6.30.2008 - 07:08pm ET

(CSRwire) SAN ANTONIO, TX - June 30 /PRNewswire/ - The Pearson Foundation today announced a series of new partnerships, programs, and funding commitments with members of the Digital Arts Alliance, the consortium that promotes digital arts in K-12 education through fully funded and staffed programs delivered directly to schools and community centers nationwide. The Pearson Foundation is the founding partner in the Digital Arts Alliance.

At the opening of the annual National Educational Computing Conference (NECC), the Pearson Foundation welcomed several new members to the Digital Arts Alliance, including E3: Employers for Education Excellence; the Foundation for Investor Education; and the NEA Foundation.

The following organizations made announcements today regarding their support of the Digital Arts Alliance:

-- E3 has worked with the Digital Arts Alliance to add to the ways in which their teachers communicate their schools' mission and vision for students. The resulting programs have extended the community outreach for the Oregon Small Schools initiative.

-- The Foundation for Investor Education is working with the Digital Arts Alliance to enhance student learning and to document the experiences of instructors in the Stock Market Game program, the only live, online trading simulation, and the only one of its kind supported by the New York Stock Exchange. The Stock Market Game engages students with real world learning opportunities and helps prepare them to be informed and engaged citizens.

-- The NEA Foundation announced the expansion of a Digital Arts Alliance initiative for its Achievement Gap Sites initiative which enhances the way that teachers and young people experience and acquire 21st Century skills. The programs include professional development; classroom experiences; and technological capacity grants supported by Digital Arts Alliance partners the Pearson Foundation, ISTE, and Peachpit. The NEA Foundation announced that the first districts to take part in the program, during the 2008-9 academic year, with be in Seattle and Milwaukee. Districts in southern Ohio, which took part in the 2008 pilot, will also be included in the program.


In addition, The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) announced the expansion of the Digital Arts Alliance Leadership Institute program. This program cultivates leadership teams across the United States in partnership with ISTE regional affiliates and supports new, innovative digital arts programs in participating school districts.

"All of these organizations recognize that for today's young people, success in school and in life requires educational experiences that meet the challenges of our new century," said Mark Nieker, president, the Pearson Foundation. "They are helping to ensure the success of the Digital Arts Alliance, and the continued development of confident, technologically proficient school leaders."

About The Digital Arts Alliance

Each year, the Digital Arts Alliance makes it possible for more than 15,000 students and teachers to experience firsthand how laptop computers, video production equipment, and the latest mobile-phone technologies are changing the ways young people can organize, present, and share information about issues that matter to them.

About the Pearson Foundation

The Pearson Foundation extends Pearson's commitment to education by partnering with leading nonprofit, civic, and business organizations to provide financial, organizational, and publishing assistance across the globe. The foundation aims to make a difference by sponsoring innovative educational programs and extending its educational expertise to help in classrooms and in local communities. More information on the Pearson Foundation can be found at www.pearsonfoundation.org.

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