Talk:Amplify (company)

Opening blurb rewording

I do not understand this sentence at all: "Insight forms out of Wireless Generation and focus on analytics." It is in the opening blurb. 128.211.178.16 (talk) 19:04, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Updates for lead, Company overview, and Tablet

Hi, I am working to update and improve the Amplify (company) article. Here are my suggestions:

• The second paragraph of the lead states that News Corp sold Amplify in 2015 to Emerson Collective which is misleading since the company was sold to a team supported by a group of investors, one of which included Emerson Collective. Therefore, the language should be changed to more accurately reflect the facts and source, as follows (my suggested update is in bold):

News Corp sold Amplify in 2015 for an undisclosed sum to a management team supported by a group of private investors, including the Emerson Collective, a philanthropic organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs.

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 00:17, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

This point and the fact that Larry Berger then became CEO should be included in the body of the article as well. Please add the following to the end of the third paragraph of the Company overview section:

In October 2015, News Corp sold Amplify to a management team supported by a group of private investors, including Emerson Collective. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Larry Berger became CEO.

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 00:17, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

• Please add information regarding the company's funding rounds to the end of the Company overview section:

In October 2021, Amplify raised $215 million in growth funding in a round led by Learn Capital and A-Street Ventures, in conjunction with Emerson Collective.In May 2023, Amplify announced it had raised a Series C funding round led by Cox Enterprises to further its K-12 product offerings.

 Done STEMinfo (talk) 00:17, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

• Additionally, Amplify Tablet has been discontinued since 2015 and the company no longer works in hardware production.[1] Given that the company's focus has been on curriculum and assessment for years and Amplify Tablet has its own article, this material is irrelevant to the company page. As such, please consider removing the Tablet section.

 Not done I moved the tablet info to history. Just because it's discontinued doesn't mean it's erased. But it doesn't need its own section. STEMinfo (talk) 00:17, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

References

Looking forward to collaborating with the community and appreciate assistance with these edits. Thank you, Mollyatamplify (talk) 14:21, 22 January 2024 (UTC)

Thank you very much, STEMinfo, for your assistance with the above edits as well as the additional work you did to improve the article. I am planning to put up some more suggestions in the near future and will keep you posted in case you'd like to have a look then. Thanks again! Mollyatamplify (talk) 14:11, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

Updates for Company overview and Assessment

Hi, I have some suggestions for updating the Assessment section and improving the relevance and chronology of the article.

• Please remove the second sentence in the paragraph ("Amplify also provides secure data hosting, reporting and management for educational institutions"), as the company no longer engages in these activities and the listed reference does not at all relate to what's written in the sentence.

 Not done I added an archived link to the NYT article and mentioned that this service was no longer available. Nerd271 (talk) 21:53, 4 April 2024 (UTC)

• Please move the sentences in the same paragraph which relate to Amplify's old contracts with Smarter Balanced to the Company overview section (above the paragraph which begins, "In March 2013, ..."), as the content relates to past events which are long outdated. Please rewrite so that the sentences are listed in chronological order and replace the dead link (current ref 21) with a relevant source, as follows:

In 2012, Amplify signed a contract with Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium to develop reporting tools for teacher assessment. In 2013, the two signed a contract to create a digital library of formative assessment professional learning tools designed for Common Core State Standards teachers. The library provided online access to teachers for formative test items and assessment tools.

 Not done You will notice that in the introduction, Wireless Generation is also in bold. This means that the page for that company redirects to this one. Please verify by using the Wikipedia search box. Nevertheless, I have added the requested paragraph. Nerd271 (talk) 22:10, 4 April 2024 (UTC)

• Please remove the last sentence in the section about data coaches in Delaware, as this is very outdated and related to the predecessor company, Wireless Generation.

 Not done As before, Wireless Generation redirects here. But I updated it to mention that it was offered by Wireless Generation but not by Amplify. Nerd271 (talk) 22:17, 4 April 2024 (UTC)

• Please add the following to the end of the Assessment section:

1) Amplify's mCLASS assessments demonstrate the progress and skills of students learning to read. According to the company, the assessments offer useful information about the reading proficiency of students which teachers can use to adjust instruction plans accordingly. Amplify mCLASS screens for the characteristics of Dyslexia.

2) In June 2021, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in North Carolina engaged in a $14.5 million three-year contract with Amplify to use its mCLASS product.

3) As of August 2022, mCLASS was administered to around 1.6 million students in about 35 states.

 Done I made only some minor edits to the above sentences. Nerd271 (talk) 22:32, 4 April 2024 (UTC)

References

Pinging STEMinfo as you have previously assisted with updates for this article. Thank you, Mollyatamplify (talk) 13:13, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

Thank you very much, Nerd271, for your work on the article. I noticed that the updated sentences relating to the Smarter Balanced contracts in the second point were moved to Company overview as requested, but still remain under Student assessment which seems redundant. If you agree, would you remove the second mention?

I hope to post another edit request with further updates soon and will be in touch then. Thanks again, Mollyatamplify (talk) 13:10, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

I have removed the repeated piece of information. Thank you for your feedback! Nerd271 (talk) 14:49, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

Thank you. Mollyatamplify (talk) 14:47, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

Updates for Curriculum

Hi, in a continued effort to improve the page, I am suggesting an updated version of the Curriculum subsection, including new content and an updated layout. I have restructured the section so that there is general Curriculum information at the beginning and added sub subsections with content about each specific program:

Curriculum

Amplify provides print, digital, and blended core curriculum for ELA and science.

Amplify entered the digital supplemental market with two programs in 2018: Boost Reading (previously known as Close Reading) and Fractions. Amplify has since retired the fractions product.

Amplify CKLA

The Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) program teaches reading, writing, speaking, and listening to students in preschool through Grade 5. It works to strengthen students’ understanding of literature, American history, and the sciences. Amplify CKLA is based on the science of reading, the body of research developed over decades which aims to explain how students learn to read. The curriculum enables students to connect their reading lessons to other core subjects and celebrates student cultures.

Amplify partnered with the Core Knowledge Foundation to publish and distribute materials across the US for its Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) program and its Spanish counterpart Caminos, the literacy curriculum for preschool through Grade 5 which builds skills through domains in history and the sciences.

Amplify Science

The Amplify Science curriculum is aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards and was developed in partnership with the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley. In each lesson, students take on the role of a scientist or engineer. The lessons focus on natural phenomena and the application of concepts to real-world problems.

Desmos

In May 2022, Amplify acquired the Desmos curriculum and teacher.desmos.com. Some 50 employees joined Amplify. Desmos Studio was spun off as a separate public benefit corporation focused on building calculator products and other math tools.

References

I'd appreciate assistance with this update. Pinging Nerd271, as you assisted with the previous edit request. Thanks so much, Mollyatamplify (talk) 14:09, 2 May 2024 (UTC)

@Mollyatamplify:  Done I have made some stylistic changes and other edits to avoid redundancy. Nerd271 (talk) 15:20, 3 May 2024 (UTC)

Nerd271, thank you very much for your assistance.

A few follow-up questions given your recent edits:

• The use of STEM as a header title is a bit misleading since the company doesn't work in this specific industry. It seems that more fitting titles would be: English language arts, Science, and Math, with the information about Desmos under the Math section. Would you please consider making this change?
• Under the section currently entitled STEM, can you please move the paragraph which begins "In 2018,..." to History, as the programs are no longer relevant? Close Reading is now Boost Reading and Fractions doesn't exist.
• The following addition seemed to have been inadvertently left off. Would you please include it under the English language arts section?

Amplify partnered with the Core Knowledge Foundation to publish and distribute materials across the US for its Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) program and its Spanish counterpart Caminos, the literacy curriculum for preschool through Grade 5 which builds skills through domains in history and the sciences.

References

Thanks again, and I'd be happy to discuss any of the above further. Mollyatamplify (talk) 13:16, 8 May 2024 (UTC)

 Done As before, a few minor changes were made. I am, however, disturbed by your assertion that "Fractions doesn't [sic] exist." Nerd271 (talk) 14:47, 8 May 2024 (UTC)

Thank you very much, Nerd271. Mollyatamplify (talk) 16:27, 9 May 2024 (UTC)