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Wireless Generation and Harcourt School Publishers Announce Partnership to Create mCLASS(R):DIBELS(R) StoryTown Edition and mCLASS:DIBELS Trophies Edition

Posted on: Monday, 22 October 2007, 12:00 CDT

Wireless Generation, the leading company offering mobile- and Web-based technology for managing and improving teaching and learning in grades PreK-12, and Harcourt School Publishers (HSP) today announced a partnership to develop products that make a direct link between assessment data and leading core reading programs. These products, mCLASS:DIBELS StoryTown Edition and mCLASS:DIBELS Trophies Edition, will guide teachers to the appropriate lessons within HSP's StoryTown and Trophies curricula based on student results from Wireless Generation's mCLASS:DIBELS assessment, reporting, and data analysis solution. Through this partnership, the two companies are responding to educators who are eager for help in bridging the gap between formative assessment results, which shed light on student progress and learning needs throughout the school year, and the core curricula teachers use to provide their primary classroom reading instruction.

Teachers nationwide use the research-based K-6 Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS®) reading assessment to screen for students at risk, understand their learning needs, and monitor their progress. The mCLASS system enables teachers to give the DIBELS easily, efficiently, and accurately by using a handheld computer. The handheld device guides teachers through assessment administration, automates timing, and scores DIBELS instantly, for immediate insight into student learning needs. When the handheld is "synced" to a Web-connected computer, student assessment results are uploaded to a secure Website and made immediately available and useful to teachers and administrators via a series of customizable reports. Educators rely upon the mCLASS reports and data analysis tools to make timely, informed decisions about individual student-, small group-, and full class- instruction.

The mCLASS:DIBELS StoryTown and mCLASS:DIBELS Trophies Editions take teachers a step further by recommending specific lessons from the StoryTown and Trophies programs for follow-up instruction with individual students or groups of students who have similar learning challenges. The handheld and the mCLASS Website both direct teachers to the specific lessons in the reading program materials.

"From the beginning, our company's mission has been to help educators use rich, real-time information about their students' learning progress to shape classroom practice, and school- and district-wide program management. By integrating our mCLASS:DIBELS formative assessment and reporting tools with some of the most broadly used curriculum programs, these new offerings will help many thousands of educators tailor reading instruction to the precise needs of individual children, day by day," said Josh Reibel, Wireless Generation's President and Chief Operating Officer.

"Wireless Generation is an innovator in the education field, with its mCLASS system transforming the role of formative assessment in teaching and learning. Our customers have been asking that we work together to make it even easier for teachers to make data-based decisions using our StoryTown and Trophies PreK-grade 6 reading programs," said Catherine Crowe-Lile, Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing, Harcourt School Publishers.

Wireless Generation offers a range of mCLASS:DIBELS editions linked to leading basal programs. For more information about mCLASS:DIBELS StoryTown Edition and mCLASS:DIBELS Trophies Edition, visit www.wirelessgeneration.com. For more information about StoryTown and Trophies reading programs, visit www.harcourtschool.com.

About Wireless Generation

Wireless Generation pioneered the adaptation of mobile technologies, including handheld computers and digital pens, for use in managing and improving teaching and learning in grades pre-K-12. The company's commitment to listening to educators and gaining a deep understanding of their challenges has lead to the development of offerings that optimally combine mobile tools, Internet technology, and in-person services to help improve student achievement in reading and math. Wireless Generation's mCLASS® products and services streamline collection of data about student learning needs and school operations, facilitate data analysis and interpretation, and build educators' capacity to implement data-driven instructional programs that deliver better outcomes for children. State and district school systems across the country and overseas now rely upon these offerings to achieve and sustain growth in their classrooms. Currently, more than 100,000 teachers in 49 states and overseas use mCLASS to collect, analyze, and act on data about over 3 million students' reading and math learning. More information is available on the Web at www.wirelessgeneration.com.

About Harcourt School Publishers

Harcourt School Publishers is a leading publisher of textbooks and instructional materials for grades preK through 6. It is part of Harcourt Education, a global education provider serving students and teachers in PreK through grade 12, adult learners, and readers of all ages. The Harcourt Education companies include Harcourt School Publishers (including Rigby, Saxon, and Harcourt Religion), Holt, Rinehart and Winston (including Steck-Vaughn), Harcourt Assessment, Inc., and Harcourt Trade Publishers. For further information, please visit http://www.harcourt.com. Harcourt Education is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc. (www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and information provider owned equally by Reed Elsevier PLC (NYSE: RUK) and Reed Elsevier NV (NYSE: ENL).

Source: Business Wire

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