Search Results

Learning List has reviewed several of Glynlyon’s Odysseyware high school math products, including Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and the “Fundamentals” version of each course (e.g. Algebra I Fundamentals). Each product supports instruction in self-paced and credit-recovery programs and blended learning environments. < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> Algebra I (TX Edition) is a year-long course that addresses the foundations of algebra, linear equations, functions, inequalities, linear systems, polynomials, exponential functions and radicals, and quadratic equations. Geometry (TX Edition) is a year-long course that addresses the foundations of geometry, logic, functions, angles and parallels, congruent triangles and quadrilaterals, similar polygons, circles, area and volume, coordinate geometry, transformations and trigonometry, and probability. Algebra II (TX Edition) is a year-long course that expands students’ understanding of quadratic and exponential functions, systems of equations, and inequalities. Instruction addresses logarithmic, square root, cubic, cube root, absolute value, rational, and inverse functions and their related equations. Students learn to connect functions to their inverses and associated equations and solutions in both mathematical and real-world situations. Data analysis and numeric and algebraic methods are also covered. The Fundamentals versions of each course are designed to provide focused instruction. Each course contains extended review activities and fewer performance tasks and opportunities for project-based learning. About Odysseyware* Odysseyware takes the question of where students can learn out of the equation. With its fully HTML5 course library, students can learn anywhere, anytime, on any device, via a powerful Learning Management System delivering hundreds of multimedia-based courses. Students have access to CTE, Advanced Placement®, core and elective options, all aligned to national and state standards. They also have access to powerful supports including translations in 23 languages, vocabulary and reference libraries, text-to-speech, and immediate coaching for writing skills via the Writer Tool. *Information in this section is provided by or adapted from Odysseyware . Subscribe to  Learning List  for access to the spec sheet, full editorial review and alignment reports for these materials and thousands of other widely used PreK-12 resources.

The new report Leadership Perspectives on Public Education: The Gallup 2017 Survey of K-12 School District Superintendents identifies the key challenges that school leaders believe are facing public education today.  Not surprisingly, superintendents say that quality teachers who can engage students and build excitement about learning are the most critical element in improving student outcomes. However, surveyed superintendents underscored the difficulty of finding talented teachers. The report’s conclusion explains: Superintendents believe having teachers who create excitement about the future is, more than any other proposed strategy or initiative, extremely important for preparing students for success later in life. But finding enough quality teachers is a difficult task, and superintendents are much less likely to see their district as effective in recruiting new teachers as effective in selecting, developing or retaining them. A majority also see the quantity of new teacher candidates decreasing, and more view the quality of those candidates as decreasing rather than increasing (p. 31). < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> This result suggests that districts are increasingly involved in training new teachers and providing ongoing professional development to ensure all teachers provide high quality instruction. In this two-part blog series, Learning List will discuss the ways in which districts can use (1) their instructional materials, and (2) the resources and tools on Learninglist.com to support teacher growth and improved instruction. In this first blog post, we will discuss the embedded teacher supports that publishers often provide to ensure their materials are used effectively and to optimize student outcomes. While not all publishers offer such supports, the resources we find to be most common are discussed below. Detailed lesson plans. Many products provide teachers with lesson plans that have lightly- or heavily-scripted “teacher talk” and examples of possible student responses. The responses typically include a variety of possible correct responses as well as incorrect responses and the underlying student misconceptions. These lesson plans discuss the materials required for instruction and pacing options. They provide step-by-step guidance in implementing activities and include teaching tools, such as graphic organizers, learning games, and hands-on activities. In some instances, the lesson plans are so detailed, that they “teacher-proof” instruction. That is, the guidance is so detailed that the most inexperienced teacher can deliver the lesson effectively. This may make some experienced educators uncomfortable; however, publishers generally allow teachers to modify the plans to meet their teaching styles and their students’ learning needs. Strategies for differentiating learning. Recognizing the importance of providing instruction for all learners, many publishers offer detailed activities and/or mini-lessons that support English language learners (ELLs) at different levels of language acquisition, Response to Intervention (RtI) at Tiers 2 and 3, and gifted students. Often, these resources are embedded in lesson plans or included in wrap-around teacher editions. However, as more resources are offered online, teachers increasingly have access to fully developed differentiated learning resources that address different learning needs. Such resources may include leveled reading materials that cover the same content, but at different reading levels; adaptive learning tools that adjust instruction to meet each student’s learning needs; and online tools, such as audio-readers and translation features that help struggling readers and ELLs master content. On-demand professional development. We see many publishers offering on-demand training in the form of videos, webinars, and interactive tutorials. This training often includes guidance in planning and implementing lessons; background in content, pedagogy, and learning standards; strategies for differentiating instruction; videos of expert teachers modeling instruction in classrooms; and support for using the product’s resources and/or online features. Monitoring tools. Products increasingly are offering monitoring tools that allow educators to track student progress, identify struggling students, and design interventions. These tools support data-driven instruction and provide powerful information in training teachers in the use of data, measurement of learning objectives, and effective assessment. A community of users. To facilitate effective use of instructional materials, publishers often seek to build online communities of teachers. These communities enable teachers to share teaching tips, lesson plans, and best practices through chatrooms, discussion boards, and other social media tools. Teacher portals. In addition to traditional teacher resources, such as teacher editions and answer keys, some publishers are providing access to additional materials through online teacher portals.  Materials offered through portals supplement traditional teacher resources and often include articles that offer deeper discussions of content and pedagogy, alternative instructional approaches to satisfy different teaching and learning styles, and links to additional resources. As noted earlier in this blog, not all publishers offer these supports. In our reviews of over 2,500 instructional materials, we have found some products that provide no support for teachers, while others offer each of the resources described above. Learning List’s editorial reviews discuss each product’s teachers supports in detail and the Academic Inventory page of our Spec Sheet provides a check list of the supports available in each product (e.g., on-demand professional development, monitoring tools). As districts look to invest more resources in teacher training, selecting instructional materials that facilitate teacher development is one strategy that makes sense.  By investing in high quality instructional materials that help students master content and improve teachers’ instruction, districts are getting a two-for-one deal. To our way of thinking, this reflects responsible stewardship of district resources and an effective approach to improving teaching and learning. Contact us if you’d like to learn more about how Learning List can help you choose and use materials effectively for  instruction.

Learning List has reviewed Region 13 Education Service Center’s Algebra I Mini Interventions: Linear Equations and Inequalities. This is a supplemental product that helps teachers understand and teach the student expectations (SEs) added to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Algebra I in 2012. Instruction addresses only that content added to the “Linear Equations, Functions, and Inequalities” strand of the TEKS. Content is available in interactive PDF format and may be printed. < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> Mini Interventions provides an overview of the structure of the TEKS, including content standards and the Mathematical Process Standards, and then introduces each of the new student expectations (SEs) added in 2012. Each new SE, or “targeted standard,” is discussed in a chapter that is organized in six sections designed to help teachers prepare for instruction; teach the new standards; re-teach , where appropriate; and assess mastery of the standards. Instruction emphasizes spiraling (i.e., weaving in) supporting content from prior grade levels and existing Algebra I standards Formative Pre- and Post-Assessments are provided for each of the Algebra I SEs addressed by Mini Interventions. Assessments are made up of open-ended questions and include answer keys that reference the SE assessed by each question. About Algebra I Mini Interventions: Linear Equations and Inequalities*  Algebra I Mini Interventions: Linear Equations and Inequalities  was produced by Virginia Keasler, an Education Specialist for Secondary Mathematics at Region 13. Virginia has experience with teaching all high school math courses. Virginia also has been a district Math and Science Coordinator and a Middle School Math Instructional Coach. In her work with high school math teachers across the state, Virginia noticed that intervention tools were greatly needed. While K-8 schools may have intervention teachers, this is a rarity in high school. In an effort to provide high school teachers with much needed resources for intervention to close the gap for their Algebra 1 students, Virginia has created the intervention tool Algebra 1 Mini-Interventions. *Information in this section is provided by or adapted from Region 13 . Subscribe to  Learning List  for access to the spec sheet, full editorial review and alignment reports for these materials and thousands of other widely used PreK-12 resources.

Have you ever been frustrated when attempting to plan differentiated lessons? Though “differentiation” is a rather simple concept, it is complex to implement successfully. Most teachers understand that any resource used to differentiate instruction must have the requisite adaptions for the students being taught. For example, materials being used to teach ELLs should have multi-lingual glossaries, linguistic accommodations, and culturally relevant examples and activities to engage ELL students. Materials being used to engage Gifted and Talented students would have extension/ enrichment activities, higher-level questions, and options for inquiry-based learning.  And, for RtI , the materials should have options for each tier of intervention. > > However, to successfully differentiate instruction, you have to drill down even further and ensure that not just the materials but rather, the particular citations in the material(s )you want  to use to differentiate instruction are (1) aligned to the standards being taught, and (2) have the adaptions the students need. Alignment: Students won’t learn what they are not taught. In order for your students to learn the knowledge and skills the standards require, the citations (i.e., pages, lessons, videos in the materials) you are using must be aligned to those standards.  If the point of differentiating instruction is to help all students learn the standards, the citations you use to differentiate instruction must be aligned to the standard(s) you are teaching. For example, below are 3 supplemental materials you have available for 4 th  grade math. Each material has citations that you have verified to be aligned to the standard that is the focus of your lesson. You now have choices and can move to step two in selecting materials. Adaptions:  Beyond being aligned to the standards, the citations you use to differentiate instruction must be developmentally appropriate for and/or must contain the supports your students need in order to learn the information.  A Learning List’s Editorial Review for a popular material points out: “Some lessons, quizzes, and accompanying activities may be too advanced for emerging readers; audio readers are provided.” In order to use materials successfully to differentiate instruction, you must make sure that the citations in the materials you use are aligned to the standards you intend to teach, and that those citations also have the adaptions your students need to learn the information presented. Learning List’s reviews and tools make the process of selecting and using materials for differentiation easier.  Our Alignment Comparison tool helps you identify which of your materials are aligned to the standards you want to teach. Our Alignment Reports list specific citations in each material that we have verified to be fully aligned to each standard, as well as other citations that we found not to be completely aligned. And, our Editorial Reviews explain the adaptions each material contains for the different student groups and the instructional resources provided to help teachers differentiate instruction. Using this information, and knowledge of your students’ needs, will make planning for differentiation easier. Contact us if you’d like to learn more about how Learning List can help you choose and use materials effectively for differentiating instruction.

Learning List , the  Texas Association of Supervisors for Curriculum Development  (TX ASCD),  Texas Computer Education Association  (TCEA) and the  Instructional Materials Coordinators Association of Texas  (IMCAT) are working together to help districts replace instructional materials that were damaged during Hurricane Harvey. A jointly signed email went out to over 230 publishing companies across the country asking each to provide contact information for their Texas representative(s). The email also invited publishers to list the title(s) and quantities of any materials their company is willing to  donate  to districts affected by Hurricane Harvey. Given districts' urgent needs, publishers were only afforded a few days to complete the form. Forty publishers submitted information by the deadline; additional publishers continue to add their information as their companies determine how best to help. < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> The three partnering membership organizations then emailed a link to the " Harvey Recovery - Publisher Contact Information and Resources " document to the curriculum director, technology director and instructional materials coordinator in the school districts located in the  58 counties  included in the Governor's disaster declaration. To help inform districts' selection decisions, Learning List offered to provide free of charge to any requesting district a customized comparison of key information for up to three materials that we have reviewed. As publishers completed the form, several shared information about inspiring acts of kindness their companies have undertaken. Some are donating funds; several are donating or deeply discounting their materials for affected districts. One publisher provided their company's trade show minivan to a family that lost their car in the Harvey floods so that they could take their son to school. That company is also deeply discounting their "acceleration" materials for districts that have been closed for one or more weeks. A Houston-based publisher whose building was flooded and rendered uninhabitable by Harvey responded immediately with the following, "Compared to the devastation throughout Houston and surrounding areas, we have merely been inconvenienced. We will be doing whatever we can to help schools and students that use or are interested in using our materials." We hope the fruits of this partnership will help ease, even if only slightly, the unimaginable burdens of our friends and colleagues in Harvey-ravaged districts. Please  contact us  if we can be of assistance to you in any other way.

Learning List has reviewed five of Glynlyon’s Odysseyware comprehensive social studies courses for Texas high schools. Each course addresses the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and supports instruction in self-paced and credit-recovery programs and blended learning environments. Content incorporates instructional videos, grade-appropriate texts, games, and interactive learning activities. A brief description of each course is provided below. < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and Its Benefits (TX Edition) is a semester-long course that organizes content in five units that address scarcity, supply and demand, the economic role of the federal government, the free market system, market structures, market regulations, and macroeconomics. U.S. Government (TX Edition) is a semester-long course that covers the history of government, the influence of philosophers, types of government, the rise of democracy, the structure of the U.S. government, the role of the U.S. Constitution, the three branches of U.S. government, the lawmaking process, political parties, voting and elections, and citizenship and civic responsibilities. U.S. History Since 1877 (TX Edition) is a year-long course that addresses U.S. history from 1877 to today, emphasizing the political, social, and economic developments that shaped the country during the twentieth century. The course’s first unit focuses on the importance of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in in American life. World Geography Studies (TX Edition) is a year-long course that examines the physical and human geography of the world’s regions, including the political, cultural, and economic characteristics of each area. World History Studies (TX Edition) is a year-long course that covers early civilizations; classical Greece and ancient Rome; the world’s religions; major empires; the importance of cultural interactions and exchanges; political, religious, and cultural revolutions; the effects of the World Wars I and II; and the events of the 20th century. Each course is fully customizable. Teachers may reorder, add, and delete content. Students have access to note taking, translation, and text-to-speech tools . Odysseyware’s note taking feature lets students save their own notes and view notes saved by teachers. The translation tools will translate the lesson text and provide an audio of the translated text in 23 languages. The text-to-speech feature reads aloud text highlighted by the student. About Odysseyware* Odysseyware takes the question of where students can learn out of the equation. With its fully HTML5 course library, students can learn anywhere, anytime, on any device, via a powerful Learning Management System delivering hundreds of multimedia-based courses. Students have access to CTE, Advanced Placement®, core and elective options, all aligned to national and state standards. They also have access to powerful supports including translations in 23 languages, vocabulary and reference libraries, text-to-speech, and immediate coaching for writing skills via the Writer Tool. *Information in this section is provided by or adapted from Odysseyware . Subscribe to  Learning List  for access to the spec sheet, full editorial review and alignment reports for these materials and thousands of other widely used PreK-12 resources.

Learning List has reviewed CodeCombat. This comprehensive product supports computer science instruction in grades 4-12, including Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles courses. Content is available online and includes printable resources. Instruction is game based and addresses the structure and syntax of computer programming using the JavaScript and Python programming languages. < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> Content is organized in ten “courses” that vary in length. The first course introduces students to concepts in computer science, including syntax, variables, and while loops. Subsequent courses address game development, computer science, and web development. Courses are broken into a set of modules that may be taught in a 55-minute period. Instruction is formatted in engaging games that students play independently. Each game begins with a list of its goals (e.g., “Defeat all the ogres.”) and strategies to accomplish goals (e.g., “Give your soldier instructions using functions and event triggers!”). Games are broken into “levels” that follow a logical progression from basic skills to more sophisticated applications. About CodeCombat* CodeCombat is a platform for students to learn computer science while playing through a real game. CodeCombat courses have been specifically play-tested to excel in the classroom, even by teachers with little to no prior programming experience. Gaming is a medium that encourages interaction, discovery, and trial-and-error. A good game challenges the player to master skills over time, which is the same critical process students go through as they learn. Games excel at rewarding “productive struggle” -the kind of struggle that results in learning that’s engaging and motivating, not tedious. *Information in this section is provided by or adapted from CodeCombat . Subscribe to Learning List for access to the spec sheet, full editorial review and alignment reports for these materials and thousands of other widely used PreK-12 resources.

An August 2017 report from the Education Commission of the States and the College Board explores rural students’ access to and participation in Advanced Placement (AP) courses, as well as their performance on AP exams, relative to students who reside in urban and suburban areas. Below we summarize some key findings from the report, which relies on data collected across 15 school years (i.e., 2000-01 to 2014-15): Access to AP courses has increased significantly for rural students. In 2001, only 56% of rural high school seniors had access to at least one AP course; by 2015, this percentage had increased to 73% of high school seniors. While access to AP courses improved for rural students (73%), it still lagged that of urban (92%) and suburban (95%) students in 2015. Of the rural high school seniors who had access to at least one AP course in 2015, only 31% took an AP exam. This compares with 40% of urban and 39% of suburban high school seniors. On average, rural students earned an AP exam score of 2.6, compared with 2.73 for urban students and 2.98 for suburban students in 2015. Note that AP exams use a standardized score that ranges from 1 to 5, with a score of 5 indicating the highest level of performance. Scores of 3 or higher are often awarded college credit by post-secondary institutions. < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> The report does not provide a detailed analysis of the reasons behind rural students’ outcomes beyond explaining that rural schools have difficulty hiring and retaining high-quality teachers and often lack sufficient technology infrastructure. For rural districts with sufficient infrastructure, distance learning programs and self-paced courses can facilitate access to diverse AP course offerings in the absence qualified teachers. College Board-approved distance learning programs, such as the Apex Learning Virtual School and The Virtual High School , enable students to participate in a range of AP courses that are taught online by experienced AP teachers. Self-paced courses that provide AP instruction using an online curriculum are another option for rural districts. While most self-paced courses require some support from a classroom teacher, they can help inexperienced teachers by offering valuable background information as well as prepared lessons and assessments. Regardless of experience, teachers are more likely to be effective if they have access to instructional materials that are closely aligned to the AP course frameworks and include supports , such as teaching guides, detailed lesson plans, and online professional development. A key strategy that all districts, including rural districts, can use to help improve AP outcomes is to use instructional materials that are aligned to the College Board’s course frameworks. For each AP course, the College Board publishes a course framework that specifies the knowledge and skills that the course should cover and that will be assessed on the course’s AP exam.  While there is variation across courses, the frameworks contain content standards which are generally organized in terms of big ideas or themes that are then broken into learning objectives and essential knowledge statements.  In addition to content standards, each framework includes a set of skills or practices that students are required to learn. In  partnership with the College Board, Learning List has reviewed AP instructional materials for alignment to the content standards as well as to the skills or practices contained in the course framework for each of the courses listed in Table 1. Table 1. AP Courses for Which Learning List Has Reviewed Instructional Materials The College Board used Learning List’s reviews to select the materials for the 2016 and 2017 Example Textbook List for each of the courses listed in Table 1. Educators can use Learning List’s reviews to distinguish among the materials on the Example Textbook Lists, and identify the instructional materials that are aligned to course frameworks, meet their teachers’ instructional needs, and fit with the district’s existing technology infrastructure best. Tools on Learninglist.com allow educators to compare the key attributes and standard-by-standard alignments of multiple materials for the same AP course. In addition to lacking qualified AP teachers, many rural districts lack administrative resources, such as curriculum staff and AP coordinators, that support AP teachers in delivering high-quality instruction. In large suburban and urban districts, trained curriculum staff, AP coordinators, and experienced AP teachers are often available to fully vet the instructional materials for AP programs and support teachers in using the selected materials. Learning List’s reviews of AP materials can help level the playing field for rural districts that lack such administrative support. Learning List’s alignment reports identify the specific citations (i.e., pages, lessons, videos) in each material that are fully aligned to each standard. Like a GPS through the material, the alignment reports guide teachers to the parts of their materials that teach all of the knowledge and skills the course framework holds students accountable for learning. AP materials also tend to be quite expensive, and smaller, rural districts often do not get the volume discounts offered to larger suburban and urban districts. So, mistakes in selecting materials may be particularly costly. In addition to reviewing publisher-produced AP materials, Learning List has reviewed some AP open-educational resources (OERs) that are available at no cost to districts. OERs may help districts seeking to introduce or expand AP offerings without incurring expenses for instructional materials. While the gap has narrowed over time, the August 2017 report shows that significantly fewer students in rural districts have access to AP courses, take AP exams, and score as high on those exams as their urban and suburban peers. Recognizing those trends, College Board partnered with Learning List to provide the AP community with independent reviews of AP materials. Learning List’s reviews have informed the College Board’s selection of materials for inclusion on the 2016 and 2017 AP Example Textbook Lists. Similarly, the reviews can inform districts’ selection of AP materials.  Moreover, Learning List’s reviews help teachers use AP instructional materials most effectively to ensure that students are learning the standards and skills that will be tested on the AP exam.

Learning List has reviewed Texas Instruments’ 10 Minutes of Code. This supplemental online product introduces students to programming concepts and the basics of coding using Texas Instruments’ TI-84 Plus and TI-Nspire™ graphing calculators. Instruction is provided in short, hands-on lessons that may be completed in about 10 minutes. Resources may be accessed at no cost on the Texas Instruments website and support instruction in Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles courses. < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> Content is presented in units that are made up of three “Skillbuilder” lessons followed by an “Application” task. Each lesson begins with an “Introduction” that clarifies learning objectives. Subsequent instruction is presented in short “steps” that provide clear instructions (e.g., “Press the key.”) with accompanying screenshots of what students should see on their calculators. A progress bar indicates how much content remains in each lesson. Application tasks ask students to apply what they have learned and write a program that that solves a specific problem (e.g., a program that uses students’ grades and test scores to create a warning notice for students at risk of failure). Additional “Beyond Basics” extension activities are provided to support more advanced learning. Students and teachers have access to online “TI Basic Programming eGuides” and “TI Reference Guides” for their respective graphing calculator. For each lesson and application activity, teachers have access to printable “Teacher Notes” that list learning objectives, provide background information on concepts, answers to problems, and “Teacher Tips” with useful information about programming and the TI-84 Plus or TI-Inspire. About Texas Instruments* Texas Instruments helps educators develop skills for 21st-century success with free project-based learning activities that help students explore, understand and connect the principles of science, math, coding, engineering design and electronics. 10 Minutes of Code introduce students to the basics of coding and build their understanding of math with simple, 10-minute lessons for their TI-84 Plus CE or TI-Nspire™ CX graphing calculators and the TI-Innovator™ Hub with TI LaunchPad™ Technology. Information in this section is provided by or adapted from Texas Instruments . Subscribe to  Learning List  for access to the spec sheet, full editorial review and alignment reports for these materials and thousands of other widely used PreK-12 resources.

A recent New York Times article titled Why Kids Can’t Write explores the reasons behind U.S. students’ poor writing skills.  The article asserts that the root of writing problems lies with teachers, most of whom have not been trained in how to teach writing, and who are not confident writers themselves. The article goes on to cite specific efforts, such as the National Writing Project and The Writing Revolution , that are focused on training educators how to teach writing skills, as well as the research on effective writing instruction, which suggests a few concrete strategies. For example, students should learn to transcribe by hand and using a computer. Instruction should teach students to write strong sentences before introducing paragraphs. Students benefit when writing instruction integrates grammar, includes models of good writing, and provides frequent feedback about the students’ own writing. At Learning List, we believe that high-quality, standards-aligned instructional materials, including writing materials, are critical to teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom. In our work this summer, we have reviewed several supplemental products that focus on teaching writing skills and preparing Texas students for the grade 4 STAAR Writing test. These products use different approaches, but each strives to improve students’ writing skills: < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> WriteSteps is a stand-alone writing program for grades K-5. Resources address the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and state standards (i.e., Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) for writing and grammar. Instruction focuses on developing writing skills using the “6 Traits of Quality Writing” framework (i.e., ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions) and include a 7 th trait, presentation. Across grade levels, WriteSteps focuses on developing writing skills characterized by “text types” that include opinion, informative/explanatory, narrative, research, and, at grades 3-5, response to literature and informational texts. Content is organized in multi-day units that integrate grammar instruction and focus on a specific text type. Empowering Writers’ Editing, Revising, and More structures writing instruction for students in grades K-8 using predictable routines. Learning List has reviewed resources for grade 4. Each lesson begins with a “Think and Discuss” activity that introduces learning objectives and the skills students will practice. Teachers provide explicit instruction in key concepts (e.g., simple sentences) and model new skills. Activities include opportunities for whole group, small group, student pairs, and individual student work. “Student Resource Books” contain simple activities that accompany teacher-led instruction and allow students to practice what they are learning. Edmentum’s Study Island is an online test-preparation program that helps students in grade 4 master the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for writing and prepare for STAAR exams. Instruction begins with a pretest and a diagnostic test that assess students’ writing skills (e.g., punctuation, use of transitions). Content is broken into topics organized in terms of the Writing Process (e.g., revising, editing), Expository and Procedural Texts (e.g., topic sentences), Oral and Written Conventions (e.g., transitions, subject-verb agreement), and Research (e.g., citing sources). Instruction emphasizes preparation for standardized tests and questions are generally multiple choice and/or drop down menu selections. In addition to these newly reviewed products, Learning List’s library includes a variety of writing products for a range of grade levels that we have reviewed in previous years. Such products include:  Heinemann’s Units of Study in Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing  and  Istation Reading & Writing . For each product on Learning List, subscribers have access to three different professional reviews: Spec Sheet, a two-page overview of the material’s key academic features and technology interoperability. As part of this review, Learning List tests each online material to determine which devices, browsers and operating system it works on and does not work on. The goal of this review is to help curriculum and technology teams quickly narrow the number of products they will need to review. Editorial Review , a deep dive into the material’s content and design. This review addresses the material’s instructional model and organization, coherence, focus and rigor, the grade-appropriateness of the text, whether the content would be engaging for students, the adaptions available for each special student population, the ease of use, assessments, resources available to support teachers and much more. The goal of this review is to help educators identify the materials that will meet their students’ (and teachers’) needs best. Alignment Report , a detailed review of the citations listed in the publisher’s correlation for alignment to the content , context and cognitive rigor of each state standard. The alignment report shows which standards the material is/is not aligned to, and even more importantly which reviewed citations are aligned to each standard and which are not. Each “non-aligned” citation is accompanied by a Reviewer’s Comment that explains which part of the standard the citation failed to address. This review helps educators choose and then use the material most effectively for instruction

Empowering Writers’ Editing, Revising, and More is a supplemental writing product that supports writing instruction in grades K-8.  Content is available in print format with some teaching materials available on CD-ROM. Instruction focuses on developing students’ effective use of language, including grammar, punctuation, and mechanics. Learning List recently reviewed resources for grade 4. < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> Editing, Revising, and More organizes instruction in four 9-week modules. Instruction begins with foundational skills (e.g., capitalization, subject-verb agreement) and progresses to more complex concepts (e.g., transitions, run-ons and sentence fragments). Modules contain between 14 and 29 lessons and between two and four assessments. Although pacing will vary based on students’ prior knowledge and skills, Empowering Writers suggests that teachers incorporate between two and four lessons each week. Instruction is structured using predictable routines. Each lesson begins with a “Think and Discuss” activity that introduces learning objectives and the skills students will practice.  Teachers provide explicit instruction in key concepts (e.g., simple sentences) and model new skills. Activities include opportunities for whole group, small group, student pairs, and individual student work. *About Empowering Writers Most teachers can easily distinguish weak from effective writing, but often have few specific strategies to move students from point A to point B. Teachers, like any other skilled professional, need training and resources.  Whether you’re looking for a comprehensive writing program or a supplemental resource, Empowering Writers offers customizable options for your Professional Development needs. For the past 20 years, Empowering Writers has transformed instruction for over 100,000 educators by providing the training and resources to make them confident, skillful teachers of writing. Empowering Writers’ approach to writing instruction provides a proven methodology that improves student writing. *Information in this section is provided by or adapted from Empowering Writers . Subscribe to Learning List for access to the spec sheet, full editorial review and alignment reports for these materials and thousands of other widely used PreK-12 resources.

Increasing the available instructional supports for Advanced Placement (AP) teachers and students is one of the key themes that emerged from College Board’s AP Annual Conference 2017 .  At the conference, the College Board announced that in 2019-20, it will roll out a new dashboard that enables AP teachers to create instructional materials tailored to their students’ individual needs. The dashboard will provide access to AP assignments, benchmark tests, unit guides, and related unit tests, as well as other materials to help teachers prepare their students for AP exams. Learning List applauds the increased emphasis on supporting teachers in the College Board’s plan for new services. As our subscribers know, any material included on the College Board’s “Recommended List” must have been reviewed by Learning List. Our AP reviews consider how well each product is aligned to its respective course framework; the product’s instructional content and design, including supports for teachers; and the product’s technology specifications.  Taken together, our reviews provide a holistic view of a product that enables educators to understand whether a product will meet their students needs. < Read=">Read" more... ="more..."> Supports for teachers are integral part of our reviews of all the products we review, including AP products. AP Products vary significantly in the number and types of supports they provide. Some AP products include few instructional resources; others provide multiple tools to enable teachers to customize instruction and tailor remediation in preparing students for AP exams. Below are examples of supports we have observed in the AP products we have reviewed. An adaptive reading program that highlights important information in the text and presents practice questions at key points in the reading. Students toggle between reading and practice activities.  Based on results of practice questions, the adaptive reader highlights in yellow the information students need to revisit and highlights in green the content that they have mastered. The program generates reports that allow teachers and students to track progress, identify frequently missed questions, and highlight the AP topics and learning objectives that present challenges. Self-paced modules that provide interactive learning experiences, videos, and animations that address the core content of particular AP courses. For example, resources for science courses include interactive learning experiences, videos, and animations that address the core content of each course framework, including big ideas, math skills, and data analysis. Resources include a pre-test, self-check quizzes, and a comprehensive post-test. An adaptive test preparation program that provides self-study resources to help students prepare for AP exams. The program provides adaptive practice questions and practice tests that mirror the AP exam in timing and format. Practice questions help teachers and students identify areas of strength and weakness in order to better prepare for the AP exam. Practice tests are available online and in PDF formats. The program automatically scores multiple choice items; rubrics are provided for free response questions. Online reporting tools allow teachers and students to identify gaps in learning and individualize remediation and review. A publisher of AP history courses provides an online tool for analyzing primary and secondary source documents . Teachers may choose from a library of sources that includes documents, images, maps, data, and historians’ arguments for each period of study. Teachers and students also may upload their own documents. The program guides students through the process of document analysis by posing critical thinking questions linked to AP’s Historical Thinking Skills. While some publishers are already providing instructional supports for AP teachers, we anticipate that the College Board’s dashboard will be a wonderful addition to AP teachers’ toolkits to prepare students for the rigors of AP testing. Learning List’s reviews are designed to help districts differentiate between products and identify the resources that are the best fit for their students. Because teacher supports are an area of distinction, our reviews, including reviews of AP materials, highlight the supports available in each material that enable teachers to tailor instruction to meet their students’ needs.  Learning List offers district- and campus-wide subscriptions, as well as AP-only subscriptions.