Texas Board of Education Approves Discovery Education Science Techbook for Statewide Use in Grades 5 - 8

Texas Board of Education Approves Discovery Education Science Techbook for Statewide Use in Grades 5 - 8

-- Texas' all-digital adoption demonstrates a continued national shift from traditional textbooks to digital curriculum, a concept pioneered by Discovery Education --

SILVER SPRING, Md., July 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a rigorous evaluation process, Texas has joined other adoption states Florida, Indiana, Louisiana and Oregon in approving the Discovery Education Science Techbook as a key digital instructional resource for science instruction. This new instructional resource meets students in the digital environment where they live, while igniting their natural interest in science with dynamic, engaging resources, including virtual labs, video clips, ebook passages, an interactive glossary and more. Also included is a real-time assessment component that measures students' progress and recommends individualized resources that reinforce classroom instruction.

After an extensive review for this all-digital adoption, the Texas State Board of Education officially selected the Discovery Education Science Techbook as an approved resource for use in Texas middle schools. Built from the ground-up to be specifically aligned to TEKS, Texas' science education standards, and CSCOPE, Texas' curriculum management system, the Discovery Education Science Techbook serves as a key digital instructional resource, creating learning environments that promote collaboration, creativity and participatory learning.

"The Discovery Education Science Techbook provides students unique and interactive features and up-to-the-minute resources that a traditional textbook can't deliver. Along with having the ability to address individual student's learning modalities, it will assess each student and prescribe resources targeted to their performance," said Kelli Campbell, senior vice president, Discovery Education. "The Techbook is also an economical choice, with deep professional development included in the price to empower educators in this transition to digital."

"This unique, all digital science adoption choice by Texas signals a systemic shift toward the acceptance of digital content as a textbook alternative," said Dr. Yolanda Rey, executive director, Texas ASCD. "The Discovery Education Science Techbook highlights how digital can bring the world of science alive for every type of learner through dynamic videos, reading passages, hands-on activities, interactive virtual labs, and more. Texas is proving itself to be a leader in the transition to 21st century digital learning resources."

Supporting the 5E model of instructional design, the Science Techbook's inquiry-based approach offers a number of significant features available only from Discovery Education, including an interactive glossary,with definitions, animations, videos and photos, bringing more than 700 key science terms to life for both English and Spanish students, clips from Discovery Channel's award-winning series such as PLANET EARTH, LIFEand MYTHBUSTERS, and a real-time assessment component that measures students' progress and recommends individualized resources that reinforce classroom instruction. As opposed to a traditional print textbook, the Techbook is dynamic and updated in real time, providing teachers the opportunity to incorporate up-to-date scientific issues into their curriculum, such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Finally, the Discovery Education Science Techbook is a substantially less expensive option per student than textbooks, with additional savings derived from a lack of textbook replacement or inventory costs.

Aiding the implementation of this new service is a variety of teacher resources. These resources include "5 minute preps," which provide educators valuable refreshers on science content and full days of custom, in-person professional development, building educators' capacity to leverage the power of digital content to engage students.

As the nation's leading provider of high quality curriculum-based digital content, professional development and assessment resources, Discovery Education services are available in more than half of U.S. schools. Discovery Education's flagship service, Discovery Education streaming is currently being used in more than 80 percent of schools in Texas.

Discovery Education's digital content services are scientifically shown to improve student academic achievement. For more information about the Discovery Education Science Techbook, visit www.discoveryeducation.com or call 800-323-9084.

About Discovery Education

Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) revolutionized television with Discovery Channel and is now transforming classrooms through Discovery Education. Powered by the number one nonfiction media company in the world, Discovery Education combines scientifically proven, standards-based digital media and a dynamic user community in order to empower teachers to improve student achievement. Already, more than half of all U.S. schools access Discovery Education digital services. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.

SOURCE Discovery Education

Discovery Education

CONTACT: Christina Scripps, Discovery Education, +1-240-662-6502, christina_scripps@discovery.com; or Emily Embury, C. Blohm & Associates, +1-608-839-9800, emily@cblohm.com

Web Site: http://www.discoveryeducation.com

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