Apollo Group to Buy Maker of Math Courses

Hoping to keep more of its students from dropping out, the Apollo Group, which operates the profit-making University of Phoenix, said Tuesday that it would pay $75 million to buy Carnegie Learning, which offers computer-based math instruction.

Carnegie Learning, based in Pittsburgh, was founded in 1998 by scientists from Carnegie Mellon University who developed an approach to teaching math that combines classroom work with computer instruction. Its Cognitive Tutor software analyzes students’ weaknesses as they work through problems and offers new problems until they are ready to move on.

“Math is a subject where we see a lot of students having difficulty” at the college level, said Gregory W. Cappelli, Apollo’s co-chief executive. “We think by adding the Carnegie Learning solution into our platform, we’ll really help our students to have better outcomes in math.”

Carnegie Learning is one of a number of small- to medium-size companies that offer instructional material for use on computers and tablets and data analysis for schools, a market that has piqued investors’ interest in the past year. It says its curricula is used by 600,000 students in grades 6 through 12, in 3,000 schools nationwide.

Dennis Ciccone, Carnegie Learning’s chief executive, said sales had increased 20 to 30 percent annually since 2005, although they have slowed this year with the economy. Apollo plans to adapt the Carnegie Learning software for other academic subjects and use it both in traditional classrooms and with online students.

Profit-making colleges like the University of Phoenix have been the focus of government scrutiny in recent years, accused of aggressively recruiting students, especially online students, but saddling them with unmanageable debt and few marketable skills. In June the Education Department tightened regulations, though not as strictly as industry critics had advocated.

Although enrollment at the 400,000-student University of Phoenix has fallen sharply, Apollo’s stock hit a 52-week high last month after the release of quarterly results in June that exceeded analysts’ estimates.

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Online GED Courses Provide A Fresh Start At Any Age

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Online GED Courses Provide A Fresh Start At Any Age

General Education Development (also known as GED) is an accumulative diploma issued as an equivalent to a high school diploma. Known by other names like General Equivalency Diploma, Graduate Equivalency Degree or General Education Diploma, this credential is obtained by taking the GED test in person. Online GED courses are offered, however, to give you the tools, information and preparation needed for passing the test. Having a nationally recognized document in lieu of a high school diploma is not only beneficial to your career path, but to your self-esteem and confidence as well.

It is a very common requirement to have a GED before entering college. There are a few exceptions, like having scored high on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (or SAT) or American College Testing (also known as ACT) which would grant you the option to participate in an early entrance program. However, for whatever reason you are without your high school diploma, it is generally needed for admittance into a higher learning institute. With help from online GED courses, you can gain the knowledge found in high schools and be prepared for not only taking and passing the GED, but for entering college as well.

There are several important factors to consider when choosing an online GED institution. While many may claim to be licensed, this is not the same as being an accredited institution. There is no regulation of schools that claim to be licensed. Truly accredited schools are recognized by the United States Department of Education. These institutions offer a substantial curriculum to facilitate your understanding and preparation for the GED test.

Another determinant of the online GED courses you choose is the promise of the institution. If they claim that you are able to earn a GED or high school equivalency in a short period of time (like days or weeks) or that there is little actual "homework" involved, these are false promises. Institutions known as Diploma Mills turn out worthless certificates to those who essentially believe they are purchasing a degree. To avoid being the victim of one of these scams, look for institutions with legitimate contact information, like a phone number and a physical address, and that they have authentic credentials.

The reason why you do not have you high school diploma is unimportant as the GED is viewed as a complete equivalent in the eyes of not only higher learning institutions, but employers as well. Through accredited institutes offering online GED courses, you will have the tools to learn and foster the understanding required to pass the GED test.

Alexander Sutton knows all too well how hard it can be to get started in the corporate world. But now that he's established himself in the professional world he'd like to help others enjoy the most efficient route to success. For more information, please visit Online GED Courses.

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The Significance of Solar Training Courses

There is an increasing need for energy and power supplies in the modern world. More and more technological advances and innovations have enhanced the need for more supplies in different countries of the world.

The most common source of power supply in the present times is that of electricity. There is a great deal of stress on this however due to over consumption and even a further increasing one. As a means of recourse to alternate sources of power, there are several forms of renewable energy forms that are harnessed for productive uses.

Renewable Energy Training

Several courses are available in this sphere. There are different institutes across countries where comprehensive training programs are imparted in the different areas of alternate energy sources.

There are various renewable sources like wind, solar energy, waterfalls, tides and several others. However, there are techniques that have to be employed in harnessing these sources for the production of power and redirecting the same for domestic or industrial usage.

A comprehensive training program will equip a learner with all the relevant theoretical and practical knowledge to set up installations and produce power supplies to fulfill the need for commercial and domestic establishments in different regions of the world.

Solar Training Course

One of the chief sources of power in this world comes from the Sun. the heat and rays of the Sun in the right proportion is chiefly responsible for the possibility of life on earth. That is why for several decades there has been research and a constant struggle to use the solar heat for the production of energy supplies.

There are is a successful system of photovoltaic panels and heat engines that can be installed and utilized for a constant and steady source of power generation. The important aspect is that the cost for this is much less than what you pay your power supply companies for your usual requirements.

There is sufficient heat and electricity generation capacity in solar energy source that can be put to use in your entire commercial establishment as well as domestic requirements. In addition, to help you in this process there are solar training courses in different institutes of your country.

These courses are a comprehensive theoretical and practical guidance programs that will equip you with necessary knowledge as well as training.

You will need to know in detail about the PV panels that will have to be set up for solar energy sources and supply. Apart from that, the sizing of the panels will have to be done in an appropriate manner to optimize heat production.

The solar panel installation training which forms and important part of the course teaches you about its maintenance and upkeep also. There are accessories in this process like batteries, chargers and invertors, which will need to be maintained and kept in order.

A successful solar energy supply system can adequately take care of all your energy requirements by a substantial amount. It is less in cost and pollution free in addition to a steady source of supply as well.

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Have You Thought About Christian Science Courses For Elementary Grades?

When educating your children at home, you have the freedom to teach them sound science that is presented from a Christian worldview. "Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space," geared at elementary students, fits the bill very well. This text is part of a series by Stephanie L. Redmond which include Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. I enjoyed teaching from this text for a number of reasons including: it requires little to no teacher prep time; it is enjoyable to work through; being from a Christian worldview, it is God-honoring; and it is written in a conversational tone that is easy to read aloud and appeals to the younger audience.

The text has 24 lessons, 2 on the Earth in general (including Creation); 5 covering the lithosphere; 4 covering the hydrosphere; 4 covering the atmosphere; 5 covering weather; and 4 covering all of outer space. The maps, forms and coloring sheets are reproducible. An applicable scripture has been chosen for each lesson. In addition, there is an appendix of recipes and additional activities, another on how to make a folderbook, and another including additional books and resources. We took the book to our local copy center and had them cut off the binding. Then we separated the reproducible sheets and had the text spiral-bound with all the glossaries and appendices.

Altogether, I found this course to be a good core text for my second-grader that was easily supplemented in a few areas. I will be using it again with my younger kids when they hit second grade. And although my second-grader and I completed the entire course, we definitely amended and expanded it to be more in-depth. One example of this was finding all nine planets covered in one short chapter! I thought this was neglecting an opportunity to excite kids about outer space, so we expanded on that section with outside materials. There is no chapter at all about biomes, which I found startling, as there is so much to intrigue children about the variety of habitats and temperature zones on this planet we call home. Again, we supplemented the study of Earth with outside materials.

In a few of the chapters it seemed as though the bulk of the reading is about the author's own experiences, although this contributes to the 'talking to a young child' tone. One of the main things I noticed about Christian Kids Explore was the lack of consistency in material from chapter to chapter. It is a curious mix of technical definitions and conversational banter.

It's always great to find a science course that gives glory to God for his creation. The first lesson was about Creation, but neglected the "on the first day, on the second day..." so we supplemented that with some reading from Genesis. In Lesson three she goes over the theory of Pangea and the worldwide flood, how some scientists and theologians have conflicting ideas. She presents it flawlessly and intelligently. Although the coloring sheets are beautiful, they have a lot of black space that can't be colored. In addition, there is one sheet for the entire unit, not individual sheets to work on while mom reads each chapter.

The benefits in this book for the upper elementary students include lots of definitions in the margins and timelines listing scientists and scientific discoveries. One thing that would have been helpful was a 'year-long list of copies to be made' in case you don't have a copier at home to do it chapter by chapter. I think this book is a good value, especially if you supplement with library materials instead of buying them.

Teresa Dear is a homeschooling mom of four kids. She and her husband of eleven years do not worry about socialization. You can read more about the Classical Education Method in general and her homeschool lifestyle in particular at http://highereducation-mama4x.blogspot.com/. Find out her choices for curriculum and everything else homeschool. She divides her time between education, making a home, shopping curriculum, and stocking her http://www.mama4x.etsy.com/ storefront with handmade greeting cards and vintage ephemera.

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