Pearson Announces the Inclusion of Google Maps API Premier in Student Information Systems

Pearson today announced that Google Maps API Premier™ has been integrated into their flagship student information system (SIS) products.

Rancho Cordova, CA (PRWEB) June 24, 2009 -- Pearson (www.pearson.com), the global leader in education and education technology, today announced that Google Maps API Premier™ has been integrated into their flagship student information system (SIS) products. Google Maps will be used in PowerSchool® Premier (http://www.pearsonschoolsystems.com/products/powerschool/) and Chancery® SMS (http://www.pearsonschoolsystems.com/products/sms/) to create school and district boundaries and to validate and correct addresses entered into the systems.

Address accuracy is critical for schools and districts for several reasons, including:

•    Schools and districts must ensure that reports cards, newsletters, and other important information sent by mail is deliverable to a valid address

•    Schools and districts must validate that a student's address falls within school and district boundaries to ensure adherence to state and local regulations

With Google Maps within PowerSchool Premier and Chancery SMS, districts and schools will be able to easily draw a detailed border around the school and district geographic boundary. During normal student enrollment, administrative staff will enter a student's address and quickly verify that the address is valid and within district boundaries. The geocode associated with each address is generated automatically by Google Maps API Premier and will determine if the student is within or outside of district boundaries. The Google Maps technology will also offer recommendations for spelling and format changes to the address, which the administrator can choose to accept or decline.

Additionally, Pearson has added functionality which enables existing student addresses to be validated and cleansed in batch format, saving hours of time and effort for administrative staff.

"Pearson's integration of Google Maps API Premier into their SIS will provide faster, more accurate and more efficient management of the Pearson SIS products," said Daniel Chu, Google Maps API Premier Product Manager. "Google is pleased to work with Pearson on saving school districts and their employees time and money while adopting innovative new technologies."

Pearson chose to integrate Google Maps due to the rich features and extended reach of Google Maps. From within their Pearson SIS, districts will be able to validate addresses directly, eliminating the need to maintain separate databases and manually validate addresses. Cost savings may be realized as returned mail will be reduced.

"Our integration with Google Maps overcomes the main challenges facing today's schools and districts with managing student addresses," said Bryan MacDonald, Chief Technology Officer of the School Systems group of Pearson. "Schools today are spending countless hours managing student address data, a process that is prone to user error, costing schools time and money. Using Google Maps API Premier provides our customers this critical functionality in a familiar format representing an ease-of-use breakthrough when compared to the typical address technology in other systems. In fact, by leveraging Google Maps API Premier, we eliminate the need to maintain a separate database of addresses and instead rely on a service widely recognized as the premier source of address and geocode data."

Both PowerSchool Premier and Chancery SMS are deployed in schools and districts around the world, including over fifty countries, covering 3,200 customers serving more than 7.2 million students. Google Maps functionality will be available in both the PowerSchool® Premier version 6, and Chancery® SMS version 7, which are both scheduled for release this summer. For more information, visit www.PearsonSchoolSystems.com.

About Pearson

Pearson(NYSE: PSO), the global leader in education and education technology, reaches and engages today's digital natives with effective and personalized learning, as well as dedicated professional development for their teachers. This commitment is demonstrated in the company's investment in innovative print and digital education materials for preK through college, student information systems and learning management systems, teacher professional development, career certification programs, and testing and assessment products that set the standard for the industry. The company's respected brands include Scott Foresman, Prentice Hall, Addison Wesley, Benjamin Cummings, PEMSolutions, Stanford 10, SuccessNet, MyLabs, PowerSchool, SuccessMaker, and many others. Pearson's comprehensive offerings help inform targeted instruction and intervention so that success is within reach of every student at every level of education. Pearson's commitment to education for all is supported by the global philanthropic initiatives of the Pearson Foundation. Pearson's other primary businesses include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.

Google and Google Maps API Premier are trademarks of Google, Inc.

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