PLATO Learning Wins Two EDDIE Awards from ComputED Gazette

  
    
  
  
    
      PLATO Learning, Inc. (NASDAQ: TUTR), a leading provider of K–adult 
      computer-based and e-learning solutions, today announced PLATO® 
      Courses and PLATO® 
      Test Packs with Prescriptions on the PLATO Learning Environment™ 
      (PLE™) were named winners in the ComputED 
      Gazette’s 13th 
      Annual Education Software Review Awards (EDDIEs). The 
      EDDIE Awards target innovative and content-rich programs and 
      websites that provide parents and teachers with technology to foster 
      educational excellence. Winners are selected from titles submitted by 
      software publishers around the world.
    
    
      PLATO Test Packs with Prescriptions on PLE—recognized 
      as the Best Online Assessment Tool in the Teacher Tools Category—provide 
      grade-level fixed benchmark assessments for grades 2–11 
      in reading/language arts and mathematics. PLATO Test Packs use 
      assessment results to diagnose learning gaps and prescribe 
      individualized learning paths to PLATO® 
      instructional content based on each student’s 
      unique learning gaps. State-specific Test Packs—available 
      for 33 states—are based on key objectives 
      within state content/curriculum standards. The National Test Packs are 
      designed using NCTE and NCTM standards, as well as standards from the 
      Thomas B. Fordham Foundation index of "A" states.
    
    
      PLATO 
      Courses—honored 
      as Best Multi-Subject Website in the High School Category—provide 
      a whole-course option for earning course credit in an online learning 
      environment. Forty-six (46) semester-long courses in the four core 
      subject areas allow students to rapidly complete courses, recover 
      credits, or earn first-time credit to open up schedules for electives 
      and progress toward graduation. PLATO Courses provide rigorous, engaging 
      instructional content to help school districts achieve dramatic 
      increases in recovered credits and graduation rates.
    
    
      An example of this success is in Fulton County Schools, an 81,000 
      student district in Atlanta, Georgia. In two years Fulton County Schools’ 
      credit recovery program has grown to more than 1,400 students completing 
      996 courses in the 2007–08 school year. The 
      district has credited a decrease in dropouts and more high school 
      graduates in part to the successful credit recovery program using PLATO 
      Courses.
    
    
      PLATO Courses are equally effective in large, urban districts such as 
      Fulton County Schools as in smaller programs, such as the program at 
      Delano High School in Minnesota. “Thanks to 
      PLATO Learning, we have boosted our graduation rate to more than 99 
      percent,” said T. Joseph Vieau, assistant 
      principal at Delano High School. “We are 
      offering opportunities that allow us to keep our students on campus and 
      maintain high levels of rigor and quality control. Students at Delano 
      High School are successful using PLATO Learning, boasting an impressive 
      88 percent completion rate.”
    
    
      “We are honored to receive EDDIE Awards for 
      two of our most popular products,” said Mike 
      Morache, PLATO Learning president and CEO. “PLATO 
      Learning is committed to developing effective education solutions that 
      enhance the teaching and learning infrastructure in America, and we are 
      pleased to be recognized as one of the best K–12 
      curriculum companies in the industry.”
    
    
      Including these most recent EDDIE awards, PLATO Learning has been 
      honored with nearly 30 industry honors for its product innovations since 
      2006.
    
    
      About PLATO Learning
    
    
      PLATO Learning is a leading provider of computer-based and e-learning 
      instruction for kindergarten through adult learners, offering curricula 
      in reading, writing, mathematics, science, social studies, and life and 
      job skills. The Company also offers innovative online assessment and 
      accountability solutions and standards-based professional development 
      services. With over 6,000 hours of objective-based, problem-solving 
      courseware, plus assessment, alignment, and curriculum management tools, 
      we create standards-based curricula that facilitate learning and school 
      improvement.
    
    
      PLATO Learning is a publicly held company traded as TUTR on the NASDAQ. 
      PLATO Learning educational software, delivered via the Internet, CD-ROM, 
      and private intranets, is primarily marketed to K–12 
      schools and colleges. The Company also sells to job training programs, 
      correctional institutions, military education programs, and corporations.
    
    
      PLATO Learning is headquartered at 10801 Nesbitt Avenue South, 
      Bloomington, Minnesota 55437, 952.832.1000 or 800.869.2000. The Company 
      has offices throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, as 
      well as international distributors in the United Kingdom and South 
      Africa. For more information, please visit http://www.plato.com.
    
    
      PLATO®, Straight Curve®, 
      and Academic Systems® are registered 
      trademarks of PLATO Learning, Inc. PLATO Learning is a trademark of 
      PLATO Learning, Inc. PLATO, Inc. is a PLATO Learning, Inc. company. All 
      other company and product names may be trademarks or registered 
      trademarks of their respective companies.