“Preparing more than 50 million students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in college and careers is the greatest moral and economic challenge of our era.”
So reads a new bi-partisan report on digital learning. Digital Learning Now! is a call to action for governors and state education leaders. The Excellence in Education Foundation (headed by former FL governor Jeb Bush) and the Alliance for Excellent Education (led by former WV governor Bob Wise) drafted this report with feedback from educators, business leaders and government representatives.
Digital Learning Now! identifies ten elements of a high-quality classroom and specifies how technology, data, and digital content can enhance teaching and learning.
The recommendations are a mixture of policy suggestions that include:
- Eliminating barriers that impede the acquisition and use of digital content.
- Providing students with online learning options from multiple public and private providers
- Incorporating a digital assessment system and using student achievement data as part of a teacher’s evaluation.
- Ensuring that teachers have professional development on how to use digital content.
The report’s recommendations affirm and validate the work SAS has done in K12 education over the past two decades. Since the mid 1990s—when Cary Academy and SAS® Curriculum Pathways®were established—SAS has championed digital content and interactive instructional practices that engage students. In 2009, SAS Curriculum Pathways was offered to all U.S. educators and students at no cost. To date, over 10,000 schools have a SAS Curriculum Pathways account.
SAS Curriculum Pathways is just one of many ways SAS helps schools transform the way they use technology to deliver instruction, evaluate student and teacher performance, and improve efficiency. From OnDemand for K12 solutions to longitudinal data systems, from our high school computer programming instruction to our value-added assessment work, SAS has been a leader in promoting educational technologies and has demonstrated a passion for achieving the goals set forth by Digital Learning Now!