ETS Criterion(SM) Online Writing Evaluation Now Available in College Bookstores

PRINCETON, NJ, (NAMC) - ETS announced today that the new version of its Criterion(SM) Online Writing Evaluation is now available for sale to students through college bookstores. More than 40,000 students at two- and four-year institutions already use Criterion v4.0, a learning tool that uses innovative automated scoring technologies to evaluate student essays and provide immediate feedback.

Faculty and administrators can now make the Criterion service available to students in two ways: they can make an institutional purchase for student subscriptions, or they can specify that students purchase a semester-long subscription through the campus bookstore as part of a course requirement. Campus bookstores can place orders with ETS for Criterion subscriptions using the same process by which they supply textbooks and other course materials.

"Writing proficiency is a critical life skill, and higher education institutions invest significant time and resources to help each student improve that skill," says Mari Pearlman, ETS's Senior Vice President and General Manager of Higher Education. "The Criterion bookstore edition is a convenient, cost-effective way to make sure students get the practice and guidance they need to improve their writing skills without requiring an institution to purchase subscriptions at the institutional level."

Criterion v4.0 helps instructors evaluate student writing skills more quickly by scoring essays that students submit and providing diagnostic feedback about the use of grammar, mechanics, style, organization and development. Instructors set the parameters for each assignment, and can add their own comments and feedback to supplement the scoring and diagnostics provided by the application. Criterion is ideally suited for use in campus writing labs and remedial writing courses, first- and second-year writing courses, and with any writing assignment required across the curriculum. Criterion v4.0 is powered by e-rater(R), ETS's state-of-the-art automated essay scoring engine, and Critique(SM) Writing Analysis Tools, ETS's diagnostic feedback technology.

"Criterion gives students the opportunity to work independently in a non-threatening environment to improve their writing," Pearlman says. "At the same time, instructors can review class trends and individual student scores to analyze which skills students have mastered, and which need more support."

ETS released its Criterion v4.0 in August. Enhancements include:

-- increased accuracy of holistic scoring through ETS's automated essay-scoring engine, e-rater(R)

-- new reports for instructors with details about each student's progress and access habits, as well as holistic score summary reports for each class

-- easy-to-use charts and graphs displaying scoring and error data

-- the ability to aggregate class progress or specific assignment status with multiple sort functions

-- trait-indicator messages that help pinpoint areas that need more attention

-- user conveniences, such as the ability to archive student portfolios and easily import and export data

-- on-screen advisories for users whose essays are too long, have too many problems, or are off topic

-- technical improvements that help prevent students from deleting unsaved essays

For more information about Criterion, visit http://www.ets.org/criterion/highered/.

About ETS:

ETS is a nonprofit institution with the mission to advance quality and equity in education by providing fair and valid assessments, research and related services for all people worldwide. In serving individuals, educational institutions and government agencies around the world, ETS customizes solutions to meet the need for teacher professional development products and services, classroom and end-of-course assessments, and research-based teaching and learning tools. Founded in 1947, ETS today develops, administers and scores more than 24 million tests annually, in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide. Additional information is available at www.ets.org.

Contact:
ETS
Tom Ewing
609-683-2803