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Portland Public Schools Buys Carnegie Learning Math for 12 City High Schools

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 May 2006, 12:00 CDT

Carnegie Learning announced today that Portland Public Schools has purchased the company's research-based Cognitive Tutor(R) Algebra I program for 12 city high schools. The $184,000 contract delivers a full curriculum that integrates interactive software sessions, textbooks, and student-centered classroom instruction supported by an ongoing professional development program.

District-wide, 37% of Portland, Oregon high school freshman earn lower than a C grade in Algebra I. Carnegie Learning's Algebra I program was implemented at two high schools last school year with strong results, leading to a phased expansion to 800 students and 12 schools. Several of the schools implementing the curriculum next year have high numbers of minorities and English language learners, two populations for which Carnegie Learning show significant improvement.

"Our teachers felt that it was important to offer a second curriculum to students who were not successful in Algebra," said Margaret Calvert, High School Math TOSA (Teacher On Special Assignment), Portland Public Schools. "Cognitive Tutor employs a nice balance between self-paced, individualized learning via the software and contextualized group problem solving in the classroom. The key is to keep students engaged."

Carnegie Learning's curricula is based on more than two decades of cognitive science research at Carnegie Mellon University studying how students think, learn, and apply new knowledge in mathematics. The instructional format prescribes three days a week of classroom instruction and two days a week in a teacher-supervised software lab environment. The Cognitive Tutor software was developed around an artificial intelligence model that identifies weaknesses in each individual student's mastery of mathematical concepts, customizes prompts to focus on areas where the student is struggling, and sends the student to new problems addressing those specific concepts. A Teacher's Toolkit provides the instructor with a report on each student's progress on an ongoing basis.

Independent studies of Carnegie Learning implementations across the country, including Miami-Dade, Pittsburgh, PA, Moore, OK, and Kent, WA, demonstrate that Carnegie Learning's curriculum is proven to deliver a positive shift in standardized test scores, student attitudes toward math and problem solving, and critical thinking skills. Research also indicates strong results with Title I and special-needs populations, including Exceptional Student Education students, those with limited English proficiency and students receiving free or reduced lunches.

About Carnegie Learning (www.carnegielearning.com)

Carnegie Learning is a leading provider of core, full-year mathematics programs as well as supplemental intervention applications for middle school and high school students. The company's Cognitive Tutor(R) is helping more than 340,000 students in over 845 school districts across the United States succeed in math by integrating interactive software sessions, text, and student-centered classroom lessons into a unique learning platform for algebra readiness, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and Integrated Math programs. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes Carnegie Learning's Cognitive Tutor Algebra I program as one of only two math curricula scientifically proven to have significant, positive effects on student learning. Based in Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Learning was founded by cognitive science researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in conjunction with veteran mathematics teachers.

Source: Business Wire

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