BELLEVUE, WASH. (January 23, 2008) – The South Carolina Department of Education and GlobalScholar.com today announced a new public-private partnership that will be aimed at helping administrators and teachers manage student data and provide a new, statewide online curriculum platform for South Carolina’s students. The online community effectively integrates and aligns the resources of education – teachers, administrators, students, parents, and content – to improve academic performance.

"Our objective in working with GlobalScholar is to enhance the educational environment provided throughout the state, giving teachers and administrators the information they need to empower students to learn and thrive in the 21st century," said Jim Rex, South Carolina State Superintendent of Education. "Our educators will be able to easily manage curriculum, align lesson plans to state standards and thoroughly assess progress. GlobalScholar is helping us clearly monitor classroom progress to ensure our students are learning and preparing for life after graduation."

The first phase of the developmental partnership, represented by a newly signed memorandum of agreement by both parties, will involve making the platform available to a number of South Carolina schools and districts to ensure that the platform’s content is aligned to the state’s academic standards.

Founded in early 2007, GlobalScholar provides a complete school management system, helping administrators to coordinate the efforts of stakeholders across the organization, ultimately reducing costs and increasing effectiveness. The online tools allow educators to communicate with parents and students regularly to illustrate work performed, note upcoming assignments and agree on clear objectives for each student.

"Academic achievement is key to the successful future of schools and districts throughout South Carolina," said Kal Raman, CEO of GlobalScholar. "Educators and administrators are entitled to have clear and convenient access to the myriad of data and best practices that can help them increase productivity and collaboration, therefore giving students access to the best education available. Our tool is just that – a community of people and resources that can positively affect the learning experience."

GlobalScholar.com helps curriculum directors to manage lesson plans, emphasizing important standards to clearly define the curriculum, in an organized and efficient manner.

In addition, it allows decision-makers to clearly monitor classroom progress over time to ensure curricular objectives are being met and that decisions can be made based on viable and accurate data. GlobalScholar.com also reduces administrative hassles and reporting burdens, permitting teachers to spend more time teaching and interacting with their students.

In addition, GlobalScholar.com offers students and parents a way to improve academic outcomes through an online tutoring community. Bringing together the resources of education – parents, students, tutors and content, the site allows users the ability to choose tutors based on profiles, reviews, rankings from other users, experience levels, subject areas and price points. Building confidence and facilitating academic growth, tutors can empower students to raise grades, increase state exam scores, and stay in school.

For more information about how parents and students can find a tutor, or to learn how to become a tutor, visit GlobalScholar.com.

About GlobalScholar, LLC.

Headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., GlobalScholar is committed to providing students of all ages with the confidence and control they need to make informed decisions about their education. The company develops products that effectively integrate and align the resources of education – people, technology and content – to improve efficiency and performance, including GlobalScholar.com, SchoolFinder.globalscholar.com and CollegeFinder.globalscholar.com. GlobalScholar is backed by Ignition Partners and Knowledge Universe Education. For more information, visit www.globalscholar.com or phone 877-824-4040.