Curriculum Advantage and Excelsior Software Announce Partnership to Build Interface Between Classworks and Pinnacle Plus.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2004

Curriculum Advantage, Inc. and Excelsior Software announced today a partnership to create an integrated interface between Curriculum Advantage's Classworks and Excelsior's Pinnacle Plus Assessment Management System, thus closing the loop between accountability, assessment and standards-based instruction and combining their best-of-breed solutions.

Classworks (www.curriculumadvantage.com) is a curriculum resource of over 8,600 software based learning activities and lessons that are built from 180 different software products. It is the only curriculum resource of its kind that can import data directly from state-mandated assessment tests and then use those data to assign unique learning paths for each student based on individual performance. Classworks activities and units are correlated to state and national learning standards, and its assessment and reporting tools measure and record individual understanding of those standards.

Pinnacle Plus (www.excelsiorsoftware.com) is a classroom management system that teachers use to align their assignments to their district's standards and benchmarks, and to assess student performance in relation to state and national tests. With Pinnacle Plus, teachers have ongoing collection of classroom assessment data which then facilitates district-level standards-based reporting. Pinnacle Plus is the only total accountability solution that works in conjunction with Student Information Systems.

With the integrated interface, teachers logged on to Pinnacle Plus will be able to assign Classworks interactive curriculum that is aligned to their state and district standards directly from their gradebook. Combining these systems to allow such tasks will be a substantial timesaver for teachers, saving them the need to open multiple windows. The integrated system will also be highly flexible, allowing teachers to plan for individual units or base their assignments on a semester-long course of study. The standards-based components of both products will allow teachers to design and track a single course of study that uses both technology and non-technology resources and manage all elements of assessment and remediation with one access point.

The integration of Classworks and Pinnacle Plus will also give educators more options to generate reports for individual students or for population groups as required to demonstrate adequate yearly progress (AYP). The need for measuring these data has increased in part due to requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act that requires states to prove that students are meeting adequate yearly progress goals in mathematics and reading.

"By embarking on this co-development partnership, we are significantly adding new applications for Classworks and growing the market potential for both companies," said Mr. Lindsey Cook, president of Curriculum Advantage. "Linking with Excelsior's Pinnacle Plus adds to Classworks' value as a powerful tool in a standards-based curriculum that helps students perform well on state-mandated tests."

"This is a win-win-win partnership for Excelsior, Curriculum Advantage and for teachers," said William Zaggle, CEO of Excelsior Software. "Our shared vision is to create an interface that builds on the Pinnacle Plus strength in classroom management and reporting and also on the Classworks strength in standards-based instruction. And, it will give educators a single solution for a standards-based curriculum with extensive assessment reporting options. We also feel that this is a natural extension of our commitment to standards-based education, which has been recognized by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) in their What Works in Schools program."

Curriculum Advantage and Excelsior expect to launch the new interface for the 2004-05 school year.

About Curriculum Advantage

Curriculum Advantage, Inc. (www.curriculumadvantage.com), owned by Prime Entertainment, has offices in Los Angeles; Austin, Texas; Wayne, Neb.; and Marietta, Ga. Curriculum Advantage's flagship product is Classworks, a network-based system of K-12 reading and mathematics curriculum and learning tools that comprise over 3,000 hours of curriculum. Classworks activities are correlated to national and state learning standards and state tests. They include prescriptive and summative assessment, remediation and reporting tools. Classworks is installed in 2,000 schools in the United States and worldwide. Other products from Curriculum Advantage include INET Classroom, a comprehensive library of web-based curriculum linked to state and national standards and Tableaux, a unique combination of presentation software and digital movie cameras for developing multi-media presentations.

About Excelsior Software

Excelsior Software is headquartered in Greeley, Colo. (www.excelsiorsoftware.com) and has been the leader in the assessment management software marketplace since 1986. The Pinnacle Plus Assessment Management System is empowering educators, students and parents with real-time, daily student assessment and behavior information in more than 1,000 school districts nation-wide. Pinnacle Plus is the leading grading software program in terms of innovative features, scalability and integration with other software.