Vantage-McCann Secures 800,000th Public Safety Test

Testing Authority Continues to Strengthen America's Defense Against Terrorism

Newtown, PA, May 21, 2003 - Vantage-McCann Associates, the authority in public safety personnel assessment, today announced the successful evaluation of more than 800,000 fire, police and security staff utilizing its rigorous testing and assessment programs. Public safety agencies from 38 states across the nation are using Vantage-McCann's tests to evaluate the professionals who form the first line of defense against terrorism. Vantage-McCann's proven methodologies are based on 44 years of experience in protecting public safety.

The Vantage-McCann tests ensure that the most qualified personnel are serving the critical function of protecting public safety by assessing the abilities of applicants, as well as the knowledge and managerial capabilities of staff seeking promotion.

"When you're in charge of a fire scene, it's often not a simple choice -- officers are expected to consider all the outcomes" said John Hilmer, fire chief of the city of Racine, Wisconsin, which has been using the tests to evaluate officer candidates for lieutenant or captain for more than a decade. "The Vantage-McCann tests have enough challenging components to ensure that those who pass are worthy of making decisions about public safety. The standardized tests take the subjectivity out of the promotion process."

Vantage-McCann Associates is a division of Vantage Laboratories, the leading provider of online assessment and automated essay scoring. Vantage is further enhancing the public safety testing process by integrating technology from its IntelliMetric® open-ended question assessment engine, which blends digitized human knowledge with artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate essay answers. IntelliMetric's proprietary response-scoring technology grades the exams in real-time over the Internet and has been proven to equal or exceed the accuracy of two human scorers. In addition, Vantage will also integrate its powerful assessment reporting capabilities into enhanced versions of the online Vantage-McCann tests.

"We're proud that public safety officials continue to call on Vantage-McCann to ensure that their workforce has the skills needed to safeguard our communities from the threat of terrorism," says Peter Murphy, CEO of Vantage Laboratories. "Testing 800,000 people is a significant milestone in our 44-year history, and adding technology to our public safety tests, including the IntelliMetric engine, online assessment, and reporting tools that strengthen the decision-making process, will enable agencies to include essay questions that are automatically graded with incredible accuracy." Vantage-McCann tests are comprehensive assessments of decision-making abilities that provide multiple options from which respondents must select the best course of action. For example, the police officer exam includes sections that analyze an individual's ability to observe, understand, reason, and make judgments based on a range of scenarios, and the scores reflect the comparative correctness of the possible answers.

About Vantage-McCann

Vantage-McCann, located in Newtown PA, has been the leading provider of assessments for law enforcement, fire and public safety for more than 44 years. Vantage-McCann tests are used by local, regional and national agencies across the United States and provide real-world scenarios from which respondents must choose the most appropriate answer.