Zinc Receives College Board CEO Breakthrough Award
We’re proud to announce that Zinc Learning Labs has been given the CEO Breakthrough Award by David Coleman, CEO of College Board. This award recognizes Zinc's “dedication, persistence, and unique achievement in student engagement, secondary reading growth, and meaningful test prep.”
David Coleman says, “Beset as they are on all sides with anxiety producing distractions, our teens need deep, thoughtful reading now more than ever. Zinc delivers results in a manner likely to inspire young people and transform classrooms and learning.”
This award showcases the benefits of Zinc Learning Labs for students, teachers,schools, and districts. Whether you are new to Zinc or needing to maintain access as SpringBoard winds down, there has never been a better time to make Zinc a resource for your teachers.
A Love-Based Reading Solution
Zinc Learning Labs is a research-backed system that promotes reading success in secondary classrooms. Offering a selection of reading programs, assessments, and targeted activities, Zinc love-driven approach provides students an auto-leveled and self-paced experience. Zinc partners with schools and districts across the country to teach students crucial reading skills and encourage a love of reading.
Partnerships with CollegeBoard and SpringBoard
The College Board, often referred to as CollegeBoard, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to expanding access to higher learning. Founded in 1899, the College Board helps students prepare for college and provides standardized testing for the college admission process. The College Board’s programs include the SAT and SAT Subject Tests, the PSAT/NMSQT, and the Advanced Placement Program.
Zinc Learning Labs has partnered with the College Board and their SpringBoard program to provide access to Zinc for millions of students. Zinc provided real-world articles and texts, crafted Vocabulary Games, and interactive Close Reading Experiences to complement SpringBoard’s curriculum. While with SpringBoard, Zinc not only made it easy for teachers to assign multi-week reading programs, real-world articles and quizzes, vocabulary games, and interactive guided reading, but strengthened reading skills so students could better access SpringBoard’s grade-level content.
Award-Winning Excellence with Zinc Learning Labs
In recognition of Zinc’s contribution to education, the College Board presented Zinc with the CEO Breakthrough Award. This special award highlights Zinc’s achievements with teachers, students, and administrators. With Zinc, students learn skills they can apply to every text they read and every test they take.
The award reads as follows: “Zinc Learning Labs has created a fresh, research-backed system to ignite engagement and reading success in secondary classrooms. Zinc's four strategies teach students what to do when they read, making complex texts more accessible, critical thinking more applicable, and classroom conversations more vibrant. Zinc’s unique combination of novel methodology backed by a robust edtech platform that offers differentiation by both reading level and reading interests, makes us hopeful for a brighter future for college-ready reading and secondary learning in general.”
The Future of Zinc After SpringBoard
With SpringBoard winding down, schools and districts have the opportunity to continue with Zinc directly. Zinc offers rostering options like Clever, ClassLink, and Google Classroom. Zinc will continue to sync with your digital rosters, keeping your Zinc classes accurate and up to date. Schools and educators may also choose to roster with Zinc directly.
Zinc’s online platform continues to be a popular tool for teachers, schools, and districts, as it allows teachers to scale their efforts in an efficient and positive way. Zinc’s many reading and vocabulary options also make it a handy tool for tutors and homeschool teachers.
Zinc will continue to offer groundbreaking reading programs to equip students and save time for teachers. Zinc’s Ignition is a two-week, hyper-differentiated program that teaches students valuable reading skills. With live-action video guides, Ignition functions like a virtual tutor, teaching students foundational skills for navigating texts. In a few moments, teachers can provide every student with two weeks’ worth of individualized content. The skills that students learn and practice through Ignition will benefit them in every text they encounter.
Following Ignition, Zinc recommends Lift-Off, a program that provides four weeks of student-selected content. Lift-Off allows students to select texts at their reading level that match their own interests. Teachers can adjust the workload to fit their expectations and schedule, with options to include vocabulary, additional articles, and Zinc’s interactive Closer Reading Experiences. At the conclusion of each Lift-Off, students receive two customized book recommendations.
Thank You to Everyone Who Made This Possible!
The team at Zinc is honored to accept the CEO Breakthrough Award. We’re thankful to the College Board and David Coleman for recognizing our hard work and dedication. Above all, we’re thankful for the teachers and students who use Zinc every day, creating stronger readers and building a culture of reading.
If you’d like to learn more about Zinc, you can try out interactive demos of Reading Ignition, Lift Off, Vocabulary Games, Articles & Quizzes, Close Reading Experiences, and even Test Prep. If you follow the previous link, you can also schedule a personal demo with a member of the Zinc team. If you’re new to Zinc or looking for a new way to access this resource, we look forward to hearing from you!
