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BloomBoard

The Latest News and Views in
Competency-based Professional Learning

 

Hello there,

Forty-two percent of school-aged children struggle to advance beyond basic levels of reading comprehension. Sarah Scott Frank, founder of OpenLiteracy, mentioned this to me one day, followed by a litany of contributing factors. She told me that licensure requirements and teacher evaluation systems don't address the specialized knowledge and skills necessary for elementary teachers to effectively address early literacy. Fortunately, we now have a micro-credential program for teaching elementary literacy. Read more in Sarah's guest blog below.

There's only a few more days to sign up for the Gamification national learning cohort from iLearn Collaborative. This is one of several approaches for engaging students in a tech-enabled classroom. I highly recommend districts to enroll a small group of 5 or 10 teachers to try this out.

Best,

Sanford Kenyon
CEO, BloomBoard

Featured Blog

The Challenge of the Third Grade Reading Challenge

We want all kids to read well by the end of third grade, the year when reading abilities can predict the likeliness of high school graduation. The idea is so important that 18 states have mandatory third grade retention policies requiring students to demonstrate proficiency in reading or be “held back.” Additionally, over half of states have remediation and academic support policies in place for students who are not reading at grade level by the end of third grade.

Read Guest Blog »

On-Demand Webinar

From the Mirage to Reality:
Challenging Perceptions of Professional Learning

Daniel Weisberg, CEO of TNTP, is interviewed by Joanne Weiss, former chief of staff to former U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, to discuss the findings of TNTP's national study, The Mirage, which challenges many widely held perceptions among education leaders about teacher development.

Watch this on-demand webinar to find out why and how leaders have oversimplified and underestimated the challenge of teacher improvement, and how it might be addressed.

Watch Now »

Featured Micro-credential Program

Last Chance to Register for the Gamification Cohort

We're offering a national learning cohort focused on earning the Gamification micro-credential that kicks off September 25th. Each participating educator will utilize gamification strategies in their classroom to present information, producing an effective educational environment.

This cohort will have a live and recorded kick-off session with expert facilitation from experts at iLearn Collaborative throughout to encourage growth-oriented dialogue among participants and provide pacing guidelines to ensure all educators meet their learning goal in the target time frame — about 6 weeks for each micro-credential.

See Program Details »

Poll Results

In our last BloomBoard Brief, we asked:

What intrinsic rewards motivate you most when it comes to professional development?

46% Choice
27% Meaningfulness
18% Competence
9% Progress