John J Harland (NYSE:JH)
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From the district office to the classroom, finding the
time to manage ever-increasing assessment and accountability demands
is a constant challenge for time-strapped educators. With the newest
versions of its flagship products, Achievement Series(TM) and
Performance Series(TM), Scantron(R) today introduces new capabilities
to save educators' time while improving ease of use, efficiency and
flexibility. Scantron, a leading provider of formative and diagnostic
assessment solutions for K-12 education, will unveil the new solutions
at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in San Diego
this week.
Achievement Series
The newly updated Achievement Series solution, a content-neutral
flexible testing platform that educators use to develop and administer
online and paper tests, features an all-new item editor that makes the
item entry process quicker and easier than ever before.
With other web-based assessment programs, districts that create
their own district benchmark assessments and classroom tests must jump
back and forth between multiple screens to enter all the content
necessary for just one test item. When creating dozens or hundreds of
test items, the process can be particularly cumbersome and
time-consuming.
With Achievement Series' new item editor, educators can enter item
content, properties, standards and passages all on one screen,
streamlining the item entry process and increasing efficiency. In
addition, when adding items, users can choose to duplicate certain
properties or standards to the next item, reducing duplicate data
entry. For districts that regularly create their own benchmark
assessments and classroom tests, the time savings can be dramatic. In
addition, the item editor includes a powerful new equation editor that
allows educators to easily create complex math equations in
Achievement Series. This eliminates the need to create math equations
in a different application and copy them into the program, creating
additional time savings.
To provide added flexibility, Achievement Series also supports a
custom numbering option for plain paper "answer key only" tests. This
allows districts to easily use Achievement Series for a wide variety
of tests, such as the Houghton Mifflin test booklets that are widely
used in California.
Performance Series
Performance Series is a web-based, computer-adaptive test that
educators use as a diagnostic, for student placement, and to do
progress reporting. The new version of Performance Series features the
addition of a year-to-year student report to allow school districts to
easily track student growth and trends from year to year, and use the
data to inform instructional decisions. With the new report, educators
can quickly and easily display results data from every test a student
has taken in the selected subject -- all in one location. If a student
has taken a test for several years, for example, educators will be
able to get a good idea of how his or her scores are trending and
possibly predict a range of scores for the next test administration.
"The real beauty of the new Achievement Series and Performance
Series solutions is that they give teachers the ability to more deeply
and accurately assess student comprehension, mastery, and overall
performance -- and to do so with relative ease," said Tim Loomer,
president of Scantron's Testing & Assessment Division. "Increasing
accountability demands have put so much pressure on today's educators.
These new releases are just the latest step in our mission to help
educators meet NCLB requirements, raise the level of student
achievement, and perhaps ease their burden a bit by providing
effective, dependable, easy-to-use solutions."
The new Achievement Series and Performance Series solutions will
be available to all Scantron customers with active subscriptions on
July 24.
About Achievement Series and Performance Series
Available together or as independent products, Achievement Series
and Performance Series offer a tightly integrated approach to managing
and administering multiple forms of assessment throughout the school
year. Combining traditional fixed-form testing with computer adaptive
testing using one online platform, the products work together to
create a comprehensive assessment system that provides educators with
the data necessary to make informed instructional decisions and
improve student achievement.
About Scantron Corporation
Scantron Corp. (http://www.scantron.com) is headquartered in
Irvine, Calif., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based John
H. Harland Company (NYSE:JH). Scantron is a leading provider of
software services and systems for the collection, management and
interpretation of data to the educational, financial and commercial
markets. For more information call 1-800-722-6876.
About Harland
Atlanta-based John H. Harland Company (NYSE:JH)
(http://www.harland.net) is a leading provider of software and printed
products to the financial and educational markets with more than $1
billion in annual revenues. Harland Financial Solutions, Inc.
(http://www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com), a wholly owned subsidiary,
supplies software and services, including customer relationship
management, deposit and loan origination, core systems and mortgage
services, to thousands of financial institutions of all sizes.
Harland's printed products offerings include checks, direct marketing
and financial forms.
This press release contains statements, which may constitute
"forward-looking statements." These statements include statements
regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of John H.
Harland Company and members of its respective management, as well as
the assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective
investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and
uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those
contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Reference is made to
the Risk Factors and Cautionary Statements in Harland's Form 10-K and
Form 10-Q filed under the Securities Exchange Act.