WriteToLearn Named Best High School Language Arts Web Site

Pearson's Web-Based Learning Tool Honored in 12th Annual Education Software Review Awards

BOULDER, Colo. - Oct. 23, 2007 - WriteToLearn™, Pearson's Web-based learning tool for developing writing and reading comprehension skills, was honored with a 12th Annual Education Software Review (EDDIE) Award. The award program sponsor, ComputED Learning Center of San Diego, named WriteToLearn "Best High School Language Arts Web Site."

The EDDIE Awards recognize innovative and content-rich programs and Web sites that provide parents and teachers with the technology to foster educational excellence, including augmenting the classroom curriculum and improving teacher productivity. Winners are selected from titles submitted by software publishers from around the world. Judges evaluate the products for academic content, potential for broad classroom use, technical merit, subject approach and management system.

"It has been an exciting year for WriteToLearn as more and more schools have begun to use the tool to help their students develop critical reading comprehension and writing skills," said Lynn Streeter, president of the Knowledge Technologies group of Pearson. "We are proud of the ComputED Learning Center's recognition of WriteToLearn."

With WriteToLearn, students practice essay writing and summarization skills, and their efforts are measured by Pearson's state-of-the-art Knowledge Analysis Technologies™ (KAT) engine, which automatically evaluates the meaning of text by examining whole passages. The KAT engine is a unique automated assessment technology that evaluates the meaning of text, not just grammatical correctness or spelling. Earlier this year, scores for each of six traits of writing - ideas, organization, conventions, sentence fluency, word choice and voice - were added to WriteToLearn, making it an even more powerful tool for building writing skills.

Pearson recently launched WriteToLearn 4.0, which now includes more than 200 reading passages from the company's popular Scott Foresman Reading Street, a reading program designed to help elementary teachers build readers through motivating and engaging literature, scientifically research-based instruction and reliable teaching tools. These readings are targeted specifically at struggling readers in grade four and higher.

This is the fourth honor for WriteToLearn this year. Earlier this month, it was recognized as one of the best education offerings of the year with a 2007 Award of Excellence from "Technology & Learning" magazine. Last spring, WriteToLearn won a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers as the best "Curriculum: Reading and Language Instruction Web Site for Grades 6-8," as well as a Best Education Software (BESSIE) Award from ComputED Learning Center.

For more information about the ComputED Learning Center and the EDDIE Awards, visit www.computedgazette.com. For more information about WriteToLearn, visit www.WriteToLearn.net.

About Pearson
Pearson is the global leader in educational publishing, assessment, information and services, helping people of all ages to learn at their own pace, in their own way. For students preK-12, Pearson provides effective and innovative curriculum products in all available media, educational assessment and measurement for students and teachers, student information systems, and teacher professional development and certification programs. The company's respected brands include Summary Street, WriteToLearn, Scott Foresman, Prentice Hall, AGS, PowerSchool, SuccessMaker, TeacherVision and many others. Pearson's comprehensive offerings help inform targeted instruction and intervention so that success is within reach of every student. Pearson's other primary businesses include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.

Contacts:
Lisa Wolfe, L. Wolfe Communications, 773-325-9935, lwolfe@lwolfe.com