Edtech provider Renaissance has bought UM's early years education assessment provider Early Learning Labs, vindicating twenty years of government-funded research.
Early Learning Labs, a US-based education assessment software spinout of University of Minnesota, has been purchased by edtech firm Renaissance for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2011, Early Learning Labs has created an online assessment platform called myIGDIs that lets education providers appraise the progress of young children aged three and four years old through early-stage literacy and numeracy curricula formed of brief weekly tests.
Early Learnings Labs also provides assessments in areas including creativity, motor skills and emotional readiness to build a holistic impression of the young child’s development.
Renaissance supplies pre-college education technologies in areas including tuition planning and analytics. It has begun offering Early Learning’s services following the acquisition, its first move into curriculum-based measurement (CBM), where it is aiming to expand to meet increased customer demand.
Early Learning Labs builds on twenty years of government-funded UMN research that resulted in a package of assessments known as the Individual Growth and Development Indicators which forms the basis of the spinout’s platform.
Todd Brekhus, chief product officer at Renaissance, said: “We are excited to give our educators an additional opportunity to really find out what their students know, so they can use actionable data to accelerate student learning.
“Renaissance is making a significant investment to expand our portfolio to include CBM. When our customers speak, we listen, and if it makes sense to respond to those requests with further acquisitions to improve services and products, we are eager and well-positioned to do so.”
