Career Development Accounting Curriculum Available on bigchalk: Standards-based curriculum modules give accounting career basics for students and teachers

bigchalk, the leading K-12 online education network, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Foundation, today announced the launch of a new program to teach students, parents and educators about the value of accounting in the business world.

Career Development Accounting Curriculum Available on bigchalk

Standards-based curriculum modules give accounting career basics
for students and teachers

NEW YORK, June 24, 2002 - bigchalk, the leading K-12 online education network, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Foundation, today announced the launch of a new program to teach students, parents and educators about the value of accounting in the business world. This initiative is part of a longer-term campaign by the AICPA to increase interest and awareness in the profession. The AICPA will also provide access to their standards-based curriculum modules designed to introduce high-school students to accounting and business concepts. The curriculum materials can be found at www.bigchalk.com.

This is an excellent example of high quality content and curriculum fully integrated into bigchalks award-winning Web site," said Nan Halperin, Vice President, Consumer Sales and Marketing. Accounting training provides an excellent foundation for those students who want to play an important role in any number of business settings. By partnering with the AICPA to deliver their excellent curriculum materials, we ensure that bigchalk visitors have the best of information at their fingertips."

Our objective is to provide teachers with high-quality, standards-based curriculum materials that will interest students in the profession and inform them of the many career possibilities," said Stuart Kessler, chair of the AICPA Foundation. The fifteen-part curriculum is easy to follow and is available in PDF format on bigchalks Web site. We chose bigchalk.com to showcase these materials because of bigchalks commitment to quality content and impressive reach to the education community."

This program is a wonderful complement to our on-going initiatives to reach students and inform them about accounting and the many possibilities a career in business can hold" said John Hunnicutt, AICPA Senior Vice President of Public Affairs. We look forward to a successful partnership between the AICPA and bigchalk."

More information and access to the curriculum can be found at www.bigchalk.com/aicpa.

About AICPA Foundation
The AICPA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization created to advance the science of accountancy, improve accountancy education and encourage diversity within the profession.The Foundation, which complements the work of the AICPA, is committed to attracting a talented, diverse array of students into the CPA profession and supporting educational systems that develop world-class accounting professionals.

About the AICPA
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is the national, professional organization of CPAs, with more than 330,000 members in business and industry, public practice, government, and education. It sets U.S. auditing and professional ethical standards and, with the Financial Accounting Standards Board, U.S. accounting standards. The AICPA is the first national, professional association to be ISO 9001-certified, in recognition of its quality management and assurance practices.

About bigchalk, The Education Network

bigchalk, the digital learning source for education, harnesses the power of online content to create engaging learning environments that promote student achievement. The company offers up-to-date online reference databases, standards-based digital curriculum and easy-to-use tools for preparing lessons. Librarians, students and teachers in more than 43,000 schools across the country receive the resources they need from bigchalk. Its award-winning Web site - recipient of both the Software & Information Industry Association's (SIIA) coveted Codie Award in the category of Best Educational Web Site for Kids and Gold Award 2001 by Curriculum Administrator magazine - offers a host of educational resources including study activities for students, informational resources for parents, and online lesson plans for teachers.

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