Press Releases

Updated K-12 Assessment Solution from Scantron Enhances Educators' Abilities to Organize and Analyze

IRVINE, CALIF (March 7, 2008) -Scantron, a leading provider of assessment and survey solutions designed to help education and commercial organizations measure and improve effectiveness, today announced the release of updated Achievement Series and Performance Series® software. The K-12 software assessment solution helps educators meet NCLB requirements and raise the level of student achievement through a unique combination of computer-adaptive diagnostic testing and standards-based formative assessment.

"These enhancements will improve the user experience and free up more time to focus on what is important - using the results to inform instruction." said Sean Ryan, senior vice president and general manager for Scantron's K-12 business unit.

Achievement Series Improves Organization and Streamlines Processes

The update to Achievement Series provides educators with enhanced test and test item organization as well as test sharing and reporting enhancements. These features provide educators with the ability to design a structure that meets the needs of their own district. 

In addition to enhanced test organization, the updated Achievement Series streamlines the process of sharing multiple tests and item banks to save valuable time. Test and report information that is accessed frequently is also highlighted to allow access to information and common tasks as quickly as possible.

Performance Series Research Provides Additional Data Analysis Options

The updated version of Performance Series provides educators with additional options for comparing student performance to their nationwide peers. Performance Series now includes new subjects, language arts and science, and a new winter timeframe for all four subjects’ areas. These changes allow Performance Series users to generate an NPR (national percentile ranking) score through a comparison against a nationally representative group, similar to the United States as a whole by gender, ethnicity and region. NPR scores enable teachers and parents to review student ability compared to others in the same grade level throughout the year.

In conjunction with the NPR updates, Performance Series also now provides normal curve equivalents (NCE) scores for students. NCEs are also provided by many state assessments and can indicate, within one year, increased rate of learning when points are gained. Both scores provide educators with a broader base of understanding for a student's standing and progress.

About Scantron Corporation

Scantron Corporation (www.scantron.com), headquartered in Irvine, Calif., helps education and commercial organizations measure and improve effectiveness with assessment and survey solutions. Scantron provides tools for the rapid, accurate and reliable capture of data with innovative software and survey solutions that leverage the company's expertise in world-class forms printing and scanner manufacturing. Scantron is a subsidiary of Harland Clarke Holdings Corp., which is wholly owned by M&F Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: MFW).