About Us

Our Mission

Metropolitan Teaching and Learning (Metro) is committed to working with educators to close the achievement gap and increase the percentage of students scoring at or above grade level on high-stakes tests. Metro’s authors and employees share:

• A firm belief that the research about how different cohorts of children learn should guide and inform the decisions we make about the instructional materials we produce.
• A belief that all children must be challenged if they are to succeed.
• A compelling conviction that all children be represented in their instructional materials.

Company Focus

Started in 1998, Metro addresses the needs of elementary school teachers, students, and parents by developing researched-based, culturally responsive instructional materials in reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies for Grades Pre-K – 8. Given Metro’s belief that all children should see themselves in instructional materials, Metro’s programs represent the most racially, culturally, and gender-sensitive instructional programs available in the educational market. Metro also develops for school districts customized programs to meet district and state standards. Many of its products are also available in Spanish.

Customers

Metro’s products and services support the nation’s large urban school districts and consortiums of smaller school districts with high concentrations of minority students. Metro also provides instructional materials to supplemental educational service providers and other organizations that deliver educational services to elementary school students.

Metro has built custom programs for four of the nation’s top 11 school districts: Chicago, Houston, Detroit, and Hillsborough County, Florida (Tampa). Other key customers include New York City Public Schools, the Consortium of School Districts in the State of Connecticut, the Consortium of Black School Districts in Alabama, Platform Learning, and Project GRAD.

Products and Services

Metro develops and publishes supplementary and core instructional materials for Grades Pre-K – 8 in reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies. Additionally, Metro develops customized programs for school districts to meet district and state standards, and develops customized instructional materials for organizations that deliver educational services.

History

Metropolitan Teaching and Learning is the outgrowth of founder Reginald Powe’s previous company, Curriculum Concepts, Inc. (CCI), which he served as CEO and Chairman. CCI created basal, supplemental, and intervention programs for most of the nation’s elementary and secondary school publishers. For more than 20 years, CCI was the largest company in the nation to provide editorial, art, design, and production services to these publishers.

Metro was, and continues to be, a leader in the practice of developing standards-driven instructional materials designed specifically to meet the needs of individual school districts. Since its inception as a company in 1998, customers have grown to view their relationship with Metro as a partnership, and they continue to see positive outcomes with their students’ test scores and in their commitment to their own learning.

In 2003, Metropolitan Teaching and Learning was acquired by Cambium Learning, which enhances and extends Metro’s mission to close the achievement gap. Cambium is a new education company that provides research-based, culturally responsive and proven instructional materials, services, and technology to educators. Cambium’s purpose is to help educators raise the achievement level of Pre-K through Grade 12 students who are underserved by existing instructional resources.

Awards and Achievements

• In 2003, Metro founder Reginald Powe was asked to serve on the National Advisory Board of The HistoryMakers, a nonprofit educational institution that contains the largest video archive of African American history in the world.
• In 2001, Metro received the prestigious New York City Partnership’s Vanguard Award for exceptional business achievement and commitment to the New York City community.