CTB/McGraw-Hill and Turning Technologies Collaborate to Help Improve Student Achievement

MONTEREY, Calif., April 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CTB/McGraw-Hill, a leader in PreK-12 and adult education assessments, and Turning Technologies, a leading provider of student response systems, today announce a strategic alliance that integrates CTB's Acuity UnWired® system with Turning Technologies' TurningKey® software. This interoperability provides direct communication to Acuity® through the TurningKey software, saving teachers hours of work in administering and grading benchmark, formative, or custom assessments.

TurningKey, Turning Technologies' self-paced assessment application, now works directly with Acuity UnWired to import student rosters and Acuity answer keys, eliminating the sometimes cumbersome task of switching between applications. Students can take assessments using the wireless ResponseCard® NXT devices instead of pencil and paper. During the assessment process, TurningKey automatically grades the student responses, and allows teachers to directly upload student performance data to Acuity. Within minutes standards-aligned reports provide instantaneous feedback that gives educators the ability to offer students targeted instruction in real-time, making true data-driven instruction a reality.

"We're excited to offer educators a streamlined approach for administering Acuity Assessments through the TurningKey software," said Ellen Haley, president of CTB/McGraw-Hill. "Accessing our award-winning Acuity solution through Turning's software application provides a powerful and flexible solution to help educators identify and address the needs of every learner."

The ability to access Acuity UnWired through TurningKey allows teachers to:

    --  quickly deliver benchmark, formative, or custom assessments that are
        immediately graded saving teachers hours of work;
    --  import answer keys from Acuity, to take advantage of integrated
        high-quality standards-aligned content for use with their student
        response systems;
    --  diagnose student strengths and areas for additional instruction relative
        to state standards and, in the fall of 2011, the Common Core State
        Standards;
    --  provide an effective mechanism for tracking performance based on
        pre-defined learning outcomes, student achievement, and program
        effectiveness,
    --  eliminate costly and time-consuming printing, barcoding, distributing,
        collecting, and scanning of answer sheets.

"The direct integration between our TurningKey software and Acuity UnWired is another key innovation that reflects Turning Technologies' continued commitment to both teachers and students in building strong pedagogically sound assessment solutions that enhance the classroom environment and improve learning outcomes," said Mike Broderick, Turning Technologies' CEO. "We are enthusiastic and confident that our collaboration with industry-leading CTB/McGraw-Hill will provide ideal instructional tools that will help today's students gain the critical skills needed for them to be successful."

Since its release in 2009, Acuity UnWired has been deployed in hundreds of schools, with universally successful results. In informal classroom surveys, students noted almost unanimously that they preferred interactive response devices, not only to paper and pencil, but also to online testing. Teachers also reported a high level of comfort and ease of use, and district officials were very satisfied.

About Acuity

The award-winning Acuity InFormative Assessment solution helps teachers gauge student performance and deliver tailored instruction for every student. Used by more than 65,000 teachers and 1.5 million students nationwide, Acuity heralds a new generation of assessment, enabling educators to deliver true data-driven instruction. Acuity contains four elements of a comprehensive assessment system: ongoing skills measurement, in-depth reporting, data analysis, and resources for individual instruction and intervention. CTB/McGraw-Hill also offers comprehensive professional development, online community forums, implementation, and support services. In 2010, Acuity swept three industry-leading awards to become the premier interim/formative assessment solution available to schools today. For more information, visit CTB.com/Acuity or call 800.538.9547 to schedule a live presentation.

About Turning Technologies

Turning Technologies, LLC develops interactive response systems designed specifically to increase learning outcomes. Proven research-based audience and student response technologies enable teachers, professors, trainers, and administrators to gather vital data needed to increase the effectiveness of instruction and presentations. The company's interactive polling software applications, TurningPoint® and TurningPoint AnyWhere™, combine with either durable ResponseCard® keypads or ResponseWare mobile response applications to provide the most advanced combination of knowledge and technology currently available in the field of audience and student assessment. For more information: www.TurningTechnologies.com.

About CTB/McGraw-Hill

CTB/McGraw-Hill has an 85-year record of innovation and excellence in assessment, and serves more than 18 million students in all 50 states and in 49 countries. One of the first American publishers to introduce objective, standardized achievement tests to schools, today CTB/McGraw-Hill is a leader in testing with recognized products for online interim and formative, adult, and language proficiency assessment. Dedicated to advancing the use of student performance data to inform instructional decision making, CTB/McGraw-Hill's innovation continues today with technologies that include Web-based assessment and reporting, student response device software, and artificial intelligence for automated scoring of student essays. CTB/McGraw-Hill is part 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. For more information, visit CTB.com.

CTB/McGraw-Hill Media InquiriesBrandon Engle, Communications ManagerPhone: 916.933.1291Brandon_Engle@CTB.com

SOURCE CTB/McGraw-Hill

SOURCE: CTB/McGraw-Hill

Web Site: http://www.ctb.com