Fifth- and sixth-graders study with an interactive digital program that flashes songs, videos, animation and games projected on the wall in front of the class.
"To see the look on their faces, the level of engagement they achieve through the use of technology is phenomenal," said Kristina Potter, sales development manager at Pearson. "It's a pioneering effort."
The project in Mexico is just one program handled by Pearson, which held a
grand opening and tours Thursday at its Chandler site in the mid-rise
office building at Loop 101 and Ray Road. State Schools Superintendent
Tom Horne was among the guests.
Pearson materials also touch 3 million schoolchildren throughout the United
States, including 163,000 in 257 locations in Arizona, said Pearson
spokesman Matt Murphy.
The company employs 600 people in Chandler and is recruiting for 60 more:
software engineers and architects, project managers and sales and
marketing people.
The company's English-language program in Mexico, called Enciclomedia
Ingles, is reaching children who don't have great educational opportunities.
Mexico has a dearth of teachers who speak English or who are trained to
teach English. With this program, the teachers learn English along with the
students, Potter said.
"It was thrilling to go around the country and see classes put up signs, 'Do
not disturb us, we are learning English,' " Potter said.
Testing from a recently completed pilot project show good results so far,
the company says.
"The scores were coming back at over 80 percent mastery, from rural to the
suburbs of Mexico City," she said. "This is the lowest socioeconomic strata
in the country, often the most disenfranchised and with the least exposure
to the English language."
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox pushed for English to be taught as
early as elementary school throughout the nation. The new government has
changed that approach and decreed that it's up to each individual state to
decide whether it wants to continue with the English instruction.
Enciclomedia Ingles is in about a dozen states and is being rolled out in
more on a state-by-state basis.
Pearson continues to refine the program, which is also used throughout the
United States by English learners regardless of their level or their native
language.
Students in kindergarten through second grade in Tucson also have just
finished a three-year Pearson program called Waterford that focuses on
beginning literacy.
"The success has been phenomenal ... for English-language learners as well
as for English
speakers," Potter said.
"Our products are used throughout the world, and we have a growing market."