Attention: ConnectEDU's Blog has moved!

Check out our newly located Blog called Connecting the dots... for the latest news and updates!

ConnectEDU Partners with Osceola School District for Parent Night

(Osceola County, FL) January 25, 2012:  Last night, ConnectEDU and the Osceola School District partnered to offer a district-wide Parent Financial Aid Night.

The Sallie Mae Fund, a partner of ConnectEDU, presented at the event to highlight The 5 Key Steps to Save, Plan, and Pay for Education.  Junior and Senior Parents were invited to learn tons of information around financing education, including how to fill out the FAFSA, where to find scholarships, grants and loans, and mistakes to avoid in the process.

This was the first Financial Aid Night for the Osceola School District, and a huge success.  With over 340 attendees leaving better informed about paying for college, ConnectEDU is proud to have taken part!

Obama Administration Calls for Improved Instructor Evaluations

(Boston, MA) November 23rd, 2011: The classroom has traditionally been a space where teachers evaluate students on their work. Teachers may soon find that paradigm reversed as teacher evaluations gain prominence under new federal regulations.

President Barack Obama's recent revision to the No Child Left Behind education law allows states to avoid depending solely on student test scores to drive educator ratings – if they can prove they have a better way to evaluate them. 

As educators increasingly look to teacher ratings to decide critical issues such as pay, tenure, and awarding teaching licenses, a growing number of states seek evaluation systems that gather input beyond student test scores, including student feedback. 

Moses Brown School, one of many institutions that incorporate teacher evaluations, uses ConnectEDU’s CoursEval to gather student input. CoursEval is a web-based course evaluation system that gathers student feedback to offer improved diagnostic reporting to support institutional goals. 

“Our goal at Moses Brown is to nurture and sustain a culture in which great teaching flourishes, and one way we do that is by providing teachers with meaningful feedback drawn from multiple sources.  Direct student feedback is an essential part of that process,” says Matt Glenndinning, Headmaster at Moses Brown School in Providence, RI.

Stakeholders across the education spectrum note that the student point of view may prove to be more valuable than has previously been realized. And this value travels beyond institutions needing to meet legislative requirements.

Mr. Glenndinning explains: “I find that having an opportunity to reflect on the experience with a particular course or teacher imparts a sense of ownership and responsibility to students.  Students feel that they have a role in shaping their educational environment.”

With CoursEval, students can report in complete anonymity on what drives their success.  This information, in conjunction with other measures, is crucial in expanding student achievement.

To learn more about CoursEval, visit our website.    

ConnectEDU Proudly Sponsors The New England Board of Higher Education Leadership Summit

(Boston, MA) November 9th, 2011 - On Monday, hundreds of New England’s higher education, government and business leaders came together for the New England Works: A New England Leadership Summit on Bridging Higher Education and the Workforce conference, sponsored in part by ConnectEDU. The leaders met to discuss the vital role of higher education in preparing the highly skilled workers that will drive future innovation.

The New England Works Summit examined key questions facing higher education and workforce development in New England and across the nation, such as: How do we fix the gap between supply and demand in the New England labor market? And how can higher education institutions prepare learners for the fast-changing 21st Century economy?

Ted Fischer, ConnectEDU’s President and Chief Operating Officer, kicked off the conference as an introductory speaker.

Ted explains, “ConnectEDU’s dedication to engaging education, policy and workforce leaders from around New England to help bridge higher education and the workforce is central to our mission. Our platform is designed to provide learners the tools necessary to close the workforce gap. With products like AlumniConnect, StudentRecruit and TalentConnect, we can ensure that our postsecondary graduates are career ready for the jobs of the New England innovation economy.”

ConnectEDU teamed up with Massachusetts state agencies to create a statewide college and career planning portal focused on enabling student success. YourPlanForCollege.org, powered by ConnectEDU technologies, launched this fall in over 130 high schools across Massachusetts. Members of the YourPlanForCollege team attended the conference to take part in the important discussion.

“We’re excited to be part of the thought leadership that came together on this critical topic. YourPlanForCollege is supporting students in high schools across the Commonwealth as they develop skills directly correlated to meaningful employment. –Marie DeMego, State Director of YourPlanForCollege.

To read more about how ConnectEDU bridges the gap between education and the workforce, visit http://www.connectedu.com/NEBHE.

Congratulations to our New Pathways Council Chairperson

Today, Jane Swift was announced as the new CEO of Middlebury Interactive Languages, a joint venture between Middlebury College and K12, Inc. Jane also serves as the ConnectEDU Pathways Council Chairperson, a team of education thought leaders dedicated to identifying, informing, and promoting education policies that expand students’ access to postsecondary opportunities and prosperous career pathways.

I want to personally congratulate Jane on her new position. After working closely with Jane over the past few years, her passion for improving the education system for students of all ages is evident, and it is clear she is the right person for the job. In addition, I’m excited to continue our work together through the ConnectEDU Pathways Council.

ConnectEDU will also be strengthening our ties with K12 through the launch of our Learner Pathways platform this year. Replacing K12’s existing provider, ConnectEDU’s solution will empower all K12 students to successfully manage their college, career, and financial planning.

Congrats Jane!

Ted Fischer, President and COO

ConnectEDU’s Director of Policy and Research Honored for Work in her Community

(Boston, MA) May 31^st, 2011 - Exemplifying our employees’ commitment to commendable community involvement, ConnectEDU’s own Dr. Stephanie Gertz, Director of Policy and Research, received a service award from the Synagogue Council today.

Stephanie and her husband, Cantor Steven Weiss of Sha’aray Shalom in Hingham, received the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts’ Community Service Award today for their leadership and involvement in a myriad of activities within the Greater Boston Jewish community. Beyond their involvement with their synagogue in Hingham, Stephanie and Steven are active with the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Jewish Federations of North America, and numerous local and national organizations.

At ConnectEDU, Stephanie is equally committed to assisting her teammates and our customers. We’re inspired by her selflessness and share the Synagogue Council’s appreciation of a great philanthropist. Congratulations, Stephanie!

ConnectEDU sponsors TEDx Conference at Brown

TEDx speakers highlight the need for innovation in higher education.

(Boston, MA) May 9, 2011 - ConnectEDU was the proud sponsor of the first annual TEDx event at Brown University on Wednesday evening. TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) is an annual conference where presenters such as Bill Gates, Malcolm Gladwell, and Google’s Larry Page give short talks on “ideas worth spreading.” TED has spawned a global movement of independently organized conferences called TEDx events. Brown’s TEDx event focused on innovation within the higher education space. Needless to say, ConnectEDU was thrilled to support the focus of this event based on our devotion to developing technology that enables learners, educators, and employers to innovate.

One speaker, Professor Deak Nabers, touched on a theme particularly close to our mission. Professor Nabers, a Brown University English Professor, spoke about the need for longitudinal data in order to evaluate the effectiveness of college courses. Nabers stated that while he can evaluate how well a student does on the specific (and self-admittedly esoteric) items listed on his syllabus, he has no idea whether or not his class helps his students prepare for the next English class they take, let alone prepare to graduate and enter the working world. He called on Brown to help him evaluate the things “outside of his box” (his box is comprised of mid 20^th century American Literature) in order to provide him with more feedback for his teaching. While he noted that innovation is sometimes a taboo word within the bureaucratic and traditional space of academia, he urged his fellow academics to look outside their respective boxes and demand data on how their classes fit into a student’s learner lifecycle.

ConnectEDU specializes in tracking student data from high school, through college, and on to their career. ConnectEDU’s CoursEval software helps colleges like Brown create, deploy, and analyze longitudinal surveys geared to evaluate courses and faculty instruction. CoursEval also integrates into the ConnectEDU platform, so that colleges can evaluate more than just individual performance of students over the span of a course—they can evaluate beyond the span of a course.  We’re excited to work with leaders like Deak Nabers to move our mission forward and continue to support innovation in the education space.

The TEDx videos from all speakers at the Brown event will be available online soon. Click here to watch Deak Nabers and more.