Brook Portfolio Company Certica Solutions Acquires the Formative Assessment Item Bank from NWEA

 Wakefield, MA – February 23, 2015 – Certica Solutions (Certica), a provider of K-12 data management and student assessment solutions, today announced that the company has acquired the Formative Assessment Item Bank line of business from Northwest Evaluation Association™ (NWEA™).

The two organizations have had a partnership since 2007 when NWEA initially licensed Certica’s K-12 data validation application, Certify™. Certica has been a distributor of the Formative Assessment Item Bank since 2011 and had been one of the largest distributors in terms of number of Item Bank license transactions.

NWEA has distributed the Formative Assessment Item Bank (Item Bank) through a network of education solution providers and publishers. In acquiring the Formative Assessment Item Bank line of business, Certica will continue to support and expand this distribution model and will offer the Item Bank and Certica’s assessment platform, TestWiz™, only through distributors and not directly to end-user customers in the K-12 sector. Certica will, however, continue to support its current customer base directly.

The Item Bank will continue to be known as the Formative Assessment Item Bank. This dynamic bank contains over 82,500 standards-based items that have been written or aligned to the Common Core State Standards, state learning standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. The acquisition also includes the Item Bank content management application, which is used for item authoring, curation, standards alignment and distribution. Certica has employed the staff who have been responsible for developing the Formative Assessment Item Bank and managing the line of business. Certica will also hire additional staff to support business expansion.

Certica’s intention is to continue to enrich and expand the Formative Assessment Item Bank, based on market needs identified by the network of distributors, to keep the bank in step with evolving education trends. The company is also planning to expand the Item Bank content management application to provide web-based integration between that application and distributors’ software platforms. Said Mark Rankovic, Certica’s president and CEO, “we are excited to be acquiring the Formative Assessment Item Bank line of business. We know the Item Bank well and have worked collaboratively with the team that has created and supported it. Further, we have worked closely with instructional leaders in K-12 organizations who have prized the Item Bank as a valuable resource for assessing student mastery of standards.”

Certica Solutions and NWEA have forged a transition plan which will include strong continuity of support for distributors, continued availability of partner resources, and on-time product release cycles. “We are pleased to be entrusting the Formative Assessment Item Bank to Certica Solutions and will be working closely with Certica to ensure a smooth transition,” said Jeff Strickler, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NWEA. “We are confident that Certica’s market focus, management processes, diligence and enthusiasm will ensure that the Item Bank continues to bring significant value to educators.”

About Certica Solutions, Inc.

Certica Solutions provides data management and assessment solutions to K-12 schools, districts and educational service agencies, giving administrators and educators the ability to easily analyze, track and improve performance through better use of student, school and teacher data. Founded in 2001 as a consulting firm serving the U.S. Department of Education, Certica counts among its application users over 600 districts, charter networks, charter schools and private schools, as well as a number of educational service agencies nationwide. Certica Solutions is based in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Learn more at CerticaSolutions.com.

About Northwest Evaluation Association

Founded by educators nearly 40 years ago, Northwest Evaluation Association™ (NWEA™) is a global not-for-profit educational services organization known for its flagship interim assessment, Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®). Educators trust NWEA assessments, professional development offerings, and research to help advance all students along their optimal learning path. NWEA is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Learn more at NWEA.org.

Contact

Certica Solutions, Inc.
Michelle Romano
855-766-9916  x262
mromano@certicasolutions.com