Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Carnegie Learning Announces New Chief Revenue Officer

Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Learning, a leader in AI-driven technology, curriculum, and professional learning solutions for K-12 education, today announced that Chris Hedrick is joining the company as Chief Revenue Officer. Chris will sit on the new Carnegie Learning Executive Leadership Team reporting to CEO Barry Malkin.

Chris joins Carnegie Learning from Scholastic, where he served as the Senior Vice President of Sales. He brings nearly thirty years of experience in sales and revenue management in K-12 education, working with some of the most respected companies in the field. 

Prior to his tenure at Scholastic, Chris worked with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Cambium Learning, where he held various sales leadership roles and contributed significantly to the growth and success of those organizations. With this experience, Chris brings a deep understanding of the needs and challenges of educators and school districts.…Read More

Carnegie Learning Adds Multilingual Math and Literacy Tutors in Gadsden ISD

Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Learning, a leader in K-12 education innovation, high-quality products and services, and AI, announced today that the company has added new multilingual and bilingual certified math and literacy instructors to the high-dosage tutoring team in Gadsden County, New Mexico, to meet the needs of students in the state’s fourth-largest school district.

“It’s gratifying to see improvements in student proficiency and attendance as well as increasing parent participation in the Gadsden Independent School District (ISD),” said Courtney Lewis, Vice President of Tutoring Services at Carnegie Learning. “The results are impressive. We have been able to fulfill 100% of the requests from students and families in Gadsden ISD who requested a bilingual tutor. We’ve also appointed a bilingual tutor as a liaison to answer questions from families in their native language. Families have a direct dial number to call the liaison directly for support.” 

Lewis recently presented a webinar on how to partner with a high-dosage tutoring provider to launch an effective summer school program.…Read More

Buchanan County Schools See 380% Improvement in Reading with Carnegie Learning

Pittsburgh, PA– Carnegie Learning, a leader in artificial intelligence for K-12 education and formative assessment, announced today that elementary students from Buchanan County, Virginia School District achieved unprecedented reading gains using Carnegie Learning’s Fast ForWord® reading and language program.

Buchanan County Public School students in grades K-5 (950 students) worked in the program five days a week for thirty minutes a day. After just a few months in, students’ hard work started paying off.

“Our third graders take state standardized tests, and our scores used to be pretty good,” explained Connie Hibbitts, Instructional Coach for all four elementary-middle schools in the county and an educator with 34 years of experience. “But over the years, they declined. We knew we needed a program to build foundational reading skills,” she explains. “That’s major. We were looking for something that covered all the underlying components of strong literacy. And this program was it.”…Read More

Oregon Public School Breaks State Assessment Score Record with Carnegie Learning

Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Learning, a leader in artificial intelligence for K-12 education and formative assessment, announced today that students from the Howard Street Partnership School achieved record-breaking results on Oregon’s state assessment, SBAC, using Carnegie Learning’s core secondary math solution that comprises MATHbook, a consumable write-in text that fosters collaborative classroom learning, and MATHia, the one-on-one, adaptive math coaching software.

Howard Street Charter School in Salem, Oregon, is a project-based institution that pushes students to achieve excellence in all areas of study. Howard Street Charter School is no stranger to academic success and had already achieved  curricular excellence with passing rates above the state average. Carnegie Learning’s math solution helped them achieve even higher.

“Our highest passing rate ever in the history of the school was fifty-two percent before Covid. And now that’s the mid-range,” Principal Christina Tracy states. “Our SBAC data was the best we’ve had for math in 25 years! And we did not teach to the test. We just used Carnegie Learning Math.”…Read More

Carnegie Learning Recognized as Global Innovator on 2023 GSV 150 List

Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Learning, a leader in artificial intelligence for K-12 education and formative assessment, announced today it has been selected for the GSV (Global Silicon Valley) 150, a list of the world’s most transformative private companies in education.

Carnegie Learning was chosen from over 4,000 venture capital and private equity-backed private companies revolutionizing the world of education technology. GSV estimates that together, these 150 companies reach roughly 3 billion people—almost half of the global population—and generate approximately $25 billion in revenue.

“It’s an honor to be recognized among such a distinguished list of companies,” says Carnegie Learning CEO Barry Malkin. “Innovation is at the heart of everything we do—from our products to our culture to our people. Not only do we embrace change, we create it. Our commitment to research, more than any other edtech company, and to producing world-class content and technology puts us in a unique position to really make a meaningful impact on education.”…Read More

Carnegie Learning Helps TX Districts Use TEA Funds with Hands-on Program

PITTSBURGH, PA – Carnegie Learning, a leader in artificial intelligence for K-12 education and formative assessment, announced a NEW, transformational program to support districts across Texas to optimize the most recent round of Texas Education Agency (TEA) funds to fast-track student success in their schools.

As an approved Strong Foundations Grant provider, Carnegie Learning will collaborate with the primary point of contact and math and/or literacy committee to meet every grant requirement.  

“We understand that teachers and districts are stretched for time and resources, and that’s where our team comes in to help bridge the gap,” said Carnegie Learning CEO Barry Malkin. “Unlike any other education company or curriculum provider, we partner with each district to create individualized plans that meet their unique needs – large or small. Because we know every student deserves that level of support.”…Read More

Carnegie Learning Middle School Math Solution Receives Perfect Scores from EdReports.org

PITTSBURGH, PA – Carnegie Learning, a leader in artificial intelligence for K-12 education and formative assessment, today announced that its blended core Middle School Math Solution received perfect scores in a new report published by EdReports.org. The High School Math Solution also received all-green scores, with just one point shy of perfect. 

EdReports.org is an independent nonprofit that evaluates instructional materials for quality and standards alignment. It is a gold-standard leader in helping teachers and administrators identify the highest-quality instructional materials. The Carnegie Learning Middle and High School Math Solutions met EdReports’ expectations in all three gateways: 

  • Focus & Coherence—Are the instructional materials focused on the right content at each grade level, and is it presented in a coherent way? 
  • Rigor & Mathematical Practices—Do the materials have the right mix of conceptual understanding, procedural skills, and applications to address the standards to their full depth? Do they help teachers build productive habits of mind in their students? 
  • Usability—Do the materials have the right support in place for teachers to use them effectively? 

The EdReports.org review process is rigorous, and many other curriculum solutions do not pass the first and second gateways and are therefore not evaluated for the third. Schools and districts can therefore choose the Carnegie Learning Math Solution with confidence, knowing it has met the highest quality standards in addition to proving effective through third-party efficacy research. (Learn more at http://www.carnegielearning.com/research.) …Read More

Carnegie Learning Appoints Lenovo Executive as New Chief Marketing Officer

PITTSBURGH–( BUSINESS WIRE)–Carnegie Learning, a leader in artificial intelligence for K-12 education and formative assessment, today announced Quinn O’Brien as Chief Marketing Officer. The addition of O’Brien to its executive leadership positions Carnegie Learning to continue driving its mission of shaping the future of learning by delivering groundbreaking solutions to education’s toughest challenges.

Prior to joining Carnegie Learning, O’Brien transformed the Lenovo brand from a device leader to a global solutions leader as VP of Global Marketing at the $70B parent company of ThinkPad, Motorola, YOGA, Legion, and a range of other brands. O’Brien also brings a wealth of experience from spending 12 years as a leader at Ogilvy & Mather, the storied advertising, marketing, and public relations agency, as well as starting up Craft Worldwide, a design and production agency that today is a thriving business with 1,000+ employees in 120 markets. O’Brien has been recognized as a Top 100 Marketer Award Winner by the OnCon Icon Awards for three consecutive years.

In his new role, O’Brien will apply his extensive experience in global technology marketing to the K-12 education space, bringing a fresh perspective and leading-edge ideas to Carnegie Learning. With a proven track record in innovation and expansion on a global scale, O’Brien is poised to expand the reach and impact of Carnegie Learning’s K-12 math, literacy, world languages, computer science, and professional learning offerings on educators and students at an urgent moment in education.…Read More

Is education software failing our schools?

The Web site of Carnegie Learning, a company started by scientists at Carnegie Mellon University that sells classroom software, trumpets this promise: “Revolutionary Math Curricula. Revolutionary Results,” reports the New York Times. The pitch has sounded seductive to thousands of schools across the country for more than a decade. But a review by the United States Department of Education last year would suggest a much less alluring come-on: Undistinguished math curricula. Unproven results. The federal review of Carnegie Learning’s flagship software, Cognitive Tutor, said the program had “no discernible effects” on the standardized test scores of high school students…

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…Read More

Apollo Group to acquire Carnegie Learning for $75M

Carnegie Learning will operate as a subsidiary of Apollo Group, whose holdings include the online University of Phoenix.

Apollo Group Inc., the nation’s largest for-profit college chain and owner of the online University of Phoenix, said Aug. 2 that it has agreed to acquire Carnegie Learning Inc., a publisher of research-based math curricula, for $75 million.

In a separate transaction, Apollo said it will acquire related technology from Carnegie Mellon University for $21.5 million, payable over a 10-year period.…Read More