CTB/McGraw-Hill Awarded New York City Public Schools Contract for Periodic Assessment Program

Under a five-year contract with the New York City Department of Education (DOE), CTB/McGraw-Hill is providing New York City public school teachers with instructional tools to help improve student learning as part of the DOE's ongoing periodic assessment program. Educators now have access to Acuity diagnostic and predictive assessments, which provide timely and detailed information on student strengths and weaknesses as well as measure students' academic development to help ensure that students are learning what is being taught in the classroom.

"Teachers have always used assessments to monitor their students' progress. Now they'll be able to find out quickly exactly what students are learning and where they need more help," said New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein. "These new assessment tools are quicker and more accurate than what our schools have today. They'll make it easier for our educators to tailor instruction to meet the individual needs of every student."

"We're honored to support New York City educators, parents, and students with our Acuity suite of formative assessments. Assessment is an important teaching tool that drives student learning and achievement, and provides critical information to ensure teachers have the information they need to prepare students to succeed in the global economy," said Mostafa Mehrabani, president, McGraw-Hill Assessment and Reporting.

Acuity tools are highly flexible and can be customized to match schools' curricula and instructional calendars. The online administration capability ensures that students and teachers receive immediate progress updates on classroom learning. Classrooms that administer paper and pencil versions of the assessments receive online reports within five school days. As part of this periodic assessment program, students are assessed five times a year in grades 3-8 and four times a year in high school in both English/Language Arts and math.

"The New York City Department of Education is forward-thinking in its creation of the periodic assessment program, which helps teachers identify knowledge gaps as they are occurring and intervene and remedy them earlier in the learning process. Acuity was developed to provide point-in-time data to show exactly what students are learning and where they need individualized assistance to move forward," said Ellen Haley, president of CTB/McGraw-Hill.

  Individual schools can select from the following Acuity components:

  -- Predictive Assessments - These assessments mirror the content and
     format of the New York State tests, are aligned to grade-level
     standards, and are able to measure student growth within and across
     academic years. They provide an indication of future student
     performance on New York State tests, and can guide tailored
     interventions to help individual and groups of students move forward.

  -- Instructionally Targeted Assessments (ITA) - These assessments provide
     insight into students' skills and assess learning during a specific
     instructional period. ITAs help teachers identify which standards and
     performance indicators are most and least understood so that
     instruction can be quickly adjusted based on the information received.

  -- Custom Classroom Assessments - Acuity includes an item bank of more
     than 20,000 research-based questions aligned to New York State
     standards. Educators can use these items to create custom assessments
     to measure student learning on a particular set of academic objectives,
     enabling early, frequent and effective intervention.

  -- Aligned Instructional Exercises - Acuity provides teachers with a
     series of personalized instructional materials which guide and assist
     in improving students' mastery of subject matter. These exercises can
     be assigned to classrooms as a whole, to groups of students or to
     students individually.

  -- Informative Reports - Acuity's detailed reports provide instructional
     direction in a clear, easy-to-understand format, and can be viewed at
     the student, class, school and district level.

  About Acuity

Acuity was developed in consultation with administrators, principals, teachers, and students. Acuity is a suite of diagnostic and predictive benchmark assessments designed to show student growth toward state standards and performance indicators in English/Language Arts and math for grades 3-12 and in algebra for grades 6-12. Acuity features online and paper-and-pencil administration options to match the level of technology available in schools. Informative reports provide the data teachers need to improve student achievement. Instructional exercises tied to student performance and state correlated online item banks enable custom, teacher-created assessments to help students remain current on classroom instruction.

For more information, call (800) 538-9547 or visit www.acuityforschool.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 the Assessment and Reporting group of McGraw-Hill Education (MHE), a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP). MHE is a leading global provider of instructional, assessment and reference solutions that empower professionals and students of all ages. McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 40 languages. Additional information is available at www.ctb.com.

SOURCE: CTB/McGraw-Hill

CONTACT: Media Inquiries
Kelley Carpenter
Director, Communications
McGraw-Hill Assessment and Reporting
(831) 393-7196
kelley_carpenter@mcgraw-hill.com

Web site: http://www.mheducation.com/
http://www.acuityforschool.com/
http://www.ctb.com/