McGraw Hill announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Achieve3000, a recognized leader in differentiated instruction and learning acceleration for PreK-12 students in all 50 states and 49 countries.
Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to be completed in approximately 60 days, subject to customary closing conditions.
Based in Red Bank, NJ, and founded more than 20 years ago, Achieve3000 delivers a comprehensive learning platform that significantly accelerates and deepens learning in literacy, math, science, social studies, and English language arts. Teachers in every subject and all 50 states rely on Achieve3000’s solutions to promote equity, increase engagement, and accelerate learning in their classes.
McGraw Hill is a portfolio company of Platinum Equity. Achieve3000 is McGraw Hill’s first add-on acquisition since Platinum Equity acquired the company in July 2021.
Simon Allen, CEO of McGraw Hill, said: “This is a great opportunity to further complement our core products in PreK-12 with supplemental and intervention solutions to help students of all ages and abilities, which has become even more important since the pandemic. With this acquisition, we will offer a wider array of outstanding digital learning materials that serve teachers, engage students and drive better learning outcomes.”
Sean Ryan, president of McGraw Hill’s School Group, said: “Achieve3000 and McGraw Hill are a natural fit. The combination of our people and our products will provide more effective and compelling support for classroom teachers.”
Stuart Udell, CEO of Achieve3000, said: ”Both organizations already share a common mission of accelerating learning for all students. By joining forces with McGraw Hill, we foresee a tremendous opportunity to expand our reach and jointly deliver a powerful learning experience to students, whether in a classroom, at home, or in a hybrid environment.”
Jacob Kotzubei, Partner at Platinum Equity, said: “The need for supplemental curriculum solutions is greater than ever as our educational system continues to grapple with the impact of the pandemic. The addition of Achieve3000 will further strengthen McGraw Hill’s ability to serve students, educators and administrators around the world.”
Luke Myers, managing director at Platinum Equity, said: “We are making good on our pledge to help McGraw Hill accelerate its digital transformation, which is especially important in the K-12 segment. Achieve3000 is tightly aligned with McGraw Hill’s strategic priorities, and its scale, track record and suite of digital solutions make it an ideal fit.”
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is serving as legal advisor to Platinum Equity and McGraw Hill on the acquisition of Achieve3000 and Willkie Farr is providing financing counsel on the transaction. BofA Securities is the lead underwriter for the debt financing. Macquarie Capital is serving as financial advisor to Achieve3000.
As teachers prepare for classes to resume this fall, McGraw Hill announces the launch of McGraw Hill Rise, a new reading and math supplement with embedded assessment and personalization to help educators identify and address individual learning gaps for each student. The new solution is intended to help ease the transition back to the new school year, regardless of teaching format, and ensure that every student is prepared to succeed this year and beyond.
“The extent to which COVID-19 has impacted student achievement, though uncertain, is likely significant. Teachers now, more than ever, need a consistent, convenient and customizable toolset to help document time on task and individual student progress through key learning objectives – all to help close those gaps,” said Sean Ryan, President of McGraw Hill’s School Group. “The use of data to make informed and personalized decisions is critical in determining where students are during and after a period of school disruption. Rise adapts and targets to each student’s needs helping educators create a comprehensive, individualized plan.”
For more information about Rise, visit: mheonline.com/rise
Curated from McGraw Hill’s proven content, Rise will be available through McGraw Hill’s single sign-on, and is powered by the McGraw Hill SmartBook 2.0 adaptive learning engine. Based on extensive research by McGraw-Hill’s learning scientists and technologists, SmartBook 2.0’s enhanced algorithms are built based upon advanced learning science principles that enable it to adapt to each individual learner’s needs, pinpoint and resolve knowledge gaps, and increase learning efficiency by moving knowledge into long-term memory more quickly.
Preliminary “COVID-19 Slide” learning loss projections from NWEA suggests that students could begin the school year with roughly 70% of the previous year learning gains in reading and less than 50% learning gains in math. Existing research shows that students experience an average of one-third to a full year of learning loss during a time of crisis or collective trauma. Many students will have gaps in their knowledge and skills at some point in their educational journey, but long-term learning loss doesn’t have to be one of the consequences.
With Rise, teachers will have access to customized student reporting dashboards and real-time feedback on student content mastery. Additionally, Rise’s recharge feature allows for asynchronous reinforcement of topics, allowing students to reach mastery of core ELA and math learning objectives at their own pace. This easy-to-use and flexible learning tool is expected to have an immediate impact on closing learning gaps in schools across the U.S. this fall.
McGraw Hill kicks off its nationwide call for nominations for the second annual ALEKS All-Star Educator Awards. The 2020 ALEKS All-Star Educator Awards will honor two K-12 teachers and two higher education instructors who have applied the ALEKS program to achieve exceptional results and improve their students’ progress.
For more than 20 years, McGraw Hill ALEKS has helped educators in math and chemistry to quickly and accurately zero in on exactly which topics students understand and which topics they need help with, empowering teachers to deliver the most effective instruction possible. Built on the theory of “knowledge spaces” from cognitive science, ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) uses artificial intelligence to create personalized and dynamic learning paths for K-20 students based on their unique needs.
To date, ALEKS has helped more than 20 million students at thousands of K-12 schools, colleges and universities throughout the world.
McGraw Hill is accepting nominations for the ALEKS All-Star Educator Awards from August 3 through November 16, 2020 at mheonline.com/aleks-allstars.
Nominees can be any educators who have demonstrated the following:
- Used ALEKS to reshape the way they interact with students in order to drive more effective teaching and learning.
- Measurably improved outcomes for students using a combination of ALEKS and other teaching techniques.
- Helped increase STEM success rates for all students.
- Gone above and beyond to help unlock the full potential of learners at their schools, using ALEKS.
- Implemented an innovative and unique teaching style using ALEKS.
The winning educators will each receive a $1,000 donation from McGraw Hill to an education-focused non-profit or charity of their choice, as well as a $250 gift card and a collection of McGraw Hill Professional books. Winners will be announced in early January 2021.
“We’re inspired every day by the creative and innovative ways educators integrate ALEKS into their curricula to truly unlock the potential of their students and ensure a personalized approach to their education,” said Simon Allen, McGraw Hill CEO. “This awards program is just one way we can honor those who work so hard to ensure each student has the opportunity and tools to succeed.”
A new online math learning program from McGraw Hill makes it easy and affordable for students and adult learners to prepare for their math placement test, get extra help over the summer, or refresh their skills before returning to college.
ALEKS MathReady is a direct-to-student version of McGraw Hill’s personalized ALEKS program that is used by millions of K-12 and college students to accelerate their math learning and help them succeed in their courses. It is $9.95 for the first month, $24.95 for three months, and $19.95 for each additional month after that.
For students entering college, math placement and college level math courses can be a challenge and are among the contributing reasons that students fall behind or drop out. College math courses often have high failure rates, largely because many new college students lack the foundational math skills needed to be successful. For some, a trusted tutor is a proven model for learning math and reducing math anxiety, yet the high cost of tutoring and scheduling tutorial sessions are barriers. ALEKS MathReady is an affordable alternative for those who are looking for math support.
ALEKS MathReady is a self-paced, online math learning program that is rooted in research and analytics. ALEKS efficiently guides learning by identifying what topics students don’t know and then focusing them on practicing topics they are ready to learn next. With this personalized learning approach, students learn and retain topics efficiently with real-time feedback to keep them motivated and engaged, while reaching their goals.
For more information about ALEKS MathReady or to sign up for access, visit: http://bit.ly/ALEKSMathReady
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McGraw-Hill, a leading learning science company, today announced free digital access to its 5 Steps to a 5 Advanced Placement test preparation guides for educators, students and parents navigating the challenge of school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The online Cross-Platform Prep Courses will be available for 90 days for students who log in to get access prior to June 30, 2020.
“During this unprecedented time of disruption, we want to do everything we can to support educators, students and parents during the shift to online learning,” said Scott Grillo, President of McGraw-Hill Professional. “By offering free access to our innovative 5 Steps to a 5 Cross-Platform Prep Course across multiple AP subjects, we hope it will be a valuable resource to supplement virtual classroom instruction for AP courses.”
For more information, including access codes and instructions on redeeming the codes, please visit: https://learn.mheducation.com/ap-teacher-resources.html.
The Cross-Platform Prep Course provides students with study and practice content that is fully customizable. Students can create a personalized study plan based on their test dates and set daily goals to stay on track, while integrated lessons, practice questions, exams, flashcards and games provide important review of key topics and practice to build test-taking confidence. Since the 2020 AP exams are being shortened and focus is shifting toward free-response and document-based questions, students and teachers can navigate the content to find resources that are most relevant to this year’s exams.
The prep resources are available across 14 AP subjects: Biology, Calculus AB, Chemistry, English Language, English Literature, Human Geography, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Physics 1, Psychology, Statistics, U.S. Government & Politics, U.S. History, and World History: Modern.
Providing free digital access to 5 Steps to a 5 resources is one of a number of ways McGraw-Hill has responded to help educators, students and parents with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information on getting support from McGraw-Hill, visit: https://www.mheducation.com/ideas/announcements/mcgraw-hill-supporting-schools-and-learners-covid19.html
