McGraw-Hill Education Helps Students Prepare for Advanced Placement Exams with Launch of SCOREboard™ Adaptive Learning Program

NEW YORK, April 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of McGraw-Hill Education's ongoing efforts to prepare high school students for success in Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams, the company today announced the launch of McGraw-Hill SCOREboard, the first AP* exam preparation tool built on adaptive technology to help students build the skills and background knowledge they need to succeed on their AP exams. The launch of SCOREboard comes at an important time for U.S. high school students, who are increasingly taking AP courses as a cost-effective, efficient way to earn college credit. More than 950,000 U.S. public high school graduates took at least one AP Exam in 2012.

The latest addition to McGraw-Hill Education's growing array of adaptive and digital learning solutions, SCOREboard uses adaptive technology to adjust to students' individual learning needs, providing students with personalized learning plans that help them master course material as they prepare for their AP exams. SCOREboard, which McGraw-Hill Education developed in conjunction with adaptive technology partner Area9, supports the company's ongoing commitment to college and career readiness, helping to prepare students for the rigors of college-level work before they step foot on campus. Additionally, SCOREboard is designed to support the latest AP standards released by the College Board, including new AP standards for science. McGraw-Hill Education has recently issued new editions of its AP Biology and AP Chemistry course materials to address the specific instructional content these new standards, as well.

"AP exam enrollments have risen steadily over the past decade, but unfortunately student performance on those exams has not," said Christine Willig, senior vice president of products at McGraw-Hill School Education. "Of the high school students taking AP exams, nearly half fail to earn what is considered a passing score. With SCOREboard, students can get a clear picture of precisely where they stand well in advance of their exam, giving them the academic edge they need to perform well on the exam and ultimately in college."

Built using official AP guidelines produced by the College Board, the solution includes a personalized learning plan and comprehensive student and teacher reports. Through adaptive questioning, SCOREboard assesses student understanding and provides detailed, immediate feedback about students' areas of weakness. The personalized learning plan provides each student—after completing a diagnostic test—recommendations on AP topics that the student still needs to master. Four complete, timed practice exams for each course provide practical AP test-taking experience. Like the diagnostic test, these auto-graded exams give immediate feedback and include detailed scoring rubrics.

SCOREboard, part of McGraw-Hill Education's suite of adaptive learning solutions, builds upon the success of such innovative tools as McGraw-Hill LearnSmart, which has already helped more than one million college students improve their grades and was recently made available for high school students. The program can be used in conjunction with McGraw-Hill Education's ONboard™ Series for Advanced Placement, which is designed to improve students' performance in AP classes by developing the skills they need to succeed before they enter the course.

The program is available to schools via subscription and can also be purchased directly by students and parents at the price of $20.00 per course. SCOREboard is currently available for use in eight AP courses:

• AP Biology
• AP Chemistry
• AP Economics
• AP Environmental Science
• AP Psychology
• AP United States Government and Politics
• AP United States History
• AP World History

SCOREboard, currently available for use on PC and Mac, will be available for iOS devices by Fall 2013. For more information or to purchase SCOREboard, please visit: http://scoreboard.mcgraw-hill.com/

*Advanced Placement Program and AP are registered trademarks of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, these products.

About McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill Education is a digital learning company that draws on its more than 100 years of educational expertise to offer solutions that improve learning outcomes around the world. McGraw-Hill Education is the adaptive education technology leader with the vision for creating a highly personalized learning experience that prepares students of all ages for the world that awaits. The Company has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions available in more than 60 languages. For additional information, visit www.mheducation.com.

Contact:
Brian Belardi
McGraw-Hill Education
(212) 904-4827
brian.belardi@mheducation.com

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Education