SCORE! Mountain
Encyclopedia
Score Mountain conceived of in 1993 by Ingrid Stabb
, a loyalty marketing
professional in Palo Alto, California
, is utilized to visualize and track a goal
based on goal-setting theory. It encapsulates a long-term "goal program that rewards completion, helping students to set and pursue academic goals: students attain bronze, silver, gold, and even 'top of the mountain' goals when they complete a certain number of sessions, advancing them up a wooden mountain to the summit." Wooden sculptures of SCORE! Mountain can be found in SCORE! Educational Centers
around the United States and Israel. SCORE! Mountain Challenge is also the brand
name of a K-12 series of educational workbooks.
The first SCORE! Mountain was created on paper in 1993 for a first grade boy who was struggling to learn to read. The boy could fill in his progress with a felt marker on a picture depicting him riding a bicycle up and over the mountain. Cycling up the mountain represented learning phonetics and how to sound out words. Reaching the pinnacle represented reading his very first paragraph by himself, whereas the rest of the path “would be all down hill from there” as he prepared for second grade reading. The boy enjoyed using the mountain as a motivational metaphor and started reading paragraphs by himself in no time.
The loyalty marketing professional who created the mountain soon thereafter commissioned a large wall version designed in plastics by a local artist, and installed it in Menlo Park, California
in a SCORE! Educational Center
. There, students K-10 set goals in reading, mathematics
, spelling
, language arts
, science
, keyboarding, or writing
, then tracked their progress with felt markers on paper versions of the mountain. When the students attained their goals, they would receive bronze, silver, and gold award ribbons
, and their names were placed on SCORE! Mountain.
The next iteration was a modern wooden sculpture that represented a mountain, commissioned by the founder of SCORE! Educational Centers. Students could affix moving game pieces with their names along the mountain. Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company, later built a SCORE! Mountain sculpture in each of its centers. According to the company website, in 2008 there were 165 learning centers serving 82,000 children per year.
of SCORE! Mountain with The SCORE! Mountain Challenge Workbook Series, a line of educational books for students grades K-6. The series includes 12 workbooks and dynamic content on the Internet that adheres to standards set forth by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Council of Teachers of English.
efforts that rewarded students, and therefore encouraged repeat visits to learning centers— behavior which was as a benefit to SCORE! Educational Centers profit
model. The business model for SCORE! Educational Centers was documented in Harvard Business School Case Studies
in 1999 and 2000.
Ingrid Stabb
Ingrid Stabb is an American author and an innovator in the field of personalization. Her innovations have been applied to product management, loyalty marketing, and career management at global Fortune 500 companies and international startups...
, a loyalty marketing
Loyalty marketing
Loyalty marketing is an approach to marketing, based on strategic management, in which a company focuses on growing and retaining existing customers through incentives...
professional in Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
, is utilized to visualize and track a goal
Goal
A goal is an objective, or a projected computation of affairs, that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve.Goal, GOAL or G.O.A.L may also refer to:Sport...
based on goal-setting theory. It encapsulates a long-term "goal program that rewards completion, helping students to set and pursue academic goals: students attain bronze, silver, gold, and even 'top of the mountain' goals when they complete a certain number of sessions, advancing them up a wooden mountain to the summit." Wooden sculptures of SCORE! Mountain can be found in SCORE! Educational Centers
SCORE! Educational Centers
SCORE! Educational Centers , was owned by Kaplan, Inc., which is a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company, and was a United States provider of customized supplementary education and one-on-three tutoring services for children in kindergarten through ninth grade...
around the United States and Israel. SCORE! Mountain Challenge is also the brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
name of a K-12 series of educational workbooks.
The first SCORE! Mountain was created on paper in 1993 for a first grade boy who was struggling to learn to read. The boy could fill in his progress with a felt marker on a picture depicting him riding a bicycle up and over the mountain. Cycling up the mountain represented learning phonetics and how to sound out words. Reaching the pinnacle represented reading his very first paragraph by himself, whereas the rest of the path “would be all down hill from there” as he prepared for second grade reading. The boy enjoyed using the mountain as a motivational metaphor and started reading paragraphs by himself in no time.
The loyalty marketing professional who created the mountain soon thereafter commissioned a large wall version designed in plastics by a local artist, and installed it in Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...
in a SCORE! Educational Center
SCORE! Educational Centers
SCORE! Educational Centers , was owned by Kaplan, Inc., which is a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company, and was a United States provider of customized supplementary education and one-on-three tutoring services for children in kindergarten through ninth grade...
. There, students K-10 set goals in reading, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, spelling
Spelling
Spelling is the writing of one or more words with letters and diacritics. In addition, the term often, but not always, means an accepted standard spelling or the process of naming the letters...
, language arts
Language arts
Traditionally, the primary divisions in the language arts are Literature and Language, where language in this case refers to both linguistics, and specific languages....
, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, keyboarding, or writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
, then tracked their progress with felt markers on paper versions of the mountain. When the students attained their goals, they would receive bronze, silver, and gold award ribbons
Award ribbon
A ribbon is an award made from ribbon and presented to mark an achievement. Such ribbons usually have a pin or other fastener with which the award can be attached to clothing, walls, or other surfaces....
, and their names were placed on SCORE! Mountain.
The next iteration was a modern wooden sculpture that represented a mountain, commissioned by the founder of SCORE! Educational Centers. Students could affix moving game pieces with their names along the mountain. Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company, later built a SCORE! Mountain sculpture in each of its centers. According to the company website, in 2008 there were 165 learning centers serving 82,000 children per year.
Books
In May 2007, Kaplan Publishing released a brand extensionBrand extension
Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use this strategy to increase and leverage brand equity...
of SCORE! Mountain with The SCORE! Mountain Challenge Workbook Series, a line of educational books for students grades K-6. The series includes 12 workbooks and dynamic content on the Internet that adheres to standards set forth by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Council of Teachers of English.
Loyalty program
SCORE! Mountain also served as a loyalty program with structured marketingMarketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
efforts that rewarded students, and therefore encouraged repeat visits to learning centers— behavior which was as a benefit to SCORE! Educational Centers profit
Profit (economics)
In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total opportunity costs of a venture to an entrepreneur or investor, whilst economic profit In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total...
model. The business model for SCORE! Educational Centers was documented in Harvard Business School Case Studies
Harvard Business School Publishing
Harvard Business Publishing was founded in 1994 as a not-for-profit, wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. Its mission is to improve the practice of management and its impact in a changing world. The company consists of three market groups: Higher Education, Corporate Learning, and Harvard...
in 1999 and 2000.
External links
- http://www.scoremountain.com/: Kaplan Publishing description of SCORE! Mountain Challenge Workbook Series