TutorJam Reviews Education Landscape in 2012

Review of Current and Upcoming Trends in Education and Instruction Including New Legislation, Learning Methods and Approaches

Olympia, WA, February 04, 2012 --(PR.com)-- TutorJam works year-round to keep parents informed of current and upcoming educational trends for students across the nation. Innovative learning models continued to be the trend in 2011 for education. As student achievement increased, traditional approaches to learning became relics of the past. The whiteboard has become an interactive “smartboard” and worksheets are decreasing at rapid speed. Parallel to the TutorJam philosophy, education for 2011 highlighted blended learning, a technology-rich environment, and personalized learning.

Classrooms across the nation have placed more focus on personalized learning. According to the State Educational Technology Directors Association, personalized learning is “more than just differentiating and individualizing instruction, personalized learning relies on a student-centered approach, where students guide their own learning.” In 2011, classrooms used more data from ongoing formative and summative assessments to provide personalized feedback for students. Student performance continued to be based on increased rigor and strategic thinking. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2011 saw the highest percentage growths in mathematics for students in fourth and eighth grade. Students’ reading comprehension slightly improved in eighth grade, but data also indicated mixed results in the area of reading. Only about one third of the nation’s fourth and eighth graders reached the proficient level. The U.S. Department of Education emphasizes a practice of using this data for improvement and the use of technology to address these deficits in educational progress.

Although the use of educational technology soared in 2011, the race is ongoing for the revolution of education. The President’s proposal budget for 2012 includes investments to create an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education, which will fund organizations to transform teaching and learning through technology.

States across the nation have already scaled up innovative project-based learning programs to include technology-rich collaboration. For example, Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies (eMINTS) helps educators promote inquiry-based learning through technology. Program evaluations indicate students enrolled in eMINTS classrooms continuously outperform students not in eMINTS classrooms on state assessments. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Navy supported the development of a digital tutor to train new Navy recruits. After only seven weeks, the recruits were “...dramatically outperforming their peers who are receiving traditional classroom-based instruction and have the level of expertise of an IT specialist with three years of experience.” Early results such as these show a promise for more investment in technology-rich learning environments.

For 2012 and beyond, students must be prepared for more digital learning experiences. The nation’s grade card for educational progress needs the boost in proficiency from online learning. TutorJam’s unique approach to convenient tutoring already has the factors for the accelerated pace of learning. TutorJam’s services are personalized, aligned with national core standards, and dedicated to innovative strategies to address students’ needs.

About TutorJam
TutorJam is the premier educational services company for K-12 and college students. We offer tutoring programs for students in K-12, AP classes, and college. Our highly qualified tutors deliver one-on-one personalized instruction across all subject areas, including math, science, English, and social studies. For more information visit: www.tutorjam.com.

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