Carnegie Learning® Awarded $1.4 Million Contract from the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative

PITTSBURGH, March 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnegie Learning, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Apollo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOL), has received a two-year $1.4 million contract from Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) to test how cognitive and non-cognitive factors together affect learning. The ADL laboratories, located in Alexandria, VA and Orlando, FL, prototype and test learning technologies and innovations for the U.S. Department of Defense.

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The Hyper-Personalized Intelligent Tutors project will explore how factors such as interest-level, mood, and persistence affect learning.  The project will build a collaborative research platform for understanding how cognitive and non-cognitive factors working together impact retention of knowledge and a student's commitment to keep learning.

"The goal of intelligent tutoring systems has been to provide systems that act like individual human tutors and, as far as tending to learners' cognitive needs, we have been very successful," said Dr. Steve Ritter, chief scientist at Carnegie Learning.  "This project provides us with the opportunity to increase the effectiveness of educational technology by accounting for non-cognitive factors such as interest, mood, and traits like resilience."

Project findings will support the ADL in research focused on individualizing training materials to best suit a learner's needs within military, public/private education, technical or trade schools, and with self-taught learners. Findings will also inform ongoing development of Carnegie Learning MATHia® and Cognitive Tutor® K-12 math software as well as undergraduate math courses at University of Phoenix^®, operated by a sister company of Carnegie Learning and also owned by Apollo Group. For example, if the software tutor knows a student likes sports, the curricula might explain percentages using batting averages.

"Carnegie Learning has an ongoing commitment to studying the Cognitive Tutor software in diverse, third-party environments to improve and adapt the software for maximum impact on math students of all ages and abilities," said Dennis Ciccone, president of Carnegie Learning. "We look forward to working with the ADL Initiative to support the Department of Defense's understanding of how technology can be integrated with their programs to improve learning."

The project is one of many Carnegie Learning research programs which demonstrate the company's commitment to study the effectiveness of its programs and contribute to knowledge of how people learn. Recent Carnegie Learning research projects include collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates and William and Flora Hewlett Foundations, the RAND Corporation, EDUCAUSE, the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, and the University of North Carolina Charlotte, among other third-party organizations.

"There is increasing evidence that resilience and emotion play an essential role in which students stay engaged, stay in school, and go on to college," said Ryan S.J.d. Baker, Julius and Rosa Sachs Distinguished Lecturer, Teachers College, Columbia University. "The work Carnegie Learning is planning is likely to be an excellent complement to their already impressive track record in addressing cognitive aspects of learning."

About Carnegie Learning, Inc. (www.carnegielearning.com)

Carnegie Learning is a publisher of innovative, research-based mathematics software and textbooks for middle school and high school students aligned to the Common Core State Standards. Providing differentiated instruction in schools across the United States, Carnegie Learning is helping students to succeed in math as a gateway to graduation, college, and the 21st century workforce. Carnegie Learning, located in Pittsburgh, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apollo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOL) and is the sole source provider of Cognitive Tutor® and MATHia® software for students in grades 6-12.

About Apollo Group, Inc. (www.apollo.edu)

Apollo Group is one of the world's largest private education providers and has been in the education business for approximately 40 years. The Company offers innovative and distinctive educational programs and services both online and on-campus at the undergraduate, master's and doctoral levels through its subsidiaries: University of Phoenix, Apollo Global, Institute for Professional Development and College for Financial Planning. The Company offers programs and services throughout the United States and in Latin America and Europe, as well as online throughout the world. For more information about Apollo Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, call (800) 990-APOL or visit the Company's website.

Carnegie Learning^®, Cognitive Tutor^® and MATHia^® are registered trademarks of Carnegie Learning, Inc.  University of Phoenix^® is a registered trademark of Apollo Group, Inc.

SOURCE Carnegie Learning, Inc.