Silver Spring, Md. (Jan. 22, 2009) – Discovery Education and the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology announce today a partnership providing Discovery Education Science, the award-winning digital content service, to middle school educators and students statewide beginning in January 2009.

Correlated to Connecticut state education standards and designed expressly for middle school pupils, Discovery Education Science empowers educators to quickly locate and use a variety of engaging multimedia resources, including videos, animations, images, articles, and virtual labs, to reach students through a medium that they are already familiar with and eager to use in the classroom. Each middle school student in the state can access the service with a unique username and password, enabling their teachers to create individual learning plans for each pupil. In addition, an online assessment component quickly identifies student understanding of science concepts throughout the learning process via a pre-test, mid-point check, and/or post test. This feature helps teachers assess student learning to ensure lesson goals are achieved.

“The future of Connecticut’s place in an increasingly competitive global marketplace relies heavily on the engagement of students in science education, and even in these difficult financial times, our responsibility to provide students with the tools to succeed beyond the classroom must be met,” commented Connecticut State Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan. “Basic scientific literacy and 21st century skills help prepare students to be confident and capable lifelong learners equipped to access, understand, evaluate, and apply information in various contexts. Connecticut students should have access to rich and challenging science resources that will promote these critical skills, while inspiring and supporting advanced study and science-related careers.”

Organized around an inquiry-based framework, and covering Physical, Earth and Space, and Life Sciences, Discovery Education Science encourages exploration, stimulates critical thinking, and deepens student’s understanding of science. The online assessment tool built into Discovery Education Science not only provides teachers and students with information on which skills and concepts have been mastered, but also it directs individual students to remedial activities that address areas in need of improvement.

“Discovery Education Science is a fantastic service that will bring science to life for more than 100,000 middle school students in Connecticut, and we are excited to work with educators across the state as they integrate it into their daily classroom activities,” commented Karen Kaplan, Executive Director for the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology.

The Discovery Educator Network, a global community of more than 88,000 educators passionate about integrating multimedia into classroom curriculum, will support Connecticut teachers as they learn to integrate Discovery Education Science into their lessons. Through the Discovery Educator Network, educators have free access to a wide range of technology training, as well as a resource library of teacher-generated projects and tools.

More Information

For more information on Discovery Education Science, or any other products and services from Discovery Education, please visit www.discoveryeducation.com or call 800-323-9084.

About Discovery Education

Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISAD, DISBD, DISCK) revolutionized television with the Discovery Channel and is now transforming classrooms through Discovery Education. Powered by the number one non-fiction media company in the world, Discovery Education combines scientifically proven, standards-based digital media and a dynamic user community in order to empower teachers to improve student achievement. Already, more than half of U.S. schools access Discovery Education digital services. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.

Contacts

Discovery Education
Stephen Wakefield
240-662-2893
stephen_wakefield at discovery dot com
www.discoveryeducation.com

Connecticut Department
of Education
Tom Murphy
960-713-6525
Thomas.murphy at ct dot gov

C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.
Sandy Fash
608-839-9800
sandy at cblohm dot com
www.cblohm.com

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