Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Choose Pearson PASeries Mathematics; Nearly 3,000 Students Will Use PASeries Assessments to Help Forecast Performance on the North Carolina End-of-Grade Tests.

IOWA CITY, Iowa & CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- This school year, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools' nearly 3,000 grade 3-8 students will use Pearson PASeries(TM) (Progress Assessment Series(TM)) Mathematics to measure their performance toward the North Carolina End-of-Grade (NCEOG) Tests. The agreement between Pearson Education and the school district, announced today, will provide district students with access to the scientifically valid, reliable and research-based formative assessment product.

"Our district's leadership is constantly looking for tools that will help our teachers ensure that all students achieve at the highest levels," said Neil Pedersen, superintendent, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. "This new formative assessment tool will help us to ensure that students in grades 3-8 are meeting and exceeding state standards."

With two high schools, four middle schools, and nine elementary schools, Chapel Hill-Carrboro is one of the top 37 U.S. districts and the top-performing school district in the Southeast. The PASeries assessments used by Chapel Hill-Carrboro grade 3-8 teachers are being aligned to North Carolina standards and will provide forecasts of NCEOG performance.

"We are excited about working closely with educators at Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools as they begin to use PASeries Mathematics with their students," said Douglas Kubach, president and CEO, Pearson Educational Measurement. "They will quickly see how this ongoing program of formative assessment allows them to identify students who are at potential risk of not meeting North Carolina performance standards and to develop intervention and targeted instructional strategies to improve student performance."

PASeries tests are designed for completion in one class period and for delivery either on paper or online with quick electronic reporting of results. All PASeries test items were developed based on an extensive review of national and state standards, national and state tests, and curriculum and instructional practices. PASeries Mathematics assessments include a screening test for placement, six progress monitoring tests for each grade, and diagnostic tests by strand with item analysis reports.

PASeries Mathematics uses the scientific Quantile(R) scale for mathematics to evaluate student progress. The Quantile Framework for Mathematics measures math ability on a scientific, developmental scale similar to the way that Lexiles(R) measure reading ability. Durham-based MetaMetrics Inc. is the developer of both The Quantile Framework(R) for Mathematics and The Lexile Framework(R) for Reading, the most widely adopted reading measure in use today. The Quantile scale represents mathematic ability ranging from understanding how to read mathematical expressions to knowing how and why to apply various types of mathematical knowledge in areas such as numbers and operations, geometry, algebra, data analysis and probability, and measurement.

For more information about PASeries, visit www.PearsonPASeries.com.

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