamed up with the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) to provide technology lead teachers with online professional development opportunities. The PBS TeacherLine ISTE Capstone Certificate Program is a key component of the district's Technology Integration Lead Teacher (TILT) initiative to enhance the knowledge and skills of teachers who are responsible for instructional technology leadership in their schools, and to accelerate and improve technology integration district-wide. The district is on track to reach its goals with 18 teachers scheduled to earn their certification this summer, and openings for 18 more who will have the opportunity to begin the Capstone program in mid-fall 2008. This opportunity was made possible through the work of PBS TeacherLine station partners, KLRN in San Antonio and KLRU in Austin, Texas.

Aventa Learning, a leading provider of online curriculum and instruction for schools and districts, has significantly expanded its online credit recovery program for high school schools to address the needs of at-risk students and English Language Learners. Aventa Learning Credit Recovery offers flexible implementation options to meet the varying needs of schools, minimizing staffing and facility costs while offering an enriching learning environment for students.  According to numerous published reports, approximately one-third of high school students – and nearly half of Hispanic students – do not graduate on time. Dropping out of school is correlated to a number of negative social and economic outcomes, including unemployment, low income levels, poor health, and incarceration. Aventa's online credit recovery program provides a means to help all students succeed and for schools to address graduation rates.

Califone International, Inc., announces that Read Right Systems, Inc., an organization that developed and implements an innovative methodology for improving reading skills, has selected the Califone MP3 Player to be used in the company's Read Right® program.  Implemented in K-12 schools, correctional institutions, learning centers, and community colleges nationwide, Read Right serves as an intervention program for struggling readers, including special needs students, and is used as a tool for language acquisition.  A critical part of the program's methodology utilizes audio books to enhance the predictability of the text.  This format also requires the students to be able to easily return to the beginning of each paragraph.  The program's tutors are currently using cassette tapes and cassette players, which can be difficult to quickly and easily rewind to the desired place in the text.  The Califone MP3 Player creates a more efficient learning experience and expands the user's ability to control the playing of the audio book, enhancing the efficiency of the tutoring and learning processes.

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), a global nonprofit research organization known for its teaching tools and professional development, today announced that it will team up with Curriki, an online community for creating and sharing open source K-12 curricula.  To start, Curriki will make available EDC's standards-based middle-grades algebra course, allowing teachers to not only access the free curricula, but to add to it or adapt it for use in their classrooms.

The Geometer's Sketchpad is one of the most commonly used school software applications in the world. To help support teachers' use of The Geometer's Sketchpad in the classroom, Key Curriculum Press introduces Sketchpad LessonLink™. The new online, searchable library helps teachers integrate The Geometer's Sketchpad into their math curriculum with more than 500 Sketchpad activities designed for students in grades 3-12.

Every year a number of E-rate applicants – more than 500 in the past 10 years – are subjected to random audits by the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) for processes and receipts from past fiscal years.  To help schools and libraries prepare for this scenario, Funds For Learning, LLC, the nation's leading E-rate funding compliance services firm, announces the addition of a new resource to E-rate Manager for Applicants designed to facilitate audit preparation by guiding applicants through each step of the process.

During the past three months, educators nationwide have participated in the Software & Information Industry Association's (SIIA) Education Division's Vision K-20 Pilot Survey. Focusing on goals outlined in the Vision roadmap, the survey addressed topics such as 21st Century tools, accessibility, differentiated learning, assessment tools, and enterprise support. To attend the NECC press conference surrounding the announcement of the survey results taking place on Sunday, June 29th at 4:00 PM, please contact ebramlet@siia.net (703.927.2022) for press credentialing and invitations.

As handheld audio devices are showing promise they can enhance teaching and learning, classroom educators are choosing to incorporate these computing devices into their curriculum.  With the increased usage of digital classroom tools and the increased prevalence of classroom computer-based learning centers and language labs, it is critical for educators to consider the importance of audio protection.  To help educators and students combat unsafe listening practices, Califone International, Inc., introduces three products: the Sound Alert Monaural Headphone, the Sound Alert Monaural Jackbox, and the 8-Position Sound Alert Listening Center.

Giving educators an opportunity to create and implement a science classroom supported by technology, Fourier Systems has launched the Computing Science Exploration Grant Program.  Open for submissions now through Jan. 1, 2009, the program will award one recipient and three runners-up.  Enabling the winning entrant to incorporate technology into his or her classroom, Fourier Systems will match the contribution of the applicant up to a $7,500 value (approximate cost of 15 Nova5000s, for a total of up to 30 Nova5000s).  As well as being able to equip an entire science and math computing classroom or lab, the recipient also will receive a $500 U.S. voucher for selection of any probeware offered by Fourier Systems (more than 65 probes for conducting science experiments to choose from).  The three runners-up will receive a $500 U.S. voucher for Fourier Systems probeware.

Supporting ELL and world language educators and students, Discovery Education announced today that Discovery Education streaming customers now have the option to purchase an additional 1,000 high-quality titles spanning 30 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Hebrew, Hindi, and Spanish.  "Milwaukee Public Schools is a very diverse school system, hosting communities of Spanish, German, French, and Chinese speaking students," said Mary Zelenka, Milwaukee Public Schools Learning Technology Teacher.  "The new world language media now available through Discovery Education streaming engages students with interesting and comprehensive content and empowers teachers with additional resources to differentiate instruction for these communities."

Fifteen of the 20 fastest-growing occupations projected through 2010 require significant math or science preparation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  To qualify for these jobs, today's student must develop the problem-solving and critical thinking skills necessary to compete in a global economic environment.  Sebit, LLC, in partnership with Arizona State University (ASU), offers educators Adaptive Curriculum – standards-based math and science instruction to prepare students for success in the 21st century.

Schools nationwide are making efforts to incorporate digital-based media into their curriculum, which increases the demand for educators who are tech-savvy and comfortable using digital instructional media to enhance their daily lessons.  To offer educators a cost-effective, flexible and high-quality professional development opportunity, Discovery Education and Wilkes University have partnered to offer an online Master's degree in Instructional Media.  The 30-credit instructional media program will prepare educators to engage students in learning through digital media, with a focus on digital story-telling, using technology to support creativity and applying brain-based theories of how students process information while using technology.

To help educational institutions obtain financial support for sustainable standards-based learning programs, Excelsior Software is launching a comprehensive grants and funding program.  The goal of this initiative is to support educators and district administrators as they leverage technology to strengthen student success and improve teacher effectiveness.  "This initiative is more than a grants program," said Ferdi Serim, Grants Manager for Excelsior Software.  "We will work with school and district coordinators to develop strong proposals for state, federal and foundation-based resources.  By leveraging their investment in standards-based learning and by finding the intersection between the mission of the sources providing the funds and the school or district's goals, we will help them to develop and strengthen the relationships that are required for sustainable endeavors."

Dr. Mogens Jensen is conducting a five-day workshop, "Meeting Student Learning Needs Through Dynamic Assessment:  Implementing Intervention Models in Assessment," at San Diego State University, Aug. 11-15.  For school psychologists, educators, speech and language pathologists and school leaders, this is an opportunity to learn how to use and apply the breakthrough dynamic assessment evaluation model.  Dr. Jensen developed an assessment system called MindLadder that uses dynamic assessment rather than conventional testing, enabling students to improve their ability to acquire subject area knowledge and learn how to learn.  For more information, visit www.mindladder.com/newicml_training.html.

With its engaging visuals, strong interactivity and rich library of online learning activities, Adaptive Curriculum is enhancing math and science instruction for middle-grade students and teachers.  The Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) has honored Adaptive Curriculum for this accomplishment with a 2008 Distinguished Achievement Award, in the Mathematics Instruction Website category for grades 6-8.

On June 6, Discovery Education's outstanding Planet Earth Education Edition was honored by the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) with a 2008 Distinguished Achievement Award. The Planet Earth Education Edition combines the highly acclaimed Planet Earth series from Discovery Channel with a variety of educational resources.   In addition, Discovery Education Health and the Allstate 'Drive It Right' program were also honored with Distinguished Achievement Awards, while Discovery Education's Corporate Brochure received a Beacon Award.

The second edition of The Experts' Guide to the K-12 School Market from the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is now available, featuring eight chapters containing 63 articles by as many different authors representing SIIA member companies and industry veterans.  New articles included in this edition discuss NCLB, trends in technology use, software as a service, effectiveness research, and Web 2.0 marketing and product platforms.  The Guide is available now for download and hard copy purchase on the SIIA website.

Students in the School District of Hatboro-Horsham in Montgomery County, Pa., are using handheld computing devices to master the digital literacy skills they need to thrive in the 21st century.  In addition, in developing lessons and activities that encourage scientific, inquiry-based learning, district and school technology coordinators chose the Nova5000 from Fourier Systems to help several fifth grade classes leverage the benefits of technology while studying nature.  Wanting to provide their students with a computing device that would allow them to solve multi-disciplinary real-life problems as well as master the skills necessary to use spreadsheets to present, analyze and graph data, district technology coordinators researched devices that would best meet their needs.  “After much investigation, the Nova5000 provided the best features, including the required mobility and durability for our elementary students,” said Susan Casagrand, Director of Educational Technology for the district.

Funds For Learning, the nation's leading E-rate consulting and compliance firm, announces the results of a survey of E-rate applicants conducted in partnership with eSchool News.  More than 700 applicants participated in the survey that gathered the opinions of E-rate applicants.  Some survey respondents also participated in a focus group via EdRoom to further discuss topics related to the E-rate program.  The survey results along with analysis completed by the eSchool News editorial team appear in the June issue of eSchool News, and are available online at www.eschoolnews.com.

Discovery Education announced today the beginning of a major initiative to expand the robust media library of its flagship product, Discovery Education streaming.  When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions.  Stuff Happens with Bill Nye.  Discovery Atlas.  Operation Junkyard, Tutenstein and Extreme Engineering.  By December 2008, these series, shows and 5,000 more videos will be available to educators and students nationwide through Discovery Education streaming, increasing the total to more than 50,000 video clips covering all K-12 subject areas.  In addition, by the conclusion of this initiative to grow the company's digital media library by 25 percent, more than half of the Discovery Education streaming's video library will have a copyright of 2000 or later.

To support math teachers and their use of technology in the classroom, Key Curriculum Press announces two new online professional development courses on using The Geometer's Sketchpad®.  Designed for grades 3-12, The Geometer's Sketchpad provides students with a tangible, visual way to explore and understand abstract math concepts.  Key Curriculum Press' online professional development courses provide teachers with the skills they need to successfully integrate Dynamic Mathematics® software into their instruction.

The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) recently presented four of its 2008 International Distance Learning Awards to KC Distance Learning, Inc. (KCDL), the 30-year leader in middle and high school online and distance education programs. The company's online learning programs and key personnel were honored for leadership in the distance programming.  The awards were the 21st Century Best Practice Award for Distance Learning; Best Practices in Distance Learning Programming For Online Distance Learning, Silver Award; Excellence in Distance Learning Teaching for Online Distance Learning, Platinum Award; and the Outstanding Leadership by an Individual in the Field of Distance Learning Award.

Sebit, LLC, developer of Adaptive Curriculum, has been recognized by the Software & Information Industry Association as the CODiE Award Education Newcomer of the Year.  Each year, SIIA honors a new education technology company whose product or service has the potential for significant impact in the education industry, either through technological advancement or new business models.

Recognizing the company's advancements in developing high-quality educational science software, the ComputED Gazette has honored Fourier Systems with a 2008 Best Educational Software Award (BESSIE).  The BESSIE was given for the company's software program, MultiLab, which is available on the MultiLog, MultiLogPRO, TriLog, and TriLink data loggers as well as the Nova5000, in the category of Post-Secondary: Science.  MultiLab is a comprehensive program that allows users to collect data, display data in graphs, meters and tables, analyze data with sophisticated analysis tools, and even view online or recorded videos of the actual science experiment.  The program includes four displays: graph, table, video, and a navigation display called the Data Map.

Empowering educators to utilize Web 2.0 technology throughout instruction, such as emailing and blogging tools, ePals will host a pre-conference session at Alan November's annual conference, Building Learning Communities (BLC) 2008. Leading ePals teachers and instructional technology directors will join demonstrate innovative classroom applications of ePals' protected emailing, blogging and literacy tools.  Presentations will address language learning, cross-cultural pen pal programs, district-wide implementation, posting podcasts on blogs, and learning how blogging can connect families with teachers to help support the learning process outside of the classroom. The ePals Globally Connected Classroom Conference will be held from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. on July 15, 2008 in Boston, Mass. To register for the ePals pre-conference session and for more information on Building Learning Communities 2008, visit www.epals.com/conference.

Polk County Public Schools in Florida and Charles County Public Schools in Maryland have renewed their district-wide agreements for Discovery Education streaming, continuing to empower educators to use digital content that captures the diverse interest of their students.  Ultimately, these online resources help to improve student achievement and encourages them to further learn about topics covered in the classroom.  According to Discovery Education Vice President, Andy Schaefer, "Discovery Education is thrilled to continue our partnership with these two districts.  Each is a unique entity, products of their distinctive geography and demographics.  They are united, however, in their shared goal of empowering teachers to improve student achievement through high-quality digital content."

The application deadline for the LIVE GREEN Teacher Grants has been extended through June 15, 2008.  LIVE GREEN, a partnership between Discovery Education and General Motors, will award forty educators in public middle and junior high schools across America $1,000 each to implement inventive classroom lessons on the environment or renewable energy initiatives, a web-based training on Green initiatives, and a free digital camera to document their experience teaching environmental or renewable energy lessons.  For more information or to apply for a Discovery Education Live Green Teacher Grant visit www.discoveryeducation.com/livegreen.

Educators have a growing number of options when it comes to student computing devices as more emerge in the marketplace.  Unlike other available options, the Nova5000 from Fourier Systems offers a unique solution – a high-powered computing platform that is bundled with the tools and software many educators want to use, including the ability to connect with dozens of science probes, netTrekker, MathResources, Activote and more.  To offer educators with even more features and functionality, Fourier Systems has added RAM, Flash memory, a faster processor, enhanced graphics software, an additional SD card slot, and a longer battery life.  Now weighing only 2.4 lbs and with enhanced features, Fourier Systems has lowered the device's total cost-of-ownership by reducing the price for schools, districts and other educational organizations.  The Nova5000 is now available for under $500 - EX, SX and BX versions cost $499, $439 and $399 respectively.

As the gateway to all other knowledge, reading must be taught early in life and repeatedly reinforced throughout a student's schooling. Many American students still struggle through school because they have not mastered essential reading skills. Well-prepared teachers are critical to improving reading instruction and student achievement.  To help educators enhance their knowledge and instructional skills in reading, PBS TeacherLine®, the premier provider of online professional development courses for educators, offers more than 35 online courses in reading and language arts.  PBS TeacherLine also offers free online teaching resources such as "Developing Active Reading With Effective Questions" and other practical, research-based instructional strategies and best practices.

Focusing on how online collaborative technology can help reading coaches, educators and specialists increase student literacy skills, ePals, Inc., announces its e-mentoring curriculum-aligned program, In2Books, will be available to Title I schools at no cost beginning with the 2008-2009 school year.  ePals will help participating Title I schools to implement the program, including locating and coaching adult pen pals and supplying all books needed for the program.  In addition, the 2008-2009 classroom edition of In2Books will also include a new dedicated website for students that helps them make intelligent choices about books they would like to read.

Research reveals that if students are not proficient readers by the end of the third grade, they will have difficulties throughout their school careers, perform poorly in other subjects and are less likely to complete high school.  The AV Tutor™ Fundamental Center from Califone International, Inc., helps students to develop core reading and literacy skills, preparing them for continued education.  The AV Tutor Fundamental Center includes the AV Tutor and six digital cartridge programs, helping educators to apply a multi-modal learning approach with beginning readers.  Released in February 2008, the AV Tutor is a handheld player/recorder that allows students to compare their pronunciation of words with prerecorded "model" examples.  It offers enhanced sound quality and, being a digital device, requires little maintenance.  Visit the Califone booth (#1231) during the International Reading Association's 53rd Annual Convention, May 4-8, 2008, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga., to see the AV Tutor and other Califone products.

Students have vastly different vocabulary skills, as research shows that vocabulary development is correlated to socioeconomic status, level of parental support, and exposure to literacy-related activities.  Given the important role vocabulary plays in reading comprehension, educators are looking for ways to tailor instruction for students.  To meet this need, Dynamic Literacy, a developer of vocabulary instructional materials, announces the availability of differentiated content for its WordBuild™ Elements series.

Responding to customer demand and the overall growth of the company, Fourier Systems has appointed Javier Jimenez as the company's Vice President of Sales.  Jimenez will help to manage the growth of the company in the United States and in other major markets worldwide, building on different approaches and alliances to structure the organization and its sales models.  Most recently the Vice President and General Manager of Comverse Latin America, Jimenez comes to Fourier Systems with an extensive background in sales, marketing and operations management of technology-based products. For additional information about Fourier Systems, please visit www.fourier-sys.com.

Discovery Education has been honored with two 2008 BESSIE Awards from the ComputED Learning Center for Discovery Education Science for Elementary and the Discovery Educator Network (DEN). Discovery Education Science for Elementary was awarded a BESSIE in the Best Science Website for Upper Elementary category.  Released earlier this year, Discovery Education Science for Elementary is a standards-based digital resource for upper elementary school students, featuring a broad array of high-impact assets covering life, physical, and earth science.  The ComputED Learning Center also awarded the Discovery Educator Network a BESSIE for Best Professional Development Website in the Teacher Tools category.  Connecting teachers both on-line and face-to-face through professional development and networking events held throughout the country, the DEN promotes teacher collaboration and the use of technology to improve student achievement.

The voice of the educational technology industry, the Education Division of The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has developed a vision for K-20 education – a vision to ensure that all students have access to a teaching and learning environment capable of preparing them to compete globally and lead the world in innovation. During the last few months, educators nationwide have taken the time to participate in the Vision Survey, to measure classroom, school, district, department, or campus progress toward achieving the SIIA Vision for K-20.  Focusing on the goals outlined in the Vision, the survey addresses topics such as 21st Century tools, accessibility, differentiated learning, assessment tools, and enterprise support.  On Sunday, June 29, 2008, during NECC in San Antonio, SIIA will be hosting a special press event and reception to discuss the results of the survey and the initial status of the nation as it relates to the organization's vision for the state of education.  For details about the event, contact Sandy Fash at sandy@cblohm.com.

PBS TeacherLine® Peer Connection, the online suite of multimedia resources and tools designed to support instructional coaches, has been named a finalist for the Association of Educational Publishers' Distinguished Achievement Award in the professional development category for best instructional Web site.  PBS TeacherLine Peer Connection features a media-rich library of instructional strategies and resources.  This includes videos on best practices and research-based articles that are accessible from one searchable location that coaches can easily and quickly share with teachers to help them accomplish their goals. Through discussion boards, resource sharing, and other tools, the product fosters an online community that brings together coaches, teachers, and practice groups for effective collaboration and teaching.

Discovery Education and Vanderbilt University are partnering to launch a new research-based evaluation tool measuring the effectiveness of principals.  The Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED), which is being exclusively distributed by Discovery Education, was created at Vanderbilt University through a grant from the Wallace Foundation.  Rigorously tested and proven in the field, VAL-ED offers a 360-degree evaluation of areas related to student achievement and leadership.  VAL-ED assesses principals in six core components related to student learning, including high standards, rigorous curriculum and performance accountability.  Six additional evaluation areas of key processes measure leadership skills such as planning, advocating and communicating.

With the help of Bay-Arenac ISD, eight Michigan school districts have collaborated to purchase STIAssessment, a web-based formative assessment creation and data tracking system.  The system will be rolled out to Arenac-Eastern Schools, Bangor Township Schools, Bay-Arenac Community High School, Bay City Public Schools, Bay County Public School Academy, Essexville-Hampton Public Schools, Pinconning Area Schools, and Standish-Sterling Community Schools in July of this year.  Teachers can use STIAssessment to create and administer online formative assessments and gather data detailing student performance on state standards.  Formative assessment is one of the multiple student achievement measurements the Bay-Arenac ISD uses to gauge success and meet mandated educational goals under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Dynamic Literacy, a developer of vocabulary instructional materials, offers educators a strategy to improve the vocabulary, language and reading skills of their Spanish-speaking students through the WordBuild Vocabulary Development System.  The instructional materials teach Spanish-speaking students how English words are constructed by focusing on the meanings of prefixes, roots and suffixes, also known as morphemes.  Once ELL students learn the definitions of common morphemes, they gain the skills necessary to decipher thousands of unfamiliar words, and their vocabularies increase exponentially.

For the past 23 years, the CODiE Awards have brought together the best and the brightest from some of the most important and innovative technology companies around the world.  This year, more than 1,100 CODiE nominations were submitted by 600 companies in a total of 75 categories, of which 340 distinguished finalists have been selected by a panel of expert judges.  Winners will be announced at receptions and a festive gala held on May 20, 2008, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Calif.  Media interested in attending, or interviewing SIIA's senior executives during, or prior to, the May events, should contact Sandy Fash at 608.839.9804, or via email at sandy@cblohm.com. The following SIIA representatives are available for interviews in the Events Press Room:  Ken Wasch, President, SIIA; Ed Keating, VP, Content Division; Karen Billings, VP, Education Division; and David Thomas, Executive Director, Software Division.

Research by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has found that hearing loss can lead to numerous problems in school. Students with hearing loss can have difficulty with academic achievement in areas such as language arts, vocabulary, arithmetic, and problem solving.  That said, a recent study found that teens were generally aware that listening to their personal media players too loudly could affect their hearing, but most said they play their device at maximum level and have no plans to change that behavior.  The month of May is ASHA's annual Better Hearing and Speech Month.  This year, Califone International and ASHA are teaming up to spread the message about better listening practices and how educators and parents can teach students how to listen safely.

To provide more professional development opportunities for teachers and paraprofessionals, and to assist them in achieving "highly qualified" status under the NCLB law, the Colorado Department of Education teamed up with PBS TeacherLine to offer online courses to educators in the state.  The Colorado Department of Education Tuition Reimbursement Program provides financial assistance to teachers for PBS TeacherLine online professional development courses.  With the help of PBS TeacherLine® and the Colorado Department of Education, Colorado teachers are improving math education while meeting highly qualified teacher requirements, gaining graduate credits and increasing their salaries.  More than 92 teachers have been reimbursed for completion of PBS TeacherLine courses since the program began.

In 2006, Europe passed the RoHS Directive, mandating that electrical and electronic products sold in the European market must contain restrictive levels of substances that can be hazardous in large amounts, including lead, cadmium and mercury.  In addition, China, Australia and Japan have passed similar legislations, and last year, 20 states within the United States and Canada developed plans for RoHS-like regulations.  Califone International, Inc., is fully committed to providing products that are as safe as possible, which is why the company has been creating educational products that follow RoHS standards for years.

In response to the continued growth of the Discovery Educator Network (DEN) and requests from educators nationwide, Discovery Education has expanded the Field Support Team dedicated to nurturing the DEN.  The additional staff increases the reach of services provided to educators and provides extra assistance to the DEN's ongoing efforts to support educators in their use of digital media and technology in the classroom.  Connecting teachers both on-line and face-to-face through professional development and networking events held throughout the country, the DEN promotes teacher collaboration and the use of technology to improve student achievement.  The DEN's more than 30,000 members worldwide have provided professional development to approximately a half-million educators since it began in 2005.

The San Francisco Bay Area's Catholic Telemedia Network (CTN) recently selected Discovery Education as the provider of digital science resources to member schools.  Consisting of two grade appropriate services, Discovery Education Science for Elementary and Discovery Education Science for Middle School, Discovery Education's science resources provide comprehensive multimedia assets that supplement existing school curriculum with high-quality digital content in a flexible online format.  CTN's mission is to enhance student learning by facilitating the integration of technology into existing curriculum.  CTN provides multimedia services, including a full schedule of broadcast channels daily, on a variety of subjects, to teachers and students in its approximately 150 San Francisco Bay-area Catholic schools.

The Charlottesville Business Innovation Council has selected Dynamic Literacy as a finalist for its 10th Annual Charlottesville Innovation Awards.  The program honors individuals and organizations that have made noteworthy contributions to the marketplace and community in the past year through entrepreneurship and the creation, commercialization, or application of technology.  Dynamic Literacy is one of three finalists for The Breakthrough Award, which is presented to an individual or organization that achieves a remarkable breakthrough or quantum advance.

Encouraging 21st century educators to LIVE GREEN, Discovery Education and General Motors will award 40 educators in public middle and junior high schools across America $1,000 each to implement inventive classroom lessons on the environment or renewable energy initiatives.  Applications for the LIVE GREEN Teacher Grants are being accepted now through May 15, 2008.  In addition to receiving $1,000 LIVE GREEN Teacher Grants, the winning educators will be invited to participate in a virtual online professional development program promoting school-specific green initiatives.  As part of the webinar series, each grant recipient will receive a free digital camera that they will use to document their experience teaching environmental or renewable energy lessons. For more information or to enter the Discovery Education LIVE GREEN Teacher Grants, visit www.discoveryeducation.com/livegreen.

Funds For Learning, LLC, the nation's leading E-rate compliances firm, has named Cathy Cruzan as President of the company.  Cruzan has been with Funds For Learning since 2000 and has held a number of roles in the company.  Cruzan most recently served as Vice-President of Client Operations.  The company previously operated under a single President and Chief Executive Officer.  Due to Funds For Learning continued growth, the company will now operate with these roles filled by two individuals.  As President, Cruzan will oversee day-to-day operations of the company and provide direction to company managers and directors.

Discovery Education and 3M have joined forces to present the 2008 Discovery Education/3M Young Scientist Challenge, which is officially open for submissions through June 15.  3M joins the Young Scientist Challenge, the nation’s premier science competition for middle school students, as it heads into its 10th year of nurturing the next generation of American scientists.  The Discovery Education/3M Young Scientist Challenge reaches out to students in grades 5-8 during the critical years when research indicates that their interest in science begins to fade, encouraging them to explore everyday scientific concepts and creatively share their findings with peers.  For further details on the competition, visit www.discoveryeducation.com/youngscientist.

Funds For Learning and eSchool News announce the launch of The National E-rate Survey.  Designed to measure applicants' attitudes and opinions about the E-rate program, the findings will identify the program's key strengths and challenges.  Results will be published in the June issue of eSchool News, and will also be sent to members of Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the Universal Service Administrative Company's Schools and Libraries Division.  The feedback will help shape the E-rate program going forward, and lead to changes and improvements that will benefit the entire E-rate community.

E-rate applicants can access the survey here.

The National Transcript Center (NTC) announces the fall 2008 launch of NTC JumpStart™, which will enable any school to start sending PDF documents of student records or transcripts to any other school, organization or employer immediately.  Most schools can easily generate a PDF of a student record or transcript.  NTC JumpStart members will be able to send this PDF to any school in NTC's database of over 137,000 institutions, encompassing all PK-12 and higher education institutions in the country as well as many scholarship organizations and employers.  In addition, the record/transcript can be delivered to any individual, organization, or company worldwide through a partnership with Adobe/GeoTrust® that provides the maximum possible authentication of PDF documents.  NTC JumpStart is designed to be used primarily as a temporary solution until a member is ready to begin sending data through NTC's primary network.

Schools and libraries are able to experience the benefits of the E-rate program sooner than in years past, according to a new report issued by Funds For Learning.  After examining information from E-rate Funding Years 2005, 2006, and 2007, the report found that the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Company (SLD) is issuing E-rate funding commitments more efficiently, and disbursing E-rate funds at a faster rate.

American students use 21st Century technologies everyday in their personal lives to learn, create content and communicate with peers.  To help educators and administrators integrate technology tools into day-to-day instruction and decision-making, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has launched its Vision K-20 Initiative. The Vision K-20 Initiative calls for a coalition of education stakeholders – including teachers, administrators, university leaders, business executives and policymakers – to prepare our students to thrive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. “To remain relevant in today's economy, Americans must rebuild our competitive edge and revitalize our education system.  This initiative will help stakeholders to make progress toward creating a truly 21st Century learning environment,” said Ken Wasch, President of SIIA.  The Vision K-20 Initiative promotes the combination of proven, well-implemented and well-supported technologies with solid educational approaches to sharpen America's innovative edge and increase the opportunity for every person to fulfill their promise through education.

Eastern Suffolk BOCES has selected Discovery Education Assessment to support its 51 member school districts in improving student achievement.  Discovery Education Assessment's continuous-improvement model of academic monitoring quickly and accurately identifies students' problem skills.  In addition, its research-based benchmarks and reports enable educators to revise instruction, enhance learning and improve test scores.  Research shows that 92 percent of schools using Discovery Education Assessment improve Annual Yearly Progress status.

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) knows that education companies are investing in the development and marketing of innovative products and services for the K-20 market.  “While educators and administrators want to purchase those products and implement them into their schools and classrooms, there are many challenges for companies making this investment.  The Ed Tech Industry Summit is designed to help companies learn from each other - from the issues to the successes,” said Karen Billings, VP Education for SIIA.  See below for information about the upcoming 2008 Ed Tech Industry Summit, which will be held May 18-20 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Calif. For further conference details, including up-to-date program and registration information, visit the event website www.siia.net/etis/2008/

Dynamic Literacy, a developer of vocabulary instructional materials, announces a new addition to its WordBuild Vocabulary Development System™.  Studies show that students who understand how words are formed, by combining prefixes, suffixes and roots, tend to have larger vocabularies and better reading comprehension, according to the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  The new Dynamic Literacy series, Foundations, is the first of two series in the WordBuild Vocabulary Development System designed to boost classroom performance by improving student skills in vocabulary, language and reading comprehension.

ePals, Inc., and National Geographic Ventures (NGV), which creates and distributes digital content for the National Geographic Society, have formed a strategic partnership to create unique, cultural learning experiences for educators, students and families.  National Geographic content will be included in the ePals' Global Community in areas such as maps and geography, habitats, global warming, natural disasters, people and culture, great leaders, water, and weather.  In each area, educators and students will be able to work with learners around the world or across the hall, choosing among projects that emphasize collaboration, building 21st century skills and the use of school-safe communication tools.

ePals, Inc., announces it will provide the first educational applications dedicated to creating a safe online environment on the Intel-powered classmate PC, including the ePals' Global Learning Community, SchoolMail and SchoolBlog. Students and teachers can join the ePals' Global Learning Community, the largest network of interconnected classrooms in the world, by selecting the ePals icon on the classmate PC's desktop.  By doing so, they enter a safe environment for building and exchanging knowledge, using protected email, blog, translation tools, evidence-based curricula, and authentic, collaborative learning experiences.  International in scope, ePals safely connects more than 350,000 teachers from 200 countries and territories around the world.

As a result of the settlement of a class action lawsuit, educators in several states now have access to critical funding from the Microsoft Corporation for educational technology.  Among the products available for purchase with these vouchers are Discovery Education's flagship product, Discovery Education streaming and the Discovery Media Server.  To date, 18 states and the District of Columbia have reached proposed settlements totaling over 2.5 billion dollars.  In nearly every state, 50 percent of the unclaimed funds have been earmarked for school districts.  Although each state is handling the distribution of these funds differently, the majority of state agencies are providing districts with both a general purpose and software voucher to use towards approved purchases.

The use of classroom learning centers continues to grow as teachers and students become more comfortable using technology in a group setting.  Learning centers allow teachers to differentiate instruction for their students by grouping them with peers with similar abilities, and students have reported they enjoy using the technology at school.  As the leader in powered and non-powered learning centers, Califone International, Inc., has recently introduced four learning centers to offer educators the flexibility they need during instruction. Each new Califone learning center offers educators high-quality technology that allow multiple students to work together and learn simultaneously.  In addition, the learning centers include products that help schools create and manage a healthier environment for their students.

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) today unveiled the list of finalists for the 23rd Annual Codie Awards.  Established in 1986, the Codie Awards celebrate outstanding achievement and vision in the software, digital information and education technology industries.  Through a unique combination of journalist and peer review, the Codie Awards recognize 68 categories of outstanding products and services.  This year's 340 finalists represent an impressive array of technology and business excellence and success.  For a complete list of the 2008 Codie Award finalists, please go to: www.siia.net/codies/2008/finalists.asp.

Discovery Education is expanding its field customer support teams in response to the needs of its rapidly growing customer community.   With the addition of new offices in Los Angeles and Charlotte, N.C., Discovery Education will now have 6 regional teams across the country to provide educators even more customized educational solutions.  Discovery Education also has enlarged its technical and customer service teams, providing all customers immediate access to personalized service.  The new Field team is led by Mandy Rutkowski, Vice President, Discovery Education, operating out of the company's Silver Spring, Md. headquarters.

GlobalScholar.com, a member of the Knowledge Universe family of companies, has acquired Excelsior Software, a leading provider of assessment management solutions for the K-12 education market.  This acquisition will provide educators and administrators the rich Pinnacle Education Solutions suite of products offered by Excelsior Software paired with a curriculum and instructional management solution and a set of intuitive collaboration tools developed by GlobalScholar.com.  "For more than 20 years, we have been dedicated to education innovation, helping students, parents, educators, and administrators collect, analyze and act on the information they need to improve student outcomes," said William Zaggle, president and CEO of Excelsior Software.  "Now, as part of the GlobalScholar team, we have access to the resources that allow us to provide educators with an expanded set of tools and the real-time data they need to have a meaningful impact on student performance.  The combination of our two products truly supports our unified vision for the future of student learning and success."

PBS TeacherLine, the premier provider of online professional development courses for educators, announces today the launch of its new program Course Licensing for Schools and Districts. The flexible course licensing program enables schools, districts and education service agencies to expand their staff professional development programs or create a new initiative in a way that is cost-effective. The program allows educational institutions to select from more than 100 research-based courses in reading/language arts, math, science, instructional strategies, and instructional technology.

A Literacy in the Labor Force report indicates that only a little more than half of all U.S. elementary students learn to read and write well enough to be considered functionally literate.  To help educators provide their students enhanced instruction and remediation, Califone International, Inc., introduces the AV Tutor with accompanying Digital Cartridge Programs.  The AV Tutor is a handheld player/recorder that allows students to compare their pronunciation of words with prerecorded "model" examples.  It offers enhanced sound quality and, being a digital device, requires little maintenance.  Ideal for supplementing classroom curriculum, speech-language therapies, and ESL applications, the device gives students an opportunity to build reading skills independently without needing access to a desktop computer.

How many E-rate funding requests does the average applicant submit?  What is the average discount rate for telecommunications services or Internet access?  Answers to these questions and more can be found in a new report released by Funds For Learning, the nation's leading E-rate funding compliance services firm.  In the report "The Average E-rate Applicant," Funds For Learning calculates averages for many metrics of all E-rate applicants nationwide.  The averages are based on the nearly 23,000 funding requests received for the 2007 Funding Year.

PBS TeacherLine, the premier provider of online professional development courses for educators, introduces a new collection of courses that focuses on the unique educational needs of English language learners (ELL). More than 5.5 million school-age children in the United States are English language learners, comprising 10 percent of the preK-12 student population. Projections indicate that the ELL student population will amount to 50 percent of all students by 2015. Through the Supporting English Language Learners series from PBS TeacherLine, teachers learn skills and techniques that accelerate students' mastery of English and enable students to keep pace with classroom instruction.

Approximately 500 educators from the United States, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Israel, Peru, and South Korea recently attended the first-ever, virtual conference hosted by the Discovery Educator Network (DEN). Held on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008, the free conference provided educators around the world a unique opportunity to experience high-quality professional development either online or in-person at one of many regional events hosted in the United States by local DEN Leadership Councils. During the conference, educators participated in seminars and shared ideas about how to teach digital immigrants, how to use engaging technologies such as Discovery Education streaming, Google Earth, wikis, and blogs, as well as digital storytelling techniques to enhance lesson plans and reach out to their technology-savvy students on their level.

The National Transcript Center (NTC) announces today that it is developing the Virginia Transcript Center, a statewide electronic student record and transcript exchange system, for the Virginia Department of Education. The Virginia Transcript Center will be incorporated into the state's pioneering SIF-based statewide data management system that provides decision-support data to educators at the state, division and school levels. All PK-12 public schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia will be able to exchange electronic records and transcripts with other school divisions and higher education institutions in the state free of charge.

Schools and districts are moving to centralized, all-inclusive, Web-based data management systems because they provide convenience, better data accuracy and seamless data integration. To offer schools a comprehensive system that meets a wide range of data management and reporting needs, STI, a leading provider of education data management systems, has partnered with SchoolMessenger®, HealthMaster® and ConnectEdu. Through collaboration with these premier education companies, STI has added new modules to its Web-based student information system, InformationNOW, that enable schools to track and manage school-to-home communications, health services and electronic transcript exchange with higher education institutions.

Several of Florida's elite educators earned the opportunity this school year to participate in PBS TeacherLine's online courses in instructional technology to meet their professional development goals. Through their online learning experience, these Master Digital Educators gained new skills and knowledge that they are using to enhance the learning experience for students and to train teachers in technology integration. PBS TeacherLine, the Florida Digital Educator Program, and the Florida Department of Education, Bureau of Instruction and Innovation, partnered in early 2007 to provide online professional development to a cohort of Master Digital Educators. This joint effort is part of an ongoing statewide initiative to help teachers use instructional technology in ways that support project-based learning and require students to use higher-order thinking skills. Master digital educators Janann Nicholson, Ana McMoran, and Adam Wolford share their online learning experiences and how it has positively changed their teaching in the classroom and with their peers.

STI, a leading provider of education data management systems, introduces STI Lunch to its fully integrated suite of management tools for schools. Since Title I funds are directly tied to the number of children who qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch, it is mission critical for districts to have the most accurate and secure system available. STI Lunch helps school staff meet stringent legal requirements for protection of student privacy and simplifies state reimbursement of federal lunch funds. With its tools for data management, non-perpetual inventory tracking, and payment processing, STI Lunch streamlines food service management and increases efficiency so school staff can work to ensure daily delivery of fresh, hot meals for students.