CTB/McGraw-Hill Releases Acuity Enhancements For Measuring Student Potential

MONTEREY, Calif., March 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CTB/McGraw-Hill, a leading provider of PreK–12 and adult education assessments, today announced the release of several new technology enhancements to the company's award-winning Acuity® InFormative Assessment™ solution. These enhancements provide educators with a deeper understanding of student achievement and progress in order to provide more personalized, targeted instruction. Developed in close collaboration with customers, the Acuity enhancements are designed to help teachers chart a course toward improved learning and student success.

"We are continuously improving our assessment and reporting capabilities to provide teachers with a deeper, richer understanding of each student's areas of success and areas for improvement," said Tom Moellering, senior product manager at CTB. "With these latest Acuity enhancements, teachers can quickly create their own assessment, develop rigorous performance assessments, and measure student growth throughout the school year in a statistically valid and reliable way. No other interim and formative assessment solution has a track record of listening to the market and successfully responding to evolving educator needs like Acuity."  

The Acuity enhancements, summarized below, make it easier than ever for educators to achieve true data-driven instruction:

Student Growth Reports – using the results of the Acuity Predictive Assessments, the student growth reports provide an innovative technique for measuring student growth throughout the school year. These new reports chart progress in comparison to his or her academic peers – a method commonly used for measuring growth on state NCLB exams. Utilizing a similar technique on Acuity's interim assessments provides educators with a statistically valid method for evaluating a student's growth within a school year. After each predictive assessment, the student growth reports provide a graphical representation of growth percentile and classification of low, medium, or high growth in comparison to a student's academic peers. Often used for goal setting, the new growth reports enable educators to more reliably answer the question, "how much growth is good growth?"

Custom Test Builder – enables educators to create customized assessments more quickly. Developed in collaboration with educators, the new custom test builder allows users to drill into their states' standards to find items that meet their needs. Educators can set parameters for their search criteria, such as item type and format, grade level, and standard, to identify the appropriate test items. Educators are even presented with depth of knowledge and item statistics to make the most informed decisions when selecting assessment items. All assessments can be administered online, or using paper and pencil, or with student response devices commonly referred to as clickers.

Performance Assessment Builder and Rubric Creator – enables educators to develop more rigorous, real world assessments that measure what students know and are able to do. Performance assessments often involve a combination of research, application, and writing spanning multiple disciplines – such as math, science, and English – in a single assessment. Ideal for requiring students to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real world scenarios, performance assessments provide educators with much deeper insight into their students' understanding of key academic concepts. Performance assessment results can be included in online student portfolios to provide a comprehensive view of achievement and progress over time.

These enhancements are automatically available now to all users of the Acuity system.

About Acuity

The groundbreaking 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 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.

SOURCE CTB/McGraw-Hill