Silver Spring, Md. (July 19, 2018) – Texas’ Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD) has launched a new partnership with Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms. HCISD’ new three-year relationship with Discovery Education brings award-winning digital content and professional learning services to the district’s STEM2 Preparatory Academy, empowering educators to help students develop the important critical-thinking and solution-seeking skills needed for college and career success.
HCISD is located in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, which is among the fastest growing regions in the nation. To help prepare district students for success in the area’s rapidly expanding economy and beyond, HCISD recently began implementing a new strategic plan entitled Transforming Learning for Global Achievement. Discovery Education’s unique combination of dynamic digital resources and sustained, job-embedded professional development was specifically chosen by HCISD’s leaders to support this plan’s key goals, which include providing all educators the tools they need to maximize student success and delivering to all students the high-quality instruction and individualized learning that results in maximum achievement.
Discovery Education Streaming Plus is among the new digital resources that will be rolled out in classrooms across HCISD’s STEM2 Preparatory Academy this coming school year. A comprehensive digital service supplementing instruction across all K-12 curricular areas, Discovery Education Streaming Plus helps build students’ mastery in interpreting, understanding, and evaluating information. Students can access a variety of digital assets such as images, primary source documents, podcasts, articles, and videos, then are empowered to become content creators with a suite of content creation tools that help teachers and students safely and easily collaborate in real-time on virtual projects. Teacher resources include lesson plans, instructional strategies, and content collections organized around themes, as well as a collection of STEM resources designed to fuel a cultural shift in teaching and learning.
HCISD educators in the STEM2 Preparatory Academy will also soon begin using Discovery Education’s STEM Connect to enhance core curriculum and bring STEM to life in classrooms. A cutting-edge, web-based, interdisciplinary K-8 supplemental resource built on a 4Cs STEM skills framework, STEM Connect helps students develop the creative, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills they need for success beyond graduation. Featuring flexible, modular learning units, STEM Connect provides students an easy-to-follow educational experience that includes real-world challenges, career connections, and hands-on activities.
To facilitate the integration of dynamic digital resources into classroom instruction, the STEM2 Preparatory Academy’s educators will also participate in a professional learning initiative from Discovery Education called STEMFormation. A three-year system for professional learning designed to build and sustain a culture of STEM teaching and learning, STEMFormation helps create a shared STEM vision, develops educators and administrators, cultivates inquiry-based, transdisciplinary instruction, and prepares our future workforce.
HCISD educators will also be supported by the Discovery Education Community as they transform students’ learning experiences with dynamic digital media. A global community of education professionals, the Discovery Education Community connects members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events, fostering valuable networking, idea sharing and inspiration.