IOWA CITY, IOWA—ACT, Inc., the leader in college and career readiness assessment, has acquired OpenEd, the nation’s leading K-12 standards-aligned open educational resource provider. OpenEd offers half a million assessments, homework assignments, videos, games and lesson plans to teachers, schools and districts across the country.
“OpenEd has made a substantial contribution to teaching and learning, benefiting students and educators across the nation,” said ACT Chief Executive Officer Marten Roorda. “We believe their resources provide the opportunity to truly transform education. Working together, we can connect assessment results to actionable, personalized instruction for students.”
OpenEd, which is based in Los Gatos, California, was founded in 2012 by Adam Blum. “We are thrilled to join ACT in the organization’s efforts to improve college and career readiness for all students,” said Blum, OpenEd chief executive officer. “Our capabilities for aligning and evaluating educational resources will be greatly enhanced by the deep research and content expertise and the insights into college and career readiness that ACT brings to our relationship.”
OpenEd will be owned by ACT and will join Pacific Metrics, another ACT subsidiary, in the newly formed ACT Assessment Technologies group, which will be based in California. The group will be led by its newly named chief executive officer, Rich Patz, previously chief measurement officer for ACT.
“The contributions that technology and science can make to advance learning are becoming increasingly clear and compelling,” said Patz.“ ACT is excited to embrace a future in which our work extends beyond the measurement learning outcomes and incorporates scientifically grounded practices that can improve teaching and learning on a daily basis. OpenEd and its technology empower teachers and students to find the best open educational resources to meet individual needs. OpenEd’s technology solutions and expertise are an extraordinarily fine complement to Pacific Metrics and the entire ACT organization.”