SCORE!

Educational Centers

SCORE! Educational Centers (commonly SCORE!), 2 Personalization in educational

was owned by Kaplan, Inc., which is a subsidiary
of Graham Holdings Company, and was a United
software
States provider of customized supplementary education
and one-on-three tutoring services for children in By developing a retail business model to deliver
kindergarten through ninth grade. SCORE! of- educational software for a monthly fee, SCORE! made
fered materials in multiple subjects, including reading, available to individual consumers access to a large
mathematics, language arts, and writing. In 2009, all personalization software system that was originated by
SCORE! centers were closed or converted to Kaplan Stanford professors, Patrick Suppes and Richard C.
centers.[1] Atkinson, and was previously only available to select
schools and the Education Program for Gifted Youth. In
At its height, SCORE! had over 165 centers in twelve 1963, IBM had established a partnership with Stanford
states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Universitys Institute for Mathematical Studies in the So-
Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, cial Sciences (IMSSS), directed by Suppes, to develop
New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia, and also in the rst comprehensive CAI elementary school curricu-
the District of Columbia, and in Israel. lum which was implemented on a large scale in schools
in both California and Mississippi. In 1967 Computer
Curriculum Corporation (CCC, now Pearson Education
Technologies[4] ) was formed to market to schools the ma-
terials developed through the IBM partnership. As a stu-
dent worked on the CCC software, the system learned the
users strengths and weaknesses and created customized
lessons based on criterion-referenced testing that pro-
1 Positive reinforcement duced on a personalized prole for each student.[5] The
instructional design, based on automated personalization,
was considered innovative in the early 1990s, compared
SCORE! employed methods of positive reinforcement to to the traditional classroom model of instruction where
help students set and achieve academic goals. After ten- students would cover educational material together at
minute computer lessons, called learning workouts, stu- the same pace.[6] Based on computer-generated progress
dents obtained SCORE! cards, small magnetic squares reports that CCC measured against national curriculum
emblazoned with the SCORE! logo, which were earned standards, typical students at SCORE! who worked for
for scoring over 70% on a lesson or making basketball six months, or forty computer-hours, increased the equiv-
shots. Students saved these cards at home or redeemed alent of approximately two years in a classroom in math
them for prizes (balls, Disneyland tickets, etc.). Because or reading.[7]
students spent most of their time at the computer, bas-
ketball shots broke up the lessons and allowed students
to let out active energy. Shots were awarded for doing
well on lessons or completing a full hour of lessons. The
3 History
SCORE! coaches also awarded students with high ves.
With help from their SCORE! coaches, students set long- 3.1 Startup years: 1992-1996
term goals in an academic subject, measured against na-
tional curriculum standards. Students tracked their long- Company founder, Alan Tripp, a graduate of Stanford
term progress on the "SCORE! Mountain" located in the University, opened the rst SCORE! Educational Cen-
learning centera goal program that rewards comple- ter in Palo Alto, California, in November 1992, and
tion, helping students to set and pursue academic goals: hired the companys rst two Directors, Kai Drekmeier
students attained bronze, silver, gold, and even 'top of the and Ingrid Stabb, who helped Tripp further develop the
mountain' goals when they completed a certain number SCORE! concept and company culture throughout the
of sessions, advancing them up a wooden mountain to startup years. In the summer of 1993, Stabb opened
the summit.[2] Positive reinforcement was a strong part the second center in Menlo Park, California, established
of the corporate culture, as documented in Harvard Busi- protability for the rst time for the SCORE! center
ness School Case Studies in 1999 and 2000.[3] business model,[8] and addressed customer attrition is-

1
2 6 EXTERNAL LINKS

sues in the model by developing SCORE! Mountain.,[2] Orange County, Texas, and Georgia among other cen-
the companys rst long-term customer loyalty program ters in the remaining regions.[12] The closures were fo-
for the students with a reporting system for their parents. cused primarily on centers that solely oered only one of
Drekmeier opened the third center in Los Altos, Cali- Score!'s programs (either the Advantage Program or the
fornia, beginning a period of rapid growth for the com- Personal Academic Tutoring program.) The company re-
pany. SCORE!'s early success was attributed to person- structuring resulted in certain management and terminat-
alized educational software provided by Computer Cur- ing certain employees from closed centers. The remain-
riculum Corporation (CCC), the corporate culture fueled ing centers oered both programs to increase revenue
by energetic SCORE! coaches,[3] and the loyalty busi- opportunities.[13] As of January, 2008, Score! operated
ness model. Glenn Tripp, Alan Tripps brother, joined 80 centers in eight states.
the company and opened the sixth center, in San Jose,
California in 1994. Glen Tripp soon joined the executive
management team and helped lead the company to fur-
ther successes and operational eciencies. Other profes-
4 SCORE! closes all operations
sionals who played early leading roles in shaping the start- June 2009
up company in 1993 and 1994 included (in alphabetical
order) Ben Besley, James Cleveland, Gail Derecho, Alli- Score revenues declined 41% in the rst quarter of 2009,
son Don, Sarah Hainstock, David Hannigan, Rich Kelley, and operating losses at Score increased from $3.7 million
Thomas Layton, Elizabeth Phythian, and Ann Smith. in the rst quarter of 2008 to $17.6 million in the rst
After 1995, the company expanded its cadre of center di- quarter of 2009, inclusive of restructuring charges. At
rectors and SCORE! coaches and grew to 19 centers serv- the end of March 2009, the Washington Post Company
ing thousands of students throughout California. With a approved a plan to oer tutoring services, previously pro-
chain of prime retail locations secured, the rm sought to vided at Score, in Kaplan test prep centers. In conjunc-
increase revenue per center by investing in two new ser- tion with this plan, 14 existing Score centers will be con-
vices: SCORE! Learning Adventures and Personal Aca- verted into Kaplan test prep centers and the remaining 64
demic Tutoring. In 1996 CCC decided not to sign an Score centers will be closed. The plan is expected to be
exclusive licensing agreement with SCORE! and instead substantially completed by the end of the second quarter
awarded licensing to Kaplan. This limited SCORE!'s of 2009. Washington Post recorded $11.5 million in asset
ability to expand, as the initial deal only allowed Alan write-downs, severance and accelerated depreciation of
Tripp to expand to eight more centers. In order to bypass xed assets in the rst quarter of 2009, including a $9.2
this limit, on 17 April 1996, Kaplan acquired SCORE! in million write-down on Scores software product. Addi-
a deal worth less than $10 million USD. In 1999, Tripp tional operating losses of approximately $19.2 million are
went on to found another educational services business, expected to be recorded during the remainder of 2009;
InsideTrack focused on coaching college students. these estimated losses are related to the wind-down pe-
riod of the 64 Score centers to be closed, including $15.0
million related to lease obligations, severance and accel-
3.2 A decade of national expansion: 1997- erated depreciation of xed assets. Poor upper regional
2006 management and internal weak structures eventually led
to a class action lawsuit for violating labor laws brought
Once owned by Kaplan, Inc., the company expanded to on by Score! employees which settled out of court for an
over 165 locations in eleven states at its height. The divi- undisclosed amount. [14]
sion moved its headquarters from San Francisco, CA to
Jack London Square. By 2005, the learning centers had
helped more than 250,000 students since it rst opened 5 See also
its doors in Palo Alto, CA.[9] By 2006, the centers served
82,000 students per year.[10] The division headquarters
moved again to Chicago, IL. Inquiry education

Philosophy of education
3.3 Later developments: 2007 to present
Personalization
In 2007 Kaplan and SCORE! released SCORE! Moun-
tain Challenge Workbook Series and interactive compan-
ion. 6 External links
The same year, likely due to continued weak results in
revenue,[11] Kaplan made the decision to close 75 Score! SCORE! Mountain Book website
centers, nearly half of the total 160 centers as of the end
of 2007, eliminating entirely the regions in San Diego, Kaplan website
 3

7 References and external sources Sherwood, Emily, Ph.D. "Helping Students Climb
the Learning Curve: From Base Camp to Summit
[1] The Washington Post Company Reports First Quarter with Kaplans Tutoring Company, SCORE!" Edu-
Earnings cation Update Online, May 2007.

[2] Education Update - Helping Students Climb the Learning Adler, Christine, "New Workbook Series Aims at
Curve Avoiding the Academic 'Summer Slide'" NYMetro-
Parents, October 13, 2007.
[3] Harvard Business Online

[4] Pearson Education Technologies launches concert. | Ed-

ucation & Training > Education Systems & Institutions
from AllBusiness.com

[5] Instructional Systems Development

[6] Seels, B. (1989). The instructional design movement in

educational technology. Educational Technology, May,
11-15.

[7] The Campbell Reporter | SCORE! Educational Center

[8] A Learning Center Thrives, and Prots, in a Poor Locale

- New York Times

[9] SCORE! Educational Centers Partners With Headsprout

to Oer Early Reading Program for 4- to 7-Year-Olds

[10] Avoid Learnin Loss This Summer With SCORE! Summer

Programs

[11] http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=62487&p=
irol-newsArticle&ID=995871&highlight=

[12] http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=62487&p=
irol-newsArticle&ID=1112934&highlight=

[13] http://www.scorelearning.com/find

[14] http://www.washpostco.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=62487&
p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1283230&highlight=

Seels, B. (1989). The instructional design move-

ment in educational technology. Educational Tech-
nology, May, 11-15.

Niemiec, R.P. & Walberg, H.T. (1989). From

teaching machines to microcomputers: Some mile-
stones in the history of computer-based instruction.
Journal of Research on Computing in Education,
21(3), 263-276.

Wyatt, Edward, "A Learning Center Thrives, and

Prots, in a Poor Locale" The New York Times, De-
cember 22, 1999.

Mayes, Erin, "Private tutorial center opens to serve

students in Cambrian area" The Campell Reporter,
April 18, 2001.

"Pearson Education Technologies launches concert"

Heller Report on Educational Technology Markets,
December 1, 2002.
4 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text
SCORE! Educational Centers Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCORE!_Educational_Centers?oldid=766117466 Contributors:
Zundark, Tedernst, Edward, Flauto Dolce, HaeB, Icairns, ESkog, Scm83x, Rjwilmsi, CR85747, Gurch, Tinlinkin, Garion96, RG2, Smack-
Bot, Shalom Yechiel, Alanhtripp, RichardF, Saxbryn, Lahiru k, Pit-yacker, Cydebot, SyntaxError55, Alaibot, Mitchoyoshitaka, Barticus88,
Dsp13, TAnthony, Magioladitis, Nigholith, Marc morgenstern, Funandtrvl, Shortride, Urbanrenewal, Krb2182, JoshJGT, Barkeep, Anto-
nio Lopez, Xnatedawgx, Dlrohrer2003, ClueBot, DumZiBoT, Jaydec, Lightbot, Yobot, SVGBot, Osewib, Transmissionelement, Jtactor,
Jfs1234, BG19bot, Cyberbot II, Adam9007, BD2412bot, Bender the Bot and Anonymous: 44

8.2 Images

8.3 Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0