California Department of Consumer Affairs Signs Agreement with Experior.

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 1999--

The California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has awarded a contract to Experior Assessments(tm) for the administration of licensing and other examination-related services to its 31 boards, which examine approximately 177,000 candidates annually in California.

California's Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) recently became the first board to sign an order agreement for Experior to administer exams under the contract. BBS, DCA's Office of Examination Resources and Experior recently launched the Marriage, Family, and Child Counselor examination. Experior will soon administer two additional BBS examinations, the Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the Licensed Educational Psychologist. More than 2,500 candidates are expected to sit for the three examinations annually.

Sherry Mehl, the executive officer for the BBS, said "Experior Assessments has been very responsive to the Board's needs, and we have received some outstanding feedback from our candidates."

Experior is in the process of developing order agreements with several other boards under DCA's jurisdiction. Each board has the option to choose which services are provided to the candidates, including producing and distributing candidate handbooks, scheduling and administering examinations, photo score reporting, fingerprinting, and printing and distributing of licenses. Experior will assist boards in moving examinations to computer-based from paper and pencil.

Candidates may test at any of Experior's four California testing centers located in Los Angeles (Diamond Bar), San Francisco (Alameda), Sacramento and San Diego. Experior will add testing centers in California as testing volume increases, as well as open a processing center in Sacramento.

"Experior is honored by being selected by DCA to provide computer-based testing centers and services for its member boards in this ground-breaking initiative we believe will become a model for other states," said Kevin Brueggeman, Experior's COO. "This contract demonstrates the broad range of services that Experior can deliver, the depth of our experience in managing large-scale testing programs, and the value we place on partnership in working with our customers,"

Experior Assessments is a testing and licensing services company providing test development, test administration, licensing management, continuing education administration, and other related services to regulatory authorities across the United States. Experior is relied upon for its leading services in such major industries as construction, insurance, real estate, barbering and cosmetology, and food handling/management. Experior combines the expertise of the former Insurance Testing Corporation and NAI Block via a joint venture between Sylvan Learning Systems(R), Inc. and The Chauncey Group International, Ltd.

Sylvan Learning Systems is a registered trademark of Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc., in the U.S. and Canada.