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Vantage Learning Upgrades Mississippi Student Progress Monitoring System to Empower Students With New Advanced Tools

Posted on: Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 15:00 CDT

Vantage Learning: Enhanced Web-based assessment tool for Mississippi schools and districts provides powerful system to track students' scholastic progress in five crucial subject areas for individualized snapshots of student achievement

Today Vantage Learning (www.VantageLearning.com) announced that schools and districts in Mississippi are using the just-released new version of the Student Progress Monitoring System (SPMS(TM)) for reading, math, writing, science, and social studies testing. Available for immediate use, this Web-based formative assessment and progress monitoring system is specially customized for the Mississippi Department of Education by Vantage, with more than 40,000 assessment items specifically aligned to Mississippi state standards.

The SPMS incorporates the Vantage Learning Platform(TM), an integrated set of tools for the development and delivery of assessment information, and IntelliMetric(TM), the world's first automated scoring system that instantly grades student writing with accuracy that equals or exceeds that of expert human scoring. The SPMS application, on top of the core technology platform, delivers a flexible, dynamic tool that helps teachers create, administer, score, and report student assessments, and works across grade levels to provide immediate, individualized diagnostic feedback for all students.

"The SPMS helps us closely monitor student progress with non-anecdotal data about their learning needs and accomplishments," says Lucy Keen, executive director of school district assessment, technical support for school improvement, curriculum, and professional development, Meridian Public School District. "With Vantage's classroom-tested technology supporting them, Mississippi educators can easily track students' mastery of objectives, and adjust their lessons to best serve a student's needs. Such individual feedback and attention makes the Vantage-enhanced SPMS a huge boon for our state's school systems by raising our state standards."

The SPMS has always been accessible and easy-to-use--so much so, in fact, that over 400,000 Mississippi students were able to use the system and complete the state tests last year, even though they endured a significant interruption in their school year as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The newest version of SPMS boasts a number of helpful enhancements, including:

-- Performance assessment tracking that compiles results from

external subject tests--such as Dynamic Indicators of Basic

Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS(TM)), Mississippi Curriculum

Tests (MCT), and Subject Area Testing Program (SATP) state

practice tests--into a single, easily accessible student

portfolio.

-- Answerworks(TM), Vantage's proprietary search technology that

finds better answers faster, by using the program's natural

language understanding to improve search results and increase

their relevance.

-- 3-in-1 bubble sheets that accommodate Mississippi's continued

use of paper-and-pencil tests (as opposed to pure online

testing), by combining several different paper-and-pencil

tests on one sheet to reduce paper costs.

-- Practice Mississippi Curriculum Tests and Science Subject

Tests that expose students to the format and style of the

state tests, and helps them better prepare for the real event.

-- Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction (CAI) training and

other specialized curriculum modules available to teachers to

enhance their professional development. One highlight is the

Resources/Tools module, where educators can search for,

create, and share teaching resources such as lesson plans,

learning activities, templates, and forms.

-- A new nomination process for educators' created assessment

items, whereby teachers can open up their own items for

review, discussion, and approval by the Mississippi Department

of Education, and ensure high-quality, meaningful additions to

the SPMS assessment bank.

"We are extremely satisfied at the state level with the impressive improvements Vantage has made to SPMS," says Dr. Kris Kaase, associate state superintendent, Office of Academic Education. "The schools are happy with it too, as evidenced by a 70-percent adoption growth rate among districts in the past year alone. By aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment, the Vantage customization makes the SPMS an increasingly valuable tool for meeting the educational needs of all our students."

For more information regarding Vantage Learning or their partnership with the Mississippi Department of Education, please contact Harry Barfoot at 215-756-1125 or HBarfoot@Vantage.com.

About Vantage Learning

With over 146 million online test transactions last year, Vantage Learning is the world's leading provider of online assessment and automated essay scoring. Recognized as the gold standard for scoring quality, consistency, reliability, and scalability, Vantage Learning's award-winning education tools meet the needs of educators and school administrators, businesses and government agencies that need a comprehensive Internet-based test authoring, delivery, scoring, and reporting platform. Vantage developed IntelliMetric(TM), which administers and scores responses to open-ended questions over the Internet using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Vantage Learning's MY Access!(R) instructional writing program won a Codie Award in 2006 for Best Instructional Program: English/Language Arts - Secondary, was a Codie Awards dual winner in 2005, and was a 2004 Award of Excellence winner from Technology and Learning Magazine. Eduventures selected Vantage Learning as one of the eight most innovative educational technology companies.

Vantage Learning provides services across a broad spectrum of clients. The College Board, ACT, and the Graduate Management Admission Council(R) (GMAC(R)), all utilize Vantage technologies for college readiness and admissions. Oregon, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia leverage the Vantage Learning Platform(TM), the Student Progress Monitoring System(TM), and the Uniform Online Testing System(TM) for formative, summative, and computer adaptive assessments that drive instructional programs. Respected publishers like Hampton-Brown offer customized versions to support assessment linked to their proprietary content. School districts such as Los Angeles Unified School District, Red Clay DE, Milwaukee Public Schools, Newark Public Schools, and many other respected districts integrate MY Access! into their core language arts curriculum. Learn more at www.VantageLearning.com.

Source: Business Wire

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