Press Release - May 30, 2007

Florida Alternative Education School Students Ace FCAT Writing Test With Vantage's MY Access! Learning Tool

O.A.S.I.S. High School Preparatory Academy scores 100 percent on 2007 FCAT Writes test with the assistance of Vantage Learning's online writing tool MY Access!

Pensacola, Fla., May 30, 2007 - Students at O.A.S.I.S. High School Preparatory Academy have exceeded all writing skills expectations-and have the scores to prove it. This highly technical alternative education school, which opened in Pensacola, Fla. in the fall of 2005, now boasts 100 percent writing proficiency on the writing portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). The secret to their success: Vantage Learning's MY Access!, an award-winning Web-based writing environment that builds better writers by instantly scoring student essays, and provides immediate remedial instruction that engages and motivates students.

Based on Vantage Learning's IntelliMetric™ engine, MY Access! uses a rich blend of artificial intelligence (AI) and the virtualization of human expertise to accurately assess students' competency and progress in reading and writing. In fact, MY Access! scores are consistently as accurate as human expert scorers, giving teachers the freedom to focus on one-on-one instruction rather than extensive paper-grading.

"Any time you can use hands-on instruction to engage and motivate a student, you are going to have tremendous results-as our students' stellar FCAT writing scores show," says Dr. Ruth Forrester, Principal of O.A.S.I.S. Academy. "MY Access! complements our teachers' in-depth classroom instruction by giving them the tools they need to deliver immediate results to students. Powerful and targeted instant feedback motivates the students and builds their confidence in their own writing ability. I'm very proud of our students, and thrilled that MY Access! has helped them achieve their full potential."

Escambia County School Board, under the direction of Superintendent Jim Paul, opened the O.A.S.I.S. Academy in 2005 to help Escambia County's low-level learners gain the necessary skills to promote to a mainstream high school. The school had already implemented programs to improve math, science, and reading proficiency. The missing piece: An online program to increase writing proficiency, since the majority of the students were writing at level 1 or 2.

Forrester, a 37-year middle school veteran, ultimately chose MY Access! for the Web capabilities, which allows students to type essays from any computer with an Internet connection. She also liked the program's interactive research and feedback components that engage the students with fun, lively exercises. The results of her selection: Since implementing MY Access!, most students now score between level 4 and 5, with two eighth graders scoring a perfect 6. In fact, students using My Access! scored 89 percent proficiency on the FCAT in the first year alone, and raised it to 100 percent proficiency this past year.

"Teaching students how to write in optimal circumstances is challenging; so imagine what teachers at O.A.S.I.S. Academy were facing with students often sidelined by academic problems, social issues, or illness," says Harry Barfoot, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Vantage Learning. "The teachers' remarkable support of MY Access! in the classroom was one of the key ingredients of the students' and the school's success. Teachers wholeheartedly integrated the writing program into the lessons, resulting in students reaching new academic heights, which is shown in this year's FCAT results."

About Vantage Learning

Delivering more than 193 million online test transactions last year, Vantage Learning (www.vantagelearning.com) is recognized as the leader in cost-effective, high volume, secure, scalable online assessment and instructional programs for K-12 and higher education. Leveraging technology such as artificial intelligence, natural language understanding, and web-based learning objects, Vantage provides educators with high-quality tools and resources that motivate students to learn and that create meaningful interactions between students, parents and teachers.

Acknowledged by industry leaders as the gold standard for scoring quality, consistency, reliability, and scalability of automated essay scoring using the patented IntelliMetric® engine, Vantage Learning has received accolades ranging from the prestigious CODiE Award for best instructional technology to recognition by Eduventures as one of the eight most innovative educational technology companies.