Renaissance® Blog
Shareable tips and insightful thoughts on K–12 education. Subscribe to the Renaissance Newsletter and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.
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November 5, 2021
As we celebrate 35 years of Accelerated Reader, we recognize the importance of not only honoring the past but also looking ahead to the future. In this blog, we’ll answer some of the most common questions about how books are […]
October 22, 2021
By Dr. Gene Kerns, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer In K–12 education, we often use medical analogies to describe our assessment practices. For example, it’s common to hear the state summative test described as a “post-mortem” on the school […]
October 8, 2021
The COVID-19 disruptions have accelerated a process that was already well underway. Teaching and learning are no longer confined to brick-and-mortar classrooms and face-to-face interactions. Instead, technology allows teachers and students to connect from anywhere—and helps teachers to provide personalized, […]
September 24, 2021
By Julianne Robar, Educational Content Program Manager, and Dr. Jan Bryan, Vice President and National Education Officer If learning is a staircase, then all steps are not created equal. In math especially, some skills along the staircase are extraordinarily difficult […]
September 10, 2021
By Dr. Chastity McFarlan, Content Quality Manager As a Latina and African American woman from the New York City area, I knew the COVID-19 pandemic would have a disproportionate effect on people from my community even before the media outlets […]
August 27, 2021
By Dr. Katie McClarty, Vice President of Research and Design As I sent my kids back to school last week, I felt a mix of emotions. I was excited that they were going back to in-person learning, with new teachers […]
August 13, 2021
By Dr. Gene Kerns, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer Albert Einstein famously remarked that “compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.” What does this mean? An investment is made, time passes, and interest is earned, which increases […]
August 6, 2021
By Dr. Scott McConnell, Director of Assessment Innovation This year, Renaissance has added an important resource for teachers’ instructional toolkits. Lalilo, a free, online foundational literacy program designed to help K–2 students master phonics skills, will help teachers to expand […]
July 23, 2021
Since 1986, Accelerated Reader has helped millions of students in the US and around the world to discover a love of reading. As we celebrate 35 years of AR, we want to highlight the wide diversity of fiction and nonfiction […]
July 9, 2021
By Dr. Gene Kerns, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer Unless you’ve lived through the highly scheduled and regimented days of teaching, you cannot understand how nonstop the work is. It’s like walking on a treadmill with no “Stop” button. […]
June 25, 2021
Summer is finally here! For many educators, this provides an opportunity to look back at the school year that just ended—and to look ahead to the new school year as well. In that spirit, we’d like to share recent and […]
June 18, 2021
In a recent blog, we explored the impact of COVID-19 school closures on preschool- and kindergarten-aged children. In this blog, we’ll continue the conversation by focusing specifically on preschool and pre-K programs—and on how teachers and administrators can best address […]