CTB/McGraw-Hill Celebrates 85 Years of Innovation and Excellence in Educational Testing

MONTEREY, Calif., June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CTB/McGraw-Hill, one of the first companies to introduce standardized testing to American schools and one of today's leading educational assessment partners, celebrates 85 years of innovations in the science and art of assessment this year. As part of the anniversary celebration, CTB will hold a dedication ceremony for its new Clark Customer Center on June 17 at its Monterey, Calif., headquarters.

CTB President Ellen Haley, who was joined by June Stock, daughter of CTB founders Ethel and Willis Clark for whom the center is named, hosted the ceremony. Also attending were California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and J. Wm. Covington, superintendent of the Kansas City, Mo. School District, which became CTB’s first customer in 1926 and remains one to this day.

"We are honored and excited to celebrate CTB/McGraw Hill's 85th anniversary," said Dr. Covington. "We value the lasting partnership formed back in 1926. Over the years we have appreciated the products and support we've received from CTB as we continue our efforts to meet the educational needs of every student."

CTB was founded in 1926 in Los Angeles with the mission to "help the teacher help the child." By providing scientifically-based assessments that measure students' proficiency, CTB has maintained a tradition of excellence in educational assessment design, development, research, and reporting with award-winning products such as the Acuity® InFormative Assessment™, the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE®), LAS Links®, and TerraNova,™ Third Edition.

Working closely with school districts, states and institutions spanning all levels of education from pre-K to adult, CTB provides tools to measure student potential, chart a course toward improved learning and direct students to success. CTB's Research Department, which includes more than 50 experts, pioneered many firsts in the testing industry, including the use of statistical methods to minimize bias in tests and address the diversity of today's student population, and the development of the Bookmark Standard Setting Procedure™ that is widely used in the industry today. CTB's ability to adapt and customize individual programs, large and small, with integrity and accountability, has inspired confidence throughout the educational community.

"Many generations of students have benefitted from CTB's innovative assessment solutions," said Haley. "Students have always been our inspiration, ever since Ethel Clark sent out a series of penny postcards inviting school districts to use CTB's newly developed assessments in 1926. Eighty-five years later we are happy to celebrate this long tradition by dedicating the Clark Customer Center to Ethel and Willis."

The Clark Customer Center is a modern briefing center where customers and educators can meet with CTB's research scientists as well as scoring, publishing, sales and technology professionals. The Center features a 15-foot historical display that incorporates moving images highlighting CTB's 85 years of innovations and achievements.

"I am so pleased to see McGraw-Hill carry on CTB's long history of serving education," said June Stock. "It's been the joy of my life to see how much our little company has grown and all the students we've helped over the years."

For more information on CTB's history and how we're celebrating, visit CTB.com/85Years.

Eight Decades of Industry Firsts

1926: Originally founded by Ethel and Willis Clark as the Research Service Company the name was soon changed to the California Test Bureau

1926: Began using the Los Angeles Diagnostic Tests in the Fundamentals of Arithmetic

1933: Created Progressive Achievement Test

1936: Created the California Test of Mental Maturity

1938: Created the first electronic scoring services

1939: Created the California Test of Personality

1947: Developed the Personnel Selection and Classification Test

1950: Created the first edition of the California Achievement Tests (CAT®)

1965: CTB is acquired by McGraw-Hill

1971: Created the first criterion-referenced test, the Diagnostic Math Inventory

1973: The first publisher to apply empirical methods to detect item bias

1974: The first publisher to offer comprehensive analysis of test results

1977: The first publisher to offer criterion- and norm-referenced information from a single test

1981: Introduced Item Response Theory (IRT) to improve accuracy of student scores

1987: Introduced Language Assessment Scales (LAS®)

1990: Implemented the two-parameter partial credit (2PPC) model

1996: Introduced performance-level reports

1996: Developed Bookmark Standard Setting Procedure

1997: Introduced electronic imaging for computerized scoring

2000: First in the industry to offer Inclusive Norms on norm-referenced tests

2006: First in the industry to offer measurement-based, interim, online predictive assessments

2010: The Acuity InFormative Assessment solution sweeps three industry awards to become the premier interim/formative assessment solution available to schools today.

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 (clicker) 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.

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SOURCE CTB/McGraw-Hill