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  For Immediate Release Ballard & Tighe’s New IPT Testing System Selected by North Carolina as Test of Choice to Meet NCLB Requirements. BREA, CA – (August 8, 2005) – Ballard & Tighe, publisher of tests and instructional materials for limited English proficient (LEP) students, today announced that the company’s IPT/PEM Title III Testing Solution has been selected by the North Carolina State Board of Education to assess the language proficiency of its 75,000 LEP students. The IPT is an innovative K-12 language proficiency testing system, specifically designed to help states meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The comprehensive IPT/PEM Title III Testing Solution includes scoring and reporting services offered by Pearson Educational Measurement (PEM), the largest provider of educational assessment products and services. Dr. Fran Hoch, Second Language Studies Section Chief, announced that North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction had selected the new IPT as its test of choice to meet NCLB requirements. Ballard & Tighe’s IPT series of language assessments have been used throughout North Carolina since 2002. In 2005, the state began to look at various options for a high quality, full service language proficiency testing, scoring and reporting solution. Dr. Hoch indicated that, during their search, the state had looked at other testing instruments and had also participated in one of the consortia in the hope of finding the right fit, but ultimately decided that continuing with the IPT through the new IPT/PEM Title III Testing Solution was the best answer for North Carolina. “North Carolina is the first state to officially select the new IPT to meet its NCLB-compliance needs. We are delighted that our three-year effort to develop the best in language proficiency testing has resulted in this important milestone,” said Dr. Roberta Stathis, president of Ballard & Tighe. “We are ready to implement the new IPT statewide,” said Sarah McManus, Testing Policy and Operations Section Chief. “In conjunction with Ballard & Tighe, the Division of Accountability Services/North Carolina Testing Program will be providing training sessions on the new IPT at various locations across the state throughout the summer. Educators can register online for our summer training sessions by visiting the Accountability Services web site at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/policies/slep/,” added Ms. McManus. “We look forward to working with the state of North Carolina and hope to have
the opportunity to bring the benefits of the IPT/PEM Title III Testing Solution
to many more states across the country. We can find an effective NCLB solution
for any state’s needs — even those states that have contracted with consortia,
as our selection by North Carolina demonstrates,” explained Dr. Stathis.
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