BLOOMINGTON, Minn.--June 13, 2006 -- Pearson Assessments today announced that the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF) selected the BASI(TM) (Basic Achievement Skills Inventory) series of tests to assess learning outcomes of students in their school programs. The BASI tests are a versatile, multi-level, norm-referenced series of achievement tests that measure math, reading and language skills for children and adults.

The department provides educational services to approximately 350 students in 10 juvenile justice and mental health school programs at two detention centers. Previously, the assessment instrument they had been using could only be administered individually, requiring a lot of the teachers' time. Theresa Senio, Supervisor of DSCYF's Education Unit, recognized the need to be able to test these students' reading and math levels as a group.

"We need to assess these kids to give teachers useful information that they can employ to develop lesson plans and for student groupings," said Senio. "When I recognized how quickly students were moving through our facilities, we looked for an academic achievement test that would be more conducive to our needs and still meet the students' needs."

Senio arranged for her centers to participate in a pilot study. "I thought that would be a great experience to pilot it without taking financial risk," said Senio. The teachers in the centers with the highest student turnover rates were especially pleased with the speed at which they received the test results.

The quick and useful test results, along with the ability to administer the tests to groups of students, convinced Senio to replace the individually administered achievement test the department had been using with the BASI tests. The department initially purchased a supply of the paper and pencil version, but now is migrating towards computer-based testing.

When new students arrive at the centers, teachers will administer the computer-based version of the BASI series in an orientation classroom with individual computers for each student. This will allow for group administration and the teachers will get an immediate readout on each student's learning outcomes. Senio says they plan to re-administer the tests to check student progress at least every six months, and as often as every 10-12 weeks in some cases. The reports will be kept in the students' files and when students return to their regular school, the reports will easily be shared with the sending school.

More information about the BASI series is available at www.PearsonAssessments.com/tests/basi.htm.

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