CTB/Mcgraw-Hill Launches Enhancements to Writing Roadmap™ 2.0 Online Assessment Tool
Teacher-Created Writing Assignments Add Flexibility, Provide Greater Teacher Support
PRNewswire
MONTEREY, Calif.
Sep 27, 2007
CTB/McGraw-Hill, the leader in K-12 and adult education assessment solutions, today announced the release of new enhancements to Writing Roadmap 2.0, its premier Web-based classroom writing assessment. With the enhancements, teachers now will have the option to create custom writing topics or choose from supplied writing prompts, both of which can be analyzed and graded automatically by the program.
Writing Roadmap 2.0 is a powerful online essay scoring system using predictive artificial intelligence to assess the writing skills of students in grades 3-12. It is an all-in-one tool that streamlines writing instruction and assessment, delivers feedback instantly, and saves teachers as much as 100 hours of valuable grading time per year.
A recent research study from CTB/McGraw-Hill presented at the 37th Annual National Conference on Large Scale Assessment showed strong evidence that students who practiced their writing skills using Writing Roadmap 2.0 performed better on a state summative writing assessment.
"Writing well -- a key element for success in school and life beyond -- requires frequent practice, as our research noted. Writing Roadmap 2.0 paves the way for students of all abilities to hone their writing skills and gives teachers a flexible, innovative assessment tool that saves them considerable time," said Ellen Haley, president of CTB/McGraw-Hill. "With these enhancements, teachers will be able to help students demonstrate their own creativity in writing assignments aligned with current classroom instruction."
The enhanced Writing Roadmap 2.0 also includes a secure lock-down browser and improvements that make it compliant with Section 508 for users who are visually- and/or hearing-impaired.
Writing Roadmap 2.0 covers a range of essay styles including descriptive, narrative, persuasive, and informative/expository. The application contains online tools-Tutor, Hint, Grammar Tree, and Thesaurus-to provide students with feedback as they go, while automatically-generated scores enable the students to make immediate revisions. Essays are evaluated along six important writing dimensions-Ideas and Content, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Conventions, and Fluency. Graphic online reports provide an analytic roadmap to guide future instruction and move students toward the goal of achieving state standards for writing.
For more information or to obtain a copy of the research study, call 800.539.9547 or visit CTB.com/WritingRoadmap.
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, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP). McGraw-Hill Education is a leading global provider of instructional, assessment and reference solutions that empower professionals and students of all ages. Additional information is available at CTB.com.
Media Inquiries Kelley Carpenter Director, Communications (831) 393-7196 kelley_carpenter@mcgraw-hill.com
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SOURCE: CTB/McGraw-Hill
CONTACT: Kelley Carpenter
Director, Communications
(831) 393-7196
kelley_carpenter@mcgraw-hill.com