UNDERSTANDING CORPORATION FORMS ALLIANCE WITH TOUCHSTONE APPLIED SCIENCE ASSOCIATES
- Creates System to Align Communications With Audience Reading Ability
- Uses Degrees of Reading Power ® Tests
Chapel Hill, NC, November 20, 2006 – Understanding Corporation (UC) which provides organizations and individuals with the capability to align their text-based communications with the reading abilities of a target audience, announced today it has formed an alliance with Touchstone Applied Science Associates, Inc. (OTCBB: TASA), a leader in reading assessment design and development.
UC has developed a system that businesses and other organizations can use to increase the effectiveness of their internal and external communication, ultimately increasing productivity and improving overall results.
TASA brings to the alliance its extensive experience in literacy assessment.
TASA has agreed to provide Degrees of Reading Power ® tests that serve as the reading comprehension element of UC’s Lit Master assessment suite. DRP tests will be administered to the target audience, so reading levels can be determined. With that information in hand, UC can use its system to help customers create optimally effective communications, such as proposals, manuals, reports and emails. TASA said it will also provide technical assistance in applying DRP technology.
UC will host the assessments on its Web site. Further, sales and marketing, administration and all other aspects of this alliance will be handled by UC.
“We are pleased to partner with TASA and to incorporate its outstanding reading assessments into our text alignment system,” said CEO and President, Thomas Quinn. “Today, too many written communications are not understood. Our patented technology aligns communications to the target audience's reading level. Now, users can write more effectively, in less time, and employers can select people whose reading and writing levels match job requiremen ts. We believe there is nothing else you can buy at this price that can make a greater impact on your bottom line.”
“This alliance provides TASA with an opportunity to utilize its trademark DRP technology in an area beyond traditional K-12 and postsecondary markets,” said Andrew L. Simon, TASA president and chief executive officer. “Potentially, the market for communications alignment services is very large. By making our well-developed DRP technology available to UC for incorporation into their offerings, we can play a significant role in developing that market.
“We believe that organizations will quickly come to understand the value of aligning communications with reading abilities. As that value becomes recognized, the market for alignment services should open wide,” Simon concluded.
About Understanding Corporation
Understanding Corporation, based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, provides organizations and individuals with the capability to align text-based communications with the reading abilities of a target audience. Users can write more effectively, in less time, and select people whose reading and writing levels match job requirements. For more information visit the company’s website at, http://www.understandingcorp.com.
About TASA
TASA, headquartered in Brewster, N.Y., offers a comprehensive suite of educational assessment solutions to states, schools, school districts and to third parties. As one of the nation’s leading providers, TASA provides products and services that range from test design, development, calibration, and psychometric services through print production, distribution, scanning, scoring, reporting, and data analysis services, as well as readability analysis of written materials. To meet the requirements in electronic assessment, TASA offers on-line testing services to schools and educational entities in the K-12 market as well as customized assessment engines for curriculum providers. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.tasa.com.
Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are “forward-looking” statements as contemplated by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which are enumerated in the company’s reports filed with The Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements. [UV 1273]
