PATTISON, Texas, June 29, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Scantron(r) today announced that Royal Independent School District (Royal ISD) in Texas received a special honor by Scholastic Administr@tor(tm) magazine as the 2005 recipient of the District Picks Awards for Best Use of Administrative Software. Royal ISD relies on Scantron assessment tools including Performance Series(sm) to help them assess student proficiency and prepare for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS).
The District Picks Awards acknowledges districts throughout the country for best practices in the integration of educational technology to support classroom instruction and drive student achievement. An advisory board of district chief technology officers selected four grand-prize winners and sixteen finalists in four categories.
"We congratulate Royal ISD for its notable successes since 1999 when it began a rigorous effort to improve student performance on the TAKS," said Tim Loomer, president of the Scantron Testing and Assessment Division. "We are pleased that Royal ISD selected Scantron assessment solutions to help them steadily improve their TAKS scores by giving teachers relevant and timely information about their students. This is a fitting honor that recognizes the hard work of their teachers, administrators and students."
"It is a nice honor to be recognized in Scholastic Administr@tor," said Dr. Laurie Bauer, director of curriculum at Royal ISD. "This is a credit to technology tools that help inform our instruction and to our strong leadership and dedicated staff who each day, dedicate their best efforts to the children in our district."
Royal ISD uses Scantron Performance Series to assess students in reading, mathematics, language arts and science. Performance Series is a Web-based, computer-adaptive test used for diagnostic purposes, for determining student placement, for progress reporting and to manage instruction. Royal ISD relies on Performance Series because it can diagnose learning gaps and determine grade-level proficiency and then report that information instantaneously, helping teachers make the most of instructional time.
Performance Series has been in use at Royal ISD since 2002 when it was selected to replace paper-based norm referenced tests. Students are tested with Performance Series in August and teachers make adjustments to their curriculum using Performance Series Suggested Learning Objectives (SLO), which are aligned to the state curriculum objective codes. This way instruction is individualized for groups of students or for individuals, giving them the best chance to be successful in the classroom and on the state assessments.
District Picks winning schools are featured in the June 2005 issue of Scholastic Administr@tor and were recognized during an awards ceremony at the National Educational Computing Conference in Philadelphia on June 28, 2005.
About Royal Independent School District
The Royal Independent School District (www.royal.isd.esc4.net) is located in southern Waller County and serves the communities of Brookshire, Pattison, Sunnyside, and the surrounding areas. The District serves a total student population of 1,750 students from pre-kindergarten through the twelfth grade.
About Scholastic Administr@tor
Scholastic Administr@tor is the leading professional resource for today's results-driven school leaders, reaching 260,000 school technology officers, superintendents, principals, school board presidents, curriculum directors and technology coordinators. By providing insights into effective technology and leadership strategies through real-world examples and facilitating a dialogue among administrators, the magazine serves as a clearinghouse of concise and practical ideas, smart leadership strategies, and proven technology solutions. More information is available on www.scholastic.com/administrator.
About Scantron Corporation
Scantron Corporation ( www.scantron.com ) is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based John H. Harland Company (NYSE:JH). Scantron is a leading provider of software services and systems for the collection, management and interpretation of data to the educational, financial and commercial markets. The company has approximately 600 employees worldwide and annual revenues exceeding $110 million.
About Harland
Atlanta-based John H. Harland Company (NYSE:JH) (www.harland.net) is a leading provider of software and printed products to the financial and educational markets. Harland Financial Solutions, Inc. (www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com), a wholly owned subsidiary, supplies software and services, including customer relationship management, deposit and loan origination, core systems and mortgage services, to thousands of financial institutions of all sizes. Harland's printed products offerings include checks, direct marketing and financial forms.
The Scantron logo can be found at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=1634
This press release contains statements, which may constitute "forward-looking statements." These statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of John H. Harland Company and members of its respective management, as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Reference is made to the Risk Factors and Cautionary Statements in Harland's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed under the Securities Exchange Act.