Edgenuity and ETS Join Forces to Deliver Integrated Instructional Improvement Systems to K-12 School Districts

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - September 4, 2008) - Edgenuity, a leading provider of instructional improvement systems for K-12 education, today announced that it has signed an agreement with Educational Testing Service (ETS) to distribute ETS item banks with the Edgenuity Achievement Suite. The agreement leverages the core competencies of each organization -- curriculum, assessment, research and instruction -- to deliver a unique, differentiated channel for analyzing multiple areas of a school district.

Under the terms of the multiyear agreement, Edgenuity will license and distribute the ETS item banks in conjunction with the Edgenuity Achievement Suite, which is an advanced set of web-based applications that define curriculum, analyze assessments and evaluate instructional practices in school districts.

The ETS item banks measure reading, mathematics, science and writing skills aligned to specific state standards measured by state summative tests. Thousands of high-quality items were carefully created by ETS using a rigorous item development process, and the items can be combined into benchmark or formative assessments to help educators understand and monitor student progress towards mastering state standards.

By providing ETS test items within the context of Edgenuity's instructional improvement system, the organizations are enabling districts to not only access quality items for benchmark assessments, but also to analyze this data with other multiple measures of student performance (including grades and rubrics). This data combined with instructional data from the Edgenuity Achievement Suite allows teachers to become more instructionally effective and districts to predictably increase student achievement.

"Edgenuity's expertise is in developing instructional improvement systems that integrate a district's core processes. When coupled with ETS's experience in item development, our collaboration will provide K-12 districts with richer data and analysis of the impact of their instructional improvement processes on student outcomes," said Eric Docter, president and CEO of Edgenuity.

While the Edgenuity Achievement Suite provides the mechanism for institutionalizing good practices, Edgenuity also embeds professional development and training to establish the core processes that are needed to support the implementation of these practices. Under the terms of the agreement, Edgenuity will provide these services to districts using both the Edgenuity Achievement Suite and ETS items. New districts interested in using ETS items will have the opportunity to build standards-based tests to support their assessment of student progress.

"Our core competency is in item and test development, so we were looking for a strategic ally with a complementary focus on developing advanced systems to analyze instructional and assessment data," explains Robert Block, ETS associate vice president for business development. "With Edgenuity's comprehensive strategy for curriculum, instruction and assessment, we believe they can leverage our many research-based products and services."

About ETS

ETS is a nonprofit institution with the mission to advance quality and equity in education by providing fair and valid assessments, research and related services for all people worldwide. In serving individuals, educational institutions and government agencies around the world, ETS customizes solutions to meet the need for teacher professional development products and services, classroom and end-of-course assessments, and research-based teaching and learning tools. Founded in 1947, ETS today develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually, in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide. Additional information is available at www.ets.org.

About Edgenuity

Edgenuity is a Silicon Valley-based software and services company providing solutions to school districts for instructional improvement. The company provides a comprehensive, integrated solution incorporating the three core competencies for effective teaching: curriculum, instruction and assessment. In addition to its software, Edgenuity assists districts with professional services that integrate the work of curriculum, instruction and assessment into a coherent strategy for improving student achievement. For more information, visit Edgenuity's Web site at www.edgenuity.com.