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Pearson Educational Measurement Wins North Carolina Writing Contract

Iowa City, IA – March 10, 2004 - Pearson Educational Measurement today announced that it has been awarded a three-year contract for the North Carolina Writing Assessment by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

This program assesses the writing proficiency of 360,000 students at grades 4, 7 and 10 across multiple modes; narrative, argumentative and informational and is a key component of the North Carolina Testing Program. Pearson will provide assessment services including performance scoring, materials handling, logistics and reporting. Pearson has partnered with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction on this program for the past seven years.

North Carolina has one of the best established and most comprehensive assessment programs in the country. As one of the largest performance scoring organizations in the country, Pearson is well suited to meet the needs of the program with its state-of-the-art image and web-based performance scoring system, ePEN. The program calls for all student work to be returned in digital format which is one of the key benefits of the image-based system.

"North Carolina has one of the best established and most comprehensive assessment programs in the country. As the largest performance scoring organization, Pearson is well suited to meet the needs of North Carolina with our patented performance scoring system, ePEN (Electronic Performance Evaluation Network). The North Carolina program calls for some student work to be returned in digital format, which is one of the key benefits of the ePEN system. Pearson's technology will increase the flexibility of North Carolina's scoring and reporting while providing increased management capabilities that are not available in traditional paper-based processes," said Doug Kubach, President of Pearson Educational Measurement.

About Pearson Educational Measurement

Pearson Educational Measurement is the largest commercial processor of student assessments in the U.S., providing comprehensive assessment services and products to local and state education agencies as well as other assessment organizations and publishers. Pearson Educational Measurement understands how assessment activities promote learning and benefit students, teachers, parents, and schools. It is helping many of its customers meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind federal educational reform act.

Pearson Educational Measurement operates as a business of Pearson Education, the world’s largest education company, which in turn is a part of Pearson, the international media company. Pearson’s other primary operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.

Media Contact

David Hakensen
(952) 681-3040