Technology

Education agencies turning to SAS to measure learning loss and recovery

Published

2 years ago

May 22, 2023

Virginia joins growing number of states using analytics and data to better support teachers and accelerate student learning

CARY, N.C., May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The key to measuring learning loss and the effectiveness of recovery efforts, and to understanding student growth trends, is data. Education agencies nationwide are turning to analytics leader SAS to help them analyze assessment data to understand the struggles and successes of different grades, subjects and student groups.

“With data, states can show how they used once-in-a-lifetime funding to positively impact all students.”

SAS has been at the forefront of student growth measurement for 20 years, and its solutions are used around the US to help educators better understand students’ strengths and weaknesses to differentiate instruction. The Commonwealth of Virginia recently chose SAS® to help accelerate learning recovery for students set back by the pandemic.

The commonwealth recently launched Virginia’s Visualization and Analytics Solution (VVAAS), a web-based tool built by SAS that displays measures of students’ academic growth over time, diagnostic reports for student groups, and student projections to help educators improve student achievement. The Virginia Department of Education is training over 800 school division staff members to access, navigate, understand and use the information to best meet student needs, target remediation efforts and strategically utilize resources.

Additionally, states such as Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and North Dakota have created in-depth learning loss reports with help from SAS. For example, SAS provided the analysis behind the recent North Carolina Recovery Analysis Report, which showed signs of academic recovery. The analysis showed that students tended to perform closer to pre-pandemic expectations on 2022 assessments than on 2021 assessments, with the expectations established based on students’ testing data from prior to the pandemic. This recovery trend was noted for nearly every assessment included in the analysis, with the strongest recovery evident in math.

Idaho is also exploring learning loss with SAS, and the City of Newark, NJ, is measuring student learning trends with similar models.

Student-level data helps drive learning acceleration

The Hunt Institute and SAS hosted a series of meetings of chief state school officers and staff to share learning loss and recovery strategies and best practices. The common theme? Data.

“Investing in robust data collection systems will ensure that states and districts can be responsive to student needs, react quickly to future crisis scenarios and evaluate the efficacy of programs,” said The Hunt Institute President and CEO Dr. Javaid Siddiqi.

Nearly a dozen states, with data representing millions of students, are using SAS to measure COVID-19 learning loss at the district, school and individual student levels.

In this approach, students are compared to themselves. These statistical approaches are used to predict how students would have scored on assessments absent the pandemic. By comparing those results to the expected scores and assessing how students performed versus how they were expected to perform, one can aggregate results at the school, district and student group levels.

Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and North Dakota were able to gain greater insights into how different student groups fared during the pandemic and gauge the impact of in-person, hybrid and remote instruction. These findings use all available assessment data, not just a sample. The results provide districts and states with valuable data for teachers as they return to the classroom to make decisions on targeted interventions for individual students and student groups.

As states enact learning recovery strategies, having this level of understanding will help them identify what is working and what is not, and more confidently alter strategies when necessary. SAS is already helping states monitor recovery efforts. Tracking recovery data will also be critical when reporting on the use of federal learning loss funds.

“The federal government has poured billions of dollars into learning recovery, and states are already being asked to account for how that money was spent,” said Dr. Melody Schopp, former South Dakota Secretary of Education and current Director of Education Industry Consulting at SAS. “Equipped with a trove of valuable learning loss data, states can understand their own unique challenges and more effectively improve learning strategies to show how they used once-in-a-lifetime funding to positively impact all students.”

For more information on how SAS works to combat learning loss and drive recovery, visit SAS’ learning loss page at sas.com/learningloss.

About SAS
SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative software and services, SAS empowers and inspires customers around the world to transform data into intelligence. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®.

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2023 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

Editorial Contact:
Trent Smith
Trent.Smith@sas.com
919-531-4726
sas.com/news

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SOURCE SAS

Technology

Personify Health Elevates Employee Experiences Heading into 2025

Published

9 minutes ago

December 19, 2024

Refreshed Journeys, Challenges, and video content drives member engagement, motivation, and outcomes

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The millions of members who track health habits every day with Personify Health are getting an upgrade for 2025. Today, the company unveiled a series of impactful content and experience enhancements to its personalized health platform. The Personify platform is the single destination for everything from daily support to more complex health needs, including access to explanations of benefits, care navigation, expert clinical guidance, and more.

“Entering year three of our journey with Personify Health, it’s important that the platform continues to feel fresh and relevant to our employees,” said Peggy Sczepanski, global wellbeing program manager for Dow. “We are seeing sustained engagement rates of over 70% because employees feel supported across all aspects of their lives – from caregiving to reversing health risks like diabetes.”

As the leader in employee engagement, Personify Health continues to invest in the content and experiences that impact health outcomes and keep members coming back an average of six times a day. The Personify platform maintains a focus on whole person health, addressing mental, physical, financial, and social needs, and condition management. Enhancements include:

Two new languages – Romanian and Turkish – have been added to the personalized health platform. With these additions, Personify is available in 23 languages, making meaningful content available to 20 million users worldwide in their native or preferred language.Dozens of new Journeys will be available in both written and video formats, ensuring members can always find one that’s relevant for them. Journeys break down complex behaviors and goals into manageable, bite-sized steps, to enhance members’ health literacy and cultivate positive habits effortlessly. Most popular topics include sleep, stress reduction, eating healthy, and getting active, with approximately 1.5-2 million+ members joining a Journey in these categories in 2024.New self-guided Journeys programs will be seen across eight new topic areas, including men’s and women’s health, parenting, purpose and belonging, and managing illness, injury and pain. Personify also recently launched a caregiving series with the nonprofit CaringBridge. “Real Stories from Dementia Caregivers” is a 10-part Journey that provides tips, stories, and suggestions from family caregivers.Refreshed Challenges are another way members can be proactive in improving their holistic wellbeing – and do so with a dash of healthy competition. New choices include the Step Away Challenge to encourage members to detach from devices, and the recently launched Holistic Wellbeing Challenge. This team-based experience, which promotes culture and nurtures a sense of belonging, inclusivity, and collaboration, saw an average 88% challenge days completed per member. Doubling the size of the Media Library ensures there is relevant content for everyone with even more expert advice and tips, such as fan favorite healthy snack how-tos. With 96% of members saying Personify videos are interesting and engaging, these are a proven method for supporting health literacy. Monthly video releases cover a range of topics, including both educational and hands-on demos.On-demand webinars are now called Conversations, adapting to the way people consume information. Clients with enabled media will now have access to these 15-minute expert-led podcast-style videos, which cover a range of topics aligned with the monthly Healthy Habit Challenge and will be available year-round to educate, inspire, and engage. Members will hear from experts on the science and stories behind the hottest trends in wellbeing.

“At Personify, we are dedicated to offering members highly personalized experiences that make a healthy lifestyle easy and accessible,” said Jeff Yoshimura, chief product officer at Personify Health, the first and only platform company to bring together holistic wellbeing, care navigation, and flexible health plan administration. “We are continuously evolving our platform capabilities and content as the needs of our members and our clients evolve, striving to deliver better outcomes and help people achieve their healthiest life possible.”

All Personify Health content is aligned with the company’s coaching methodology, focused on creating behavior changes and improving population health with a roadmap driven by trending topics and member/client requests. Clients can learn about content options and updates in Personify’s new Content Corner, a hub for all the latest content releases on the Personify platform.

About Personify Health
Virgin Pulse and HealthComp have merged to become Personify Health, the company driven to engage and empower people to live healthier lives. By bringing industry-leading health plan administration, holistic wellbeing, and navigation solutions together, all in one place, we have created the industry’s first and only personalized health platform. With decades of experience and global operations, we empower diverse and unique businesses – and diverse and unique people – to engage more deeply in health at a lower cost. Through our proprietary combination of data-driven personalization, science-backed methodology, and concierge-level clinical expertise, our end-to-end platform makes it easier to proactively address people’s needs across their lives. With a personalized, holistic, and powerfully simple experience, we are redefining industry expectations and what it means to manage health. Learn more at www.personifyhealth.com.

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SOURCE Personify Health

Technology

Temu Signs Canadian Product Safety Pledge to Enhance Consumer Protection

Published

9 minutes ago

December 19, 2024

OTTAWA, Dec. 19, 2024 /CNW/ — Temu has signed the Canadian Product Safety Pledge, a voluntary initiative led by Health Canada to enhance product safety in online marketplaces.

Launched in September 2023, the Canadian Product Safety Pledge seeks to improve online product safety through preventive and corrective measures. The pledge outlines 14 commitments designed to improve product safety, focusing on:

Detecting and preventing the sale of unsafe productsCooperating with Health CanadaRaising product safety awareness among sellersEmpowering consumers on product safety issues

Signatories are required to submit annual reports detailing their efforts to meet these commitments.

“Temu’s mission is to provide consumers with safe and affordable choices for the products they need,” said a Temu spokesperson. “Signing this pledge reinforces our commitment to protecting consumers and ensuring safe, high-quality products are accessible to everyone.”

Consumer safety is a top priority at Temu. The platform has implemented robust systems and processes to ensure third-party sellers comply with local requirements. Key elements of Temu’s approach include:

Pre-Listing Documentation Checks: Sellers must submit required documents before listing products.Ongoing Quality Monitoring: Automated systems and manual reviews continually monitor product safety.Swift Non-Compliance Actions: Non-compliant listings are promptly removed, with repeat offenders facing strict penalties.

Global Commitment to Consumer Protection

Temu entered the Canadian market in February 2023—its second market after launching in the U.S.—and has quickly become a popular platform for shoppers seeking affordable, high-quality products.

Earlier this year, Temu signed a similar pledge in South Korea, demonstrating its commitment to aligning with local regulations and prioritizing consumer trust worldwide.

About Temu

Launched in September 2022, Temu is a global e-commerce marketplace offering a wide range of affordable, high-quality products across more than 200 categories, including electronics, home goods, and furniture. By connecting consumers directly with manufacturers, Temu seeks to provide exceptional value and democratize consumer access to the global supply chain.

SOURCE Temu

Technology

Sanctuary AI New Tactile Sensors Enable Richer Sense of Touch

Published

9 minutes ago

December 19, 2024

New tactile sensor technology enables speed and improved success rate for general purpose robotsIntegrated haptics enables higher volumes and richer data for higher performing embodied AI Models

VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 19, 2024 /CNW/ – Sanctuary AI, a company on a mission to create the world’s first human-like intelligence in general purpose robots, unveils a new generation of tactile sensor technology optimized to improve dexterous manipulation.

Sanctuary is focused on achieving human-level dexterity for general purpose robots to perform high value tasks in the workplace. This requires a delicate—but durable—sense of touch to efficiently complete tasks with precision. Our team of industry-leading experts in tactile sensing have identified and met the requirements needed to build compliant, sensitive, and durable sensors at low manufacturing costs.

“We know a sense of touch to be critical for dexterity,” said Dr. Jeremy Fishel, Principal Researcher at Sanctuary AI. “The challenge is in developing tactile sensing technology with the right blend of features and durability to unlock dexterous manipulation and high-performance training data. This new design of compliant, sensitive, and scalable tactile sensors that will cover all grasping surfaces in the near future is a major step forward.”

“The team continues to innovate and patent in crucial areas that we know are going to be critical for the future embodied AI ecosystem. In combination with the touch sensors, we are using haptic servoing techniques to maximize dexterous capabilities for general purpose robots,” said James Wells, CEO at Sanctuary AI. “We are committed to achieving human-level dexterity with our unique and differentiated hydraulic hand actuation technology and highly sensorized approach to grasping.”

About Sanctuary AI

Founded in 2018, Sanctuary AI is a multi-award-winning company based in Vancouver, Canada. Sanctuary AI is on a mission to create the world’s first human-like intelligence in general purpose robots that will help us work more safely, efficiently, and sustainably, helping to address the labor challenges facing many organizations today. Sanctuary AI’s growing list of customers and investors represents a wide variety of industries across Canada, the US, and other countries around the world.

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SOURCE Sanctuary AI