Archipelago Learning is an American subscription-based online education company. The company's core business, Study Island, provides standards-based instruction, practice, testing and other tools for students in Kindergarten through 12th grade.

During the 2008-2009 school year, Study Island products were utilized by approximately 8.3 million students in over 19,200 schools in 50 states. The company also offers classroom and school website portals, digital lockers and teacher productivity tools through its TeacherWeb services and online postsecondary programs through its Northstar Learning product line.

Founded in 2000, the company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and is majority owned by Providence Equity Partners, a media focused private equity firm.

Study Island, which constitutes the bulk of the company's revenue and earnings, creates online learning programs for teachers and students in K-12 schools across the United States and Canada. Study Island develops, sells and supports state and province standards specific online learning software for use in the classroom or at home with an Internet connection in 50 U.S. states, and 3 provinces in Canada (Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia). Study Island is also involved in developing a series of state-specific Benchmarking products for use in schools in order to allow school administrators to assess their students' skill level before test taking occurs.

EducationCity

EducationCity is a leading developer and publisher of online educational learning solutions with offices in Chicago, USA and Rutland, UK. Since its founding in 1999, EducationCity has remained committed in producing unparalleled and innovative online quality educational solutions.

EducationCity creates the most innovative, engaging and fun learning solutions for children. Exclusively delivered online, teachers and administrators are strategically choosing EducationCity as their schools’ web-based digital teaching and learning solutions. By embedding everyday teaching instruction, EducationCity helps schools engage students in the learning process which helps students improve their academic performance.

Archipelago acquired EducationCity in June 2010.

Northstar Learning

Northstar Learning, which was launched in April 2009, uses the same web-based platform as the company's Study Island products to provide various instruction, assessment and exam preparation content, however focused on the postsecondary educational market.

History

Study Island was founded in May 2000 by Cam Chalmers and Dave Muzzo, originally providing tools related to the Ohio Proficiency Test Program. By 2002, Study Island had expanded to four states, Ohio, North Carolina, New York, and Michigan and serviced 180 schools. Continuing its rapid growth plan, Study Island, which moved its offices to Dallas, Texas added six states in 2003 and expanded its coverage to 750 schools.

In January 2007, Providence Equity Partners and MHT Partners together with co-founders Cameron Chalmers and David Muzzo completed a recapitalization of Study Island in which Archipelago Learning was created to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Study Island.

In June 2008, the company acquired TeacherWeb and in August 2009 the company acquired a minority interest in Edline, a private educational technology company. Also, in April 2009, the company launched Northstar Learning, marking its first entry into the postsecondary education market.

In October 2009, it launched in Canada.

In November 2009, Archipelago Learning launched a $75 million initial public offering on the NASDAQ under the symbol "ARCL". It also sold TeacherWeb in November 2009.

Study Island is a web-based program. Students learn at their own pace with no software to download or to install. There are practice questions for math, reading, writing, science and social studies. The program is organized into topics that cover each state’s academic content standards. Currently, over 36 states have their standards aligned with Study Island’s programs.

Study Island Is a Tool for Teachers and Students

Teachers and students can log-on to the site in a computer lab setting or at home. Students can chose a subject area to work on and a standard or indicator in which to focus. If students are unfamiliar with a topic, they can view a lesson that explains the basic concepts. If students meet a goal, they receive a blue ribbon. If they do not meet the goal, then they have the option to try the section again. All of their scores are reported on their computer screen. Teachers can easily keep track of all of their students’ progress through the computer program.

“Study Island is good but more as a tool to reinforce indicators already taught. It is great for self-motivated students but most students need a lot of guidance to use it successfully,” said Myles Kiphen, Logan Hocking Middle School Principal in an email interview, August 11, 2008.

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Connection to State Standards and NCLB

No Child Left Behind requires educational dollars to be spent on research-based programs to help children learn. The Study Island and No child Left Behind: Solid Research Equals Solid Results report, by Study Island in 2003, explains how the developers based much of their program on the Assessment Forum and the Advancing of Student Learning through Outcomes Assessment project by the University of Arizona. A new independent research report will be published in August 2008.

The main premise behind the program is that it is data-driven and computerized. This helps the program to assess what students already know, allows teachers to see trends in student performance, and lets students see progress and work towards a goal. Study Island connects student performance with each state standard.

"What really sets Study Island apart from many other programs is the fact that we actually 'build' our standards mastery and preparation programs from each specific state standard as opposed to simply “aligning” pre-existing generic content to the standards," said J W Marshall, Study Island Marketing Manager in an email interview on August 11, 2008.

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