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“We are still very much in the school-management and charter-school-management business. But we need to be able to partner with all reform-minded educators,” said Joseph Wise, the company’s chief education officer and a former superintendent of the Duval County, Fla., school district. “To do that, we have to increase our offerings as well as our delivery system.”

Meanwhile, Edison founder and chairman Christopher Whittle and vice chairman Benno C. Schmidt are working on a plan to open a global chain of private schools through a related company, Nations Academy. (See Education Week, Dec. 19, 2007.)
‘New Platforms’

Terry Stecz, Edison’s chief executive officer, said the company is trying to find ways to create “new platforms” to improve student performance, especially since it serves many low-achieving students. It is trying to use what it has learned in running schools, he said, to become “the preferred partner for large urban systems, states, or cities.” Doing that requires the ability to deliver a “continuum of solutions,” including a robust array of online options, he said.

In that vein, Edison has been developing a “hybrid” school design model that would enable students to learn both through traditional classroom methods and newer technological means, Mr. Stecz said. For the past three years, Edison has also been marketing its services as a turnaround specialist for districts with, schools in need of restructuring.

The additional lines of service can help the company — which has often been criticized for “taking over” schools — reposition itself as a collaborator with a range of approaches, Mr. Stecz said. “We’ve learned in almost 20 years there is no one solution,” he said. “So it’s important to get into a community … and create a portfolio that can address many needs.”

Steven Pines, the executive director of the Education Industry Association, a Rockville, Md.-based advocacy group for private-sector education companies, said he sees Edison’s move as a “diversification of business strategy that is smart and in tune with market changes.”

“The online marketplace is one of the hottest-growing niches in K-12,” he said. “To maintain its position as a well-known education brand, Edison is probably well served to step into that virtual space.”

Edison also announced that it is launching the EdisonLearning Institute, a research-and-development arm. John E. Chubb, an Edison co-founder and the company’s senior executive vice president for new-product development, will be the institute’s managing director.

Company aims to partner, not compete with school districts.