Highline Public Schools (HPS) opened its middle schools this fall using Discovery Education’s digital Social Studies Techbook to support standards based instruction. Through this new collaboration, Discovery Education is providing educators and students in seven Highline schools access to a digital social studies resource supportive of existing Common Core State Standards, the C3 Framework, and the new Washington State K-12 Social Studies Learning Standards.
Highline serves approximately 18,000 K-12 students in the communities of Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, SeaTac and White Center in northwest Washington State. Highline sought a new social studies curriculum to support both existing and future social studies standards and fit into the school system’s existing inquiry-focused framework.
Following a review, Highline selected Discovery Education’s Social Studies Techbook for integration into classroom instruction in the following schools:
- Sylvester Middle School
- Pacific Middle School
- Highline Choice Academy
- Glacier Middle School
- Chinook Middle School
- Cascade Middle School
- Big Picture Middle School
The Social Studies Techbook pairs core content with essential questions, primary source analysis, and project-based tasks. Developed for diverse student audiences, Social Studies Techbook’s multimodal content aims to support the improvement of academic vocabulary, break down barriers to learning, and engages students in higher-level thinking. A variety of differentiation tools integrated at point of use help educators meet the needs of each student. Other features include access to two Lexile levels of core content, Spanish translation, as well as strategies for teaching students with special needs and English learners.
To help HPS’s middle school educators integrate their digital textbooks into classroom instruction, Discovery Education is providing district teachers a number of professional learning opportunities.
HPS educators are also receiving support from the Discovery Education Community. A global community 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 networking, idea sharing, and inspiration.
