Fairfax County Chooses LearnStar for Their Project Excel Schools

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 2003--LearnStar, Inc. announces today that its award-winning technology for grades K-12 has been selected by Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia for implementation in the school district's Excel schools. Project Excel is the district's academic enhancement program designed to boost student achievement in schools with large numbers of students who are at risk for failing standardized tests.

Project Excel schools receive additional resources, offer increased time for learning and follow an enhanced academic program. In its three years in existence, Project Excel has moved rapidly toward its established benchmarks and seen tremendous academic gains among students.

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Fairfax County purchased LearnStar, a standards-based education software with curriculum modules in 20 core subjects and seven specialized subjects, for use in all the Excel schools with a two-year contract. The Editor feature of LearnStar will be used to create customized practice tests to review the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) with the students.

"LearnStar has been a successful part of the instruction in Fairfax County schools over the past several years. Proven to promote classroom participation, improve knowledge retention and increase standardized test scores, LearnStar is an excellent choice for Fairfax County's Project Excel schools," said Alice Smith, LearnStar's Regional Director of Sales. "It is rewarding to see LearnStar become a part of such a beneficial program."

Dr. Sally Ann Zoll, LearnStar's president, said, "The Excel schools have a disproportionately high number of children facing significant barriers to learning. We are delighted to be chosen as part of the solution and confident that our program will help these children succeed. The interactive environment created by LearnStar, along with the option to enter anonymous screen names, removes students' fears of failure or embarrassment. By participating as a whole class, students are more likely to become engaged, to pay attention and to retain what they have learned."

LearnStar's system also offers instant assessment. Teachers can gauge students' understanding of subject matter instantly, allowing them to focus on problem areas or offer individual attention to a particular student who may be struggling.

Zoll said, "LearnStar makes assessment palatable to students and easy and effective for teachers. Our 'on the sly' assessment dramatically turns the testing environment into a positive place!"

Fairfax County will have the opportunity to leverage LearnStar's flexible implementation options, utilizing the program with both mobile (wireless) and/or fixed computer labs as well as LearnStar's 'kid tough' wireless keypads, creating instant ad-hoc labs in the classroom from the teachers' workstations.

About LearnStar

LearnStar is a fast-growth technology company providing an educational software system to grades kindergarten through twelfth grade. Designated as a Media & Methods 2003 Portfolio Award Winner and a Computerworld Honors Laureate award winner in 2002, the LearnStar system is an interactive software solution designed to enhance learning and provide instant assessment. LearnStar's technology is platform independent and can be successfully implemented on a school's existing technology. LearnStar's system is currently being used in hundreds of schools nationwide and has a proven track record for increasing standardized test scores, improving knowledge retention and motivating students. LearnStar makes learning fun! For more information visit LearnStar online at www.learnstar.com.

About Project Excel

Project Excel is an academic program in Fairfax County, Va. Project Excel boosts student achievement at selected schools with large numbers of students who are at risk for failing standardized tests. These schools receive additional resources to prevent subsequent failure. The goal of Project Excel is to improve student achievement with increased time for learning, an enhanced academic program, and school accountability. The program includes technology-based phonics instruction for K-1 and the implementation of a research-based instructional model. School accountability includes the goal of a five-point yearly improvement in each school's school wide achievement index (SAI) score. Rewards are given each year to schools that exceed their SAI goals.