EdisonLearning Partnerships Achieve Positive Progress and Results

Portfolio of Education Solutions Meets Diverse School Needs

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Oct 12, 2010, 11:41 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- EdisonLearning, one of the nation's leading providers of educational solutions for public school districts, announced that its partnerships in the last year made positive progress and delivered strong academic achievement results, supported by the organization's portfolio of proven K-12 services.

"Our education reform heritage gives us unique perspective and experience in providing our partners solutions to improve student achievement. We understand that there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to solving the diverse needs of schools and districts across the country. We're proud and honored to see the positive results that our broad range of services are helping deliver," said Jeff Wahl, president and chief executive officer of EdisonLearning.

In addition to managing charter schools which EdisonLearning pioneered nearly 20 years ago, the organization provides an array of achievement solutions, including its Alliance school improvement consulting services, e-courses, and its proprietary eValuate™ formative assessment tool. The organization also manages two statewide public online high schools in South Carolina and Colorado and provides its e-courses in innovative community partnerships to combat rising high school dropout rates in Ohio.

"The future success of our children and nation depend on a workforce that is properly educated to meet the needs of a global economy. With our foundation of education reform expertise, we are providing effective modular solutions that meet the specific needs of states, districts and schools," Wahl said.

In the 2010-2011 school year, EdisonLearning is providing educational solutions in nearly 400 school partnerships in 25 states, educating 450,000 students. Thirty-six of those partnerships are charter schools -- and 139 are designated school improvement initiatives for "challenged' schools.

Highlights of last year's student achievement include:

School Improvement Outcomes:

In all of these school improvement partnerships, EdisonLearning brings a unique combination of proven research-based school designs, assessment tools and systems, professional development, and provides collaborative, hands-on assistance to school leadership and instructional teams.

EdisonLearning's Alliance school improvement consulting work with Hawaii began in 2005 with seven schools and has grown to 40 schools in 2010. All schools showed steady gains in recent reading and math test scores, and 14 of the schools made AYP last year.

Selected by half of the school districts participating in Colorado's pilot program to close the achievement gap among African-Americans and Hispanics, EdisonLearning's efforts in 20 schools have resulted in first-year combined gains in reading and math of 10 percent.

In Philadelphia, seven EdisonLearning partnership schools made AYP.

For the current school year, EdisonLearning's school improvement solutions are being deployed at three schools in Richmond, Virginia, three schools in Detroit, Michigan, and now in 4 schools in South Carolina. The initial school in the South Carolina partnership, Scotts Branch Middle School, made AYP.

Online Educational Solutions:

EdisonLearning's second fully online state-wide high opened this year in Colorado, Provost Academy Colorado. Provost Academy South Carolina, beginning its second year with 1,500 students, showed that its students taking the national SAT tests scored above both the national and state average.

In Ohio, EdisonLearning and dropout recovery experts Alternatives Unlimited this school year opened eight Drop-Back-In Centers in Columbus and Cleveland. These centers meet a critical need for school districts, which often cannot successfully recover high school dropouts, and offer interactive online instruction provided by EdisonLearning's eCourses and eSchoolware.

Extended Education Results:

EdisonLearning's Math Force tutoring program is improving the math skills of 2,000 Colorado students in 36 school districts who scored unsatisfactory or low partially proficient in math on previous state achievement tests. Recent state test results show that students achieved one-year median growth percentile gains of 16 points in math, whereas students not in the math program experienced a decline of eight percentage points.

Charter School Successes:

Helen Thackston Middle School in York, Pennsylvania, achieved AYP in its first year of operation, joining EdisonLearning's other partnership school in the city – Lincoln Charter Elementary – as the only schools in the district meeting AYP requirements.

Duluth Public Schools Academy in Duluth, Minnesota has consistently been among the top performing schools in the state, and has consistently met AYP. It was one of EdisonLearning's flagship charter schools in 1997.

EdisonLearning opened its third partnership school with The 100 Black Men of America this year. Possibility Prep Academy in Prince George's County, Maryland is an all-male school focused on STEM education. Possibility Prep opened in August, with full enrollment and a waiting list.

About EdisonLearning

EdisonLearning is the nation's leading public school partner and innovator. We are a national education learning solutions provider with nearly 20 years of experience partnering with school districts, governments, organizations, and charter authorizers and boards. Since our inception, EdisonLearning has educated more than one million students, and currently serves 450,000 students in 25 states, the United Kingdom and the Middle East through 387 school partnerships.

Visit www.EdisonLearning.com for more information.