Growing Pains
March 11th, 2009 Jay Eckard
Yesterday, March 10th, the site experienced some technical difficulties around 10-11 A.M. EST. The outage was caused by the addition of a new server. We added this server to provide increased speed and performance for users and to accommodate future site growth. When the server was brought online, its internal clock was not set properly. This caused the site-wide login problems. We corrected the problem and put in place a fail-safe script to prevent a similar problem from happening in the future.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you during this busy testing season. Do not hesitate to call or email if you have any questions.
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Posted in Announcements |
Prices Remain Constant for 2009-2010 School Year
March 2nd, 2009 Joe Winterscheidt
Due to the economic challenges faced by small and large school systems alike, USATestprep has announced that their current pricing structure will remain unchanged for the entire 2009-2010 school year. This means that schools now know in advance what to budget for quality, online test review.
Schools can expect to receive the same level of customer service and an improved online review product for the same price they spent in 2008-2009. This also considers that we have plans to implement some of the most requested features in the upcoming school year.
Since our inception, over 10 years ago, we have always striven to keep our product affordable for the classroom teacher. During this time, our price has increased by less than 25%. However, the quality and variety of our site has increased dramatically. We hope that you value our product, and we look forward to continuing to provide your students with test review during this problematic economic period.
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Posted in Announcements |
Nobody likes spam!
February 25th, 2009 john
Here at USATestprep we dislike spam as much as everyone else. We take great effort to make sure we are CAN-SPAM compliant. If you feel like we are sending you too much email and you would like to opt-out of our mailing list, look for the ‘opt out’ link at the bottom of the emails you receive (see graphic below).
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Posted in How to, New Features |
Updated Matching Activities
February 24th, 2009 Jay Eckard
We reworked our matching activity code for students. These activities are located in the “Other Activities” of each content area review. It is now more visually appealing to students and easier to use.
New interface features:
- Drag and drop Interface
- Terms are removed from list when used
- You may use your student profiles
Let us know what you think!
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Posted in New Features |
USATestprep announces Middle School PASS Review
February 23rd, 2009 Joe Winterscheidt
Due to requests from South Carolina middle schools, we have recently completed our online reviews for the South Carolina Middle School PASS Tests. This includes reviews for 6th, 7th and 8th grade ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies. We custom built each of these resources from the ground up to accurately match the South Carolina Academic Standards.
As a valued subscriber we wanted to make you aware of this addition. Please feel free to pass this information on to any South Carolina middle schools that you feel may benefit from our product. If you would like to add any of these subscriptions, please contact us by phone or email.
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Posted in Announcements |
DOS Attack
February 5th, 2009 Jay Eckard
This morning from approximately 8:30-9:00 A.M. we experienced a DOS (Denial of Service) attack on our firewall server. This effected the CPU utility on our firewall that prevented access. DOS attack was blocked/disabled and the issue was resolved. Our firewall has been adjusted to prevent similar future attacks.
We apologize to all teachers and students that may have experienced an outage. We always over-budget resources and equipment so students experience the best connection and server experience possible.
Thank you for your understanding.
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Posted in Bug Reports |
District Management Upgrade
January 27th, 2009 Joe Winterscheidt
We have recently completed a number of improvements to our district management site. This was based on requests from district-wide administrators to better track and manage their schools. With the new district site, users can easily:
- Add/Edit District Contact Information
- Track Logins by School
- View/Edit School Contact Information
- See Individual School Login Information
- View Account Information for Each School
- Track Usage and Scoring for Each Test at Each School
- Print/Export Any of This Useful Data
All of these powerful features come at no additional cost when districts purchase USATestprep for their schools.
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Posted in Announcements |
Texas Chemistry and US History Reviews Now Available
January 14th, 2009 Joe Winterscheidt
Due to requests from our current subscribers, we recently completed the development of our online review products for the Chemistry and US History End-of-Course Assessments. We custom built these resources from the ground up to accurately match the Assessment Curriculum and Blueprints from the Texas Education Agency.
If you would like to add either or both of these subscriptions, please contact us by phone or email. We can have this service available within 24 hours. We can also provide you with a pro-rated price so all your expiration dates match. We look forward to hearing from you.
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Posted in Announcements |
Online Middle School PASS Test Review Available Soon
January 13th, 2009 Joe Winterscheidt
USATestprep, Inc. is nearing completion of the development of our online reviews for the 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) tests. This includes ELA (Reading and Research), Mathematics, Science and Social Studies tests at each grade level. Each test review is being designed to match the current Academic Standards.
The expected completion date for these reviews is February, 2009, in plenty of time to help your students with the May test administration. If you are interested in receiving notification as soon as these products are complete to obtain a free trial subscription, please contact us by phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you.
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Posted in Announcements |
Online Middle School MCT2 Review Available Soon
January 13th, 2009 Joe Winterscheidt
USATestprep, Inc. is nearing completion of the development of our online reviews for the 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Mississippi Curriculum Tests, Second Edition. This includes all Language Arts and Mathematics tests at each grade level. Each test review is being designed to match the current Revised Curriculum Frameworks.
The expected completion date for these reviews is March, 2009, in plenty of time to help your students with the May test administration. If you are interested in receiving notification as soon as these products are complete to obtain a free trial subscription, please contact us by phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you.
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Posted in Announcements |
