Blog

As an OTR (registered occupational therapist) and Director of Portfolio Management and Delivery at Pearson Clinical Assessment, I have extensive experience working with students who have been diagnosed with a variety of conditions. And, as a mom of an autistic daughter, I understand on a personal level how challenging it can be to get the diagnosis that’s needed — and why it’s imperative that schools join caregivers in their quest for answers.  

In testing and in research, you must have an effective and reliable way to measure change. While raw scores have typically been the go-to for this important role, Growth Scale Values (GSVs) are quickly becoming the preferred method.

Our Director of Pharma Sales, Lynsey Psimas, had the opportunity to speak with Mark Daniel, author of Growth Scale Value (GSV): Theory, Development, and Applications to discuss the importance of GSVs. He spent some time explaining GSVs and their importance in test scoring and pharma research.

As schools grapple with the after-effects of the pandemic, they’re focused on potential learning gaps, especially among certain demographics. It’s an issue they’re eager to address, and one that has captured our focus at Pearson. As a licensed special educator, learning disabilities specialist, researcher and published author, I have extensive experience teaching students but also conducting assessments, and my team at Pearson is seeing the effects of learning loss up close.

Data shows us that underserved schools are facing more significant shortfalls in both staffing and funding when compared with more affluent peer districts. A report from SchoolFinanceData.org found that states’ highest-poverty districts spend 17% below estimated adequate levels. In addition, Black/African-American and Hispanic/Latinx students are twice as likely as white students to attend underfunded schools. This means educators in underserved areas must do more with fewer resources.

When it comes to school budgets, there never seems to be enough, which means educators are constantly asked to do more with less. As schools grapple with so many pressing demands — from updating school infrastructure to addressing learning gaps and acquiring adequate supplies and equipment — that sentiment feels more true today than ever before.

The last few weeks of the calendar year are the home stretch for many educators to a much-deserved break and time with friends and family. But there’s no denying the winter holidays can also be challenging for many reasons — not the least of which is how easy it is to become overwhelmed with the extra seasonal activities and responsibilities crowding educators’ plates.

Most educators would agree that ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, is one of the top conditions they see their students grappling with. The numbers have been increasing steadily: While 2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found nearly 10% of children and teens ages 3 to 17 had been diagnosed with ADHD, that share is expected to grow as many students coped with situations during quarantines that exacerbated their condition — or revealed it for the first time.

Navigating the journey of dyslexia has its hills and valleys. Jessica Stillman Lloyd, proposal analyst on Pearson’s Clinical Assessment team, celebrates the wins with her son, Mitch, who has dyslexia.