ASCD and Madison-Oneida BOCES Launch Partnership to Provide Dynamic Digital Professional Learning to All Educators

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 2, 2020

Alexa Epitropoulos, 1-703-575-5784

ALEXANDRIA, VA— ASCD is partnering with Madison-Oneida Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) to enable students, teachers, administrators, and schools to achieve educational excellence through providing ASCD Activate to every educator in BOCES member districts.

ASCD Activate Professional Learning Library is a digital platform that provides anytime access to ASCD's evidence- and research-based resources that are developed by educators for educators.

Madison-Oneida BOCES is a regional cooperative agency providing leadership and programming to nine school districts in Madison and Oneida counties in Upstate New York. The agency is committed to implementing strategic professional development through providing Activate to district educators. Activate will allow educators to improve school practices and build deeper connections that will enable them to implement a whole child approach in their districts.

"Activate provides the ability to combine [ASCD] resources with our own materials to better support educators," Ed Rinaldo, Director of Staff and Curriculum Development for Madison-Oneida BOCES, said. "Educators are able to access resources on their own time and our districts are able to build upon that learning through regional workshops."

Activate resources offers the flexibility for any learning style—educators have access to online courses, short and longform videos, and guided pathways on the most relevant topics in education. Activate's flexibility will allow local district leaders, including those in the Camden Central, Oneida City, and Rome City School Districts, to continue their work of differentiating the delivery of professional development across their schools in innovative ways.

"Activate will allow us to cultivate targeted communication around instruction," Jessica Poyer, Administrator of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment for Oneida City School District, said. "Activate's extensive resources will support instructional leaders and teachers as they seek to move the needle on student engagement."

"We look forward to supporting our educators through the vast resources and features that Activate provides—it will allow us to build capacity for our professional learning initiatives," Chris Brewer, Rome City School District Assistant Superintendent for Educational Programs, said. "Activate's customization will enable us to enhance our new teacher orientation and mentoring programs and provide principals with extensive resources to make the teacher evaluation process more growth-oriented." 

"ASCD is excited to support Madison-Oneida BOCES and its member districts' mission to reach all students through dynamic and engaging teaching both online and in person," Chris Grethel, ASCD Regional Manager of Educational Partnerships, said. "We look forward to working with Ed, Jessica, and Chris, their talented teams, and their educators as we teach and learn together."

School leaders can learn more about ASCD's approach to professional learning by visiting www.ascd.org/pd.