WELD NORTH ACQUIRES PERFORMANCE MATTERS; MERGES COMPANY WITH TRUENORTHLOGIC
Combination Creates Industry’s First SaaS Platform That Integrates Professional Growth and Student Assessment Tools with Powerful Educational Analytics Capabilities
Enables School Districts to Meaningfully Evaluate the Impact of Professional Development and Educator Effectiveness on Student Learning
NEW YORK – March 9, 2016 – Weld North Holdings LLC, a leading education investment company led by former Kaplan CEO Jonathan Grayer, announced today their continued expansion in the big data and educational analytics technology market with the acquisition of Performance Matters, a leader in student assessment systems and analytics. As part of this transaction, Performance Matters will merge with Truenorthlogic, the leader in educator professional growth solutions acquired by Weld North in April, 2014. The combination creates the first company with educator evaluation and professional development data; student achievement data; and powerful analytics capability to better understand the drivers of student outcomes. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“The recent passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act makes it imperative that state and local educational leaders understand what is working and what is not. In that effort, we believe that Districts will increasingly use the analysis of all kinds of data to improve student outcomes,” said Jonathan Grayer, Chairman and CEO of Weld North. “We understand this goal and know how to unlock the value of big data and critical analysis in an increasingly digital education landscape. With this merger, for the first time ever, districts will have student information, including performance data, and analytics combined with educator Professional Development and teacher evaluation data in one integrated, easy-to-use SaaS platform. We welcome Performance Matters into the Weld North family and will continue to invest and innovate in this emerging movement to help educators do their jobs better. ”
Based in Winter Park, Florida, Performance Matters helps K-12 school systems improve student learning by providing comprehensive, integrated solutions for formative assessment, data management, and analytics. K-12 educators use the Performance Matters flagship product, Unify, to author instructional materials and administer authentic assessments. In addition, Performance Matters empowers educators to analyze student data from multiple sources, including assessment data, to improve teaching and learning.
“Educators rely on the Performance Matters platform for administering student assessments and for analyzing student outcomes to differentiate their instruction. We are very excited to be joining Truenorthlogic so that our shared customers can now answer the most important question among educators: ‘What are we doing effectively and what can we do better to ensure all students are receiving the best possible educational opportunities?’” said Woody Dillaha, CEO and Co-Founder of Performance Matters.
“Our newly integrated solution enables school districts to better manage all aspects of their educator growth, talent management, and student assessment needs so they can easily evaluate the impact of professional development and educator effectiveness on student learning,” said Jeanette Haren, Founder and Chief Product Officer of Truenorthlogic. “Our clients will now have the opportunity to add an integrated, sophisticated assessment solution and a powerful analytics engine to understand relationships between educator growth and student outcomes.”
With this merger, the executive teams of both companies will join to form a new leadership team focused on continuing to provide exceptional customer service to more than 1,000 districts: Jim Rosenthal will serve as CEO, Woody Dillaha as President and COO, Jeanette Haren as Chief Product Officer, and James Waters as CTO. Leadership’s primary focus will be to ensure that the integration of the companies strengthens the exemplary service levels customers rave about and to accelerate the development of their existing product road maps.
About Weld North
Weld North is an investment company concentrating on education technology businesses. In partnership with KKR, a leading global investment firm, Weld North seeks to make control investments in businesses with high potential for long-term growth in cash flow. Weld North’s portfolio of digital and SaaS education businesses also includes Edgenuity, a provider of engaging online education and blended learning solutions for students grades 6–12; Imagine Learning, a developer of language and literacy software for struggling readers, early childhood students, and the rapidly growing English language learner (ELL) student population; The Learning House, an online education solutions partner that helps colleges and universities develop effective ways to deliver online degree programs; Generation Ready, a national provider of leader and teacher professional learning services; and Intellify Learning, a learning data management and analytics solutions provider.
About Truenorthlogic
Founded in 2000, Truenorthlogic is the leading provider of professional growth tools to improve student achievement by developing and retaining great teachers. Developed in collaboration with K-12 school districts, Truenorthlogic’s award-winning, engaging and integrated solutions offer comprehensive professional development management, evaluation tools, observer calibration, and other services that fully support the cycle of continuous educator improvement. Truenorthlogic is based in Sandy, UT.
About Performance Matters
Founded in 2003, Performance Matters helps K-12 school systems improve student learning by providing comprehensive, integrated solutions for formative assessment, data management, and analytics. The organization is redesigning assessment as a catalyst for student success by meeting students where they are, irrespective of their grade or competency level. Performance Matters is based in Winter Park, FL.
Media Contacts:
Hayley Milbourn
Sloane & Company
212-446-1870
Alia Jackson
Truenorthlogic
801-633-1513