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New Website Built On Idea That Success In School Begins At Home

As students return to school this fall, an innovative new website has launched to help kids achieve greater academic results and to help their parents play a greater role in their children's education.

Targeted to students in grades 3-8 and their parents, FasTests.com provides online tests through a monthly subscription. Parents may enroll students by grade level for access to math and language arts tests. The test questions, which are aligned with national standards, were developed by Incentive Publications, an established publisher and distributor of supplemental educational books and other materials. The questions are based on research done by teachers and curriculum experts from around the country; similar content has been used in classrooms nationwide for the past ten years.

According to Diana Kastelic, president, CEO and founder of Bandwidthmoms.com, Inc., parent company of FasTests.com, the primary mission of the site is to help students to gain confidence and become better prepared for nationally mandated testing in reading and math. "Outside the classroom students simply don't have an opportunity to practice test taking skills," Kastelic noted. "We have created an opportunity for students to improve these skills in the stress-free environment of their own homes or wherever Internet access is available."

The website can also be a useful tool for parents, who might be able to help children with regular homework, but who can't be present to assist during tests. "Parents are often frustrated by not knowing how to help their children," said Susie Tschetter, co-founder and Chief

Tschetter continued, "Students who use these methods will become accustomed to test taking and may find that test taking becomes second nature. With the heavy emphasis on testing in the schools that has resulted from No Child Left Behind, this is a big plus for a student facing achievement pressures."

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, she explained, was passed to "ensure that all children have a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high quality education and reach a minimum proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments." By increasing accountability for schools and districts that do not improve their performances on a yearly basis, the act has had far reaching implications for families who want to ensure their children's schools measure up.

A 30-day subscription to FasTests.com costs $12.95 and includes access to unlimited 15-question tests in reading and math, plus website recommendations for additional practice and carefully chosen reading and math software to use online. Without the software recommendations, the subscription costs $11.95.

FasTests.com was created through a dynamic partnership between Bandwidthmoms.com,Inc., LearningStation and Executive Learning. Charlotte, N.C.-based LearningStation, a pioneer in the delivery of teaching and learning resources via the internet, hosts FasTests.com content, while. Nashville, Tenn.-based Executive Learning, a sponsor of widely used educational publications, has been instrumental in providing the database of questions used by www.FasTests.com. Combining the talents of these three dynamic companies has culminated in the unique www.FasTests.com product.