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Council of Administrators of Special Education Endorses Thinkronize’s® Safe Educational Search Engine, netTrekker d.i.®
Differentiated Instruction Feature Set Helps Exceptional Students
Learn and Succeed
Cincinnati, OH – netTrekker d.i.®, America’s #1 educational search engine, has received an official endorsement from the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE), an international professional educational organization that shapes policies and practices that impact the quality of education for exceptional students who receive special education services. The award-winning product by Thinkronize® has helped thousands of K-12 educators individualize instruction for all levels of learners, and the product’s 180,000 educator-selected resources are accessible and adaptive for exceptional students.
Based on a rigorous evaluation, CASE endorses products after reviewing a number of elements, including:
- The research that the product is based on or supported by
- How the product has performed in field-tests
- The company’s reputation and expectation for longevity in the industry
- How the company is working to enhance professional practice as advocated by CASE/CEC policy and standards
- How the product addresses identified member needs
“The CASE Publication and Product Review Committee was extremely impressed with netTrekker d.i. and the company’s enthusiasm and commitment to providing educators with the tools they need to differentiate instruction for all of their students,” said Luann Purcell, Ed. D., CASE executive director.
Designed to facilitatedifferentiated instruction, netTrekker d.i. assigns each of its 180,000 prescreened resources a grade level and readability measure based on Lexile® ratings and eight other popular methods. This proprietary tagging structure helps educators to efficiently identify resources that match each child’s skill level so every student stays on topic. Based on a universal design for learning, netTrekker d.i. works to democratize the learning process for all students by giving educators tools and resources calibrated to address the varied levels of student ability that they will likely face in their classroom.
Eligible for federal IDEA funds, netTrekker d.i. also offers educators several features that provide valuable support for exceptional students, including a Dictionary Hot Key and an assistive technology tool called Read Aloud.
The Dictionary Hot Key provides students with the ability to choose any word on a resource page and instantly see a definition for that word, reinforcing the meaning and helping those students who may need assistance with reading and comprehension skills.
The netTrekker d.i. Read Aloud function is user-friendly, allowing students to simply highlight a section of text within a netTrekker d.i. search result or any definition provided by the Dictionary/Translation Hot Key. The highlighted text is then read back for the benefit of students who may need additional audio support or reinforcement.
Nearly 9.3 million students in all 50 states (including adoptions by key districts and states nationwide) use netTrekker d.i. to learn and master the curriculum.
About the Council of Administrators of Special Education
The Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) is an international professional educational organization, affiliated with the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), whose members are dedicated to the enhancement of the worth, dignity, potential, and uniqueness of each individual in society. The mission of CASE is to provide leadership and support to members by shaping policies and practices that impact the quality of education. For more information, visit http://www.casecec.org.
About the netTrekker Product Suite
The netTrekker product line includes award-winning educational search products for both the education (netTrekker d.i.®) and consumer (netTrekker home®) markets. Unlike ordinary search engines, products in the netTrekker suite provide fast and easy access to only the best educational resources from the entire Internet in a safe, organized and standards-aligned format. Using netTrekker search products, educators, school librarians, students, and parents save valuable time because they are directed to relevant, reliable, educator-selected Web sites every time – meaning less time spent on searching and more time focused on teaching, learning and achieving. For more information about the netTrekker product suite, visit www.netTrekker.com.
About Thinkronize
Founded in 1999, Thinkronize is a leading developer of Web-based K-12 educational products and is dedicated to enhancing education with highly effective technologies that deliver the rich educational value of the Internet in a safe, relevant, easy-to-use format. In 2000, Thinkronize was first to market with a standards-based educational search engine, utilizing the services of Academic Benchmarks (www.AcademicBenchmarks.com), the premier provider of comprehensive, standards-based K-12 educational databases, alignment tools and integration products. Thinkronize's flagship product, netTrekker d.i., is the #1 educational search engine in the U.S. and is used in over 17,000 schools nationwide. The company's consumer product, netTrekker home, gives parents and students whose school or district has not yet purchased a netTrekker d.i. subscription access to its 180,000+ educator-selected resources. Peers, educators, and parents have honored Thinkronize and the netTrekker product suite 22 times for their contribution to education. Most recently, netTrekker d.i. was named the 2007 Best Education Solution in the SIIA CODiE award competition. In addition, Thinkronize was included on the 2006 Inc. 500 List as one of the fastest growing companies in the United States. The company was founded by Robert Reinders and currently serves nearly 9.3 million students in all 50 states, including adoptions by key districts and states nationwide. For more information visit www.Thinkronize.com or phone 877-517-1125. |
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