Vantage Learning Launches MY Access! School Edition(R) With Enhanced Program Features and Tools, Including TextSpeak(TM).

The upgraded version of the instructional program provides significant innovative advancements that make tackling new issues in student writing easier

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Vantage Learning, the world's leading provider of online assessment and automated essay scoring tools, today announced the release of MY Access![R] School Edition, the latest version of the company's innovative online instructional writing program. The upgraded MY Access! School Edition was made available to school users in August, and includes feature enhancements designed to make the program even easier to navigate and use in a variety of instructional settings.

The announcement was made at The Writing Institute, an event co-sponsored by Vantage Learning and the Leadership and Learning Center (www.leadandlearn.com), an organization founded by Dr. Douglas Reeves, a leading researcher and scholar on educational leadership and student achievement, and a strong advocate of writing across the curriculum to improve student achievement.

The upgraded version features an innovative new capability that detects "text speak," an increasingly popular form of shorthand writing found in text and instant messages. MY Access! School Edition also gives educators the most accurate picture of students' progress with updated reporting, and offers additional ways to customize MY Access! to their students' reading and writing levels.

"For seven years, MY Access! has helped build better writers through its innovative approach to online learning, and we're excited to continue that mission with our latest School Edition version," says Harry Barfoot, Vice President of Vantage Learning. "In the age of text and instant messaging, it's important that students understand the difference between casual and formal writing, and to develop this lifelong skill. LOL may be appropriate for text messaging, but may not be the best choice in formal communications. Teachers can now turn on TextSpeak, and flag common text and instant messaging jargon. This is a huge issue today, and we wanted educators to have this option."

The Web-based writing environment of MY Access! uses Vantage Learning's IntelliMetric [TM] technology to instantly score student essays, and provide immediate feedback that engages and motivates students. IntelliMetric is recognized as the gold standard for automated essay scoring that is equal to or greater than a pool of expert human graders. Students simply write an essay based on a teacher's assignment, and then submit it to the MY Access! program. MY Access! instantly analyzes over 350 semantic, syntactic, and discourse characteristics, and scores students on focus and meaning; organization; content and development; language use; voice and style; mechanics and conventions; and their overall writing proficiency. MY Access! also provides powerful tutor and editor feedback to assist students in their revision planning, as well as support for English Language Learners.

The latest School Edition version incorporates a number of new and enhanced features, including:

* Upgraded MY Editor[R] can now identify and correct TextSpeak. The TextSpeak rule set identifies the most common and inappropriate use of informal, shorthand writing, explains why this style of writing is inappropriate in a formal setting, and suggests appropriate alternatives. In addition, Simplified Chinese and Korean languages are now included as feedback languages, bringing the total to six languages available for feedback, helping ELL students to improve their English skills by using native language feedback.

* Expanded prompt library gives educators more than 700 writing topics from which to choose, as well as the ability to add and customize prompts in order to tailor topics to their own classroom and curriculum. A significant number of cross-curricular and non-fiction writing prompts have been added to the system.

* Enhanced reporting features drop-down menus that allow users to access different reports at once, without clicking back to previous pages, for quick and efficient access to data and progress information.

* New dashboard greets users upon login, displays messages from students and teachers, and offers immediate account information. Teachers can view student and classroom progress right on their dashboard. For students, the dashboard displays their progress across different categories, such as language use, mechanics, and organization.

"As a former English teacher, I've spent countless nights and weekends grading papers, so the ability of MY Access! to give students immediate feedback on their writing assignments, and help me with reporting is nothing short of miraculous," says Linda Benafel, Coordinator of Instructional Technology with the Alhambra Unified School District. "My Access! enables teachers to devote more personal attention to their students, and helps everyone focus their efforts on truly mastering our English curriculum."

ABOUT VANTAGE LEARNING

Delivering more than 193 million online test transactions last year, Vantage Learning is recognized as the leader in cost-effective, high volume, secure, scalable online assessment and instructional programs for K-12 and higher education. Leveraging technology such as artificial intelligence, natural language understanding, and Web-based learning objects, Vantage provides educators with high-quality tools and resources that motivate students to learn and that create meaningful interaction between students, parents and teachers.

Acknowledged by industry leaders as the gold standard for scoring quality, consistency, reliability, and scalability of automated essay scoring using the patented IntelliMetric([R]) engine, Vantage Learning has received accolades ranging from the prestigious CODIE Award for best instructional technology to recognition by Eduventures as one of the eight most innovative educational technology companies.