Reflecting its unique knowledge of school quality and student achievement, the recently merged company is introducing new technologies, investing in innovation to help schools continue improving, and streamlining its accreditation process.
AdvancED | Measured Progress, which was formed as a result of two leading education nonprofits merging in November 2018, announced today that it is changing its corporate name to Cognia.
The new name comes from the Latin word cognitio, which means knowledge. The name change reflects the nonprofit’s belief that knowledge is the key to helping people reach their aspirations—regardless of circumstance or background.
Cognia was established to fill a crucial gap in education: the need to bridge school evaluations with student assessments in order to see a full picture and improve education in a more comprehensive and holistic way. Cognia offers accreditation and certification, assessment, professional services, and consulting to help schools drive continuous improvement. The organization focuses on innovation to provide more agile solutions for school improvement and to drive better outcomes for all students.
In recent years, the organizations that merged to become Cognia introduced new technology solutions and applications in large-scale and local assessment solutions, low-cost mobile classroom observation tools, and high-powered data dashboards. These innovations support quick access to data on student achievement and engagement, facilitate analysis, and have a positive impact on real-time improvement efforts.
“Education is ever evolving and so are we,” said Dr. Mark Elgart, president and CEO of Cognia. “In addition to our new name and brand identity, we are introducing advancements in how we deliver improvement services to our global network. Cognia clients now have better insights into how to improve school quality, create engaging environments for students, and assess student learning more effectively.”
Today, Cognia also announced initiatives to upgrade its diagnostic improvement platform to include formative assessments for classroom use, plans to enable new options for accreditation, and efforts to expand its diagnostic tools to guide institutions in their improvement efforts.
Thanks to technological improvements in capturing meaningful data related to school quality and student performance, Cognia is developing new accreditation offerings that will transform the experience from an event that happens every five years to one that is integrated into the work of institutions on an ongoing basis. To promote sustainable growth, the new offerings will be tailored to each institution, rather than employing a one-size-fits-all approach. Schools and educational systems that are accredited by AdvancED or its regional accrediting agencies will begin to receive accreditation seals with the new Cognia name.
Cognia is also filling new leadership positions that will continue to build the organization’s capacity for innovation. To be announced in 2020, Cognia’s innovation strategy will help schools and districts accelerate improvement through solutions and tools born from Cognia’s research, field testing, and emerging partnerships.
About Cognia
Cognia is a global, nonprofit improvement organization dedicated to helping institutions and other education providers grow learners, teachers, and leaders. Cognia offers accreditation and certification, assessment, and professional services within a framework of continuous improvement. Serving 36,000 public and private institutions from early learning through high school in more than 90 countries, Cognia brings a global perspective to advancing teaching and learning.