CTB/McGraw-Hill Enters Strategic Partnership With California Small School Districts' Association (SSDA)

CTB/McGraw-Hill announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with the Small School Districts' Association (SSDA) in California. The SSDA helps small school districts throughout California develop more efficient, accurate assessment programs. With their strategic partners, SSDA works to create and refine various support programs that will help students succeed, and reduce overall small school district operating costs.

SSDA has selected Acuity™, CTB/McGraw-Hill's InFormative Assessment™ solution, because of the flexibility of the platform, the high quality items, the predictive assessment design, and CTB/McGraw-Hill's outstanding reputation in educational measurement. Schools around the country have discovered that Acuity is a leap forward in formative assessment, saving teachers time and providing individualized data for developing personalized, targeted instruction.

"We appreciate this opportunity to partner with SSDA," said Ellen Haley, president of CTB/McGraw-Hill. "We look forward to providing small districts in California with a high-quality, researched-based system of formative assessments to help meet the academic achievement goals of schools and prepare students for success in the global workplace."

"We are pleased to welcome CTB/McGraw-Hill as our latest strategic partner," said Al Sandrini, Executive Director of SSDA. "Our work is to help simplify the work that small school districts must do to produce stellar results for their students and their staff. As many small school districts today are under budget and staffing restrictions, the assistance of experts such as those at CTB/McGraw-Hill is invaluable."

The SSDA mission is straightforward: provide top quality support services, and encourage favorable legislation, for small school district members and associates. This includes, as a high priority, promoting technology-based educational tools and support services to help small schools enhance educational performance and reduce operating costs.

CTB/McGraw-Hill applies the latest technology to improve education for school districts large and small. CTB/McGraw-Hill offers a wide variety of data-driven solutions that support SSDA's goals, including Acuity, the company's comprehensive assessment program:

Winner of the 2009 CODiE award for Best Student Assessment Solution, Acuity is a groundbreaking online assessment system that helps teachers gauge student performance and deliver targeted classroom instruction. Acuity generates data that allows California educators to more precisely target their instructional efforts to areas that are most in need, at the student- and classroom-level. Acuity includes Diagnostic Assessments that are aligned to the scope and sequence of California schools, as well as Predictive Assessments aligned with the California Standards Test (CST).

Acuity will support the Association's goals through assessment, reporting, and data-driven instruction, by providing:

  --  a robust, intuitive and scaleable solution administered online,
      paper/pencil, and using student response devices;
  --  items and tests developed according to rigorous criteria and backed by
      empirical research studies that verify their technical quality;
  --  research that validates diagnostic and predictive reporting of student
      performance aligned to both California schools and the CST standards;
      and

  --  comprehensive professional development to garner educator buy-in and
      provide data analysis training.

Working in partnership with SSDA, other industry associates, and customers, CTB/McGraw-Hill creates innovative, successful solutions that play a vital role in teaching and learning. For more information, visit www.CTB.com. Build your Acuity knowledge and expertise by attending an Acuity Information Seminar where you'll learn techniques for maximizing your Acuity Assessment Solution in your district. For seminar information, visit www.AcuityForSchool.com.

About SSDA

The Small School Districts' Association of California (SSDA) was established in 1983 to advocate the concerns, welfare, and special needs of small school districts throughout California. SSDA is a growing organization of over 500 small and mid-sized districts. We are comprised of a professional group of small district governing boards and superintendents. Join the growing number of businesses and schools who are uniting to create a better today and a brighter future for education. For more information, visit http://www.ssda.org/.

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 (MHE), a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP). MHE is a leading global provider of print and digital 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 65 languages. Additional information is available at www.CTB.com.

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SOURCE: CTB/McGraw-Hill

CONTACT: Brandon Engle, Manager, Communications, +1-916-933-1291,
Brandon_Engle@ctb.com

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