July 2020 Newsletter
English Learners and Marginalized Learners are in crisis like never before. The first two articles in this issue discuss the nature of the crisis for ELLs, from an academic language perspective, and how Speak Agent aims to mitigate it. Then we dig...
The Widening Gap for English Learners
Last week I was on a webconference that examined the internet access gap. I was struck by one district administrator's story: For weeks, thousands of students had been diligently mailing in the packets of work they'd been assigned. All of those...
The Students We Serve
The past few weeks have caused our team to reflect on the students we serve and how their lives are being upended by the pandemic, the resulting economic crisis, the public safety environment, and the other issues we are facing at this time.
The Language Deficit and the COVID-19 Slide
I was recently reading an article about the challenges the NYCDOE is facing in supporting their ELLs and how these students are faring in the "new normal." Here's how one Brooklyn teen described it:
Free Distance Learning During COVID-19
Speak Agent is now available FREE (with no purchase obligation) for use during school closings for a limited number of districts (as many as we can serve on a first-come, first-serve basis). Our goal is to give your teachers resources to engage...
Are You Ready for Coronavirus?
Originally, this March 2020 newsletter issue was going to be about us. But in light of recent events, it's going to be about you.
Speak Agent Awarded Research-Based Design Product Certification
It's official! Speak Agent has earned the Research-Based Design product certification from Digital Promise. This new product certification process is intended to serve as a rigorous, reliable signal for K12 educators seeking verifiable evidence of a...
Close the ELL Gap Before WIDA and TELPAS Testing
WIDA ACCESS test scores in many states dropped again in May 2019. Now the latest NAEP Math and Reading scores are also showing stagnation or slight downturns. The 2020 testing window will soon be upon us. Now is the time to act and make a...
Reflections on the NSTA 2019 National Conference
“STEM teachers are not prepared to foster simultaneous content knowledge and language development,” states the National Academies of Sciences in their October 2018 report [1]. The science teachers we met at NSTA 2019 in St. Louis last week...
Five Principles of Personalized Teaching
Todd Rose's book "The End of Average" has underscored the connection between learner variability and the opportunities for personalized learning afforded by education technology. To date, however, the conversation has largely omitted the perspective...
