New York, April 15, 2021 -- Macmillan Learning, a privately-held, family-owned educational publishing and solutions company, will be hosting “From Our Perspective: Black Professionals in Publishing” panel discussion in collaboration with Macmillan Publishers. Sponsored by the company's employee resource groups, Black Leaders Actively Changing Culture (BLACC) through Macmillan Learning and Black and African American Group (BAAG) through Macmillan Publishers, the event is meant to encourage BIPOC students to consider a career in publishing. This virtual event is free for all college students and instructors and will be held on Thursday, April 29, from 4-5:15 p.m. ET. The event will feature six panelists from different areas of the company to discuss their professional journey and share their experiences working in the publishing industry. The group will also offer recommendations and tips for students who are interested in a career in publishing, but aren't sure how to get started. There will be time at the end of the panel for questions from the audience. Featured panelists: Keith Barksdale, Jr., Publisher’s Representative, Macmillan Learning Natalie Gordon, Benefits Manager, Macmillan Publishers Phoenix Harvey, Director of Marketing, Enterprise & High School Solutions, Macmillan Learning Dominique R. Jenkins, Senior Manager, Author Events, Macmillan Publishers Jason Walker, Director of Product, eCommerce & Integrations, Macmillan Learning Natasha Wolfe, Senior Design Services Manager, Macmillan Learning “A career in publishing is more than writing and editing books, we also need engineers and technologists to create the edtech, marketers and sales teams to sell them, and so much more. Through our panelists' stories and experiences, we hope that more diverse students from all backgrounds can imagine themselves as professionals in the publishing industry. We are committed to creating more awareness and opportunities for them at Macmillan,” said Phoenix Harvey, BLACC Co-Chair and Director of Marketing, Enterprise & High School Solutions, Macmillan Learning. “At Macmillan Learning we believe that students should be able to see themselves in their learning materials, which happens far better when there’s a diverse and representative team working on them. We want to create intentional connections with the next generation of BIPOC students to encourage the many talented candidates to see themselves achieving a successful career in educational publishing,” said Coltrane Stansbury, Vice President, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Macmillan Learning.  Learn more about the event and speakers here . Students and instructors can register for the free webinar here .  About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned educational publisher that improves lives through learning. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's  best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com , find us on Facebook , Twitter , and LinkedIn or join our Macmillan Community .     ... View more

New York, February 16, 2021 --  Macmillan Learning, a privately-held, family-owned education publishing and services company, today announced the promotion of Charles Linsmeier to Executive Vice President, General Manager of Macmillan Learning, effective immediately. As General Manager, Lin smeier will drive strategy for the company’s higher education, high school, and enterprise solutions.  Linsmeier, a graduate of the University of New Mexico and City University of New  York, was most recent ly Senior Vice President of Macmillan Learning’s Humanities & Social Sciences Editorial Division and BFW Hig h School Publishers. He has worked at Macmillan Learning for more than twenty years, beginning as a sales representative and working in roles with increasing responsibility, including editor and publisher for the company’s market-leading psychology and economics lists, before joining the company’s senior leadership team in 2013.  “Chuck is astutely aware of the role we play in students' lives, and is passionate about the issues that impact learning from understanding learning environments that foster student engagement and motivation to advancing scientific teaching principles. There’s no one better equipped to help me lead Macmillan Learning as we continue to discover better ways to support teaching and learning in classrooms across the world,” said Susan Winslow, President of Macmillan Learning. “We understand how much good pedagogy matters under normal circumstances and have seen that intensify as much of a student’s educational experience moved online. To support digital pedagogies - whether the class is online, in person, or hybrid - our learning platforms are designed to be more than a repository of learning assets; they are environments designed to promote learning and engagement that reflect the needs of the individual students, disciplines, and institutions that we support,” Linsmeier said.  Linsmeier’s keen editorial eye and understanding of the education market contributed to the future direction of Macmillan Learning, including signings and publications that diversified authorship and accelerated positive change from digital pedagogy to improved coverage of underrepresented groups in Macmillan Learning’s publications. Additionally, over the last five years, he fostered the expansive growth in the company’s market-leading AP High School business and was instrumental in the recent successful launch of the company’s learning platform, Achieve. Linsmeier has long been an outspoken advocate of affordable course materials and equity in education.  About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or join our Macmillan Community .   ... View more

Top publisher for learning materials for Advanced Placement courses offers titles for 15 subjects to support student learning New York, February 9, 2021 -- Bedford, Freeman & Worth High School Publishers announced the publication of two new Advanced Placement (AP) textbooks: American Literature and Rhetoric and Human Geography for the AP® Course. The two new titles reflect the company’s commitment to continually invest in new and compelling learning materials to help foster high school students’ college readiness. They are available in both digital and print versions. Through the College Board’s AP program, students take college-level courses in high school and, depending on their AP exam scores and the college they attend, may receive college credit. According to the College Board, more than 535k students took AP courses for English Language and Composition, nearly 350k took Literature, and more than 218k took Human Geography. "While classes may look different because of COVID, the need for learning materials has not changed,” said Charles Linsmeier, Senior Vice President, BFW Publishers. “We will continue investing in the creation of compelling learning materials that meet the needs of diverse populations of students taking AP courses. And that begins by partnering with teachers in the AP community to ensure that our teaching materials support the newest and the most experienced AP teachers alike.” The first edition of American Literature and Rhetoric (ALR) can be used in high school American literature and language courses for AP or College Board’s College-Level Examination Program (CLEP). The title combines reading and writing  instruction to build essential skills and help students develop an appreciation and understanding of American literature. The text can be taught chronologically, thematically, or by genre and was written by AP experts Robin Aufses; Renee Shea; Katherine E. Cordes; and Lawrence Scanlon.  The first edition of Human Geography for the AP® Course is aligned with the 2019 AP curriculum framework and includes exam practice questions at the end of every module and unit and a complete practice exam at the end of the book. More than just aligning to the test, it also helps students sharpen their critical thinking and study skills and broaden their global perspective. The book offers numerous opportunities to examine current controversies in human geography, discussion-based explorations of geographical patterns and trends, and new ways for students to practice newly developed skills.  It was written by AP experts Barbara Hildebrant; Max Lu; Kenneth Keller; and Roderick P. Neumann. “Diversity and inclusion are intentionally and thoughtfully woven in the materials as they are being created, ensuring students of various backgrounds and levels of preparation can see themselves in their course materials, while at the same time learn about other cultures and perspectives,” added Linsmeier. For example, about half of the readings in ALR are written by women; the featured writers are also racially diverse, almost half are from underrepresented groups in literature. The new AP Human Geography title prominently highlights women’s accomplishments, contributions and perspectives; recurring features like Seeing Geography and Subject to Debate take a global approach beyond Western thinking; and a Diversity Connection feature in the Teachers Edition connects content with cultures around the world to expose students to the different ways human geography is experienced, and more. BFW currently offers books that support AP learning for more than 15 AP courses, including Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. The titles are currently available on the BFW High School Publishers catalog from Macmillan Learning. About BFW High School Publishers  BFW Publishing Group is a part of Macmillan Learning, a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. BFW is the leading publisher of AP® and Pre-AP® resources, whose authors are recognized leaders in the AP® communities, and leading authorities on AP® courses.   ... View more

Charles Walker, Jr. and Bradley Borougerdi each win a $1,000 prize for their video submission by exploring their passion for Black leaders and events that inspired their own stories New York, Feb 5, 2021 -- Macmillan Learning, a privately-held, family-owned education publishing and services company, announced the winners for the company’s first “Black History, Black Stories” contest. The contest was created by the company’s college History group to elevate Black voices in education and in recognition of the fight for social justice inspired by the #BlackLivesMatter movement.    This fall, students and instructors submitted either a short essay and a picture or a brief video that answered how they were drawing inspiration from Black history, events, movements, or leaders. The submissions were judged by a cross-section of ten Macmillan Learning employees that support the creation of course materials for college students, including the company’s vast portfolio of History titles . “The videos and essays were very competitive and inspiring. From trailblazing family histories to the stories of slave descendants to modern-day activists that inspire and far beyond, many of these stories profoundly moved the judging panel. It was very difficult to choose only three winners in each category from all these talented voices,” said Macmillan Learning Panelist Melissa Rodriguez. This year’s student winner was Charles Walker Jr., from Marymount University. Walker created a video about how he has been inspired by American activist Colin Kaepernick, and the symbolism and impact of his actions. He noted in his video “It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, what your background is, how much money you have in your pocket, you have a platform and you must use it in order to make change in this world.” Said one judge of Walker’s video: “I was moved by the way he told the story through video and the impact on his life … by wearing the jersey and having video in the field, the student brought Kaepernick’s words, movements, and personal connection to life.”  This year’s instructor winner was Bradley Borougerdi, from Tarrant County College spoke about how he was inspired to found the non-profit Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice to teach about the history of racial terror and lynching noting that, “We allow the wounds of history to fester when we neglect them.” Said one judge of Borougerdi’s video: “His submission spoke directly to how our study of history can motivate the actions we take towards influencing change in our present and future. He demonstrated the understanding that we cannot study history as outsiders who are removed from its truths, but instead must allow it to teach us about who we were, who we are, and who we want to be.”  All winners will be featured on the Macmillan Learning History Community Site and win prize money, with $1,000 going to the top student and instructor winners, $500 to second place winners and $250 for third place. The full list of winners includes: Students 1st Place: Charles Walker, Marymount University 2nd Place: Maddison Hill, University of Mobile 3rd Place:  Riell Swann, Marymount University Honorable Mentions: Cyara Cooper, Kourtney Black and Anaya Arnold        Instructors 1st Place: Dr. Bradley J. Borougerd i, Tarrant County College 2nd Place: Dr. Headley White, Bethune-Cookman University 3rd Place: Dr. Shiarnice Burns,  Houston Community College Honorable Mentions: Peter Boykin, Wayne County Community College and Robert Davis of Wallace State College       About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or see us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn or join our Macmillan Community .  ... View more

Company designated as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality New York, January 28, 2021 -- Macmillan Learning, a privately-held, family-owned education publishing and services company, announced today that for the second consecutive year it earned 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI ). The recognition reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in its products, people and culture. The Human Rights Campaign is the nation's largest civil rights organization working to achieve LGBTQ equality. The Index is part of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and is the nation’s premier benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality.  “Despite the many challenges in 2020, we continue to prioritize and champion LGBTQ equality and are proud to again be listed as a top employer. Having a diverse and inclusive workforce is central to who we are, and our work towards diversity, equity and inclusivity is one we will continue to invest in for years to come,” said Kristin Peikert, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Macmillan Learning. Macmillan Learning’s approach remains focused on their people, products and culture to continuously nurture a diverse workforce.  The company’s diversity, equity and inclusion goals are centered around three pillars -- products, people and culture. Products: Macmillan Learning strives to ensure students of all backgrounds and experiences can see themselves in the company’s products. People: Macmillan Learning will continually assess and evolve our People processes to attract and retain top, diverse talent and provide training to ensure continuous program implementation. Culture : Macmillan Learning is committed to teaching, discovery, and social responsibility. The company’s employee-focused teams and initiatives support community and belonging. Further, the company aims to have a wide representation of backgrounds, genders, races, sexual orientations, physical abilities, and cultures in the content they produce, the authors they work with, and the employees they hire and develop.  Employees from across the company have opportunities to actively seek out new ways to cultivate a culture that welcomes differences through the company’s D&I Councils, employee resources groups, educational opportunities, diversity-related slack channels, among others.  The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: Non-discrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families; supporting an inclusive culture; and corporate social responsibility. Macmillan Learning successfully satisfied all of CEI’s criteria, and in turn earned the designation as one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.” The results of this year’s CEI showcase how 767 U.S.-based companies are promoting LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies in the U.S. and advancing the cause of LGBTQ inclusion in workplaces abroad. The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei. To learn more about diversity, belonging and inclusion at Macmillan Learning, click here . For more information about working at Macmillan Learning, visit the careers page on our website. About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or see us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn or join our Macmillan Community .  ... View more

New York, December 9, 2020 -- Macmillan Learning, a privately-held, family-owned education publishing and technology company, announced the acquisition of three biology titles it previously had co-published with Oxford University Press (OUP): Life: The Science of Biology , Principles of Life , and A Student Handbook for Writing in Biology . The move affirms the company’s ongoing commitment to investing in educational content. Going forward, Macmillan Learning will handle all aspects of publication, including content development, marketing, sales, and customer service.  The three titles have previously been co-published by Macmillan Learning imprint W. H. Freeman along with Sinauer Associates, which became an OUP imprint in 2017. They round out the company’s portfolio of introductory biology titles, including the best-selling Biology: How Life Works . The acquisition offers customers a more unified experience as all of these franchises grow and change with new discoveries in the life sciences.                  “ Macmillan Learning has long been investing in scientific education titles that were written to pique students' curiosity. The Life franchise is among the best-selling biology titles we published, reaching well over a million students, and we’re excited to continue investing in it,” said Daryl Fox, Senior Vice President, STEM. David Clark, Managing Director of OUP’s Academic Division, said: “At OUP we have been honored to partner with the highly respected authors of Life: The Science of Biology , Principles of Life and A Student Handbook for Writing in Biology to create course materials that have left an indelible impression on thousands of biology students. I feel confident that, with this agreement, they are positioned for sustained impact and success in the future.” The 12th edition of Life: The Science of Biology was published in 2020 and authored by a team of distinguished authors from prominent institutions including, among others, Stanford, University of Texas, and Oberlin. They include: David M. Hillis; Craig H. Heller; Sally D. Hacker; David W. Hall; Marta J. Laskowski; and David E. Sadava. The third edition of Principles of Life was published in 2019 and authored by David M. Hillis; Mary V. Price; Richard W. Hill; David W. Hall; Marta J. Laskowski.  A new edition of A Student Handbook for Writing in Biology written by Karen Knisely of Bucknell University will be published in 2021, reflecting the company’s ongoing investment in developing students’ communication skills across disciplines.  The titles are currently available on the Macmillan Learning student store . About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or join our Macmillan Community . ### ... View more

New York, NY. October 27, 2020 --  Skyfactor Benchworks, a Macmillan Learning brand that provides research-based program benchmarking and assessments, announced today the winners of its second annual Assessment and Impact Awards for Nursing Education. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, in the face of a looming nurse shortage because of the aging population and healthcare reform, the demand for equipped and practice-ready nurses is more crucial than ever. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , the employment of Registered Nurses (RN) is estimated to grow 7% from 2019 to 2029, a faster rate of growth than the average for all occupations. Macmillan Learning created the Assessment and Impact Awards for Nursing Education to highlight nursing schools that are successfully using data to improve their programs, which helps support a robust nursing pipeline by retaining students and developing more practice-ready nursing professionals. The company has partnered with the Association of American Colleges of Nursing (AACN) for two decades to offer benchmarking assessments that empower nursing administrators to better understand the program components that most significantly impact these important stakeholders, like employer, student, and alumni satisfaction. The two programs that have been awarded the second annual Assessment and Impact Award for Nursing are: Montclair State University and The University of Scranton .   Montclair State University uses assessments and data to make decisions about curriculum and program experience. Learn more about how they used iClicker Insights to fuel a culture of continuous improvement for their new nursing school.  The University of Scranton uses assessments and data to explore trends, stay in tune with student needs and discover their areas of strength. Learn more about how they improved the student experience. The winners were selected using a multi-step evaluation process that included an analysis of multi-year assessment data by the Benchworks Analytics and Research Team that identified programs that either had the best results or best increases in performance in areas like course interactions and quality of instruction, as well as interviews with nursing program administrators. “The devastating spread of COVID-19 this year reminds us how critical skilled and passionate nurses are. But the need for nurses will not diminish, even after the coronavirus is contained. Quality nursing programs help pave the way for more practice-ready nurses, which is why it’s important to recognize programs like Montclair State and the University of Scranton that are using data to deliver optimal program reports,” said Steven Ray, Vice President, Skyfactor Benchworks.  Benchworks assessments are the most widely used programs in nursing education and have been available for 20 years. The various Benchworks Nursing assessments are used by more than 250 nursing programs each year and are one of more than 50 different assessments from Benchworks on topics important to college success, including housing, orientation, and student affairs and service. The surveys include questions regarding student happiness, safety, diversity and inclusion, facilities, costs, sense of community, and time management, among others. Past winners of the Assessment and Impact Awards for Nursing Education include Bloomfield College, Colorado Technical University, Rowan University and Seton Hall University. To learn more about this year’s winners, click here . To learn more about the power of benchmarking for nursing programs, visit Skyfactor Benchworks’ website .  About Skyfactor  Formerly known as EBI, Skyfactor Benchworks is a Macmillan Learning company that provides research-based program assessments and benchmarking for a variety of Student Affairs programs, as well as Business Education, Engineering, Nursing, and Teacher Education. The robust analytics Benchworks provides empowers programs to identify areas of improvement for maximum impact on program success. Benchworks assessments are rooted in research and mapped to accreditation and professional standards. About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best authors researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. Visit macmillanlearning.com or join our Macmillan Community . ... View more

New York, October 20 , 2020 -- Macmillan Learning, a privately-held, family owned company, announced the launch of iClicker Insights today. The new retention survey and analytics software, which combines components of Macmillan Learning’s market leading classroom response system, with the student success expertise of its analytics and research team, was developed to help colleges support student success by reducing attrition, a problem estimated by the Department of Education to cost $16 billion annually that has been compounded by the Coronavirus pandemic. iClicker combined its expertise in delivering technology solutions that capture student activity and feedback, with the assessment expertise of Macmillan Learning’s analytics and research team to provide early, actionable insights on students’ experiences inside and outside of the classroom. It works by integrating early trends on students’ course attendance, engagement, and self-reporting on key retention factors. This gives administrators and student support advocates a more holistic understanding of students’ early college experiences, helps to identify barriers to student success as early as possible, and informs intervention strategies that help keep students engaged and enrolled.  There are a number of reasons why students don’t succeed in college, from financial to personal reasons -- like feeling like they don’t belong or having other obligations. Additionally, numerous studies underscore the importance of class attendance on student outcomes and retention.  “For nearly twenty years iClicker has been regarded as the best classroom student engagement solution because it is pedagogically-sound and incredibly easy-to-use. With iClicker Insights, institutions now have an easily scalable way to quickly identify the students who may need additional support by using multiple data points like attendance, classroom engagement, and student self-reporting on key retention factors like their sense of belonging,” said Steven Ray, Vice President, iClicker. Some of the ways institutions around the country have already begun to use iClicker Insights include: When COVID-19 required an unexpectedly quick transition to online learning, institutions like the University of Tennessee at Martin used iClicker Insights COVID-19 surveys to gauge the impact of the transition on students and identify specific intervention needs of individual students.  The University of Missouri uses iClicker Insight’s brief student retention surveys to enhance its Student Success and Retention Department’s existing success initiatives. The survey helps administrators identify retention risks even earlier and target interventions to individual students’ most pressing needs.  University of Houston’s Department of Housing and Residence Life uses iClicker Insights surveys to understand how students are acclimating to life on campus in a fall that looks very different than ever before. They’re using it this fall to understand how students are doing both inside and outside of their online classrooms. The University of Memphis used iClicker Insight’s automated attendance reporting analytics for early identification of students with troubling attendance patterns to direct interventions before the student fell too far behind in their coursework. Ryan Crews, Student Success Coordinator, University of Memphis said, “One of our biggest barriers to widespread attendance reporting has been the inability to make attendance reporting easy and accurate … With this tool, we are able to move beyond simply recording attendance and think strategically about how we help students work through issues that affect their class attendance.”  How it works iClicker Insights offers comprehensive reports and dashboards from iClicker attendance, in-class engagement, and retention surveys. The actionable insights help pinpoint when students may benefit from additional academic or skills-based advising or counseling support and highlight any engagement trends within courses or across departments. Information from iClicker and the retention surveys can be uploaded into an institution’s existing LMS and student success solutions. With iClicker Insights, critical information on class attendance -- one of the earliest and most significant indicators of student retention -- no longer winds up either buried or siloed within multiple departments. In addition to attendance, iClicker encourages students’ participation and engagement in class via active learning and can be used synchronously and asynchronously on laptops, mobile devices, or iClicker remotes.  The short, pre-built retention surveys in iClicker Insights collect and assess students’ self-reported motivation, experiences, and plans. By looking at critical non-cognitive factors, like homesickness,  sense of belonging, campus engagement, and financial concerns, the surveys provide crucial context for student outreach efforts. The student retention surveys were created by assessment experts with more than twenty years experience in higher education. Two new COVID-related surveys were also created this past spring to help institutions understand and provide services to support students as they transitioned to online classes.  “With the pandemic still impacting many students’ experience in and out of the classroom, it’s more important than ever that institutions understand where students are struggling. By using surveys to pinpoint students' pain points, institutions are empowered to use their resources where they’re most needed. W e’ve been able to apply what we’ve learned from decades of partnership with more than 150 institutions to help them do that more efficiently, and have seen firsthand the impact that it has had on student success and retention,” e xplained Dr. Sherry Woosley, Macmillan Learning’s Senior Director of Analytics and Research. For more information on iClicker Insights’ visit: iclicker.com/institutions About iClicker iClicker was developed by a team of physicists/educational researchers out of the University of Illinois and is currently used at more than 1,200 Institutions by more than 5,000 Instructors and more than 10M students. About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or join our Macmillan Community . ... View more

New York, September  24, 2020 -- After four years of rigorous testing by educators and students, Macmillan Learning’s new digital learning platform Achieve launched in college classes throughout the U.S. this fall semester. Research from Inside Higher Ed and The Boedeker Group shows that student engagement was a top challenge as instructors transitioned to virtual classes this spring, and remains a concern this fall. During the spring 2020 semester, instructors using Achieve reported their students were more engaged both in and outside of class when they compared to other classes they were teaching without Achieve. “Engagement is critical to a student's success, and a sense of support and collaboration can be challenging to create by just watching videos or clicking through information. Achieve makes learning more active, which is more important than ever with virtual and hybrid classes. It’s making a difference for students, with data demonstrating better understanding, grades and exam scores when students use Achieve,” said Susan Winslow, President, Macmillan Learning.  Active learning is embedded in Achieve’s design, and can be used in traditional, online, hybrid, blended, or a fully “flipped” classroom, with options for both synchronous and asynchronous learning to support engagement -- no matter where students are. This flexibility was especially critical this past spring semester when many instructors had to transition from face-to-face to virtual classes quickly. When asked, 71% of instructors teaching during the spring semester reported that it was easier to transition to a virtual environment with Achieve compared to other curricula they were using.   Achieve includes an interactive eBook as well as expansive learning materials that include pre-class, in-class and post-class activities. Several digital-first titles were developed for the new digital learning platform, including Achieve for Readers and Writers and Achieve for Interactive General Chemistry .  Joel Wilson, a Professor of General Studies at Keiser University and an Adjunct Instructor at the Community College of Allegheny County, who has been using Achieve Writer’s Help for Hacker for four semesters, said: “When the coronavirus shut down institutions across the country, many instructors were scrambling to transition their class and locate materials that work well in a virtual classroom, but thanks to Achieve’s built-in active learning, my classes maintained their continuity, and my students' learning continued. The students remained very engaged with the Achieve materials and the course. They were able to both finish the semester and strengthen their composition skills." Earlier this year Achieve became the first product exclusively designed for higher education to earn the “Research-Based Design” product certification by Digital Promise. The certification ensures instructors that the products they select were designed using research-based learning science principles and developed using best practices before using them with their students.  The Data on Student Success: Macmillan Learning developed Achieve using research-based learning science principles, and took the unusual approach of investigating the effectiveness and efficacy of Achieve in its infancy by conducting rapid-cycle evaluations of tool features. Following that, the company implemented increasingly rigorous validity and efficacy studies as the platform matured throughout beta testing to release. Thousands of students and hundreds of instructors have participated in efficacy studies at four-year, two-year, public and private colleges. Additional studies are underway this semester. Key findings to-date include: There’s a statistically significant positive relationship between use of Achieve and improved performance in class. Students who completed at least 80% of their assigned activities in Achieve, earned nearly a letter grade higher, on average, than students who completed less than 80%. Read more in the “ Achieving Student Success ” research report.   Achieve closed the achievement gap between the less and more academically prepared students by about half. Details are available in the “ Achieving Student Success ” report. Students who used pre-class assignments in Achieve did better on exams and in class . They earned, on average, 8.7 percentage points higher on assessments and 6.8 percentage points higher on exams. Further, the more pre-class activities that a student engaged in, the higher their assessment scores and final exam scores were. Read more in “ The Flipped Effect ” research report. All Macmillan Learning studies are compiled with the American Psychological Association ethical standards for research. They are approved by a third-party Institutional Review Board (IRB) and at individual institutions where required. IRB approval enables researchers to compare course results with detailed information about each student, including their academic background and student records, including final exam scores and course grades. All research has been reviewed by Macmillan Learning’s Impact Research Advisory Council (IRAC) , which is composed of experts in educational technology, methodology, and psychometrics. “Achieve was built with active learning at its core, with interactive learning experiences that engage students before, during and after class. Our research over the past four years shows that with Achieve, students are more engaged and are learning the material better. While Achieve wasn't created in anticipation of a pandemic, we've seen firsthand how instructors and students have benefited from the new platform during this incredible time of change,” said Tim Flem, Vice President of Product at Macmillan Learning. About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or join our Macmillan Community .   ... View more

New York, September 17, 2020 --  Macmillan Learning, part of the family-owned Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, today announced the promotion of Susan Winslow to President of Macmillan Learning, effective immediately. The promotion follows the departure of outgoing Macmillan CEO John Sargent, who will step down on January 1, 2021. Winslow has been General Manager of Macmillan Learning and part of the company’s senior leadership team for the past three years. She has more than 30 years experience working in educational publishing across all areas of the business and has long been a champion of digital learning.  Under her leadership, Macmillan Learning gained market share for four consecutive years and developed, tested and launched its new digital learning platform Achieve. The Bedford Freeman Worth High School team also saw five years of exceptional growth, nearly doubling in size.   “Susan has been leading her team through a tense, rapidly-changing market with a strong grasp of every new facet and development, and we’re pleased she has accepted this important role,” said Stefan von Holtzbrinck, Chief Executive Officer, Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. “While the way learning is delivered has certainly changed, the need for and lifelong benefit of a good education has not. These unprecedented times have opened up the possibilities for better ways of learning. I am so grateful to be able to lead Macmillan Learning right now,” Winslow said. She added, “I’d like to publicly thank John Sargent for his leadership, vision, the innumerable ways he has supported our team, and for his unfailing support of the employees who make up Macmillan.” Prior to her most recent role as General Manager, Winslow held roles as Managing Director, Vice President of Marketing, and Publisher in the STEM disciplines. As a senior leader in the organization, she led the teams through the reorganization and unification of multiple edtech and publishing companies, including Sapling, iClicker, WriterKey, and Bedford, Freeman, Worth to one higher education division. She has long been a champion of diversity and inclusion at the company.  Winslow has held previous leadership roles at Pearson Education. She is one of only a handful of women leading educational technology and publishing companies. About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or see us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn or join our Macmillan Community . ... View more

New York, August 5, 2020 -- iClicker, a Macmillan Learning Company, announced today a new partnership with Perusall, the interactive, digital content company to address two of the most pressing concerns for higher education in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: student engagement and affordability.  According to an Inside Higher Education study , higher education faculty are most concerned with ensuring student engagement in virtual learning environments, and the potential for online classes to have an inequitable impact on underrepresented students. The study revealed 87% of respondents are concerned over the impact of virtual classes on students from low-income backgrounds and 77% view the ability to maintain student engagement when teaching online as ‘somewhat challenging’ to ‘very challenging’.  Instructors can use iClicker to take attendance, facilitate active learning and complete in-class quizzes using mobile devices or iClicker remotes. iClicker was developed by teaching professors and is currently used at more than 1,200 institutions by more than 5,000 instructors and more than 10M students.  “Student engagement is in both iClicker and Perusall’s DNA, as both were created by educators who are recognized as leaders in researching and using active learning and peer instruction methodologies. This new partnership will help make iClicker’s polling, quizzing and assignments even more accessible with Perusall’s content engagement platform and will ultimately support deeper learning, wherever it happens,” said Steven Ray, Vice President of Macmillan Learning Institutional Solutions. The iClicker and Perusall partnership will make it even easier to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and deep content engagement in virtual environments, at an affordable price. There is early proof that the partnership can help foster deep connections with content and peers in an online learning environment. Last spring, amid the outbreak of COVID-19 that demanded a quick pivot to teaching virtually, University of Louisville Psychology Professor Edna Ross, PhD, used Perusall and iClicker to deliver the same active, peer-to-peer learning methodologies she has become known for delivering in her face-to-face classes. “Before iClicker, it was very difficult to get input from all of my students and before Perusall it was a struggle to get students to read the material,” explains Ross. “Once class moved online due to COVID-19, students in my class quickly found a rhythm of beginning discussions with Perusall asynchronously and then responding with iClicker questions  during synchronous sessions to dive deeper into opinions in class. Using both together really impacted learning and engagement for the entire class.”  The partnership will enable Perusall customers to purchase access to iClicker’s student mobile app at a discounted price, delivering course content and engagement capabilities to support deep learning in both synchronous and asynchronous learning methodologies common in online courses. “We are excited to partner with iClicker to combine our affordable, digital learning solutions to help students engage more fully with the course content and one another. With so many courses needing to move online this fall, this is important now more than ever,” said Brian Lukoff, Perusall co-founder and CEO. Click here for more information on how iClicker and Perusall are being used at University of Louisville. About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes.. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or or join our Macmillan Community . About Perusall Perusall is a free social learning platform that delivers reading and video assignments to students before they come to class.  The platform incorporates content delivery with collaborative annotation tools to ensure students read more, come to class prepared, and are more engaged in the learning experience, enabling instructors to teach more effectively. Automated reports document where students struggle the most to understand course content, allowing instructors to specifically address these issues in class. More than 500,000 students at over 2,000 educational institutions in 75+ countries use Perusall. To learn more visit www.perusall.com .   ... View more

Minneapolis & New York, November 13, 2019 -- Macmillan Learning, a privately-held, family-owned education publishing company, announced today during the American Evaluation Association (AEA) Annual Conference that student final exam scores were more than half-letter grade higher when instructors assigned pre-class activities in Achieve, the company’s new digital learning platform. The company partnered with instructors at 38 two- and four-year institutions to research the efficacy of Achieve, evaluating 2,251 students during the spring 2019 semester. The results revealed today represent one finding from a multi-year efficacy study; other efficacy results are expected to be published later this year. The Achieve platform launches in January 2020 and will be widely available in Fall. “Macmillan Learning is deeply committed to using evidence-based research to build products that help more students to succeed. To best accomplish this, the company took the unusual step of embedding efficacy research for Achieve into the process of designing, developing and improving the new platform,” said Adam Black, PhD, Macmillan Learning’s Chief Learning Officer. Key Findings Use of pre-class activities in Achieve positively influenced summative assessment scores in Achieve and also final exam scores—even when controlling for students’ prior academic performance, baseline level of motivation to succeed in the course, and instructor characteristics. Among the findings: Students who completed  pre-class activities earned, on average, 8.7 percentage points higher on assessments. There were statistically significant differences (p<0.001) in the average assessment scores for students using pre-class assignments in Achieve compared to those who did not.  Students who completed pre-class activities had final exam scores that were 6.8 percentage points higher than students who didn’t. These values were also statistically significant (p<0.001) The more pre-class activities that a student engaged in, the higher their assessment scores and final exam scores were. These values were also statistically significant (correlation = 0.71, p<0.001) The study found that instructors also had strong perceptions of how pre-class activities in Achieve supported their students. They reported that pre-class activities helped their students to stay on track with assigned reading, understand the concepts that would be covered in class, and gain a basic understanding of concepts. Students reported high perceptions of pre-class activities in Achieve as well.  Like their instructors, students agreed that the pre-class work helped them keep up with their reading, come to class prepared to participate, and support their comprehension.   “We’re particularly excited to provide instructors with deeper insights into how particular student subgroups benefit from using it – for example, those less motivated or academically prepared to succeed. These kinds of insights are only possible because of our partnerships with instructors and students and the rigorous research practices we employ, which include two levels of Institutional Review Board approval for every study of Achieve,” said Kara McWilliams PhD., Macmillan Learning’s VP of Impact Research and the study’s Primary Investigator.  About The Research Because the study was conducted with students, Macmillan Learning's processes, data handling, and researcher credentials were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Boards (IRB) at each institution and a third party. IRB review ensures that the study is rigorous and ethical. Forty instructors elected to participate in the study and their students were offered the opportunity to opt-in, and 74% of students chose to participate.  Groups were compared on three dependent variables: scores on assessments in Achieve, scores on final exams given in the course where Achieve was used, and student’s likelihood to recommend a course using Achieve to a friend. The effect of using pre-class activities in Achieve on the dependent variables was also evaluated. Analyses indicated that students’ high school grade point average and that their baseline levels of motivation were related to the dependent variables, so they were controlled for as covariates.  And, students were grouped within instructors so hierarchical linear regression was used to investigate the within and between group differences, where required.  This research has been reviewed by Macmillan Learning’s Impact Research Advisory Council (IRAC), which is comprised of experts in educational technology, methodology, and psychometrics.  “Having had the privilege of participating in Macmillan’s peer review process for The Flipped Effect, I have had a chance to see first-hand how seriously they are taking this critical part of their process. This company is collaborating with serious academics to make sure that the claims they make about their product are true. Their commitment is a model for the sector," said Michael Feldstein, IRAC member and Executive Director, Empirical Educator Project. The research presented today is part of a larger body of research conducted by Macmillan Learning’s Learning Science team that began in 2017 and helped guide development of the Achieve platform.  The team has been studying its efficacy overall, and among subgroups of students to evaluate whether the tool supports all students - like those more and less academically prepared to succeed, more and less motivated to succeed, first generation students, and those with competing demands like jobs and families, among other important cohorts.  Macmillan Learning also presented during the conference “The formative evaluation of Achieve: a novel approach to rapid-cycle evaluation of digital learning tools early in development.” They shared an entirely new research process to test and improve learning products outside of live courses during early development. These methods can be used by other organizations to improve products, to begin to understand chosen implementation patterns, and to glean exploratory evidence of learner effectiveness. About Achieve Achieve is an evolutionary digital learning platform that includes learning materials with a comprehensive set of interconnected teaching and assessment tools. It offers the best features of each of Macmillan Learning’s digital solutions in one platform that is intuitive to use, accessible for students of all abilities, and is flexible for students and instructors. Achieve was developed in partnership with students and instructors with the goal of supporting students of all levels motivation and preparedness and helping to engage students in and out of class so that they have better outcomes. To that end, instructors facilitate can learn in the way that best suits their class, whether it’s traditional, online, blended, or fully “flipped” classrooms.   About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or see us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or join our Macmillan Community. ... View more

New York, June 22, 2020 --  Bedford/St. Martin’s, a Macmillan Learning imprint, today announced its 2020 Bedford New Scholars Advisory Board. The board of 10 graduate students is meeting virtually this week to offer the company’s editorial team counsel regarding how course materials are being used and trends that will influence how composition courses are taught. Many Scholars have gone on to take leadership roles in writing programs in colleges and universities across the country.  During the week’s meetings and throughout the year, the Bedford New Scholars will offer their perspectives on topics ranging from challenges in the classroom, to diversity and inclusion to pedagogy. The Advisory Board began in 2008 as an additional way for Bedford/St. Martin’s to understand teaching challenges and new research and practice in the field from promising graduate students. The Scholars do this in a variety of ways, including participating in market research and focus groups that inform product development.  “The Scholars offer the Bedford team tremendous insight into how our resources can best support student writers in their composition courses, which have long been acknowledged as a stepping stone to overall student success both in college and after graduation,” said Leasa Burton, Vice President of Humanities at Macmillan Learning. “They are thoughtful, creative problem-solvers, and often we’re able to incorporate their suggestions into future product development and new editions.” Throughout the program, the Scholars also gain insight into the publishing process and provide feedback on the direction of new materials and projects (both print and digital) in Bedford/St. Martin’s pipeline. They also foster lasting professional connections with other rising scholars and teachers in writing studies, including guest scholars who lead workshops during this week’s board meetings. The many former Bedford New Scholars continue to contribute to the discipline through research, and to the teaching community by creating assignments that engage students in writing and address teaching challenges for Composition instructors.   Bedford/St. Martin’s has long been connected to the Composition community with its widely used A Writer's Reference and The Bedford Reader. The company continues to invest in composition materials and will launch its new digital learning platform with writing tools, Achieve , this fall. Bedford/St. Martin’s also recently published several new titles including The Writer’s Loop and The Hub in addition to maintaining support for instructor and student favorites like The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing  and Everything's an Argument . This year’s Bedford New Scholars: Sidney Blaylock is pursuing his PhD in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition at Middle Tennessee State University. He teaches Expository Writing and Research and Argumentation. His research interests include multimodality, rhetorical analysis, new media, cultural rhetorics, digital rhetorics, film, and afrofuturism. Allison Dziuba is a PhD candidate in English at the University of California, Irvine. She teaches courses in the lower-division writing sequence and the Summer Bridge writing lab, a pre-college course for incoming UCI first-years. She is currently the Campus Writing & Communication Fellow at UCI and has served as the editorial assistant for College Composition and Communication and Rhetoric Society Quarterly . Allison's research interests include college students' self-sponsored literacy practices and extracurricular rhetorical education, and intersectional feminist approaches to rhetorical studies. Michael S. Garcia is pursuing his MFA in Creative Writing at Florida International University. At FIU, he has taught Writing and Rhetoric, Writing in Action, Essay Writing, and Creative Writing: Forms and Practices. He has also taught 11th and 12th grade English at a Title I high school. Michael has published short stories, essays, web articles, and poetry. Sarah Heidebrink-Bruno is pursuing her PhD in English, with a concentration in literature and social justice pedagogies, at Lehigh University. She teaches a range of composition and rhetoric courses in addition to interdisciplinary courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Africana Studies. She previously taught online courses in English and WGSS, with a focus on pop culture themes, including modern relationships. Her research interests include restorative justice practices, women's literature of the 1960s-present, feminist theory and praxis, and writing center tutors' instruction. Corinne Jones is completing her PhD in Texts and Technology with an emphasis in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Central Florida. She currently teaches Composition II (Writing about Writing and Research Writing); in Fall 2020, she anticipates teaching Business and Technical Communication. She also works as a legal writing adjunct at Barry University (Law School). Her research interests include digital rhetoric; circulation studies; digital, qualitative, mixed methods and methodologies; and feminist and queer studies. Sierra Mendez is pursuing her PhD in Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Texas at Austin. She currently teaches a custom course entitled "Rhetoric of Texas" and serves as Assistant Director for the D.R.W.'s Digital Writing and Research Lab. Her research interests concern border, material, visual, and memory rhetorics: specifically, the historical and ongoing constitution of Mexicanx bodies via narratives held both tenuously and powerfully across San Antonio’s urban space. Christopher Peace is pursuing a PhD in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Kansas. He currently teaches Composition 102 and plans to teach a 203 course on Digital Storytelling in Fall 2020. His research interests include rhetorical genre studies, (African-derived) religious rhetorics, writing ecologies, spatial rhetorics, digital storytelling / mythmaking, and ecocomposition. He also serves as a professional tutor for the KU Gear Up program and is an affiliate of the Project on the History of Black Writing. Kalyn Prince is pursuing her PhD in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Writing Studies at the University of Oklahoma. She serves as the Senior Assistant Director of First-Year Composition, teaches first-year writing, and has also co-taught a composition theory survey course for graduate students in the OU English Department. Her research interests include public argumentation, nostalgia as ethos, and rhetorical analysis. Joshua Scheidler is pursuing his MA in English with an emphasis on Medieval Language and Literature at Western Michigan University. He teaches WMU's first-year writing course, Thought and Writing, as a graduate teaching assistant. His research interests include ethics and politics in medieval literature, first-year writing pedagogy, rhetorical analysis, and new materialist environmental rhetoric. Benesemon Simmons is pursuing a PhD in Composition and Cultural Rhetoric at Syracuse University. She teaches WRT 105 and WRT 205 and serves as a writing consultant. Her research interests include Black Feminist Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, and Activist Rhetoric. About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or join our Macmillan Community . ... View more

Springfield, MO. February 18, 2020 --  Skyfactor Benchworks, a Macmillan Learning Company that provides research-based program benchmarking and assessments to help colleges identify areas of improvement, announced today it is accepting applications for its annual Assessment and Impact Awards for Residence Life. The award was created in 2019 to highlight colleges and universities that are successfully using data to deliver high quality housing experiences.  A 2013-14 study of more than 330,000 undergraduate students revealed that the housing experience can have a significant impact on student outcomes. Macmillan Learning partnered with The Association of College and University Housing Officers ( ACUHO -I) to better understand student experience, satisfaction and learning in the residence halls - and recognize housing programs that effectively use data to improve the residential experience.  College and university housing departments can self-nominate by completing an online submission form by March 31, 2020. All submissions will be reviewed by the Skyfactor Benchworks Analytics and Research Team who will also analyze multiple years of data from the ACUHO-I/Benchworks Resident Assessment to identify best results or significant improvements in areas like student staff and diverse interactions. Following the quantitative analysis and review of applications, finalists will be interviewed.  Winners will be notified in late May and publicly announced at a special luncheon during the  June 2020 ACUHO-I Conference in Portland, Oregon. “Residence life is such an integral part of the college experience so we are excited to continue recognizing housing and residence life programs that are leading the way in using insights from assessments to improve students’ on-campus experiences,” said Craig Bleyer, General Manager of Skyfactor.  Benchworks assessments are the most widely used programs in higher education housing, and have been available for nearly 20 years. The ACUHO-I/Benchworks Residents Assessment is used by nearly 300 institutions each year, and is one of more than 50 different assessments from Benchworks on topics important to college success, including housing, orientation, and student affairs and service. The survey includes questions about student satisfaction with facilities, programs, dining, safety, room assignment, and roommates, as well as learning related to personal interactions, diversity, sense of community, academic success, transferable skills, sustainability, and healthy habits. The inaugural winners of the Housing and Residence Life were John Carroll University in Ohio, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Southwest Oregon Community College. About Skyfactor  Formerly known as EBI, Skyfactor Benchworks is a Macmillan Learning company that provides research-based program assessments and benchmarking for a variety of Student Affairs programs, as well as Business Education, Engineering, Nursing, and Teacher Education. The robust analytics Benchworks provides empowers programs to identify areas of improvement for maximum impact on program success. Benchworks assessments are rooted in research and mapped to accreditation and professional standards. About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family-owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or see us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn or join our Macmillan Community . ... View more

New York, January 13, 2020 -- Macmillan Learning, a privately-held, family-owned education publishing company, published research today that demonstrated a positive relationship between use of Achieve , the company’s new digital learning platform, and final exam scores. Research from the ACT , College Board and others have found that a student’s performance on college entrance exams and highschool GPA can predict their future success in two- and four-year institutions. Using these predictors of post-secondary success, the findings from this efficacy study suggest that use of Achieve can help bridge the performance gap often seen among students entering college. That is, the more that less academically prepared students use Achieve, the closer they can come to meeting the performance of their more academically prepared peers. Less academically prepared students (as determined by ACT or SAT scores and high school grade point average) who engaged in at least 80% of assigned activities in Achieve elevated their final exam grade nearly a full letter grade and closed the gap in their average performance and the performance of their more academically prepared peers by about half. The findings build on recently announced data presented at the Academic Evaluation Association (AEA) annual meeting in November demonstrating that students performed better on final exams when they used Achieve’s pre-class activities, regardless of their motivation or academic preparedness levels coming into the class.  “The benefits of a post-secondary certificate or degree are well known, yet we still see students entering college less prepared to succeed. The instructors we partner with are always exploring new ways to fill the skills gaps of less academically prepared students while keeping their more prepared students challenged. While there’s no silver bullet, we believe in providing instructors with insights into the differential efficacy of our solutions, and are pleased that we can offer them evidence that Achieve will support their efforts to help all their students succeed,” said Kara McWilliams PhD., VP of Impact Research, Macmillan Learning, and the study’s Primary Investigator. The company partnered with instructors at 38 two- and four-year institutions to research the efficacy of Achieve, evaluating 2,251 students during the spring 2019 semester. The results revealed today represent one finding from a multi-year efficacy study, with other results being published following data collection and peer-review. Macmillan Learning’s Achieve platform launches this month and will be widely available in Fall. Key Findings Use of Achieve is positively related to student’s final exam scores , regardless of their level of academic preparedness coming into college p<.0001. For every ten percent increase in a student’s engagement in assigned activities, they can expect a 5.7 percentage point increase on their final exam score The magnitude of Achieve’s influence on final exam scores was greater for students less academically prepared to succeed r(657) = .58, p<.0001 but was significantly positive for their more academically prepared peers also r(961) = .42, p<.0001. Among students taking STEM courses, the magnitude of the relationship was greatest among less academically prepared females (r(205) = .57, p<.0001, but was also significant among their male counterparts r(237) = .41, p<.0001 and more academically prepared female r(416) = .33, p<.0001 and male r(281) = .39, p<.0001 STEM students. Students who complete at least 80% of their assigned activities in Achieve, earn nearly a letter grade higher , on average, than students who complete less than 80%. The gap in performance on final exams closes by about half between less and more academically prepared students, when students less prepared to succeed complete at least 80% of their assigned activities in Achieve.  About The Research This study investigated the differential efficacy of Achieve among students less and more academically prepared to succeed. Macmillan Learning collected students’ self-reported highschool GPA as well as ACT or SAT scores, if one or both had been taken. Using those scores, students were then categorized as less or more academically prepared, and outcomes were evaluated among each group. Achieve efficacy research began while the tool was in beta testing so that feedback from instructors and students as well as student outcomes could be used to evolve the product, and to provide instructors with a transparent body of timely evidence of effectiveness. This study complied with the American Psychological Association ethical standards for research.  It was approved by a third-party Institutional Review Board (IRB) and then approved at individual institutions where required.  IRB approval enabled researchers to compare course results with detailed information about each student, including their academic background. It also enabled the collection of student records including final exam scores and course grades. Forty instructors elected to participate in the study and their students were offered the opportunity to opt-in, and 74% of students chose to participate.  This research has been reviewed by Macmillan Learning’s Impact Research Advisory Council (IRAC), which is comprised of experts in educational technology, methodology, and psychometrics.  The findings released today are part of a larger body of research conducted by Macmillan Learning’s Learning Science team that began in 2017 and helped guide development of the Achieve platform.  The team has been studying its efficacy overall, and among subgroups of students to evaluate whether the tool supports all students - like those more and less academically prepared to succeed, more and less motivated to succeed, first generation students, and those with competing demands like jobs and families, among other important cohorts.  Academic preparedness was measured by both college readiness status as determined by performance on the ACT or SAT, and high school grade point average. Find the full “Achieving Student Success” research report here. About Achieve Achieve is an evolutionary digital learning platform that includes learning materials with a comprehensive set of interconnected teaching and assessment tools. It offers the best features of each of Macmillan Learning’s digital solutions in one platform that is intuitive to use and is flexible for students and instructors. Achieve was developed using published foundations of learning science and in partnership with students and instructors with the goal of supporting students of all levels motivation and preparedness and helping to engage students in and out of class so that they have better outcomes. To that end, instructors facilitate can learn in the way that best suits their class, whether it’s traditional, online, blended, or fully “flipped” classrooms.  About Macmillan Learning Macmillan Learning is a privately-held, family owned company that improves lives through learning. By linking research to learning practice, we develop pioneering products and learning materials for students that are highly effective and drive improved outcomes. Our engaging content is developed in partnership with the world's best researchers, educators, administrators, and developers. To learn more, please visit macmillanlearning.com or see us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn or join our Macmillan Community . ... View more