District Administration - November/December 2010 - (Page 76)

DistrictAdministration 100 PRODUCTS TOP 2 0 1 0 SAFARI MONTAGE SAFARI Montage, Pricing varies The SAFARI Montage video-on-demand solution for schools comes preloaded with educational content from publishers and sources such as PBS, National Geographic, The History Channel, Disney and many more. The product also allows districts to upload their own video content at the district level and distribute it to classroom teachers throughout the school system. www.safarimontage.com “SAFARI Montage transformed the way educational services and information are delivered. All of our digital media are now tied to the state curriculum.” Jim Hysaw, executive administrator of technology at Garland (Texas) Independent School District. EXCEED Spectrum K12, $7.50 per student Spectrum K12’s EXCEED Student Management Suite is a Webbased platform for managing, administering and prescribing the personalized learning process of special or general education students. The suite includes Response-to-Intervention and individual education plan (IEP) modules, and it consolidates student information into one platform to enable teachers and administrators to plan day-today activities, manage interventions and monitor progress at the student, class, grade, group or district level. www.spectrumk12.com TREERING TreeRing, Pricing varies TreeRing is an online program that allows students to personalize their own yearbooks. It provides districts with a more affordable option by not charging upfront fees or requiring a minimum purchase. Schools design and create a core yearbook, while students and parents log in to the TreeRing Web site to add their own personalized pages and purchase them online. www.treering.com “Our 62-year-old school is scheduled to be demolished, and we were able to truly commemorate our last year with this innovative product.” Kelly McKee, media specialist in the Pasco County (Fla.) Schools. MEASURES OF ACADEMIC PROGRESS (MAP) Northwest Evaluation Association, Pricing varies The NWEA’s Measures of Academic Progress is a computerized adaptive assessment, available in three content area modules—a reading, math and language unit, a science unit— or a unit for primary grades. The assessments dynamically adjust as a student answers questions, are aligned to state and national standards, scoring is immediately available to teachers, and MAP users also have access to a variety of professional development resources from the NWEA. www.nwea.org ACCELERATED READER Renaissance Learning, $2,899 plus annual per-student fee “The MAP assessment has been a monumental norm-referenced growth measure for our district.” Thomas Van Soelen, an associate superintendent in the City Schools of Decatur (Ga.). Accelerated Reader is a K12 reading software program from Renaissance Learning. Students select a book at their own reading level and read at their own pace, and teachers choose from a bank of over 140,000 quizzes to assess reading and vocabulary progress. All data is stored in a central Web-based location accessible to everyone in the district. A Renaissance Home Connect application increases parental involvement by enabling students and parents to log in from home and view the number of books and words read and the number of quizzes passed. www.renlearn.com District Administration 76 November/December 2010 http://www.safarimontage.com http://www.treering.com http://www.spectrumk12.com http://www.nwea.org http://www.renlearn.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - November/December 2010

District Administration - November/December 2010
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Black Children Still Left Behind
ARRA Funds Empower Schools to Power Down
A Call for Technology Leadership
Readers Pick Top 100 Products of the Year
Going Mobile
Superintendent’s Insights
Supervisor’s Opinion
Professional Opinion
Student Counsel

District Administration - November/December 2010