New partnership brings two educator-focused giants to help mitigate impact on math skills due to COVID-19 school disruptions
Portland, Ore. – August 20, 2020 – NWEA, a not-for-profit assessment provider, announced today its new partnership with Teacher Advisor with Watson – a free math lesson and instructional guidance tool using IBM Watson Discovery for teachers to receive customized learning content. Educators can now use data from NWEA’s flagship assessment – MAP® Growth™ – to get targeted math lesson plans and content recommendations based on Instructional Area scores. This free tool enables educators to alter math instruction to the varying needs of their students.
This is now more important than ever as projections of potential impact on learning due to COVID-19 school disruptions estimate that math skills may be more impacted compared to other subjects like reading. In addition, NWEA researchers shared that the impact will not be uniform. Teachers may face classes of students who are significantly behind or, for some students, well ahead of where they would be in a typical, non-pandemic year, creating even more of a need to differentiate instruction.
“It starts with quality data that provides insights to where each student needs support and what students are ready to learn next. And we want to point teachers to what’s next,” said Erin Antonius White, Director of Curriculum Partnerships at NWEA. “Teacher Advisor plus MAP Growth data is that strong combination that turns quality, informative data into action for math teachers.”
Teacher Advisor with Watson – a well-known math educational resource – now allows educators to search by grade-level, Common Core standard, or what they are planning to teach into the AI-powered system to receive specific math content and instructional guidance based on MAP Growth scores to help address learning needs of their students.
“In a world with rising inequality, increasing demands on teachers, and a widening gap between the requirements of industry and student preparation, Teacher Advisor can help educators ensure all students master the skills needed to succeed,” said Grace Suh, Vice President, IBM Education. “IBM is proud to partner with NWEA to enhance this innovative solution to further assist teachers in meeting the individual needs of their students.”
Learn more about Teacher Advisor with Watson and the connection to MAP Growth at https://teacheradvisor.org/map or view our recent blog about this partnership.
About NWEA
NWEA® is a mission-driven, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide by creating assessment solutions that precisely measure growth and proficiency—and provide insights to help tailor instruction. Educators in more than 10,000 schools, districts, and education agencies in 146 countries rely on our flagship interim assessment, MAP® Growth™; our progress monitoring and skills mastery tool, MAP® Skills™; our reading fluency and comprehension assessment, MAP® Reading Fluency™ ; our personalized learning tool powered by Khan Academy, MAP® Accelerator™; and our new assessment solution that combines growth and proficiency measurement. Visit NWEA.org to find out how NWEA can partner with you to help all kids learn.
About IBM
Follow IBM’s corporate social responsibility initiatives by following @IBMorg or visiting www.IBM.org.
Contact: Simona Beattie, Sr. Manager, Public Relations, simona.beattie@nwea.org or 971.361.9526