Arkansas’ Jasper School District (JSD) today announced a new partnership with Discovery Education supporting science education. Through this new collaboration, all JSD educators and students now have access to Discovery Education’s award-winning digital resources supporting science instruction. These new resources will drive the development of students’ critical thinking skills, provide opportunities for educators to lead hands-on and virtual investigations, and create digital learning environments that bring the excitement of science to life. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.
Located in Northwestern Arkansas, JSD is one of the geographically largest school districts in the state and serves students across an area of over 600 square miles in portions of five counties. With a responsibility for providing students attending its schools a high-quality education that helps each learner achieve their maximum potential, JSD endeavors to create the environments necessary to attain this goal.
Seeking science solutions that would support the creation of the dynamic digital learning environments JSD’s students need to prepare for success beyond graduation, the district reviewed a variety of options. After careful review, JSD selected Discovery Education to provide a suite of digital science services.
Across all district classrooms, students and educators will be using the Discovery Education platform. Connecting educators to a vast collection of high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, intuitive quiz and activity creation tools, and professional learning resources, Discovery Education provides educators an enhanced learning platform that facilitates engaging, daily instruction in any learning environment. These resources, sourced from trusted partners, are aligned to state and national standards, and help educators bring the outside world into teaching and learning every day.
In addition, JSD high school teachers and students will also use Discovery Education’s Science Techbooks. The Discovery Education Science Techbook series is a comprehensive, research-backed digital science solution for grades K-12. Used in classrooms across the United States and Canada and delivered through Discovery Education’s K-12 platform, the Science Techbook’s virtual and hands-on investigations, STEM activities, and wide variety of instructional supports enhance the delivery of impactful, blended instruction in person or at a distance.
District Middle School teachers and students will use a middle school version of the Science Techbook and the Discovery Education platform. JSD elementary students will use the Discovery Education platform, an elementary school version of the Science Techbook, as well as Mystery Science.
Mystery Science, which joined the family of Discovery Education services in 2020 and recently won SIIA’s Best Science Instructional Solution CODiE award for Grades PK – 8, features ready-to-teach multimedia science and STEM lessons for K-5 students. Each lesson begins by posing a question commonly asked by young students, which is followed by a series of brief videos and prompts used to guide class discussion. Mystery Science lessons conclude with a hands-on activity incorporating basic supplies commonly found in a classroom or at home.
Together, these resources provide district educators a suite of powerful tools with which they can build engaging, high-quality, educational science experiences providing all learners the opportunity to see how things work — from ecosystems to human-designed machines — wherever learning is taking place.
“Jasper School District is excited to launch this new collaboration with Discovery Education,” said JSD Assistant Superintendent Kim Liggett. “The digital resources we are introducing into our classrooms are not only teacher-friendly and easy to use, but also built to deeply engage students in science. We look forward to using these resources to create a new generation of immersive classroom learning experiences for our students.”
JSD educators now also enjoy access to the Discovery Education Community. A global network of education professionals, the Discovery Education Community connects members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events, fostering valuable idea sharing and inspiration.
“Jasper School District has created an innovative roadmap for student success in the sciences,” said Rose Cavagnaro-Price, Discovery Education’s National Partnerships Coordinator. “We at Discovery Education are proud to be a part of this work and look forward to supporting the JSD team as they integrate these services into classroom instruction.”
For more information about Discovery Education’s award-winning digital resources and professional learning services, visit www.discoveryeducation.com, and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. Through its award-winning multimedia content, instructional supports, and innovative classroom tools, Discovery Education helps educators deliver equitable learning experiences engaging all students and supporting higher academic achievement on a global scale. Discovery Education serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in over 100 countries and territories. Inspired by the global media company Discovery, Inc., Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and trusted organizations to empower teachers with leading edtech solutions that support the success of all learners. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.
