Key Curriculum joins forces with McGraw-Hill Education to bring the power of dynamic mathematics tools to all K-12 students

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Key Curriculum (Key) and its research and development affiliate KCP Technologies (KCPT) announce the sale of their technology assets to McGraw-Hill Education. This move is the logical next step after executives at Key announced the company would strategically "reboot" to focus on a product development roadmap that emphasized its technology assets—assets that include the widely popular The Geometer's Sketchpad^® for grades 3–12, Fathom^® Dynamic Data for grades 9–12 and TinkerPlots^®  Dynamic Data Exploration for grades 4–9.

"Once we shifted the focus to our technology assets," said Karen Coe, Key's president and CEO, "a powerful road map emerged that was interesting to many potential partners. The best fit, though, was between McGraw-Hill Education and Key. McGraw-Hill Education has a very strong presence in the STEM disciplines and across all grade levels in K–12. Particularly appealing to us was McGraw-Hill Education's penetration into the elementary market with a range of programs. Recent research by our R&D affiliate KCPT, via their Dynamic Number project, has focused on using The Geometer's Sketchpad with students in elementary grades. It was a natural fit."

McGraw-Hill Education will immediately focus on leveraging Key's technology across its programs and developing new programs that will evolve as further advances in the technology are implemented. Beyond product development, the team at Key is thrilled to be working with McGraw-Hill's Sales, Marketing and Professional Development teams. "As a small education company it has always been a challenge to extend our reach into all grade levels in mathematics, yet our learning tools are just as relevant to students in elementary schools as they are to students in higher grades," said Coe. "It will be terrific to finally accomplish that reach through McGraw-Hill Education's channel." 

Key will continue to be based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Key Curriculum name—a powerful brand in mathematics education—will continue to be used. The Key Curriculum team, reporting to Christine Willig, senior vice president of STEM for McGraw-Hill School Education, will focus on developing standalone and integrated products for McGraw-Hill Education.

"Key Curriculum's dynamic mathematics products are unparalleled in the market and have long been recognized among math educators as being the finest math tools available," said Willig. McGraw-Hill Education will continue to sell Key Curriculum products as standalone solutions, regardless of the curriculum adopted by the institution. "Customers using McGraw-Hill Education's math programs can expect deeper integration between these products and Key Curriculum solutions in the future," said Willig.

"Strategically realigning Key to maximize the reach of our digital assets was just one part of the vision," said Coe. Milan Wielinga, Key's CFO and COO, commented: "When Karen and I embarked on this mission, our goal was to find a partner for Key/KCPT that would respect the legacy of the company and also embrace the future potential of it. We feel the team at McGraw-Hill Education led by Christine is exactly the right place for the technology to continue to thrive. We feel we have delivered Key into very good hands."

Both Key and McGraw-Hill Education believe the full integration will be complete by the end of 2012.

About Key Curriculum
Key Curriculum develops effective, high-quality mathematics instructional materials and software. In addition, Key Curriculum offers professional development workshops, online courses and webinars to provide educators with the training, experience and support they need to incorporate effective teaching strategies. The company was founded by mathematics educators in 1971 and is headquartered in Emeryville, Calif. For more information, call 800-995-MATH or visit www.keycurriculum.com.

About McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill Education is a content, software and services-based education company that draws on its more than 100 years of educational expertise to offer solutions, which improve learning outcomes around the world. McGraw-Hill is the adaptive education technology leader with the vision for creating a highly personalized learning experience that prepares students of all ages for the world that awaits. The company has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions available in more than 65 languages. For additional information, visit www.mheducation.com.

SOURCE Key Curriculum