WASHINGTON, D.C. – Digital Promise and Edthena are partnering to help train and support teachers on Science of Reading-based instruction by incorporating Digital Promise’s Learner Variability Project resources into the Edthena offerings. Now, as teachers complete coaching cycles, they will be able to select a Science of Reading pathway within the AI Coach by Edthena platform and access Digital Promise’s research-based content, strategies, and best practices.
“Teachers need research-based strategies at their fingertips so they can implement Science of Reading programs with fidelity,” said Barbara Pape, senior director of Digital Promise’s Learner Variability Project. “Our Learner Variability Project resources are steeped in research and made easily accessible through Edthena’s AI Coach.”
The hundreds of teacher-facing strategy recommendations are backed by published academic studies documenting the predictiveness of student outcomes. The Learner Variability Project builds on emerging research into learner variability to support a whole-child framework for student achievement.
AI Coach is an adaptive, first-of-its-kind solution that uses conversational artificial intelligence to support teachers as they work through coaching cycles. Within the Science of Reading pathway, teachers will have a full complement of content-specific supports—covering topics such as phonological awareness, sentence structure, and verbal reasoning—to help analyze their teaching and build their students into skilled readers.
Using the secure platform, teachers independently reflect on their practice and set near-term goals as part of a self-paced module that mirrors the instructional coaching process. Teachers have an interactive conversation with Edie, the AI-driven coach, who asks probing, open-ended questions and offers personalized tips and resources for improvement.
“The AI Coach process helps all teachers build upon their Science of Reading training by focusing on implementation of best practices,” said Adam Geller, founder and CEO of Edthena. “Our partnership with Digital Promise ensures teachers’ learning experiences within AI Coach are grounded in research on how to help students become fluent readers and reach their full potential as learners.”
The evidence-based AI Coach process is designed to complement the efforts of school leaders and instructional coaches, and helps to alleviate time and scheduling restraints associated with in-person coaching sessions that can often be a barrier to ongoing professional learning. Teachers can meet with the virtual coach on a schedule that’s convenient to the changing demands of the school day, and have the option to pause and resume their coaching cycle at any point. This enables teachers to get the help they need, when they need it.
In addition to the newly-added Science of Reading pathway, which is available in both an early-elementary and late-elementary version, teachers can also complete coaching cycles focused on common teaching techniques such as checking for student understanding, balancing student-teacher talk time, facilitating group discussions, and more.
To learn more about the Digital Promise and Edthena partnership and the Science of Reading pathway in AI Coach, visit https://www.edthena.com/scienceofreading.
About Edthena
Edthena is the leading provider of innovative technologies to support educator professional learning and streamline feedback to teachers. The companyoffers the AI Coach platform, an artificial intelligence-driven solution to guide teachers through coaching cycles; the Edthena Video Coaching platform, the classroom observation and collaboration platform for using videos as part of professional development; and Edthena Organization Libraries, a platform for schools and districts to curate and share best-practice teaching videos. Edthena is the recipient of numerous awards from organizations such as SIIA, District Administration, and Tech & Learning. For more information, visit www.edthena.com. For more news about Edthena, visit www.edthena.com/blog/.
About Digital Promise
Digital Promise is a global nonprofit working to expand opportunity for every learner. We work with educators, researchers, technology leaders, and communities to design, investigate, and scale innovations that support learners, especially those who’ve been historically and systematically excluded. Our vision is that every person engages in powerful learning experiences that lead to a life of well-being, fulfillment, and economic mobility. For more information, visit the Digital Promise website and follow Digital Promise for updates.
