McGraw-Hill Showcases New Digital Common Core and Personalized Learning Programs at 2013 ISTE Conference

SAN ANTONIO, June 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- (ISTE booths #13184 and #11180) – For the first time at the International Society of Technology in Education's (ISTE) annual conference, McGraw-Hill is presenting its latest digital solutions that address two of the most important issues and trends in K-12 education: the Common Core State Standards and the rise of personalized teaching and learning through technology. On display are two of McGraw-Hill's first-to-market reading programs – McGraw-Hill Reading Wonders and SRA FLEX Literacy – which were built from the ground up to address the Common Core State Standards and feature highly interactive digital components that support personalized and adaptive learning.

At the conference, McGraw-Hill is showcasing a number of digitally rich instructional and assessment solutions – accessible across a range of devices, including tablets and interactive whiteboards – that provide educators with the flexibility to meet the diverse needs of many different classrooms and learners, whether they are high achievers or struggling students. The company is also announcing the launch of a new Windows 8 app for CINCH Learning, its all-digital teaching and learning platform for math and science in Grades 6-12, which the company developed in conjunction with Intel and Microsoft.

"We are excited to be a part of this year's ISTE conference and showcase some of our leading digital solutions that share a common bond: They combine the best instructional resources and technology with our unique understanding of how students learn, helping to personalize education and better prepare students for college and career," said Peter Cohen, president of McGraw-Hill School Education Group. "This year, we see two major developments in K-12 education that have game-changing effects on learning outcomes: digitally rich, built-from-the-ground-up Common Core programs that ensure students develop the type of advanced skills required by the new standards, and highly advanced adaptive learning solutions that facilitate personalized learning and data-driven instruction."

Programs at McGraw-Hill School Education's ISTE Conference booth include:

• SRA FLEX Literacy – A comprehensive, digital-first reading and language arts intervention system for students in Grades 3 and up, SRA FLEX was built from the ground up specifically to help at-risk students learn the critical reading and writing skills required to meet Common Core State Standards and accelerate student progress. Composed of three unique and flexible learning experiences, SRA FLEX engages students through high-interest, collaborative tools, and rich text selections. The program includes interactive whiteboard tools enable teachers to model students' responses and to provide a forum for rich debate and discussion.
  
  
• McGraw-Hill Reading Wonders – The first K-6 core reading program built from the ground up specifically for the Common Core State Standards, Reading Wonders offers a differentiated and personalized approach to reading that motivates students to exceed their current reading level by challenging them to uncover the deeper meaning of a text. The program's digital components provide instructors with the exact resources they need each day, and allow students to complete and save their work, engage in gaming activities and collaborate with their peers and teachers. Reading Wonders, which is fully compatible with the iPad, offers a number of companion iOS apps, including Grammar Wonderland (named "App of the Week" by eSchool News) and Word Wonderland.
  
  McGraw-Hill School Education is also previewing McGraw-Hill Reading WonderWorks, a parallel intervention program developed to support Reading Wonders that aims to close the achievement gap among readers and support at-risk students. Reading WonderWorks features an adaptive learning engine that accelerates students' progress toward mastering foundational reading skills by targeting students' attention toward the areas where they need to improve the most.
  
  
• McGraw-Hill LearnSmart – An adaptive study tool that personalizes learning by using algorithmic technology to continually assess students' knowledge and skill levels and design targeted study paths to help students improve in the areas where they need to the most. By allowing students to focus their study time on the topics and concepts that are most challenging to them, LearnSmart has been shown to help students study more efficiently, come to class prepared and earn better grades.
  
  
• ONboard Series for Advanced Placement* and McGraw-Hill SCOREboard – ONboard, a first-of-its-kind, all-digital AP* course preparation solution, is designed to improve students' performance in AP classes by developing the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
  
  SCOREboard is the first AP* exam preparation tool that uses adaptive technology to adjust to students' individual learning needs, providing students with personalized learning plans and zeroing in on their specific strengths and weaknesses to not only help them master course material as they prepare for these important exams, but to do it more effectively and efficiently.
  
  
• The Geometer's Sketchpad – A dynamic supplemental learning tool that enables students to learn math in a hands-on manner by allowing them to visualize, explore and experience the abstractions of math, from basic numbers to calculus. Through the real-time manipulation of elements, students learn just how smaller parts of an equation impact a larger mathematical problem, while teachers can mathematically model any concept on an interactive whiteboard and create an immediate visual representation of various mathematical principles.
  
  
• CINCH Learning: A cloud-based platform for math and science (Grades 6-12) that students and instructors can access via computer, interactive whiteboard or mobile device, CINCH Learning features virtual labs, personal tutors, apps, games and real-time chat capabilities. The CINCH Learning app, soon to be available on Windows 8 and available now for iOS, allows teachers to plan, assess and communicate on the go.

Programs on display at CTB/McGraw-Hill's booth include:

• Acuity® Performance Task System – Available within Acuity, CTB's comprehensive K-12 assessment solution, Acuity Performance Tasks includes an item bank and performance task builder that enable educators to assess real-world skills at the deepest level to determine where improvement is needed to master the Common Core State Standards. The tasks cover multiple subjects and are fully customizable allowing for easy alignment to state or local standards. Educators can use the performance task builder to create their own tasks and rubrics.
  
  
• LAS Links ® Online – Available for Grades 2-12, LAS Links Online is the first standards-based, English language proficiency assessment program to offer a truly digital experience. LAS Links Online captures students' spoken and written responses electronically, allowing teachers to score responses anytime, anywhere.
  
  
• Writing Roadmap 3.0 – An expansion of CTB's revolutionary online writing assessment tool, Writing Roadmap 3.0 provides an effective way for students in Grades 3-12 to practice and improve their writing skills and for teachers to measure and track proficiency. Writing Roadmap 3.0 uses natural language processing and artificial intelligence to automate the essay scoring process, allowing teachers to include dramatically more student writing activities in their classrooms while saving up to 100 hours or more of grading time per year.

At both McGraw-Hill School Education and CTB's booths, visitors have the opportunity to take part in a variety of activities, including product demonstrations, workshops and presentations by a variety of experts and authors. McGraw-Hill is posting live tweets throughout the conference (#ISTE13) from the company's Twitter account, @MHEducation. Throughout the conference, McGraw-Hill is hosting booth-side "Hip 2 Be Square" tweet-ups (#H2B2) for attendees to share their successes and challenges regarding the use of technology in education.

*Advanced Placement Program and AP are registered trademarks of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, these products.