RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif., Dec. 30 -- Pearson, the global leader in education and education technology, announced today the release of the latest version of Chancery SMS, the most widely used and trusted enterprise student information system. Chancery SMS is designed to specifically meet the complex needs of large school districts for critical day-to-day operational, administrative and instructional needs.

Chancery SMS 6.7 includes several key enhancements to five major functional areas including permanent records; health immunizations; elementary school attendance; security; and its customization framework. This latest version also includes support for Microsoft's .NET 3.5 development environment.

"Pearson is dedicated to a process of continual improvement, to bring you the features you need to be successful in the classroom today and in the future," said Paul Fletcher, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the School Systems group of Pearson. "With Chancery SMS 6.7, we're able to combine the latest technologies with our deep heritage in helping large-scale school districts overcome complexity and increase overall usability."

Chancery SMS 6.7 delivers on Pearson's longstanding commitment to its customers and its focus on providing intuitive and innovative tools for powering performance in today's schools and districts. Many of the enhancements made in Chancery SMS 6.7 are in direct response to customer feedback and requests.

Key feature enhancements in Chancery SMS 6.7 include:

Permanent Records

A new permanent record structure in Chancery SMS uses detailed historical course grading information to calculate cumulative GPA and earned credits rather than summary data. Additional upgrades to the permanent records structure include:

• The ability to define GPA/Class Rank Reporting Terms for reporting cumulative GPA and Class Rank by term
• New permanent record pages include new navigational and custom views frameworks which enhance usability, stability and customization

Health Immunizations

The new Immunization and Examination Setup page includes an updated "tabbed" interface to increase overall usability and a new student immunization page which allows all administered dose information to be entered and edited from a single screen. Additional health immunizations updates include:

• Enhanced dose rule definitions which offer an expanded set of options for defining rules by age range with waiting period parameters
• New quick entry page that allows the entry of dose administered information quickly into a grid structure

Elementary School Attendance

Homeroom attendance has been updated to better reflect the different attendance patterns assigned to each homeroom.

Security

Security enhancements allow district administrators to setup and manage passwords for all users in the district. Administrators can also automatically generate passwords and distribute them to users via email. Additionally, administrators can define password expiration dates and the number of unsuccessful login attempts allowed before a user is locked out of the system.

cTools Customization Enhancements

Chancery SMS users now have the ability to "lock" packages to prevent other users from making changes to the customization package they create with cTools. Additionally, developers and districts can now acquire an "owner key" which identifies the creator of a custom package and ensures others can extend the package schema, but not change it.

For more information on Chancery SMS 6.7 and its recent enhancements, visit: http://www.pearsonschoolsystems.com/products/sms/

About Pearson

Pearson, the global leader in education and education technology, reaches and engages today's digital natives with effective and personalized learning, as well as dedicated professional development for their teachers. This commitment is demonstrated in the company's investment in innovative print and digital education materials for preK through college, student information systems and learning management systems, teacher professional development, career certification programs, and testing and assessment products that set the standard for the industry. The company's respected brands include Scott Foresman, Prentice Hall, Addison Wesley, Benjamin Cummings, PEMSolutions, Stanford 10, SuccessNet, MyLabs, PowerSchool, SuccessMaker, and many others. Pearson's comprehensive offerings help inform targeted instruction and intervention so that success is within reach of every student at every level of education. Pearson's commitment to education for all is supported by the global philanthropic initiatives of the Pearson Foundation. Pearson's other primary businesses include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.