CTB/McGraw-Hill Launches TerraNova Common Core to Help Schools Transition National Achievement Testing to Meet Common Core State Standards

MONTEREY, Calif., Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CTB/McGraw-Hill, one of the country's leading educational assessment partners, today announced the launch of TerraNova™ Common Core, a newly developed national achievement test that represents the only field-tested, valid, and authentic measure of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It is available in the subjects of reading, English language arts, and mathematics for Grades 3-8.

The CCSS, which were developed under the guidance of the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, have been adopted by 45 states to date, including the District of Columbia. TerraNova Common Core is now available across the country.

TerraNova Common Core, which maintains the same high quality, validity, and innovation of TerraNova™, Third Edition, offers new content to meet the rigorous Common Core State Standards, standards that require students to engage in real-world, authentic tasks and experiences and to demonstrate a higher level of cognitive rigor to be proficient.  TerraNova Common Core meets the guidelines of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) – the two consortia responsible for developing a set of common assessments to measure student mastery of the CCSS as schools transition to CCSS by the 2014-2015 school year.

"As schools implement the Common Core State Standards in their classrooms, we are providing solutions that ease the transition and enable educators to understand student performance and progress against the new standards. TerraNova Common Core authentically measures students' mastery of the more demanding standards," said Ellen Haley, president of CTB/McGraw-Hill. "We are very proud to partner with schools in this process, offering them the most reliable and valid measure of any national achievement test in the market."

TerraNova Common Core offers a full range of item formats in one test, including multiple choice, constructed response, extended-constructed response, and integrated performance tasks. The benefit of this unique "one test" approach is that educators can compare student results on national and Common Core standards across grades and ability levels.

The performance task items are particularly important because they address the need for students to analyze, justify, and produce in response to complex texts and mathematical problems.  TerraNova Common Core offers a combination of the 3 parameter IRT and 2 parameter partial credit models.  Offering the ability to receive partial credit on test items provides a critical window into students' progress toward mastery of a subject area or specific skill and how well students have mastered the Common Core State Standards. Results are available both in print and online in seven days or less, making the data actionable for effective classroom instruction.

Additionally, TerraNova Common Core offers research and professional development services to meet the specific needs and interests of schools through the transition. CTB offers data analysis support, on-site coaching, and professional development workshops. These research and professional development services include information about test administration, managing test materials, understanding reports, analyzing data, and connecting test results to inform decisions about school improvement and curriculum/instruction as districts prepare for the transition to the CCSS.

Learn more about TerraNova Common Core at CTB.com/TerraNovaCommonCore

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/AboutUs.

SOURCE CTB/McGraw-Hill