NEW YORK, NY. November 28, 2005 -NCLB has been a key factor in focusing attention on improving every student's achievement. Simultaneously, increasing economic forces, especially spiraling healthcare costs, are competing for government funding at the federal, state, and local levels. Together, these pressures are driving education leaders to seek new and efficient use of resources and higher productivity in schools.

To address these issues and provide innovative solutions to these compelling needs of educators and administrators, Pearson School Companies is announcing the formation of Pearson Achievement Solutions, based on the foundation of LessonLab, Pearson's existing professional development and school change business.

Pearson Achievement Solutions will focus on delivering customized solutions for school improvement, including comprehensive teacher professional development aligned with research, assessment and instructional programs, to schools and school districts. Central to its mission of student achievement and school change are the resources for program implementation and change management and the frameworks for evaluation to understand a school's readiness for change and to measure growth and progress.

Pearson Announces Acquisition of Co-nect

Integral to this new organization is Pearson's announcement of the acquisition of Co-nect. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and founded in 1992, Co-nect is the leading provider of data-driven professional development solutions that help schools and districts manage and measure effective instructional improvement. Co-nect's content, collaborative tools, technologies, and data-analysis are delivered through a nationwide network of certified consultants who directly support administrators and teachers as they work to effectively deliver, manage, and assess all aspects of professional development. Co-nect has delivered results to over 500 schools in 145 districts in 33 states.

Co-nect and LessonLab, which includes the SIOP Institute, will form the core units of Pearson Achievement Solutions and will work closely with all Pearson School Companies to offer instructional solutions built around customized implementations and professional development. This will include customizing teacher and implementation materials that support existing Pearson programs or designing and implementing instructional improvement services to go along with existing programs used in a district.

The Leadership of Pearson Achievement Solutions

Beth Wray, formerly President of Pearson Professional Development and Supplemental Education Group, is the newly appointed CEO of Pearson Achievement Solutions. Steven Dowling, Pearson School Companies CEO, noted, "Beth is an ideal person for this new role. Under her leadership, Pearson Achievement Solutions will be the organization within Pearson that provides a full service engagement with a school district to help them assess their needs, develop a plan and implement professional services built around their existing instructional solutions or one that we will provide from the rich instructional offerings within Pearson."

Wray described their mission, "K-12 school leaders in the U.S. are seeking evidence-based and innovative solutions to improve student performance. To address this great need, Pearson Achievement Solutions, an organization built on an integrated foundation of content, technology, and services, has a critical role in improving current student outcomes through systemic school change, customized content, and professional development."

Dr. Jim Stigler, founder of LessonLab, will take a new role as Senior Vice President, Research and Education Strategy, responsible for the LessonLab Research Institute and for formulating professional development and service strategy. Stigler noted, "The formation of this new company represents Pearson's growing commitment to improving teaching and learning in the classroom, where it matters most. Any efforts to improve education - be they policies, curricula, technology, assessments, or professional development -- must come together to improve teaching in the classroom or the effects on student learning will be minimal. That is the focus of this new company, and I am excited to be a part of it."

John Super is President of the Services Group of Pearson Achievement Solutions, focused on professional development content, implementation solutions and sales and marketing. Formerly president of LessonLab, Super added, "Pearson Achievement Solutions has the unique capability to offer powerful and customizable instructional systems and new, effective forms of professional development that help districts become self-sustaining in instructional improvement and maximize the effectiveness of instructional resources."

Andrew Skoler, Co-nect CEO, will join Pearson Achievement Solutions as Senior Vice President, Strategy, and will assist with the integration of Co-nect as well as developing business strategy for the new group. Skoler commented, "The success of a program in a school almost always hinges on the quality of the implementation and the ability of teachers to integrate it successfully into their classrooms and instructional plans. Pearson Achievement Solutions, like Co-nect, will be the district's partner in needs assessment, quality implementation, program delivery and evaluation."

EDITORS NOTE: Pearson Achievement Solutions (www.PearsonAchievementSolutions.com; 800-348-4474) will be headquartered in Santa Monica, CA

About Pearson Education

Educating 100 million people worldwide, Pearson Education (www.pearsoned.com) is the global leader in educational publishing, providing scientifically research-based print and digital programs to help students of all ages learn at their own pace, in their own way. Virtually all students and teachers in America learn from a Pearson program at some point in their educational career. In the U.S., nearly 25,000 schools use Pearson technology to help instruct preK-12 students and manage how they are doing. Pearson provides schools customizable services to create, deliver, score and report educational assessments, both in print and online, that help promote learning. The company is home to such renowned publishing brands as Pearson Prentice Hall, Pearson Scott Foresman, Pearson Early Learning, Pearson Digital Learning, Pearson Learning Group, and Pearson Allyn & Bacon. Pearson Education is part of Pearson (NYSE: PSO), the international media company. In addition to Pearson Education, Pearson's primary operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.

Contact:
Wendy Spiegel, Senior Vice President-Communications
Pearson Education
800-745-8489
or
wendy.spiegel@pearsoned.com