ETS Chosen for California High School Exit Examination.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2001

The California Department of Education has chosen Educational Testing Service, to develop, administer, and score the California High School Exit Examination.

The award totals $50 million. Because of the scope of the contract, the company enlisted ETS K-12 Works, its wholly-owned subsidiary, NCS Pearson, a well-established testing and assessment services provider in the K-12 market, and The Chauncey Group International, a for-profit subsidiary of ETS.

The California High School Exit Examination is tied to California's curriculum standards. The state requires that students pass the English Language and Mathematics portions in their sophomore year. If students are unsuccessful, additional opportunities are provided in their junior and senior years.

"We won the contract on the strength of our outstanding team of measurement specialists, test designers, and program managers," said ETS President Kurt Landgraf. "This team will work with California policymakers and educators to find the most effective ways to help students, parents, and teachers understand and take advantage of the test results to improve learning."

As the prime contractor, ETS is responsible for all test scoring, reporting results, and customer service activities. Its subsidiary, ETS K-12 Works will develop the tests and direct research and technical activities. NCS Pearson will handle packaging, distribution, imaging essays, and preparing data for analyses.

The Chauncey Group experts and staff will be responsible for assisting California in setting standards.

"For the California contract we assembled the most able professionals in the field of assessment," said Paul Ramsey, vice president of School and College Services at ETS, who will oversee the project. "Our team consists of experienced test developers with backgrounds as educators, state testing directors, program managers, and measurement consultants. We view improving student learning as not merely a lofty goal but as our company duty and we look forward to helping California accomplish that goal."

In May, the California Department of Education announced its intention to award Educational Testing Service the contract. Later, the American Institutes for Research, which is the incumbent CAHSEE contractor, initiated a formal protest of the proposed award. In response, the CDE cancelled the award and solicited a new round of proposals.

ETS was again awarded the contract over two other companies.

ETS has had an office in California for over 50 years. During that time it has provided a variety of services to the students and citizens of California. From 1985 to 1995, ETS was the original developer and contractor for the Golden State Exam. From 1976 to 1979, ETS's California office also operated the California Reading Assessment Program, which assesses student reading.

And, from 1975 to 1995, they also operated the California High School Proficiency Exam that still provides an alternative path to high school graduation for California students. The firm also designs and administers the PSAT/NMSQT for the College Board.

Educational Testing Service is the world's largest private educational testing and measurement organization and a leader in educational research.

A nonprofit company dedicated to serving the needs of individuals, educational institutions and agencies, and governmental bodies in 181 countries, ETS develops and annually administers more than 11 million tests worldwide on behalf of clients in education, government, and business. For more information, access the ETS Website at www.ets.org.

ETS K-12 Works http://www.etsk-12works.com is a subsidiary of Educational Testing Service. With main offices in San Antonio, the company offers state educators another choice in the test-development market. Partnered with ETS's resources and research capabilities, ETS K-12 Works offers states and large school districts not just tests, but assessment systems aligned with state standards.

The firm's measurement experts have decades of experience in all areas of the assessment field, including test development, program management, state test direction, editing, psychometrics, and teaching.

NCS Pearson http://www.ncspearson.com is a global provider of applications, services and technologies for education, testing, assessment and complex data management.

The company is part of Pearson Education, the world's largest integrated education company, combining strong market positions in educational content, online learning, assessment and enterprise applications for US schools and professional accreditation. NCS Pearson is a wholly owned company of Pearson plc, the international media company.