SmartTeach vs Shine Insight

The SmartTeach® app by Teaching Strategies offers early childhood educators an easy and efficient way to quickly complete essential daily tasks on the fly, online, or offline. The SmartTeach app simplifies teaching, documentation, classroom management, and family engagement throughout the day, enabling teachers to make the most of every moment with easy-to-use tools right at their fingertips. The SmartTeach app is accessible to Teachers and Administrators using Teaching Strategies products such as GOLD®, The Creative Curriculum® Cloud, Kickstart LiteracyTM, and Tadpoles®. Download SmartTeach by Teaching Strategies to access our new and improved features & functionality. SmartTeach offers early childhood educators a single app to support all essential classroom tasks, including: Create documentation and share insights with families View and teach directly from your daily schedule, curriculum, activities, and care routines Communicate with families Save & share photos, videos, and other media across devices View & assess from resources like Intentional Teaching Experiences, Skill Development Cards, and Mighty Minutes®* Identify Infant and Toddler children’s developmental level with the Entry Screener to dynamically populate individualized support for each child* Take attendance, move children or staff, and complete name-to-face checks* Track care routines and share Daily Reports with families* Conduct health screenings for children and/or staff* *Feature availability is dependent on which Teaching Strategies products your classroom licenses.

Shine Insight is a modern, connected program management and family engagement platform built specifically for Head Start and Early Head Start. We believe Head Start programs are strongest when teams have access to timely, meaningful information to make good decisions, coordinate services, and understand the results they are achieving for children and families. Shine Insight brings Head Start service delivery tools, child and family information, communication, and everyday workflows together in one connected experience—helping programs capture data, monitor services, identify what needs attention, and continuously improve. With the Shine Insight mobile app, staff and families can stay connected wherever they are. KEY FEATURES FAMILY COMMUNICATION Keep families informed and engaged through secure messaging, program and classroom updates, photos, announcements, and notifications. DAILY ATTENDANCE Make arrival and departure easier with streamlined digital check-in and check-out, including QR code and PIN-based options. CHILD & FAMILY INFORMATION Give authorized staff convenient access to the information they need to support children and families and coordinate services. DIGITAL FORMS & PAPERWORK Simplify paperwork with digital forms, documentation, and e-signatures that help reduce manual processes and keep information organized. TASKS & FOLLOW-UP Help staff stay on top of important next steps with tools for tracking tasks, referrals, screenings, and follow-up activities. DATA FOR BETTER DECISIONS Shine Insight helps programs capture and organize information across their work so leaders and teams can better understand program performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and make informed decisions. BUILT FOR HEAD START Shine Insight is part of a comprehensive Head Start program management system designed around the workflows, service areas, documentation needs, and operational realities of Head Start and Early Head Start programs. From day-to-day service delivery to program-wide improvement, Shine Insight helps teams stay connected, use data more effectively, and remain focused on delivering positive, measurable results for children and families. Shine Insight is available to participating programs through Shine Early Learning.