Colonial Williamsburg, Pearson Scott Foresman Forge American History Partnership; Nation’s Leader in Living History to Develop Materials for Leading Educational Publisher

11/13/2003

From: Jim Bradley of Colonial Williamsburg, 757-220-7281; e-mail: jbradley@cwf.org; web: http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org; Rod Granger of Pearson Education, 212-782-3486; e-mail: rod.granger@pearsoned.com

WILLIAMSBURGH, Va., Nov. 13 -- Pearson Scott Foresman, the world's leading elementary educational publisher, and Colonial Williamsburg, the nation's largest living history museum and leading provider of early American history content, announced a new partnership today at the annual meeting of the National Council for the Social Studies. The agreement marks the nation's first history education partnership between a textbook publisher and a living history museum.

Colonial Williamsburg will create, develop and provide material for Pearson Scott Foresman textbooks designed to help teachers engage, excite and inspire their students about America's history. The content and presentation of these materials will be age and grade appropriate.

In addition, Colonial Williamsburg is developing a special technology resource for Scott Foresman Social Studies. This CD-ROM based product will teach young students to think like historians by introducing them to a variety of primary sources and to sound practices of historical research.

-- Helping the Future Learn from the Past

"Right now in our country, there is much debate about the teaching of history and the best way to accomplish it," said Colin G. Campbell, president and chairman of Colonial Williamsburg. "The debate itself is productive; our nation is the product of a long and conflicted conversation about values and actions. Our partnership with Pearson Scott Foresman is a natural progression in ensuring that the lesson plan of American history is not reduced or diminished in its importance. It underscores the critical role America's history plays in our daily lives and advances the core of Colonial Williamsburg's educational mission - that the future may learn from the past."

"Colonial Williamsburg has inspired generations of children with a love and excitement for history and is uniquely well-qualified to bring its expertise into thousands of classrooms through this partnership, a partnership that addresses the critical role of history education in our nation's schools," said William E. White, Ph.D., executive producer and director of educational program development for Colonial Williamsburg.

"Colonial Williamsburg will make an invaluable contribution to our highly successful Social Studies program," said Paul McFall, president, Pearson Scott Foresman. "This partnership will extend our commitment to sharing the story of our nation's history in significant and innovative ways."

-- About Pearson Scott Foresman

The world's leading elementary educational publisher, Pearson Scott Foresman offers high quality, textbook based programs, instructional resources, software, video, audio and Web sites for teachers and students. Its comprehensive range of educational materials spans all school subject areas, including reading, language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, music, art and English as a second language. Pearson Scott Foresman includes the Scott Foresman, Scott Foresman - Addison Wesley, and Silver Burdett imprints.

Headquartered in Glenview, Illinois, Pearson Scott Foresman has regional offices in New Jersey, Georgia, Texas, Arizona and California. For more information, visit www.scottforesman.com, Pearson Scott Foresman is part of Pearson Education, the world's leading educational publisher.

-- About Pearson Education

Educating 100 million people worldwide, Pearson Education is the global leader in educational publishing. With brands such as Pearson Prentice Hall, Pearson Longman, Pearson Addison Wesley, and many others, Pearson Education provides quality content, assessment tools and educational services in all available media, spanning the learning curve from birth through college and beyond.

Pearson Education is part of Pearson (NYSE: PSO), the international media company. Pearson's primary operations also include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.

-- About Colonial Williamsburg

Established in 1926, Colonial Williamsburg is the not-for-profit educational foundation that operates the restored 18th-century capital of Virginia. Known worldwide as the nation's largest living history museum, Colonial Williamsburg is the nation's leader in educational resources for early American history. These resources include award-winning Electronic Field Trips that combine live, interactive television broadcasts and dedicated websites and are supported with lesson plans and other materials such as historical background, glossaries and timelines; the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute that provides teachers with on-site, hands-on immersion experiences in American history; interactive teaching techniques that make history exciting for students; and an extensive, interactive educational Website - http://www.history.org - that provides teachers and students with research on myriad topics of 18th-century history presented in an engaging, entertaining and informational manner.

Colonial Williamsburg is located 150 miles south of Washington, D.C., off Interstate 64. For more information or reservations, call toll-free (800) HISTORY or visit Colonial Williamsburg's Web site at http://www.ColonialWilliamsburg.com.