TAL Education Group Invests in Knewton Inc.

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Jan 20, 2016, 02:00 ET

BEIJING, Jan. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- TAL Education Group (NYSE: XRS) ("TAL" or the "Company"), a leading K-12 after-school tutoring services provider in China, today announced a strategic investment in Knewton Inc. ("Knewton"), a global leader in adaptive learning. In addition, TAL and Knewton have signed a letter of intent to incorporate Knewton's adaptive platform in TAL's online learning environment.

The letter of intent forms the basis of a commercial agreement with Knewton that will enable TAL to build digital course materials that dynamically adapt to each individual student's needs on its online courses platform. Knewton's platform currently powers adaptive learning products for many of the world's largest education companies.

Knewton provides students with tailored recommendations for exactly what to study, teachers with analytics to better support each student, and publishers with content insights to develop more effective digital products. Knewton powers adaptive content to make specific, real-time recommendations for each student based on how the student learns, what she has already mastered, goals she has set with her teacher, and what works best for similar students. Knewton has provided more than 15 billion learning recommendations to more than 10 million students on every continent except Antarctica. Knewton was founded in 2008 and has offices in New York City, London, Sao Paulo, and Tokyo.

"We are very pleased to invest in and partner with Knewton, an international pioneer in the field of adaptive learning, and jointly provide an ever more innovative learning experience to Chinese students. The ongoing advances in education technology have created unprecedented possibilities to individualize and dynamically adjust online learning experience. We look forward to our cooperation with Knewton, which is based on a shared commitment to the future of education through the integration of technology, Internet and education on a global scale," said the management of TAL.

"We are excited about building a strong relationship with TAL," said David Liu, chief operating officer of Knewton. "Knewton's platform is being used across the globe, including rapid growth in China, to expand access to adaptive content and improve student outcomes. With TAL's commitment to education and innovation, together we can bring individualized learning to more students."

TAL joins Knewton's latest round of funding, which is led by Sofina, a Belgian investment group. For TAL, this is another international investment at the cross-section where education meets technology, following its investment in the Minerva Project in 2014.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, quotations from management in this announcement, as well as TAL Education Group's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: its ability to continue to attract students to enroll in its courses; its ability to continue to recruit, train and retain qualified teachers; its ability to improve the content of its existing course offerings and to develop new courses; its ability to maintain and enhance its brand; its ability to maintain and continue to improve its teaching results; and its ability to compete effectively against its competitors. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's reports filed with, or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and TAL Education Group undertakes no duty to update such information or any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

About TAL Education Group

TAL Education Group is a leading K-12 after-school tutoring services provider in China. The acronym "TAL" stands for "Tomorrow Advancing Life," which reflects our vision to promote top learning opportunities for Chinese students through both high-quality teaching and content, as well as leading edge application of technology in the education experience. TAL Education Group offers comprehensive tutoring services to students from pre-school to the twelfth grade through three flexible class formats: small classes, personalized premium services, and online courses. Our tutoring services cover the core academic subjects in China's school curriculum including mathematics, English, Chinese, physics, chemistry, and biology. The Company's learning center network includes 300 physical learning centers as of November 31, 2015, located in 19 key cities in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, Xi`an, Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Taiyuan, Zhengzhou, Chongqing, Suzhou, Shenyang, Jinan, Shijiazhuang, Qingdao, and Changsha. We also operate www.jzb.com, a leading online education platform in China. Our ADSs trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "XRS."