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McGraw-Hill Education Announces Two New Cutting-Edge, Digital-Based Solutions Supported by Five Technology Partnerships

Posted on: Monday, 29 June 2009, 08:40 CDT

First-ever all digital K-6 math curriculum offers unprecedented level of technology interactivity between curricula and whiteboards

New assessment software adds first-ever integration of progress monitoring with student response devices

WASHINGTON, June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- McGraw-Hill Education today announced two new digital-based products and five new partnerships that expand and enhance the company's successful line of digital education solutions that drive student achievement and speed the development of 21st Century skills. The new products are CINCH Mathematics, the first K-6 teacher-led, digital math program of its kind, and Acuity UnWired(TM), the first-ever integration of formative assessment with student response devices. The partnerships with five of today's leading technology providers -- eInstruction(TM), eScholar(R), Promethean, Qwizdom(R) and Renzulli Learning(TM) -- support both new products and also significantly enhance some of McGraw-Hill Education's existing digital solutions.

Presented at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) 2009 in Washington, D.C., from June 28 through July 1, the digital solutions represent several firsts in the integration of technology and classroom resources. They are based on an instructional strategy that engages students by allowing them to learn using the technologies that they love to use at home, while providing teachers with extensive data that can be used to improve student performance. This innovative approach reflects McGraw-Hill Education's continued commitment to leading the way in the development of digital-based instruction as part of its New Education Imperative initiative.

McGraw-Hill Companies' Chairman, President and CEO Harold W. McGraw III launched the initiative with the announcement of the McGraw-Hill Center for Digital Innovation on June 16, 2009 at the Detroit Economic Club's National Summit. The Center is a first-of-its-kind research and development center focused on bringing the same digital environment that today's students have embraced outside of school to elementary and secondary classrooms.

"Using these technologies builds on our success in providing digital solutions that enhance instruction and will further empower teachers to engage young digital natives in the classroom," said William Oldsey, executive vice president, McGraw-Hill Education. "The technologies also collect the data that teachers need to individualize instruction and drive student achievement. This, in turn, helps us to develop students who will be competitive as learners and achievers in a global economy that demands 21st Century skills."

CINCH Mathematics uses interactive whiteboard technology and student response devices from Promethean. Developed by the McGraw-Hill Education Center for Digital Innovation, CINCH Mathematics helps teachers plan, teach, assess and differentiate instruction through one powerful online tool. Students learn math concepts and acquire skills through motivating, teacher-led, interactive whiteboard classroom instruction. The student-response devices engage today's digital natives and encourage even the quietest students to participate in lessons. The program collects each student's answers so teachers can use them to individualize instruction.

CTB/McGraw-Hill's Acuity UnWired(TM) enables students to take Acuity InFormative Assessments(TM) using student response devices, or "clickers" provided by Qwizdom(R) and eInstruction(TM). Teachers can immediately act on assessment responses and generate standards-aligned Acuity reports within minutes. The instantaneous feedback provided by Acuity UnWired gives educators the ability to make data-driven instructional decisions without delay, providing students with targeted instruction in real time. Acuity is the winner of a 2009 CODiE award for Best Student Assessment Solution. Acuity UnWired has already been demonstrated in school district pilot projects in five states with universally successful results.

Lastly, The Grow Network/McGraw-Hill's Parent Network and Online Reporting Solutions are even more robust than before thanks to two partnerships. By combining Renzulli Learning's(TM) more than 35,000 online differentiated instructional resources with the Grow Network's district and state-level data, educators have a "whole child" profile that aligns solutions with individual students. Renzulli Learning(TM) is a University of Connecticut Research & Development Corporation Company. In addition, a partnership with eScholar Complete Data Warehouse(R) for PreK-12 allows Grow to present a full history of classroom, formative and summative results on a single report.

"At McGraw-Hill Education, we strive to remain the premier education partner for school districts," said William Oldsey, executive vice president of McGraw-Hill Education. "We are listening to our customers by creating comprehensive, solutions-focused programs to improve student and teacher achievement. These comprehensive solutions address the need for dynamic learning systems that allow instant assessment of the proficiency levels of each student. Teachers can use this actionable data to differentiate their instruction based on the needs of the individual students."

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is a leading global provider of print and digital instructional, assessment and reference solutions that empower professionals and students of all ages. CTB/McGraw-Hill (CTB.com), the nation's leading publisher of standardized and standards-based achievement tests for PreK-adult, offers a broad range of assessments, software and services. The Grow Network/McGraw-Hill (http://info.grow.net), the nationally recognized leader in individualized instruction and educational assessment reporting, offers dynamic reports and differentiated learning tools, online and in print, for families, teachers, and educational leaders. The Center for Digital Innovation (MHCDI.com) combines 100 years of curricula development with the latest technology to create fully digital PreK-12 learning solutions that help drive student achievement and accelerate the development of 21st Century skills by bringing to the classroom the same digital environment that today's young people have embraced outside of school.

McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at MHEducation.com.

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Education

Source: PR Newswire

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