Originally published in EdWeek Market Brief, February 29, 2024
Assessment and professional development provider Cognia has agreed to acquire fellow nonprofit CenterPoint Education Solutions, the organizations announced, as part of Cognia’s efforts to expand its assessment programs.
CenterPoint, based in Washington D.C., offers curriculum-based, interim assessments along with aligned professional learning in mathematics, English/language arts, and science.
By acquiring CenterPoint, Cognia will be able to expand its Cognia Assessment Solutions product from serving grades 3-8 to serving all K-12 students, while offering interim assessments in addition to Cognia’s existing summative assessments, the organization said.
“CenterPoint is one of the most highly regarded curriculum-based assessment providers,” Mark Elgart, president and CEO of Cognia, said in a statement. “This acquisition allows Cognia to be competitive in an emerging market immediately—this will have a direct impact on our existing summative work.”
CenterPoint will continue its grant-funded work in developing K-12 science assessments, the organization said.
CenterPoint “has an important resource in curriculum-based assessments that are of great value to schools, districts, and states,” Sue Krause, CenterPoint interim CEO, said in a statement. “Cognia has a vast network of schools, districts, and states that are committed to improvement and want their assessments to reflect what students are learning.”
The acquisition is expected to close by June 30.
Late last year, CenterPoint announced that Laura Slover, who had served as its CEO, was leaving to help assessment and research organization ETS on its efforts to replace the Carnegie Unit.