Study Documents Effectiveness of CTB/McGraw Hill's Acuity Assessment for Improving Student Performance

CTB/McGraw-Hill today announced the release of a case study that documents the effectiveness of the Company's Acuity® InFormative Assessment™ solution in improving student performance. The case study, produced by CTB/McGraw-Hill with the assistance of the Park Hill School District in Kansas City, Missouri, tracks student performance on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) before and after the District began using Acuity for classroom instruction in 2006. The number of students passing the MAP increased by approximately 10 percent immediately following the implementation of Acuity.

"Our state test scores have improved since we began using Acuity, and I am confident that Acuity has facilitated the improvement of our instruction," said Jeff Klein, Ph.D., Executive Director of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment for Park Hill Schools. "Our focus has moved toward an emphasis on growth rather than just the end-of-year score. Teachers want to see how much a student improved over the course of a year, not just where they ended."

The Park Hill School District, with 15 schools and more than 10,000 students, is a suburban district located just north of Kansas City, Missouri. Although teachers have regularly used classroom assessments to gauge student learning, the District lacked the means to consistently measure student performance against the Missouri Grade-Level Expectations or to predict student performance on the MAP. In 2006, the District began using Acuity to help bridge that gap. Acuity allows classroom teachers to diagnose students' strengths and instructional needs, while predicting student performance on state assessments. Acuity integrates predictive and diagnostic assessments, reports, instructional resources, item banks, and item authoring -- all aligned to state standards, and designed to improve student achievement.

"We were tired of being surprised by MAP scores at the end of the year," added Dr. Klein. "We would try to use MAP data to target instruction for incoming students in the Fall but, during the year, teachers didn't have a sense of whether they were making a difference toward those end-of-year standards-based outcomes."

Test scores improved markedly following the introduction of Acuity in 2006: the percentage of students passing the MAP test increased, in both communication arts and mathematics, by 10 percent or more (see the figures linked below, noting the jump in 2006). The district also reports a sharpened focus on Missouri Grade-Level Expectations (GLE) and student learning. (Links to graphs: Percentage of Students Proficient in MAP Communications Arts and Percentage of Students Proficient in MAP Mathematics.)

"Overall, Acuity has helped Park Hill take the next step into the world of standards-based education," said Dr. Klein. "It has helped teachers move from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning. As a result of Acuity, our teachers are not only more knowledgeable about Missouri's standards, but can also measure progress toward proficiency on these standards."

Winner of the 2009 CODiE award for Best Student Assessment Solution, Acuity heralds a new generation of assessments that are changing the way educators use student information to drive instruction. For complete details of the Park Hill School District Case Study, or to schedule an interactive product demonstration, visit www.AcuityforSchool.com or call 800-538-9547.

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,
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