Alex Chavez joins The Standards Company LLC.  In anticipation of future work in mathematics and an increased need for statistical analysis of research results, Alex Chavez has joined our team of curriculum reviewers. Alex has a BS in mathematics from San Francisco State University and is currently finishing the writing of his masters thesis from the same institution. Although his current research centers on experimental results obtained in the field of medicine, Alex is keenly interested in the application of statistical methods in education research.

Ruby assignment collection process streamlined.  To make the collection of assignments even easier on school administrators and teachers, The Standards Company LLC introduces a bar-code system. "Now each teacher is handed a collection envelope that is pre-identified with their name and course section, which makes the collection process a snap," states Jennifer Elkins, Manager of Curriculum Review. Personnel scanning the work into the Online Ruby program merely have to place the bar-code reader over each folder label. With no complications, the new system is introduced for a Ruby analysis contracted by a Maine school district.

In an effort to improve time usage in public school classrooms, the Oklahoma State Department of Education adopts  Sapphire and urges school administrators across the state to download the free Community Edition and use it on a regular basis. 

The Standards Company LLC releases the Community Edition of Sapphire!  The Standards Company LLC created Sapphire to allow educators and education researchers the ability to time important processes taking place during classroom sessions. The Community Edition is now available for a free download.  Sapphire Professional and Sapphire Enterprise, which will provide enhanced features and the ability to measure an increasing number of data points, are slated for release at a later date.

Ben Jones presents statewide Ruby results to the Academic Standards Council of the Nevada Department of Education.

Ben Jones unveils curricular stratigraphy to the Oklahoma State Department of Education. As a means of drilling deeper into the meaning of Ruby curricular analysis results, Ben Jones developed curricular stratigraphy, analogous to the stratification of rock layers in geology. This latest addition to the company's Meaning-at-a-Glance portfolio of charts and graphs allows school agencies to glean important trends in the enacted curriculum.

Final Ruby report "Study of the Alignment of Student Assignments to the Academic Standards in the State of Nevada," is accepted and approved by the Nevada State Legislature.

John Walkup presents Ruby results for 60 area schools to Clark County (NV) School District (the fourth largest district in the U.S.).

Ben Jones presents an executive summary of a statewide Ruby report to the Nevada State Legislature. In a 45-minute question/answer session, Ben discusses the alignment and cognitive rigor of collected student work to Nevada state standards to the Legislative Committee on Education.

John Walkup and Ben Jones present statewide Ruby results to the Oklahoma State Department of Education. The report, "Analysis of the enacted curriculum for the Oklahoma State Department of Education," details the alignment to state and national standards and cognitive rigor of student work collected from over 100 Oklahoma schools.

The Nevada statewide Ruby report makes the news in Las Vegas. James Haug of The Las Vegas Review-Journal details some of the more interesting results of our statewide collection of student work in “Study Finds Sequence of Curriculum out of Kilter.”