Pittsburgh-based
Carnegie Learning is on the brink of major company growth that will double the size of the firm in the coming year. And that's just the beginning.
The company has teamed up with
NBC Learn, the educational arm of NBC News, to produce "Decision 2012: Election Math." The partnership combines CL's innovative, research-based math instruction with national election events and trends to help improve student math performance.
Students will learn all about the numbers behind the election process, statistical feats such as predicting winners through sampling, analysis of voting-age populations, demographics, electoral college dynamics and turnout, to name a few.
"It’s a student-centric site that students can access," says Dennis Ciccone, CEO of CL. "An exploration of how we can work together and get students interested in the mathematics of the elections."
The company growth and new initiatives are a direct benefit of the purchase of Carnegie Learning by the Apollo Group last year, the parent company of the University of Phoenix and the second largest education company in the world.
Since then, Apollo has invested heavily in CL. Plans call for hiring 35 in the immediate future and 70 more in 2013, which will double the size of the company in time from 110 employees to more than 200, mostly in Pittsburgh, says Ciccone.
Jobs are in the areas of sales, marketing, technology development, programming and educational content developers. CL has leased additional space in the Frick Building, but is considering a move.
"We're pretty excited about all of it," says Ciccone. "They (Apollo) bring a global presence to us. They looked all over the world for the best learning platform and they chose us. They're also very adaptable to new technologies."
The news bodes well for Pittsburgh, which is becoming known as a national research center for science and learning, due in part to ongoing research at CMU. Pittsburgh stands to benefit from the educational shift away from more traditional learning methods and textbook teaching toward online education, Ciccone says.
The region may consider establishing a research and development center for the educational software industry here.
"It's a global opportunity," says Ciccone. "For Pittsburgh, it’s a new frontier. This is one of the unique places in the U.S. where university researchers are studying how children learn."
Source: Dennis Ciccone, Carnegie Learning
Writer: Deb Smit
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