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Past Clients and Contracts

Measured Progress, formerly Advanced Systems, has been awarded about 60 contracts associated with national or state assessment programs. Half of these contracts covered the complete operation of statewide assessment programs, including test design and development, shipping, administration, scoring, analysis, and reporting.

Arkansas
The Arkansas Comprehensive Testing and Assessment Program (ACTAP) contract with the Arkansas Department of Education covered the years 1995 to 1999. As a subcontractor to Data Recognition Corporation, Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) designed and developed the reading and math assessments for testing more than 100,000 students in grades 4, 8, and 11.

California
In 1990, Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) was awarded the contract to administer the Writing Assessment for the California Department of Education. Within two months, Advanced Systems prepared and delivered all materials for testing 330,000 students in grade 8, later operated the scoring sessions for all writing samples, and produced reports. The testing program was repeated in 1992.
Starting in 1990 and working with California teacher committees, Advanced Systems developed and piloted the Golden State Examination in Chemistry for the first three years of the program. The field testing of 2,000 students included laboratory activities.

Connecticut
The state of Connecticut selected Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) in 1984 to develop the Third Assessment of Science, part of the Connecticut Assessment of Educational Progress (CAEP). Approximately 23,000 students in grades 4, 8, and 11 answered multiple-choice and open-ended questions; selected schools participated in performance testing.

Delaware
In 1995, the state of Delaware awarded a three-year contract to Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) to design the program and produce test materials for the Comprehensive Assessment System (CAS). Advanced Systems developed and field-tested about 2,500 items for on-demand tests in mathematics, science, language arts, and history/social studies, administered at grades 3, 5, 8, and 10.

Detroit
For three years, Measured Progress developed and administered the Detroit assessment program, Measuring Instructional Progress. Each year, 104,000 students in grades 1 through 8 participated in the reading and mathematics assessments.

Georgia
Measured Progress worked with the Georgia Department of Education to develop the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) for operational testing in 2001 and 2002. Read more.

Illinois
For seven years, Measured Progress provided testing and analysis services for the Illinois Alternate Assessment, designed for students in grades 3 through 8 and 11. Content areas varied with each grade and include reading, science, and mathematics. Approximately 10,250 alternate assessment portfolios were scored in 2006.

Iowa
Measured Progress developed and scored the Iowa Alternate Assessment in reading and mathematics in 2002-03. This portfolio assessment was given to 1200 students in grades 4, 8, and 11.

From 1998 to 2001, Measured Progress was contracted by the Iowa Collaborative Instructional Improvement Centers to create test materials for the Iowa Collaborative Assessment Modules. The contract included field-testing items in grades 4, 8, and 11, assessing students' skills in reading and math.

Kentucky
In conjunction with the Kentucky Department of Education and various subcontractors, Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) developed and reported the results of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS) from 1991 to 1997. Testing programs included assessments in reading, science, math, social studies, arts and humanities, practical living/vocational studies, a writing portfolio, and administration of performance events. About 50,000 students per grade are tested each year in grades 4, 5, 7, 8, and 11.

Louisiana
From 1997 to 2005, Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) developed the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century, or LEAP21. About 32,000 students per year were tested in science and social studies at grades 4, 8, and 11, and in English language arts and mathematics at grades 4, 8, and 10. The contract also included annual professional development programs for schools and districts.

Massachussetts
As assessment contractor between 1986 and 2000 for the Massachusetts Department of Education, Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) was first responsible for all phases of the Massachusetts Educational Assessment Program (MEAP), testing around 185,000 students per year in grades 3, 7, and 11, or 4, 8, and 12, in a broad range of subject areas.

Advanced Systems was also contracted to develop and administer the Basic Skills Testing Program from 1986 to 1989, testing all grade 3, 6, and 9 students in reading, writing, and mathematics.

In 1997, Advanced Systems developed the MCAS, which annually tested approximately 180,000 students in grades 4, 8, and 10, encompassing all subjects taught in Massachusetts public schools. This contract included the full operational implementation of the program for the first two years.

Minnesota
Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) began work in 1996 on item development and item tryouts for reading and mathematics in grades 3 and 5. For all other subject and grade levels, Advanced Systems worked with an advisory committee to review, adapt, and create items. This contract, given by the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning, ended in 1998.

Mountain West Assessment Consortium
In March of 2003, the Mountain West Assessment Consortium was awarded a federal grant through the Enhanced Assessment Instruments Competitive Grant Program to develop an English language proficiency assessment. The Mountain West Assessment Consortium, a group of states including Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, was joined by Measured Progress as a partner. The purpose of this grant-funded project was to improve the instruction and assessment currently provided for English language learners.

Nebraska
The Nebraska Department of Education awarded a contract for the scoring of approximately 300 grade-eight writing samples in 2003.

New Jersey
Measured Progress worked with the New Jersey Department of Education from 2001 to 2003 to construct and implement the Alternate Proficiency Assessment, designed to assess about 6000 students with disabilities by the end of grades 4, 8 and 11/12. Content areas included language arts literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, visual and performing arts, comprehensive health and physical education, and world languages. After scoring of individual student portfolios, Measured Progress analyzed scoring results and generated reports.

In July 1990, the New Jersey Department of Education awarded Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) a three-year contract to conduct all aspects of development and statewide field testing of the due-notice Grade 11 High School Proficiency Test. The assessment included approximately 75,000 student writing samples and responses to open-ended reading and mathematics questions annually.

North Carolina
From 2000 to 2001, Measured Progress developed about 7,000 reading comprehension multiple-choice items for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Oregon
As a subcontractor to Interwest Applied Research, Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) developed about 1,000 field test items for the reading and literature areas of the 1991 Oregon Statewide Assessment. The field test was administered to students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 11.

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania contracted Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) to develop writing topics and scoring methods for the statewide assessment program. In 1991/92, Advanced Systems produced State Assessment Program test materials (administered to approximately 100,000 students, assessing reading and writing achievement at grades 5 and 8 and writing ability at grades 6 and 9) as well as final reports. Advanced Systems also designed a procedure in 1996 to establish cut points and descriptors for the four performance levels of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment.

Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island chose Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) in 1998 to be responsible for the writing and health education portions of the Rhode Island State Assessment Program (RISAP). With approximately 13,000 students at each grade level, a health education assessment was administered at grade 5 and writing assessments were administered at grades 3 and 7. This contract ended in 2005 as Rhode Island joined the NECAP.

In 1990, Advanced Systems was awarded a contract to implement the writing, physical fitness and health components of the state assessment program. Test development and data analysis continued through 1995. Advanced Systems also operated all aspects of the Rhode Island Distinguished Merit Program between 1989 and 1995. Other contracts with Rhode Island included maintaining the assessment program's data base and the expansion of the health item bank.

South Carolina
From 2001 to 2006, Measured Progress developed items for the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test. The items were used in tests for English language arts, mathematics, and social studies, grades 3 through 8, as well as for science, grades 3 through 9.

From 1998 to 2003, Measured Progress developed the PACT-Alternate Assessment for 2200 students in grades 3 through 8, testing English language arts, math, science, and social studies skills.

Until 2002, Measured Progress developed items for the South Carolina Benchmark Assessments and the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test (PACT). From 1991 to 1997, Measured Progress administered and scored the South Carolina Education Entrance Examination (EEE), a basic skills test for prospective public school teachers. Approximately 5,000 individuals per year took this examination.

Tennessee
As subcontractor to Inclusive Large Scale Standards and Assessment (ILSSA), Measured Progress provided logistical and organizational support during all phases of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program-Alternate.

Vermont
In 2002, Measured Progress worked with the Vermont Department of Education, The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, and the Vermont Insitutes to develop grade-level expectations for grades 3 through 8 in the areas of mathematics, reading, and writing. In addition, Measured Progress was responsible for creating test blueprints and test specifications for grades 3, 5, 6, and 7.

After the development and administration of a pilot testing program in 1987-88, Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) worked with the Vermont Department of Education in 1991 to pioneer the use of student portfolios in the assessment of writing and mathematics. Until 1992, Advanced Systems also developed and conducted the uniform mathematics and writing assessments, and produced reports on their results.

Washington
From 1998 to 2000, Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) worked with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop and field-test science test materials for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Every year, about 80,000 students per grade in grades 8 and 10 participate in the assessment program.

Washington, D.C.
From 2001 to 2005, Measured Progress provided alternate assessment services to the district.

West Virginia
Measured Progress provided consulting services to the West Virginia alternate assessment program from 2001 to 2004.

Wyoming
Under the 1998 contract with the state of Wyoming, Measured Progress performed all aspects of the Wyoming Comprehensive Assessment System (WyCAS) until 2005. Reading, writing, and math tests were given to 21,000 students in grades 4, 8, and 11.

Utah
From 1999 to 2002, Measured Progress was responsible for the development of the Utah Secondary Language Arts Core Criterion-Referenced Test, testing 35,000 students in each grade, 7 through 11.

The Utah Mathematics Core Criterion-Referenced Test (CRT) Development Project was managed by Measured Progress from 2001 to 2005.  The tests are administered to approximately 40,000 students per grade in grades 1 through 7, assessing pre-algebra, elementary algebra, and geometry.

From 2003 to 2005, Measured Progress supported Utah’s transition to computer-based testing by providing the software, training, technical support, and data management for the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students (U-PASS). Using the Measured Progress iTest System, the Utah mathematics CRTs, science CRTs, and English language arts CRTs were administered online to students across the state in grades 4 through 12.

Other Contracts

Modern Red Schoolhouse
The Modern Red Schoolhouse (MRS), funded by the New American Schools Development Corporation, in 1993 contracted Advanced Systems (now Measured Progress) to assist in constructing the MRS assessment system. Through 1999, working closely with the Hudson Institute, Advanced Systems developed capstone instructional units and subject exams assessing students on exit standards they must meet before leaving grades 4, 8, and 12.

Scoring of GED Essays
Advanced Systems passed a series of requirements established by the General Education Development (GED) Testing Service to become a certified scorer of GED essay tests in 1988, and until 1990 scored the writing samples for both New Hampshire and Maine GED candidates.

New Standards Project
In 1993, the New Standards Project administered a matrix-sampled pilot examination consisting of 21 English language arts tasks and 34 math tasks to a sample of approximately 60,000 fourth and eighth grade students across the country. After printing and distributing pilot test materials, Advanced Systems designed and carried out the logistical procedures for all data collection associated with the pilot examination, the central conference for educators scoring the tests, and the regional scoring sessions.

SRI International
As subcontractor to SRI International, Advanced Systems was chosen to develop new items for the Third International Math/Science Study (TIMSS) in 1993. Advanced Systems created test materials for international science and math assessments in grades 4 and 8.

Educational Records Bureau (ERB)
In 1987, Advanced Systems was contracted to design the ERB writing assessment. About 130 schools used this program, and 53,000 students took the examination through Advanced Systems. From 1989 to 1991, Advanced Systems administered and scored the reading, writing, and mathematics tests for the Independent School Entrance Examination (ISEE), testing approximately 5,000 students primarily for entrance into private secondary schools.