Pearson, a major supplier of curriculum materials and learning tools, has acquired Connections Education, an accredited provider of virtual education for students in grades K-12 and a supplier of online learning solutions, the company announced. Pearson purchased the company from an investor group led by Apollo Management, L.P. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Through its Connections Academy business, Connections Education operates online public schools in 21 states, serving more than 40,000 students during the current school year. These accredited virtual charter schools are funded through the states they serve and are free to students.
Virtual schools and online learning are growing segments of the education sector. Last year, 48 states and Washington, D.C., had virtual school programs available, and 27 states allowed virtual charter schools, company officials said. Approximately 200,000 students attended full-time online courses in 2010, and an estimated 1.5 million students took one or more courses online, according to the Evergreen Education Group.
Through the acquisition, Pearson assumes a leading position in the virtual school segment with the opportunity to extend Connections Education technologies to new geographic markets.
“For a decade or more, we’ve invested in education technologies that have the potential to make learning more effective for each child. Connections Education does that,” said Marjorie Scardino, Pearson’s CEO. “Virtual schooling is an attractive choice for a growing group of American parents, and in the next decade it will take off in other countries. Beyond that, Connections Education has developed a broad array of highly effective learning tools that we intend to make available to all kinds of schools and all kinds of students.”
Pearson already was providing digital and print curriculum materials used throughout the Connections Academy virtual school system. Proprietary technologies developed by Connections Academy include Connexus, an education management system providing on-demand access to schedules, lessons, gradebooks, resources and teachers; and LiveLesson, a teaching tool enabling teachers to lead real-time interactive and adaptive classes over the Internet.
Connections Education also recently launched Connections Learning, a division that makes its courses and technologies available to other educational institutions and organizations. The division supports the development of blended learning environments which combine classroom and online instruction. The company acquisition will broaden Pearson’s range of school services across curriculum materials, assessment and learning technologies.
Connections Learning also operates National Connections Academy, a private online school available to both U.S. and international students.
The move brings a growing and profitable set of products and services into the Pearson portfolio. Connections Education produced revenue growth of more than 30 percent in each of the past three years, officials said. The transaction is subject to a Hart-Scott-Rodino review.
Connections Education co-founder Barbara Dreyer will stay on as CEO of Connections Education and as a senior executive at Pearson.
“Joining forces with Pearson gives Connections Education the opportunity to share our proven virtual education solutions with a much wider global audience, and collaborate with the developers at Pearson in creating an even more robust set of online and blended offerings for students of all ages,” Dreyer said. “We look forward to growing this business and making high-quality digital learning available to anyone, anywhere.”
“We see Connections Education as highly complementary to our own business, and it provides an opportunity for developing new models of instruction and increasing the effectiveness of Pearson’s global educational programs,” added Will Ethridge, CEO of Pearson North America. “Our joint goal is to ensure that every student is college and career-ready when they graduate.”
