Discovery Education Professional Development Partnership
New System for Professional Learning and Leadership Cultivates Teacher-Leaders and Supports District Strategic Plans
Greenville County Schools (GCS), South Carolina’s largest school system, today announced a deepening of its 13-year partnership with Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms. Through this expanded relationship, Greenville County Schools will implement in 10 sites across the district Discovery Education’s Digital Leader Corps. A comprehensive professional development system, Digital Leader Corps supports the development of teacher-leaders as they serve as change agents powering the district's digital transition.
Since 2002, GCS educators and students have used Discovery Education Streaming, a comprehensive digital library of over 100,000 learning objects aligned to state and national standards. Additionally, the district’s Berea Middle School, Lakeview Middle School, Tanglewood Middle School and Greenville Early College have integrated Discovery Education’s digital Science Techbook into instruction. Beginning later this year, 10 GCS schools will adopt Discovery Education’s Digital Leader Corps, a professional development program that builds and nurtures a network of teacher-leaders to design and implement successful and innovative teaching strategies that can be shared with their peers.
This new professional learning initiative supports the 2015-2020 Greenville County Schools’ Technology Plan which calls for the development of ongoing and sustained professional development programs for all educators. Over the next several years, the district will utilize current and emerging technologies to create learner-centered instructional environments that enhance academic achievement while growing and sustaining teachers’ capacity to effectively integrate technology into instruction.
“Greenville County Schools is committed to creating an environment where students are inspired to learn, to understand, and to grow into skillful, thoughtful young citizens equipped to play vital roles in our community,” said W. Burke Royster, Superintendent of Greenville County Schools. “Our collaboration with Discovery Education provides the unique combination of digital content and professional development that helps us meet this goal. We look forward to continuing this partnership.”
Featuring a unique combination of professional development, pedagogy and tools, Digital Leader Corps helps participating educators learn to integrate educational technologies and digital media into classroom instruction. A new innovation included in the model is educator created, student-centered Learning Labs. In these labs, teachers bring to life new teaching strategies, and practice and adapt their skills in a classroom setting before sharing their successes broadly with their colleagues. The program provides teachers with continuous customized consultation throughout the process with on-going modeling, coaching and feedback from Discovery Education expert team in the pre-planning, stakeholder communications and implementation phases.
In addition, the Discovery Educator Network (DEN) will continue to support GCS’ educators in their efforts to transform students’ learning experiences with digital media. A global community of education professionals, the DEN connects members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events, fostering valuable networking, idea sharing and inspiration.
“Discovery Education shares Greenville County Schools’ belief that engaging digital content and high quality, ongoing professional development are critical to accelerating student achievement,” said Rob Warren, director of partnerships for Discovery Education. “We look forward to continuing to support Superintendent Royster and the entire Greenville County Schools team as they create the dynamic digital learning environments today’s students demand and deserve.”
For more information about the Digital Leader Corps, or other services and resources from Discovery Education, visit www.discoveryeducation.com.
About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital content and professional development for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content that supports the implementation of Common Core, professional development, assessment tools, and the largest professional learning community of its kind. Available in over half of all U.S. schools and primary schools in England, community colleges and in 50 countries around the world, Discovery Education partners with districts, states and like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions that accelerate academic achievement. Discovery Education is powered by Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one nonfiction media company in the world. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.