McGraw-Hill Digital Learning and CTB/McGraw-Hill Launch Acuity™ Diagnostic Assessment System
Breakthrough Achievement Tool Is Tailored to District Curriculum; Seamless Alignment with Classroom Workflow
PRNewswire
MONTEREY, Calif.
Mar 29, 2006
McGraw-Hill Digital Learning, provider of the award-winning Yearly ProgressPro™ formative assessments, and CTB/McGraw-Hill, the leader in K-12 and adult education assessment solutions, today announced the release of Acuity™, a breakthrough achievement tool that helps classroom teachers diagnose students' strengths and needs while predicting student success on state No Child Left Behind (NCLB) assessments. Designed in collaboration with educators nationwide, Acuity is a powerful suite of diagnostic and predictive benchmark assessments with clear, concise, and informative reports that provide the data that teachers need to help their students achieve.
"Benchmark assessments need to be planned as part of a collaborative effort between a district and assessment provider," said Dr. Joseph A. Jacovino, chief accountability officer of the St. Louis Public Schools. "In St. Louis, we worked with McGraw-Hill to build an assessment solution using blueprints and item specifications designed to mirror the scope and sequence of the district's curriculum, and test the critical grade level expectations that are part of the state standards and assessment program. A predesigned 'off the shelf' product will not meet the necessary alignment requirements among curriculum, instruction, and assessment or provide the most reliable data to drive improved teaching and learning."
Acuity is a classroom-friendly suite of assessments with both online and paper-and-pencil administration options. Predictive Benchmark assessments mirror state NCLB assessments in grades 3-8 and grade 10 in Math and Reading/Language Arts, and deliver immediate, actionable data on student progress.
"We designed Acuity for teachers and classroom use," said Photeine Anagnostopoulos, president of McGraw-Hill Digital Learning. "The Acuity Diagnostic Benchmarks are tailored to district curriculum pacing and assess student retention and knowledge of core content areas. Diagnostic reports show specific mistakes students make so teachers can target instruction to improvement needs -- a powerful way to accelerate student performance and help educators meet achievement goals."
Multiple forms of the Acuity benchmarks are administered within a classroom period every two months to monitor student progress. These benchmarks are on a common scale so that student growth can be observed within and across the grades of a content area. Empirically-based predictions to expected performance on the state NCLB tests become increasingly accurate over the academic year with the administration of each Predictive Benchmark form.
"Educators need and want tools that conserve time and bring greater value into the classroom, to maximize learning and create opportunities for one-on- one instruction," said David Seitter, vice president of Online Sales, CTB/McGraw-Hill. "We've grounded Acuity in our industry-leading resources and psychometric excellence, to give teachers more time to teach, more time to address the specific learning needs of each student, and more time to focus on the priorities of today's education environment."
Additional benefits include diagnostic assessments built to match the district's curriculum, predictive benchmarks indicating students' potential performance on the state test, an item bank for additional practice and instructional exercises for re-teaching concepts.
For more information, call (800) 538-9547 or visit http://www.ctb.com/. About CTB/McGraw-Hill
As the nation's leading publisher of standardized and standards-based achievement tests for pre-school, elementary, middle, high school, and adult education, CTB/McGraw-Hill LLC offers a broad range of assessments, software and services. CTB/McGraw-Hill LLC is part of McGraw-Hill Education's Assessment and Reporting group, and is owned by The McGraw-Hill Companies, a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 290 offices in 38 countries. Sales in 2005 were $6 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com/.
About McGraw-Hill Digital Learning
McGraw-Hill Digital Learning provides research-based, standards-aligned solutions that integrate diagnostics, prescriptive content, and reporting to improve instruction and raise student performance. McGraw-Hill Digital Learning is part of McGraw-Hill Education's Assessment and Reporting group, and is owned by The McGraw-Hill Companies. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com/.
SOURCE: CTB/McGraw-Hill
CONTACT: Media Inquiries
Kelley Carpenter
Director, Communications
McGraw-Hill Assessment and Reporting
+1-831-393-7196
kelley_carpenter@ctb.com