The EdGate Observer 

Connecting Publishers With What Works!

June 2015 correlation.edgate.com   

Greetings everyone,

  

Did you know that most of the EdGate team has spent part of their career in the classroom? Perhaps it was all those years attending to students that sets the EdGate team apart and accounts for the group's great attention to customer service. Our clients know they can always count on EdGate to do the following:

  • We understand not every project can be solved by a one-size-fits-all approach. We customize according to your project.
  • Our subject matter experts are always willing to guide clients through the often-complex web of state, national, and international standards.
  • EdGate knows all about the tight deadlines that some states/organizations impose. We have processes in place to help.
  • The EdGate staff responds to our emails quickly--even if we don't have an answer yet.
  • We answer the phone! Email is great, but some jobs are so intricate that they can only be properly described via a conversation. Our sales team and subject matter experts are standing by to discuss your unique project.

As always, EdGate is your source for staying current with new developments in education and the impact of educational standards.

 

Gina Faulk
EdGate General Manager 

 

What's New

EdGate will be attending the ISTE Conference June 29-July 1, 2015 in Philadelphia, PA. Please Contact Us if you would like to set up a meeting. We hope to see you there!

 

Client Solution 

Taxonomies

 
In recent weeks we've noticed an increase in inquiries related to our taxonomy services and most recent, a request to customize a taxonomy for categorizing content.

 

While EdGate offers a license to our Concept Index (taxonomy) which is aligned to state standards, we also create custom taxonomies specific to the needs or requirements of the client. Some clients have requested very detailed taxonomies for specialized courses while other clients have asked for taxonomies based on the top concepts taught in differing grades and subjects.  In addition to development and customization, we also provide consultative work for taxonomy review  as well as mapping taxonomies to standards.

 

If you think you might be interested in licensing any of our taxonomies, please feel free to contact your sales or project manager!

 

By: Jennifer Larson 

Project Manager

 

Hot Topic 

Common Core - First 5 Years

 

In the last five years, the Common Core State Standards have certainly had quite a ride...and had to develop some tough skin along the way.  By 2011, 46 states plus D.C. had adopted the Common Core for their language arts and math standards; the 4 states of Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia never adopted. While the science and social studies were never developed as originally planned, applying the language arts 'Literacy' standards for reading and writing to existing science and social studies standards seem to suffic  e.

 

Today, 42 states and D.C. remain with both of the Common Core language arts and math standards, and Minnesota only implementing the language arts standards; Indiana, Oklahoma, and South Carolina have pulled out, reverting to their own standards.

 

States seem to have settled in now, so perhaps most of the bumpy ride is over. Let's hope the next 5 years are a much smoother ride, exhibiting collaboration, rather than confrontation!

 

Further reading can be found at Education Week

 

By: Larry Johnson

Project Manager 

 

Teaching Trends 

Nonacademic skills

   

Almost from the time standards were first brought into the educational world, educators have been trying to pinpoint the elusive skills that students need to become successful in working life, regardless of their chosen field. It has become a commonplace that success is not merely a matter of what students know, but how they apply it. But what are these skills, and where do they fit into the curriculum? Much work has been done to try to define the skills - we have seen the NCTM "process standards", the 21st Century Skills, the ISTE NETS-S, and others, as well as categorizations of a more academic and theoretical nature that have not been codified as standards. With the recent rise of Career and Technical Education (an area EdGate is currently working to provide standards for) to prominence, it is no surprise that the standards in this area are extensively concerned with "skills for success" as well as more tangible knowledge and procedures. We will keep you abreast of further developments.

 

For more information about the various categories of these skills, you can read this article.

 

By: Michael Walpole

Project Manager

 

In This Issue
Top Stories 
How Washington Is Using OERs to Support Common Core

When the Washington State OER Project was launched in 2012 the legislature saw this as a chance to both save districts money and improve instructional material quality.

With many teachers now using more digital tools in their classrooms, many find it is not actually producing helpful data.

Previous generations have gone through a school system that included art education. Now our children and grandchildren face a system where arts education is excluded. With the spotlight on test scores, how do we bring back the importance of arts education?


Staff Highlight 

In this issue of the EdGate Observer, we would like to introduce a member of our Language Arts/ESL Team, Tammy Reid.

 

 

Tammy joined the EdGate team in 2014. She graduated from Iowa State University in 2002 with a BS in Elementary Education and a BFA in Fine Arts. With over 12 years of experience in education, art and business, she joined our Language Arts and Social Studies teams as a Content Specialist and Correlator. Currently living in Gig Harbor, she enjoys spending time with her husband and boys exploring and photographing the Key Peninsula, watching her son's games, and actively volunteering in the local elementary schools.

EdGate Services 
Do you know what a UUID or GUID is?

 

UUIDs and GUIDs are technical terms generally used by people working in the technical or IT departments of organizations. The GUID designation is an industry standard defined by Microsoft to provide a reference number which is unique in any context. UUID is a term that stands for Universal Unique Identifier. Similarly, GUID stands for Globally Unique Identifier. So basically, two terms for the same thing. They can be used, just like a product number, as a unique reference for an academic standard or content title. You might wonder if UUIDs or GUIDs are issued by state departments of education for academic standards. They are not. Standards, when imported, become part of a company's service or product, so no two companies would have the same UUID or GUID for the same standard. Unless you are importing or exporting data in a database, you will probably never have a need to use UUIDs or GUIDs. Rest assured that EdGate easily imports data with GUIDs from other companies.

 

To provide feedback or for more questions please contact us.

To reach our Sales and Marketing Team, choose your contact below:

Tracy_Olstad Larry_Johnson
Gina Faulk 
General Manager 
Tracy Olstad,  
Account Manager 
Larry Johnson
Client Relationship Manager

ljohnson@edgate.com 

Standards Update 

Updates to The EdGate Standards Repository include:
  • Australian Curriculum (ACARA) - Health and PE (2014)
  • Arkansas - Early Childhood Education (2013)
  • Georgia - Language Arts (2015)
  • Georgia - Mathematics (2015)
  • Kentucky - Early Childhood Education (2013)
  • Missouri - Early Childhood Education (2013)
  • New Mexico - Early Childhood Education (2014)
  • New Mexico - Career Technical Education (2009 Grades 7-12)
  • Pennsylvania - Early Childhood Education (2014)

CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION - NEW ADDITIONS AVAILABLE FOR STANDARDS LICENSING!

 

Georgia Career Technical Education

  • Government and Public Administration (GA)
  • Hospitality and Tourism (GA)
  • Middle School CTAE - Family & Consumer Science (GA)
  • Middle School CTAE - Government & Public Safety (GA)
  • Middle School CTAE - Healthcare Science (GA)
  • Middle School CTAE - Marketing, Sales & Service (GA)

Indiana Career Technical Education

  • Agriculture (IN)
  • Arts, A/V Communications (IN)
  • Business, Marketing, Information Technology (IN)
  • Engineering (IN)
  • Family and Consumer Sciences (IN)
  • Health Science (IN)
  • Trade and Industry (IN)

Maine Career Technical Education

  • Agriculture & Natural Resources (ME)
  • Architecture, Construction & Manufacturing (ME)
  • Arts, Audio/Video Technology & Communications (ME)
  • Business Management, Administration, Finance, Marketing, Sales & Service (ME)
  • Education & Public Services (ME)
  • Health & Human Services (ME)
  • Hospitality & Tourism (ME)
  • Public Safety & Security (ME)
  • Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Information Technology (ME)
  • Transportation (ME)

Massachusetts Career Technical Education

  • Agriculture and Natural Resources (MA)
  • Arts and Communication (MA)
  • Business and Consumer Sciences (MA)
  • Construction (MA)
  • Education (MA)
  • Health Services (MA)
  • Hospitality and Tourism (MA)
  • Information Technology (MA)
  • Legal and Protective Services (MA)
  • Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology (MA)
  • Transportation (MA)

 

Kristie
Kristie McCarley

Standards and Operations Manager
About Us 

EdGate Correlation Services works with over 200 content providers to increase the value of their products in a rapidly expanding digital world. EdGate uses its patented technology and highly skilled staff to assure client success. Employing its nearly two decades of innovation experience, EdGate has proven learning platforms, robust metadata tools and comprehensive correlation services to serve every clients unique needs.

EdGate currently focuses on correlation consulting, content and metadata development and management, media segmentation and licensing of international educational standards.
EdGate Correlation Services LLC is a division of EDmin, Inc., a learning management and instructional technology solutions company based in San Diego, California.

EdGate Correlation Services 6626 Wagner Way Suite 200 Gig Harbor, WA 98335
http://correlation.edgate.com