CTB/McGraw-Hill Offers Custom Assessment Solutions Tailored to State Standards.

Business Editors/Education Writers

MONTEREY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 2003

CTB/McGraw-Hill, the nation's leading provider of assessment solutions, today announced the launch of its new line of classroom-level custom assessment tools, specifically tailored to individual state standards.

These state specific solutions help instructors evaluate student knowledge and skills relative to state standards and meet the testing and reporting requirements under No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

"With the passage of the NCLB, measurement plays a more important role in determining student growth toward state standards and adequate yearly progress," said CTB/McGraw-Hill President David Taggart. "This classroom solution is based entirely on the standards specific to an individual state and informs teachers whether their students are meeting those standards."

Currently available through CTB's TestMate database software system, this CD-ROM-based offering includes complete tests in Reading and Mathematics for Grades 2-8, and banks of test questions, tailored to specific state achievement standards, that enable teachers to build their own classroom tests for Grades 3-12. Also included are electronic custom reporting and data management tools to track student progress and instructional activities that provide teachers with classroom materials to help build student skills relative to state standards.

Later this year, these new state specific solutions will also be offered as an integrated component of CTB's i-know online assessment system, a secure, web-based classroom-level assessment system that scores tests in seconds and provides a variety of individual and class reports.

CTB/McGraw-Hill publishes nationally standardized and state customized tests, provides comprehensive scoring and reporting services, and creates software for managing and tracking annual student progress. CTB currently provides test results for more than 11 million students a year and serves more than 6,500 school districts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the worldwide U.S. Department of Defense system.

CTB/McGraw-Hill LLC is owned by The McGraw-Hill Companies, a global information services provider serving the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as McGraw-Hill Education, Standard and Poor's and BusinessWeek. Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. has more than 350 offices in 33 countries. Sales in 2002 were $4.8 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com and http://www.ctb.com.