Press Releases

Scantron^® Introduces New Capabilities in New Item Editor, Equation Editor and Reporting Save Time

IRVINE, Calif. (July 5, 2006) - From the district office to the classroom, finding the time to manage ever-increasing assessment and accountability demands is a constant challenge for time-strapped educators. With the newest versions of its flagship products, Achievement Series™ and Performance Series™, Scantron^® today introduces new capabilities to save educators' time while improving ease of use, efficiency and flexibility. Scantron, a leading provider of formative and diagnostic assessment solutions for K-12 education, will unveil the new solutions at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in San Diego this week.

Achievement Series

The newly updated Achievement Series solution, a content-neutral flexible testing platform that educators use to develop and administer online and paper tests, features an all-new item editor that makes the item entry process quicker and easier than ever before.

With other web-based assessment programs, districts that create their own district benchmark assessments and classroom tests must jump back and forth between multiple screens to enter all the content necessary for just one test item. When creating dozens or hundreds of test items, the process can be particularly cumbersome and time-consuming.

With Achievement Series' new item editor, educators can enter item content, properties, standards and passages all on one screen, streamlining the item entry process and increasing efficiency. In addition, when adding items, users can choose to duplicate certain properties or standards to the next item, reducing duplicate data entry. For districts that regularly create their own benchmark assessments and classroom tests, the time savings can be dramatic. In addition, the item editor includes a powerful new equation editor that allows educators to easily create complex math equations in Achievement Series. This eliminates the need to create math equations in a different application and copy them into the program, creating additional time savings.

To provide added flexibility, Achievement Series also supports a custom numbering option for plain paper "answer key only" tests. This allows districts to easily use Achievement Series for a wide variety of tests, such as the Houghton Mifflin test booklets that are widely used in California.

Performance Series

Performance Series is a web-based, computer-adaptive test that educators use as a diagnostic, for student placement, and to do progress reporting. The new version of Performance Series features the addition of a year-to-year student report to allow school districts to easily track student growth and trends from year to year, and use the data to inform instructional decisions. With the new report, educators can quickly and easily display results data from every test a student has taken in the selected subject - all in one location. If a student has taken a test for several years, for example, educators will be able to get a good idea of how his or her scores are trending and possibly predict a range of scores for the next test administration.

"The real beauty of the new Achievement Series and Performance Series solutions is that they give teachers the ability to more deeply and accurately assess student comprehension, mastery, and overall performance — and to do so with relative ease," said Tim Loomer, president of Scantron's Testing & Assessment Division. "Increasing accountability demands have put so much pressure on today's educators. These new releases are just the latest step in our mission to help educators meet NCLB requirements, raise the level of student achievement, and perhaps ease their burden a bit by providing effective, dependable, easy-to-use solutions."

The new Achievement Series and Performance Series solutions will be available to all Scantron customers with active subscriptions on July 24.

About Achievement Series and Performance Series

Available together or as independent products, Achievement Series and Performance Series offer a tightly integrated approach to managing and administering multiple forms of assessment throughout the school year. Combining traditional fixed-form testing with computer adaptive testing using one online platform, the products work together to create a comprehensive assessment system that provides educators with the data necessary to make informed instructional decisions and improve student achievement.

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).

###

For More Information: JP Clark | 949-639-7640 | jp_clark@scantron.com