Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is a non-profit research and development organization with more than forty years of experience as a leader in educational innovation. With headquarters in Newton, MA, major offices in New York City (Center for Children and Technology) and Washington, D.C. (Center for Multi-Channel Learning), and staff engaged in projects throughout the U.S. and around the world, EDC is one of the nation’s foremost educational research and development organizations.
EDC brings extensive experience and expertise to all aspects of the proposed MA-TLC project. The following are example areas of EDC capabilities and prior work relevant to this project.
Educational Applications of Emerging Technologies. Since EDC’s earliest projects, when it created innovative films for its PSSC Physics and ESS Science curricula, EDC has explored the educational applications of emerging technologies. We have a long history of innovative software development, including the Geometric Supposer series (published by Sunburst Communications), the first programs designed to enable geometry students to develop and test mathematical conjectures on the computer; the Math and More series (funded and published by IBM) that extended the idea of "mathematical manipulatives" to on-screen manipulatives; and Graph Action (published by Tom Snyder Associates), which enables students to conduct interactive explorations with distance-time graphs. EDC has also developed software to support students with special needs, including the Knowledge Navigator, which helps students with disabilities develop information-gathering and analysis skills.
EDC has also been exploring educational applications of the Internet. For example, in the American Memory in the Classroom project, EDC/CCT is working with the Library of Congress to find ways of making extensive primary resources useful to teachers and students. The Telementoring Young Women in Engineering and Computing project enabled high school girls to communicate with women professionals and college students for ongoing guidance and support. In the EdTech Leaders Online project, EDC is working with school districts to build their capacity to add online workshops to their professional development programs.
In recognition of EDC’s expertise, EDC/CCT was chosen to organize the educational technology demonstrations for the Governors, CEOs, and education leaders who attended the 1999 National Education Summit. In addition, in 1999 EDC won a prestigious EdNET Industry Award for having made "the most significant positive impact on education through educational technology and telecommunications."
Research into Effective Educational Practices. EDC has conducted extensive research on school reform and the integration of technology. For example, in the Union City Online project, EDC/CCT is investigating the potential of Internet technologies in a context where systemic educational reforms have taken root. In the NetTech project, EDC conducted research into principles of design of effective online professional development. In the Developing an E-Rate Research Protocol project, EDC/CCT researchers collaborated with the Benton Foundation to document the early impact of the federal E-Rate program on four urban school districts and to develop ways in which districts can plan their own evaluations.
Supporting School Improvement. EDC has been responsible for many large-scale projects that support educational reform and school improvement. For example, the New England Comprehensive Assistance Center provides intensive on-site technical assistance, professional development, and resources to state and local education leaders to help them effect comprehensive school improvement. The LINK-US project is testing, refining and disseminating a model of effective technical assistance for using technology for students with disabilities. The Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA) Equity Resource Center uses technology-based technical assistance, training, dissemination, and publishing to build educators' capacity to meet the educational needs of females and to improve outcomes for all students. As a partner with the EDC also leads the National School-to-Career Consortium that provides technical assistance to states with School-to-Work Opportunities Act implementation grants. In the Urban Mathematics Education Reform and Urban Science Education Reform projects, both funded by the National Science Foundation, EDC promotes systemic improvement in mathematics and science education in urban communities nationwide.
In addition, EDC was recently awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to form NEIRTEC, the Northeast and the Islands Regional Technology in Education Consortium, in partnership with TERC, Learning Innovations/WestEd, and the Education Alliance at Brown University. NEIRTEC will work with state departments of education and school districts to support the effective use of technology to enhance teaching and learning.
Professional Development. In addition to the professional development activities of the projects listed above, many EDC projects focus on professional development for educational leaders and teachers. For example, in the Leadership and the New Technologies project, EDC collaborates with the Harvard Graduate School of Education to provide institutes and online activities to help school and district leader develop effective strategic plans for integrating technology. The Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative accomplishes its leadership development mission by providing training, personalized technical assistance, policy sharing, and distance learning opportunities for special education leaders from urban school districts. The Developing Mathematical Ideas project provides a professional development curriculum to help school systems build capacity for in-depth professional development in elementary mathematics.
Curriculum Improvement. In projects funded by the National Science Foundation, EDC developed the MathScape: Seeing and Thinking Mathematically curriculum (published by Creative Publications) and the Insights Science Curriculum (published by Kendall Hunt Publishers). The NSF-funded K-12 Mathematics Curriculum Center at EDC provides a variety of services and products to support school districts around the country as they select and implement standards-based mathematics curricula, and the K-12 Science Curriculum Dissemination Center at EDC provides similar activities for science education.
Contact information:
Glenn Kleiman
EDC
55 Chapel Street
Newton, MA 02458
phone: 617-969-7100
fax: 617-969-1580
email: gkleiman@edc.org
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