25th May 2006 07:00
Pearson PLC25 May 2006 25 May 2006 Pearson to Acquire PowerSchool Pearson and Apple expand education relationship Apple(R) and Pearson today announced an expansion of their relationship toenhance teaching and learning through technology. Pearson will acquirePowerSchool, Apple's award-winning student information systems (SIS) division,and develop educational content for teachers and students compatible with iPod(R). "Apple's commitment to education has never been stronger, which is why we'reexcited to broaden our relationship with Pearson," said John Couch, Apple's vicepresident of Education. "Our customers will love having Pearson's educationcontent on their iPods, and we're confident that PowerSchool will continue toflourish and grow with Pearson." Steven Dowling, president of Pearson's School companies, said, "Pearson'scommitment is to improve student performance. Student information andachievement results are essential to teachers and families in knowing how astudent is doing and helping her make gains. The acquisition of PowerSchool, aneasy-to-use application for sharing information, and the alliance with Apple todeliver content compatible with iPod, progresses Pearson's goal to improvestudent performance." PowerSchool's web-based solutions provide school administrators, teachers,students and parents with secure, up-to-the-minute information on studentperformance including grades, homework and attendance. They complement Pearson'sexisting enterprise and SIS business, which brings assessment, reporting andbusiness solutions to over 16,000 schools, helping them to fulfil theaccountability requirements set by No Child Left Behind. PowerSchool will becomethe lead brand for Pearson's integrated SIS business, which will be located inFolsom, California and Mesa, Arizona. PowerSchool's president, Mary McCaffrey,will head the combined business. Pearson will also develop new services for educators and students, includingresearch-based educational content compatible with iPod, the world's mostpopular digital music player. Teachers will have access to podcasts onprofessional development to help with lesson preparation and provide innovativeways to reach students struggling with specific content. Students will be ableto load their iPods with study guides that are aligned with Pearson texts andlisten to review notes to prepare for exams. Earlier this school year, Apple and Pearson collaborated to bring digitalversions of Pearson textbooks and workbooks to California schools using theaffordable Mac(R) mini. Ends Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple IIand reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today,Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winningdesktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife andprofessional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital musicrevolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online music store. Educating 100 million people worldwide, Pearson Education is the global leaderin educational publishing, providing scientifically research-based print anddigital programs to help students of all ages learn at their own pace, in theirown way. Virtually all students and teachers in America learn from a Pearsonprogram at some point in their educational career. In the US, nearly 25,000schools use Pearson technology to help instruct K-12 students and manage howthey are doing. For more information: Luke Swanson/ Simon Mays-Smith/ Deborah Lincoln:Pearson+44 (0)20 7010 2310 Todd WilderApple+1 (408) 974 [email protected] This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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