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The EdGate Observer
CONNECTING PUBLISHERS AND
EDUCATORS TO WHAT WORKS
May 2012
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Top Stories
2012 SIF Excellence AwardCongratulations to Dr. George Araya and Desert Sands Unified School District, an EdGate client, for being recognized as a SIF Excellence Award winner for Outstanding LEA SIF Implementation. The SIF Excellence Awards recognize outstanding SIF implementations and promote SIF success stories to the broader education community. The goal of these awards is to honor those organizations that have done an exceptional job implementing a SIF Solution within their organization and managing the technical and procedural changes necessary for a sustainable implementation. Learning.com meets the middle school STEM challenge EdGate client, Learning.com is providing new curriculum integrating science, technology, engineering and math instruction with hands-on projects and career-focused units. E2020 Inc. Releases Suite of Common Core Courses E2020 Inc., one of the fastest-growing providers of online learning solutions, announced the release of an innovative suite of sources designed to meet the demands of the Common Core State Standards. New K-12 Texas Math Standards Seek to Exceed National Texas' top education official said Thursday that the state should hammer out new K-12 math curriculum standards that are better than national requirements adopted almost everywhere in the country, or delay approving anything until it can. Textbook publishers are waiting for final approval by the State Board of Education so they can begin producing classroom materials. But Education Commissioner Robert Scott said making the final product better than national "common core" math standards is more important than meeting deadlines. Next Generation Science Standards FAQ's · Who is writing the standards and when will they be written? · Why are the NGSS important? · What's the difference between NGSS and the Framework for K-12 Science Education? · What's the difference between NGSS and Common Core? · How will the standards be organized? · What will the draft standards look like? Can schools teach teens how to handle money?Coming of age in the great recession has made students more aware of financial concerns, but it hasn't provided them the tools to be more financially responsible. Virginia became the fourth state (alongside Tennessee, Utah and Missouri) to implement a mandatory class in personal finance and economics for all incoming freshmen. And Maryland just became one of 21 states to adopt an "integrated" approach to teaching these subjects, folding them into social studies and math.
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About Us 
Founded in 1997, EdGate Correlation Services (EdGate) is a leader in the field of alignment solutions for educational companies around the world.
The EdGate Standards Repository is the most comprehensive collection of national and international educational standards containing 1.8 million most recently adopted standards in all subject areas.
Through the power of our technology and the professional experience of our subject-area specialists, EdGate provides more than 150 educational publishing clients with accurate and continually updated correlations, on-demand correlation reporting capabilities, and effective website integration options.
EdGate can also provide standards licensing, customized taxonomy solutions, correlation to assessment standards, and more.
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Welcome to The EdGate Observer!
Greetings everyone,
In this month's newsletter, we focus on the most recent educational news pertaining to the Common Core Identifiers and Granularity Summit attended by EdGate (Hot Topic), How Does EdGate Incorporate Changes in Server Technology? (Burning Question), EdGate Subject Expert Correlations vs. Automated Taxonomy Correlations (Client Solutions), Mobile Integration (EdGate Services) and following up with new additions to the EdGate Standards Repository (Standards Update).
As always, EdGate is your source for staying abreast of any new developments in education and specifically the impact of educational standards.
Regards,
Sandra Schugren, EdGate General Manager
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Hot Topic
Common Core Identifiers and Granularity Summit
EdGate Correlation Services was recently invited to attend the Common Core Identifiers and Granularity Summit held at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on April 23, 2012.
The National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), in cooperation with the authors of the Common Core standards are preparing to release official identifiers for the Common Core State Standards and are working on a corresponding XML rendition of those standards. This meeting was attended by a selected group of key stakeholders and education business professionals to discuss the use of the Common Core Identifiers, ways to coordinate the definition of finer-grained identifiers and best practices for aligning learning and assessment activities to the Common Core.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative has identified three sets of canonical identifiers for users and systems referencing:
1) Dot notation (e.g. Math.6.EE.1) - useful for display with the text of a standard following a sequential nomenclature.
2) De-referenceable URIs (e.g. corestandards.org/2010/math/content/6/EE/1) - allow users and systems to validate the content of a standard by viewing the web page at the identifier's URL.
3) Globally unique identifiers (e.g. A7D3275BC52147618D6CFEE43FB1A47E) - defined as a unique reference number used as an identifier in computer software and database management systems.
The open forum garnered great discussions and collaboration amongst all organizations in attendance. EdGate Correlation Services is prepared to adopt any identifier schema finalized for Common Core's nationally adopted reference numbers making integration of publisher content seamless with other systems. This service offers an effective way to map various identifiers of the Common Core and State Standards regardless of the source (i.e. EdGate UUIDs/GUIDs, Common Core identifiers, ASN URIs, and others).
We are very pleased that there is recognition of the need for universally adopted identifiers for standards.
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Client Solution 
EdGate Subject Expert Correlations vs. Automated Taxonomy Correlations
EdGate Correlation Services continues to emphasize the fact that our Subject Matter Experts provide the most accurate correlations to curriculum standards when compared to other methodologies.
EdGate Correlation Services' hands-on, concept-driven process has proven to be the definitive means for performing correlations. Other systems that utilize automated taxonomies or natural language methods for correlations consistently show countless readily recognizable inaccurate correlations.
A few examples of this include:
· Annie Oakley correlated as a historical figure to standards for ancient civilizations when using a natural language/automated correlation on the term "historical figure"
· The African Savanna correlated to the geography of Georgia when using a natural language/automated correlation on the term "Savanna"
· The daily life of native Alaskan children correlated to standards about colonial settlements and feudalism when using a natural language/automated correlation on the term "native"
Publishers that have been clients of companies offering correlations using automated taxonomies or natural language methodologies find that their correlations contain many inaccuracies. Be assured that the correlation services your company purchases from EdGate Corr elation Services are the best in the industry without question.
By: Kathleen Ideguchi Project Manager
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Burning Question 
How Does EdGate Incorporate Changes in Server Technology?
EdGate Correlation Services remains on the cutting edge of technology by continually upgrading the hardware in our data center.
All our applications run in a virtualized environment with a storage area network (SAN) which provides for a high level of redundancy. In the Summer of 2012 we will be upgrading the databases on our current SAN to the industry leading solid state drive (SSD) technology. SSD provides the fastest I/O throughput the storage market has to offer. This upgrade will further improve database performance, which ultimately improves the EdGate application user experience.
We pride ourselves with delivering the most reliable and efficient
service to our clients and partners.
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EdGate Services
Mobile Integration
With mobile applications and integrations on the rise, we decided now was a good time to remind all of our partners and potential partners of our content licensing services.
Recent months have proven that educational platforms for mobile devices are rapidly becoming an integral part of how educators are reaching out to their students. As a leader in online educational services, EdGate is taking a lead to work with technologically advanced organizations by offering aligned custom content packages for their mobile device LMS.
For more information on what custom packages are available for your LMS, please contact Leslie Kolber at lkolber@edgate.com or Tracy Olstad at tolstad@edgate.com.
  The "EdGate Advantage is YOUR Advantage" |
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Standards Update
Updates to The EdGate Standards Repository include:
· American Education Reaches Out (AERO) - Language Arts (2011)
· American Education Reaches Out (AERO) - Social Studies (2011)
· Georgia Standards - Media/Technology (state adopted ISTE NETS-S for Students)
· International Baccalaureate Standards (IBO) - Language Arts Grades K-8 (2010)
· International Baccalaureate Standards (IBO) - Mathematics Grades K-8 (2010)
· International Baccalaureate Standards (IBO) - Science Grades K-8 (2012)
· International Baccalaureate Standards (IBO) - Social Studies Grades K-8 (2012)
· Iowa Core Curriculum Standards - Social Studies (Revised 2010)
· Missouri Standards - World Languages (2011)
· National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) - Mathematics (2011)
· National Sexuality Education Standards - Health and PE (2011)
· Pennsylvania Standards - Language Arts Grades PreK-3 (2011)
· Saskatchewan Canada - Mathematics Grades 10-12 (2012 Course 30)
· South Dakota Standards - School Library Standards (2010)
Common Core Update
The EdGate Standards Repository now includes the following state-specific Common Core Standards:
Alabama*, Arizona*, Arkansas, California*, Colorado*, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia*, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa*, Kansas*, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts*, Michigan, Minnesota*, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana*, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York*, North Carolina, North Dakota*, Ohio*, Oklahoma, Oregon*, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, US Virgin Islands, Vermont, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. (Note: states marked with an * indicate up to 15% additions). If you have any questions regarding standards, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to assist you. You can always join us on Twitter and Facebook to receive notifications regarding state standards in the EdGate Standards Repository at: 
http://twitter.com/EdGate http://www.facebook.com Kristie McCarley EdGate Standards Manager kmccarley@edgate.com
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