Press Release - September 20, 2004

Vantage Learning's Learning Access!™ 3.0 - Features 34,000 Searchable Items to Help All Students Meet Grade Level

Reading, Math, Writing, and Science Standards Now Used by School Districts and States, Gives Accountability Real Meaning, Informs Curriculum and Instruction, and Helps Close the Achievement Gap

Newtown, PA, September 20, 2004 - Continuing its tradition of developing and evolving breakthrough technologies for use by educators, Vantage Learning (www.vantagelearning.com) today launched the latest version of Learning Access!™, the award-winning online assessment suite. Learning Access! is already in use by schools for the 2004/2005 school year.

Learning Access! is a web-based assessment and accountability environment that is used by states and school districts for a multitude of standards-aligned assessment needs: pre-tests, diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments.

Included in this enhanced version are:

• Thirty-four thousand searchable items in reading/language arts, math, and science item banks.
• Over 30% increase in test items for Grades 1-11 in reading/language arts and math including geometry and algebra.
• Newly added science item bank for Grades 3-8 including biology, physics, and chemistry.
• Dr. Norman L. Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge Cognitive Levels for all items and prompts in four content areas: reading, writing, math, and science.
• Over 24 "ease of use" interface enhancements including a powerful test creation wizard, assignment creation wizard, keyword search to improve ease of test creations, improved student and teacher portfolios, and configurable timers.
• Integrated Writing Access!™ for benchmark writing assessments using the award winning IntelliMetric® essay-scoring engine and a subset of prompts and features from the award-winning MY Access! writing program. Additional options include an expert human scoring workflow.
• Improved item development and authoring environments, allowing for content additions and environment customization.
• Additional reporting capabilities including Item Analysis and Student History.

"We're very excited about these new enhancements. We have witnessed the varying usage patterns of our Learning Access! system and feel this is a platform that can be used effectively across many different curriculums, state-specific standards, and instructional programs selected by districts or states for instructional purposes," said Harry Barfoot, VP of Sales of Marketing of Vantage Learning. "The ease-of-use features allow educators to use the system 'out of the box' or tailor it to their own unique needs by easily creating mini-testlets, benchmark assessments, and other standards-aligned tests. In addition, with the fully integrated Writing Access! content, students can receive instant feedback on open-ended writing responses."

Vantage Learning added Norman Webb's cognitive levels to judge test item banks since variations exist across states on the consistency between standards and items, and the percentage of items that match these levels. These levels are in addition to the standard alignment for the various individual state and national standards that are part of Learning Access!.

About the Vantage Learning Platform

The Vantage Learning Platform™ (VLP) is the most widely used online assessment platform in the world. VLP provides test registration, delivery, and reporting services as well as item banking and test creation services. VLP includes the award-winning IntelliMetric open-ended assessment delivery and scoring engine. Vantage's IntelliMetric uses a rich blend of artificial intelligence and the digitization of human expertise to accurately score and assess a student's competency in a range of subjects. Its inherent flexibilities allow schools to consistently evaluate a student's progress and provide immediate feedback on how students can improve their skills.

About Vantage Learning

Vantage Learning (www.vantagelearning.com), an affiliate of Vantage Laboratories and the leading provider of online assessment and automated essay scoring, developed IntelliMetric® 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 (AI) technology. An individual can enter a response to a question posed, submit the response, and receive an immediate score with feedback within seconds.

Eduventures recently selected Vantage Learning as one of the eight most innovative educational technology companies. MY Access! earned a 2003 District Administration Top 100 Award, was included in Technology and Learning Magazine's Top 10 Smart Technologies for Schools, and is a Codie Awards finalist 2 years in a row. Vantage Learning 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 Assessment, Inc., CTB/McGraw Hill and Thomson Learning, and industry giants such as Microsoft, Apple Computer, AOL, and Sun Microsystems.