The University of Chicago Magazine December 1995A University-formed company that produces elementary-level math ma- terials developed at Chicago has been sold for $25 million.
Everyday Learning Corporation--established in 1988 by ARCH, a University development corporation that oversees commercial ventures developed from research at the U of C and at Argonne National Laboratory--was sold to the Tribune Company this fall. An Evanston-based company, Everyday Learning publishes materials developed by the U of C School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) for elementary-school students. The curriculum encourages students to begin their study of mathematics in more practical and playful ways, typically resulting in higher standardized test scores.
"I think the success of Everyday Learning illustrates what ARCH is all about," said Thomas Churchwell, president and CEO of ARCH, headquartered at the Graduate School of Business.
"Our intent was not to establish a publishing company for the purpose of holding onto it," Churchwell explains. "What we do is take a research development at the University, surround it with an envelope, the start-up company, and help it grow so that it is something that can be sold.
"With Everyday Learning, we started with a company that had essentially zero sales and watched it grow to where it was doing $13 million to $14 million a year in sales."
The Tribune's purchase of Everyday Learning continues the company's ventures into educational publishing. Tribune operates 14 radio and TV stations and publishes four daily newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune.
The sale is also the latest success for UCSMP, which is now the largest university-based mathematics education project in the country, with between 2 million and 3 million students in approximately 3,000 school districts nationwide using its materials.
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