Vantage Learning Announces VanKey Tool Suite: Provides Greater Access to Online Testing for Students with Disabilities.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2003

World's Largest Provider of Online Assessment Services Offers Greater Access to Ensure No Child is Left Behind

Vantage Learning (www.vantagelearning.com), the world's leading provider of online assessment tools, today announced from the floor of the ACCUPLACER Conference in Orlando, FL, the launch of a new suite of tools, VanKey(TM), to provide greater access to education for students with disabilities. The suite of tools is compatible with the Vantage Learning Online Testing Platform (VLP(TM)) and offers students greater access to high-stakes tests without the need to modify test form or content. VLP, which is the most widely used online assessment platform in the world, is now accessible through standard Web assistive technologies and offers more tools to assist students with disabilities in navigating the test online.

The annual ACCUPLACER conference brings together international educators and assessment professionals concerned with the accurate placement of students in college courses based on assessment results.

"It is often difficult to accommodate students with disabilities in traditional paper and pencil testing programs. With online assessment using VanKey and the Vantage Learning Platform (VLP), we are able to offer greater access for all students, regardless of disability or challenge" says Scott Elliot, COO of Vantage Learning. "Students in special education can be moving to proficiency levels along with their peers and learn to higher standards regardless of the special challenges they face."

VanKey offers wide support for assistive entry devices, keyboards, and mouse alternatives. The VanKey environment also provides voice selection so the test can be read aloud, a large font selectable for the visually impaired and learning disabled, text highlighting capability for the learning disabled, and support for keyboard-only navigation, as well as Vantage's custom assistive keyboard. VanKey also provides an open interface to support other input devices from a variety of companies.

The VLP provides test registration, delivery, and reporting services, as well as item banking and test creation services, and includes the award-winning IntelliMetric(TM) open-ended assessment delivery and scoring engine. Vantage's IntelliMetric uses a rich blend of artificial intelligence (AI) 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.

"The new testing environment allows Vantage Learning to further its mission in helping states and schools meet the requirements of President Bush's 'No Child Left Behind' Act. Now every student has access to the immediate scoring and feedback provided by our online assessment environment," says Elliot.

The new assistive technology environment is delivered through Vantage's VanGuard(TM) secure online assessment platform, which delivers the most secure, reliable student assessment system available over the Internet. With VanGuard, states and schools can confidently deliver high-stakes assessments over the Internet and have immediate access to testing results. Within the system, users can only access the assessment application delivered within VanGuard and cannot exit the VanGuard environment to surf the Web, or use other applications or "hot keys." According to Elliot, "VanGuard seamlessly integrates all components of the Vantage Learning online assessment delivery platform- from scheduling and registration, through delivery to reporting- the only online system delivering over 14 million tests annually to student users. The technology provides unprecedented control and security, as well as dramatically reduces the cost of assessment."

For more information regarding Vantage Learning or the new assistive technology learning environment, please contact Harry Barfoot at (215) 579-8390.

About Vantage Learning

Vantage Learning, an affiliate of Vantage Laboratories and the leading provider of online assessment and automated essay scoring, developed IntelliMetric(TM) (http://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 49 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.