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The Texas legislature appropriated $838.7 million for instructional materials and technology for the 2014-15 biennium. This means that Texas school districts and open-enrollment charter schools can expect $175 per student in instructional materials allotment (IMA) funding over the next two school years. Of the almost 940 education-related bills filed during the 83rd legislative session, several passed that will affect the selection and purchasing of instructional materials. House Bill 5 was the education bill that received the most attention. That legislation changed the state’s high school graduation requirements, reduced the number and impact of high school end-of-course assessments, and restructured the school and district accountability ratings system. The bill also contained several less publicized provisions affecting instructional materials purchasing: Beginning with the 2014-15 school year, school districts and open-enrollment charter schools may use state instructional materials allotment (IMA) funds to purchase college preparatory courses and instructional materials for those courses; and Effective immediately: The commissioner of education is required to notify each school district and open-enrollment charter school as early as practicable during each fiscal year of the estimated amount of IMA funds to which the district/charter school will be entitled during the next fiscal year; The commissioner of education may allow school districts/charter schools to order instructional materials before the beginning of the fiscal year (i.e., before the appropriation for those materials becomes available) and to receive the materials before payment. Districts may not use more than 80 percent of their IMA funds for such orders. The commissioner must prioritize payment for such orders as soon as the appropriated funds become available and must inform publishers of potential delays in payment. Publishers may decline to accept such orders. Though effective immediately, the commissioner may adopt rules to implement these provisions. Stay tuned for future Learning List blog posts summarizing state legislation affecting the selection and purchasing of instructional materials.

We just learned that the Urban Curriculum Council asked Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to submit the instructional materials they submitted for state adoption to Learning List for review, as well. The Urban Curriculum Council is a consortium of the instructional leaders of the 17 largest school districts in Texas. Why did they make this request? On September 20 th , the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced that there are 277 K-12 science products and 131 K-8 math products going through the state adoption process.  Furthermore, the state panels have found that 280 products address 100% of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). How are districts going to determine which are best for their students? Learning List supplements the state’s adoption process by providing of reviews to help educators determine which products are best suited for their students. For state adopted products, LearningList.com will feature: the state panel’s verification of each product’s alignment to the TEKS, a professional review that concisely explains the features and functionality that makes each product unique, as well as the requirements for implementing the product successfully, and subscriber ratings and reviews where educators can share feedback about the products. For instructional materials that have been submitted for state adoption, Learning List provides an verification of each product’s alignment to the TEKS or the Common Core standards, as well as a professional review and subscriber ratings and reviews. Learning List is currently accepting English language arts, math and science products for review. Subscribers and publishers may submit products for review, .  The reviews on LearningList.com are available through an individual, district- or campus-wide subscription. To learn more about our service, go to LearningList.com.

As a means to support educators in identifying resources that will meet their students’ needs, Learning List provides periodic updates about grants and funding opportunities focused on improving education. Today’s post highlights some opportunities that are currently accepting applications and proposals. Take a Trip Recognizing that some of the best educational experiences take place outside of the classroom, Target is currently accepting applications from educators for Target Field Trip Grants . The program provides grants of up to $700 to support field trips to museums, historical sites and cultural organizations for K-12 students nationwide. Applications for the 2013-14 school year are due by noon CST on September 30, 2013. Be Creative The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation sponsors an annual mini-grants program for public schools and public libraries. The program provides up to $500 in funding for projects that foster creative expression in diverse communities. Grant applications for the 2014-15 school year will be accepted through March 15, 2014. More information is available on the Foundation website. Get Some Action Research The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is offering collaborative grants of up to $3,000 for pre-service teachers, classroom teachers, and university faculty to conduct action research focused on improving the understanding of mathematics instruction in the PK-8 classroom. NCTM is currently accepting proposals for the 2014-15 school year with a deadline of May 2, 2014. More information about the grant program is available at the NCTM website .

CompuScholar’s KidCoder: Web Design is a year-long, online course that covers all topics generally included in introductory web-design programs at the middle school and high school level. Instruction meets the requirements for Texas Web Design courses and no prior programming experience is required. The course addresses the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript skills needed to create websites in both the Windows and Mac operating systems. Learning List has recently completed a review of the online course. KidCoder: Web Design introduces students to the basic concepts of web design, such as web languages and the organization of content. Instruction builds across the year to cover more advanced topics, including the use of graphics, audio, and video; HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript skills; and jQuery. Most lessons contain a closed-captioned video, a lesson text, and a quiz. Videos are narrated slide shows or animations that introduce and demonstrate web programming and design tasks. Lesson texts complement videos, providing more in depth coverage of content. Each chapter includes one or more hands-on projects and ends with a summative test. The course’s mid-term and final exam are projects in which students work with peers to create their own websites. Supplemental lessons and projects are provided to extend instruction and meet advanced student needs. Click here for a free trial. About CompuScholar, Inc.* The company was founded by software engineers with many years of experience in the software industry. CompuScholar has a passion for quality computer programming and encourages students of all ages to learn best practices and modern technical skills. A love of computers starts early. Many computer programmers write their first programs in middle school. Their courses let kids and teens take that important first step towards what could become a lifelong hobby, career, and passion! CompuScholar is led by Chris Yust, a 17-year computer science veteran and author of eight computer programming textbooks for children. Chris has a M.S. in Electrical Engineering and has run a professional consulting company for over a decade. Chris regularly speaks at workshops, telling teachers and parents that computer science really isn't that scary after all. CompuScholar, Inc. offers curriculum tailored for public and private school systems. Individuals who wish to purchase the same material in a self-study format can visit their sister company,  Homeschool Programming, Inc . * The content in this section is provided by or adapted from CompuScholar, Inc. © 2015 Learning List

'Tis the season for selecting instructional materials.  Board members often ask me what questions they should be asking during their district’s selection process. Below are five important facts for Texas school board members to keep in mind and seven key questions to ask as the board considers the district’s proposed list of instructional materials. Five Facts For Texas School Board Members Regarding Selecting Instructional Materials: Selecting instructional materials is ultimately the board’s responsibility. (Texas Education Code § 31.104(a), Policy CMD(Legal))  Districts do NOT have to purchase only state-adopted materials with IMA funds . (Texas Education Code (TEC) §31.0211(c-d); Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §66.1307(c); Policy CMD (Legal)) Instructional materials (except state-adopted materials) are subject to competitive procurement laws.  (Local Govt. Code §271.054; §271.064) Just because a material is “state-adopted” does NOT necessarily mean that it is aligned to 100% of the TEKS; and just because it is not state-adopted does not mean it is inferior. (TEC§ 31.023). Bottom line: to get the best value, districts must comparison shop for their instructional materials.  The board has a legal obligation to ensure that the district is in compliance with the 100% Rule . (TEC §31.004; 19 TAC §66.1305; Policy CMD (Legal)) Click here t o learn more about the Five Facts. 7 Key Questions for Board Members to Consider When Adopting Instructional Materials 7 Key Questions for Board Members to Consider When Adopting Instructional Materials (1) Does your district’s local policy allow the administration to consider both state-adopted and/or non-state adopted materials? If not, how do you know you are getting the best value for your students? (2) How many materials were considered for each grade/subject being selected? (3) Did the district engage in a competitive procurement process to select non-adopted or unbundled state-adopted materials? (4) Were teachers given an opportunity to sample the products recommended for adoption? For online materials, were both tech-savvy and non-tech-savvy teachers asked to review the products? (5) For online materials, does the district have the per student bandwidth and other technology infrastructure in place to support simultaneous use of the recommended products? (6) If online materials, how will the district ensure that all students will have access to the product at home, even students who do not have internet access at home? (7) Does the administration have an alignment report to prove that the recommended materials, either individually or in the aggregate, align to 100% of the TEKS for each grade/subject in the required curriculum, except PE? Learning=">Learning" List.="List."> Click here to subscribe to the Learning List Blog.

Compass Learning’s supplemental Hybridge™ Math program provides interactive, online mathematics instruction for grades K-8. Resources support instruction in blended learning environments and integrate easily with offline content. At the elementary level (K-5), instruction supports the development of algebraic reasoning, data analysis, and financial literacy skills. Content includes multimedia resources that illustrate and explain mathematics concepts in visually appealing segments appropriate to students’ age and attention span. Hybridge™ Math is a flexible program that may be used to supplement core math instruction in several ways. Teachers may select pre-made lessons that address a particular standard or topic covered in core math instruction. Teachers may also create customized lessons for individual students or groups of students. Customized learning paths are created using diagnostic pre-tests that adapt instruction based on individual student's needs. Teachers may create their own diagnostic tests using program software or they may use a premade assessment provided by one of Compass Learning’s assessment partners (i.e., Northwest Evaluation Association, Scantron, and Renaissance Learning). Most lessons take between 15 and 20 minutes to complete and include direct instruction, guided and independent practice, and a short assessment. Lessons increase in complexity across grade levels and include topics in geometry, mathematical operations, measurement and data, algebraic thinking, and financial literacy. At grade K, lessons help students learn to count and understand quantities. Lessons for grades 3-5 include operations with fractions. Instruction is presented in video lessons and narrated slide shows that include interactive games, puzzles, and activities. Familiar, age-appropriate characters engage students with humor, vivid graphics, and a conversational tone. Some lessons include printable worksheets to accompany instruction and most lessons include a short quiz. NOTE: Compass Learning, a leader in learning acceleration, has recently earned an  Education Software Review (EDDIE) Awards for its newly-released learning acceleration software™ that was selected from submissions worldwide: Hybridge™ won the best Reading/Math solution for Middle School.

This past weekend at ISTE *, Compass Learning unveiled its new suite of accelerated learning software to help teachers tackle some of today’s biggest education challenges. The new offerings focus on blended learning, intervention and credit recovery with software that includes: Pathblazer ™ a reading and math intervention program for elementary and middle school students, Hybridge ™ a blended learning solution for elementary and middle school, and Gradbound ™ , a credit recovery program for high school. Compass Learning is also launching new professional development courses, including its Leveraging Data course, which will support educators in implementing data-driven instruction. While these products are new, Compass Learning has been building on more than 40 years of innovation by providing rigorous products to support accelerated learning experiences that enable K-12 students to succeed. Last year, Learning List reviewed Compass Learning’s comprehensive Odyssey program.  Odyssey provides interactive, accelerated, online instruction in mathematics and English language arts/reading for K-12 students. Across grade levels, Odyssey’s flexible resources support a range of instructional needs, including self-paced learning, remediation, tutorials, and credit-recovery programs.  Lessons are highly customizable and use video, audio, text-based, and interactive learning experiences to accommodate differences in student learning styles. At each grade level, Odyssey’s multimedia content illustrates and explains concepts in humorous, visually appealing segments appropriate to students’ age and attention spans. Each Odyssey course is structured to facilitate easy access to lessons and associated content. Lessons are indexed by sequence, skill, and learning standard, and lessons titles include accurate and thorough descriptions of content and activities. Teachers may customize instruction by adding offline or other web-based resources to existing course materials. Odyssey’s Test Builder tool allows teachers to develop customized assessments using test bank items indexed by learning objective. Teachers may set mastery levels, timed testing windows, and other testing criteria. Like the new suite of products, Odyssey’s reporting tools support data-driven instruction by providing teachers with detailed reports in more than 20 formats. Report data may be aggregated by class, grade, school, and multiple schools and disaggregated for particular student groups, such as English language learners. You can look forward to reviewing the resources on Learning List  after the resources become available for the new school year. *International Society for Technology in Education

Students are more likely to do well on state assessments if their instructional materials help them learn what the state requires them to know and be able to do after taking the course. Publishers regularly tell us that going through our review process has helped them strengthen their materials in a variety of ways: 1) Creating correlations for more products: Trustworthy correlations help teachers quickly identify the parts of an instructional material that will help students master the knowledge and skills required in each standard. Publishers typically develop correlations for materials they intend to submit for state adoption but do not routinely correlate their non-state-adopted and supplemental materials. A detailed correlation document must accompany any product submitted to Learning List for review. Therefore, many publishers have used Learning List’s alignment templates to correlate their materials to state standards for the first time. Learning List’s subject matter experts then verify that the citations in the publisher’s correlation are aligned to the content, context and cognitive demand of each standard. 2) Strengthening their correlations: Learning List’s subject matter experts review the citations listed in the publisher’s correlation from an educator’s perspective. For each citation found not to be aligned to the relevant standard, Learning List’s reviewers provide a comment explaining precisely which part of the standard the citation fails to address. Some publishers have eliminated from their correlations any citations Learning List found not to be aligned to the standards. As one publisher told us, “We don’t want to mislead our customers in any way. We’d rather remove any citations that your reviewers believed did not address the standards as deeply as educators need them to.” 3) Helping educators use products more effectively: Learning List allows publishers to provide comments in response to our alignment review. Several publishers have provided comments to guide subscribers to content provided in another grade level where a particular standard is more deeply aligned. Other publishers suggest ways subscribers can adjust their use of the product (e.g., extend the number range; access a writing tool) to address the dictates of a particular standard that Learning List found not to be aligned in the material. 4) Strengthening product content: Publishers have also added content to their products to address deficiencies highlighted in Learning List’s alignment reports. For example, in response to Learning List’s alignment review of its elementary math products, a publisher created new content for the teacher editions and submitted a correlation to the new content for a subsequent review. As a result of the additional content, the product’s alignment percentage increased from around 70 to 98%. Last week, the publisher of state-adopted materials that were deemed by the state review panel to be aligned to fewer than 100% of the standards asked us to review new content developed to address deficits highlighted in the state’s review. We will review the new content and provide subscribers with both the original state alignment report and Learning List’s alignment report for the updated product. Learning List helps students learn by providing high quality reviews that empower educators to select the instructional materials that will best meet their students’ needs. However, Learning List is helping students learn in another, equally important way. By helping publishers strengthen their materials’ alignment to the standards, Learning List is helping students receive materials that will better prepare them for academic success.

A recent Gallup poll of superintendents reported that 45 percent of respondents intended to make budget cuts during the upcoming school year.  The respondents commented that they intended to make cuts in the areas of operations and maintenance, instruction, salary and wages, and administration. Note: A full copy of the survey results is available here . Given the deep cuts districts were forced to make in 2011, it’s shocking that so many are again having to cut budgets. The burden of budget cuts is born not only by the employees who are released, but also by the remaining employees who have to assume the additional responsibilities of their departed colleagues. I often hear district leaders lamenting the fact that they keep having to ask their staff to do more … and more … and more. Learning List can help. Learning List helps relieves educators of the stress and burden of determining whether instructional materials are aligned to the standards and would address their students’ learning needs. Functioning like a virtual curriculum department, Learning List develops detailed alignment reports and professional reviews to assist district staff and local selection committees narrow the number of materials they need to review themselves. As a result, they spend less time reviewing instructional materials, review the materials they are most interested in more deeply and ultimately make better informed selection decisions. As a curriculum director of a large suburban district recently commented, “The question is not so much how can we afford to subscribe to your service; but rather, how can we afford not to.”

Kentucky educator and “ teacherpreneur ” Paul Barnwell eloquently blogged  this week about the fact that teachers need more time to plan and collaborate to improve education. “With so much on our plates, and few opportunities to scale solutions outside of the classroom, we teachers are longing for expanded opportunities to share what we know and can learn from one another. But we need time and support beyond the limits of traditional teacher schedules.” Mr. Barnwell went on to explain the exciting ideas that take root when teachers have time to think, plan and share. Though not addressed in his blog, fostering a culture of collaboration in the selection of instructional materials is integral to educators’ use of the materials selected.  As the Director of Governmental Relations for the school boards association, I often engaged with legislators about whether school districts were financially efficient entities.  Despite my numerous examples of efficient district practices, skeptical legislators often asked why so many districts have closets, rooms or even Costco-like warehouses filled with unused textbooks and computers. For the answer, I turned to curriculum directors of districts large and small. I asked why their teachers weren’t using the materials their district had purchased. Their most common response was, “Our teachers don’t use the materials because they didn’t feel included in the selection process and thus don’t have confidence that the materials will address their students’ needs.” We designed LearningList.com to help districts address that problem by making it easy for educators to collaborate in the selection of instructional materials. On average districts spend $14,000 in staff time in committee meetings to select instructional materials for a single subject . This figure does not include the cost of transporting teachers to/from regional textbook fairs, the hours educators spend reviewing materials on their own time or the cost of any substitute teachers who may be needed in the process. In the following ways, Learning List makes it easy for educators to select instructional materials collaboratively: (1)  Districts or campuses that subscribe to Learning List can authorize an unlimited number of district employees (and school board members) to access Learning List under the district/campus’ subscription; (2)  Collaboration tools on Learning List make it easy for educators to share the reviews they like; and, (3)  Our editorial reviews and educator ratings and reviews provide educators’ perspectives about the usability and effectiveness of the products reviewed on Learning List. Learning List makes it easy for educators to (1) become knowledgeable about the materials their district is considering, and (2) get involved in the selection process so that they’ll be more likely to use the products selected. Subscribers report that by making collaboration easy, Learning List has reduced the number of selection committee meetings that their staff had to sit through and changed the focus of the committee’s conversation from “Is this material aligned?” to “Is this material best for our students?” Though the examples of collaboration Mr. Barnwell blogged about are far more exciting, experience suggests that it is just as important to build a culture of district- or at least campus-wide collaboration in the selection of instructional materials. Learning List makes that type of collaboration it easy. ISTE UPDATE : If you're planning to attend ISTE, JOIN US for an ISTE RECEPTION on June 29th at 5:30PM at the Omni (ISTE conf. hotel). No Badge is Required - just RSVP here .

Today, the Texas Attorney General issued the much-anticipated opinion GA 1067 , addressing “Use of the Common Core State Standards Initiative by Texas school districts to teach state standards.” We were among the sources asked whether the AG’s opinion prohibits Texas school districts from purchasing instructional materials aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The Austin American-Statesman has a brief article about the AG's decision here . The Question: In December 2013, Senator Dan Patrick, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, asked the Attorney General whether school districts using the Common Core State Standards Initiative ("Common Core Standards") in any way to teach state standards violate the law ?” During the 2013 legislative session, Senator Patrick was the senate sponsor of HB 462 which enacted those provisions into law.  Though not asked explicitly, the import of Senator Patrick’s question was whether TEC 28.002 (b)(1)-(b)(4) prohibits Texas districts from using instructional materials that cover the Common Core  Standards. Current Law:  To understand the meaning of  TEC 28.002(b)(1)-(4), it is important to understand how those provisions fit in with other laws governing the purchase and use of instructional materials by Texas school districts. TEC §31.004 requires Texas school districts to annually certify to the commissioner of education and State Board of Education that they are providing each student with instructional materials that cover 100 percent of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for each grade and subject in the required curriculum (except Physical Education). The TEKS are the curriculum standards adopted by the State Board of Education with the goal of preparing Texas students to be ready for college and/or a career when they graduate from high school. State law further requires Texas districts to use their state instructional materials allotment first to purchase instructional materials that cover all of the TEKS (TEC §31.0211(d)). Thus, Texas school districts must use and purchase instructional materials aligned to the TEKS. The AG’ Opinion: In the last paragraph of the opinion, the Attorney General states that Texas school districts may not use the Common Core Standards to fulfill their legal obligation to teach the TEKS: The stated intent of the bill was to prohibit the ‘outright adoption of national common core standards’. Accordingly, school districts must not use the Common Core Standards to comply with the requirement to provide instruction in ‘the essential knowledge and skills at appropriate grade levels.’ As to whether Texas districts may use instructional materials that cover the Common Core Standards, the AG states, “The Legislature was aware of the frequent overlap between the TEKS and the Common Core Standards, as evidenced by the bill author's explanation that it was not his intent ‘to prevent the use of materials where the two standards may overlap.’" The Answer : Thus, Texas school districts must teach the TEKS and use instructional materials that cover the TEKS. But, according to GA-1067, Texas school districts are not prohibited from using instructional materials that, due to the inherent overlap between different sets of curriculum standards, also cover the Common Core State Standard.