Pearson PLC, a London-based education and technology company, has agreed to buy America’s Choice, a Washington-based company known for its school improvement model, for $80 million.
The agreement, announced last week, still must undergo a federal antitrust review.
The National Center on Education and the Economy, a nonprofit school reform group, launched Americas Choice in 1998 to implement the model, which features standards-based instructional materials, coaching and professional development for teachers, and catch-up programs for struggling students. America’s Choice, a for-profit subsidiary of the NCEE, has worked with 2,000 schools in 38 states. Along with the NCEE, it was involved in writing the new common standards in English/language arts and math that have been adopted by 34 states and the District of Columbia.
