American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence
877-669-2228
3905 National Dr, Suite #330, Burtonsville, MD 20866
American Board Selects Vantage’s IntelliMetricTM Artificial Intelligence Technology to Enhance the Passport to TeachingSM Certification Exams
Newtown, PA (August 12, 2003) —Vantage Learning (www.vantagelearning.com), the world’s leading provider of online assessment, today announced a partnership with the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (www.abcte.org) to provide development and scoring services for the open-ended, essay response components of the American Board Passport to Teaching certification exams. Targeting recent graduates, mid-career changers and teachers seeking certification, Passport to Teaching certification offers computer-based assessments in subject area and professional teaching knowledge that provide a new approach to certification, helping states identify qualified individuals with the knowledge to impact student academic achievement and meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
All Passport to Teaching certification essay exams will be scored by Vantage Learning and will leverage Vantage’s VanScorTM system, which manages the complete essay scoring process – from scorer training through scoring – and includes Vantage’s IntelliMetricTM scoring engine. The American Board will also utilize Vantage’s IntelliMetric technology, which applies a rich blend of artificial intelligence (AI) and the digitization of human expertise to accurately score and assess student responses to openended essay questions in a range of subjects.
“We’re proud to partner with such a recognized name in education," says Scott Elliot, COO of Vantage Learning. “By using our technology to evaluate the teachers of tomorrow’s leaders, we are able to strengthen and fulfill the American Board’s core mission: to make sure all children reach their learning potential."
Passport to Teaching certification requires candidates to pass two examinations. The first test, the Professional Teaching Knowledge exam, includes an essay on a school related topic, along with questions about effective assessments, instructional techniques and classroom management. The Subject Area Knowledge exam gives candidates the option to earn certification in one or all of the following areas: Elementary Education (grades K-6), Mathematics (grades 6-12) or English (grades 6-12), with additional areas to be developed in the future.
The American Board is funded and supported in large part by an initial $5 million grant from the US Department of Education. In addition to Passport certification, the American Board plans to offer Master Teacher certification that will recognize teachers of distinction who demonstrate a standard of advanced proficiency in their subject area with documented evidence of student academic progress.
“We look forward to working with Vantage to enhance and expand the range of open-ended questions that can be used to meet our standards," said Dr. Kathleen Madigan, president of the American Board. “Our selection of Vantage further emphasizes our dedication to benefit from technology to create unique, innovative, reliable and valid assessments."
For more information regarding the American Board and its partnership with Vantage Learning, please contact Kimberly Tulp at (202)261-2605 or kbt@educationleaders.org.
About the American Board
The American Board addresses the need to place a highly qualified teacher in every classroom. Through assessments of rigorous standards in subject area and professional teaching knowledge, the American Board offers a new approach to certification that helps states identify qualified individuals with the skills and commitment to impact student academic achievement. Founded by Education Leaders Council and the National Council on Teacher Quality, the American Board is recognized as an approved provider of teacher certification in the new federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
The American Board was recently recognized by Secretary Paige as an innovative new option for teacher certification in “Meeting the Highly Qualified Teacher Challenge," The Secretary’s 2 nd Annual Report on Teacher Quality, July 2003. For more information about the American Board, visit www.abcte.org.
About Vantage Learning
Vantage Learning, an affiliate of Vantage Laboratories and the leading provider of online assessment and automated essay scoring, developed IntelliMetric TM (http://www.vantagelearning.com) to meet the needs of business, education, and government agencies needing a comprehensive Internet-based test authoring, delivery, scoring and reporting platform. IntelliMetric administers and scores responses to open-ended questions over the Internet using advanced artificial intelligence technology. An individual can enter a response to a question posed, submit the response, and receive an immediate score with feedback within seconds.
Eduventures recently selected Vantage Learning as one of the eight most innovative educational technology companies. Vantage provides services in all 50 states including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, Oregon and Texas, and provides services to educational leaders such as The College Board, ACT, Harcourt Educational Measurement, CTB/McGraw Hill and Thomson Learning, and industry giants such as Microsoft, Apple Computer, AOL and Sun Microsystems.
877-669-2228
3905 National Dr, Suite #330, Burtonsville, MD 20866