Questar Assessment Inc. (fka QUSA)

[MikeDDKing]

Touchstone Applied Science Associates Forms Alliance With Understanding Corporation
Monday November 20, 7:00 am ET
-- Creates System to Align Communications With Audience Reading Ability -- New Application for Degrees of Reading Power(R) Tests


BREWSTER, N.Y., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Touchstone Applied Science Associates, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: TASA - News) announced today it has formed an alliance with Understanding Corporation (UC), a new company whose mission is to provide organizations and individuals with the capability to align their text-based communications with the reading abilities of a target audience.

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(TM) assessment. DRP® tests will be administered to the target audience, so reading levels can be determined. With that information, UC can use its system to help customers create optimally effective communications, such as proposals, manuals, reports and e-mails. TASA said it will also provide technical assistance in applying DRP technology.

UC will host the assessments on its website. Further, sales and marketing, administration and all other aspects of the alignment process will be handled by UC, TASA noted.

"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. "The market for communications alignment services is very large. By making our well-developed DRP technology available to UC for incorporation into its offerings, we can play a significant role in developing that market.

"We believe organizations will quickly begin to understand the value of aligning communications with reading abilities. As that value becomes recognized, the market for alignment services should open wide," Simon noted.

"We are pleased to partner with TASA and to incorporate its outstanding reading assessments into our text alignment system that enables users to be better understood," said Thomas Quinn, UC CEO and President.

About Understanding Corp.

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. Additional information is available on the company's website, 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 http://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.




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Source: Touchstone Applied Science Associates, Inc.