Press Release - January 5, 2004

Vantage Learning's MY Access! Selected as Finalist for Software & Information Industry Association's (SIIA) 2004 Codie Award

Online writing assessment program helps students to improve their writing skills

Newtown, PA, January 5, 2004 - Vantage Learning (www.vantagelearning.com), the world's leading provider of online assessment tools, announced today that the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has chosen Vantage Learning's MY Access! 4.0 as a finalist for a 2004 Codie Award. The annual Codie Awards showcase the industry's finest products and services, celebrating outstanding achievement and vision, as well as providing the only peer recognition program of its kind.

MY Access!, an online, portfolio-based writing instruction program that allows students and teachers to track student writing progress over time, was selected in the category of Best Secondary Instructional Solution. Using MY Access!, students can write, review, and revise their work, as well as receive diagnostic feedback on several important writing dimensions, ranging from organization to mechanics. Teachers can then review student work and provide additional feedback.

"In light of the intense competition this year, to be named a Codie Award finalist is a tremendous honor and an important achievement," says Ken Wasch, SIIA President. "SIIA is proud to recognize Vantage Learning as a true leader in online educational assessment."

Version 4.0 of MyAccess!, which was introduced in September 2003, includes customization features that allow teachers to align assessment with their individual state rubrics and to tailor the teaching and learning environments to the specific needs of students. Administrators can view student writing in a new graphic reporting engine, drilling down on specific weak and strong skills by domain.

Vantage Learning, the first organization to develop an online writing platform, continues to be recognized for its pioneering efforts in developing assessment technology. Vantage Learning's Learning Access!, an integrated suite of diagnostic and instructional assessment tools, was chosen by the editors of District Administration magazine as one of the Top 100 products of 2003. Vantage Learning was also included in the 2003 edition of The Eduventures 100: Leading Businesses Transforming the Education Economy, published by Eduventures, a leading independent research firm focused on learning markets. Vantage Learning expects to exceed its projected volume of 17 million tests delivered online during 2003, confirming that Vantage is one of the top test delivery organizations in the world.

"Vantage Learning is thrilled to be the only writing assessment program nominated by the SIIA for the prestigious Codie Award," said Harry Barfoot, VP of Sales of Marketing of Vantage Learning. "We look forward to continuing to refine our online assessment platform that provides students with a virtual writing tutor that automatically adapts to their individual needs."

MY Access! is based on Vantage Learning's IntelliMetric™ engine, which uses a rich blend of artificial intelligence and the digitization of human expertise to accurately assess a student's competency and progress in subjects ranging from reading and writing to science and social studies. IntelliMetric has been enhanced with adaptive response technology that differentiates the feedback provided to students based upon their writing and their native language; IntelliMetric is capable of scoring essays with feedback in over 20 languages.

The 2004 Codie Awards will be presented at a gala event in May 2004, during the SIIA 2004 Annual Conference.

About Vantage Learning

Vantage Learning, an affiliate of Vantage Laboratories and the leading provider of online assessment and automated essay scoring, developed IntelliMetric® (www.vantagelearning.com) to meet the needs of business, education, and government agencies needing a comprehensive Internet-based test authoring, delivery, scoring and reporting platform. IntelliMetric® administers and scores responses to open-ended questions over the Internet using advanced artificial intelligence technology. An individual can enter a response to a question posed, submit the response, and receive an immediate score with feedback within seconds.

Vantage provides services in all 50 states including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, Oregon and Texas, and provides services to educational leaders such as The College Board, ACT, Harcourt Educational Measurement, CTB/McGraw Hill and Thomson Learning, and industry giants such as Microsoft, Apple Computer, AOL and Sun Microsystems.