SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ECS Learning Systems, a leading integrated test prep company in Texas, today announced Asteria Education, Inc. has acquired substantially all of the assets of ECS Learning Systems, Inc. and Novel Units, LLC to provide a platform for national expansion. Asteria Education, Inc. continues to do business as ECS Learning Systems.
The new ECS Learning Systems team is evaluating additional acquisitions and is making substantial investments to nationally enhance and expand its STAAR MASTER®, TestSMART® and Novel Units® supplemental education products. The team plans to modernize and diversify the product portfolio in order to aggressively grow its client base through an expanded multi-state sales strategy. In addition to the updated offerings, ECS Learning Systems has started the development of a personalized, digital learning platform for its bi-lingual Integrated Standards Prep™ offerings. ECS Learning Systems’ objective is to offer the new digital, adaptive learning solutions as a companion to its leading paper-based products to facilitate blended learning and instruction. ECS Learning Systems is also in discussions with partners to enhance its literacy, STEM, early childhood development and Special Education offerings. Blended learning has proven to be the most effective learning delivery model today, and personalized education on adaptive learning platforms is at the cutting edge of innovation in the Ed-Tech industry. Next week (March 5th-7th) at the SXSW EDU conference in Austin, Texas, ECS Learning Systems is presenting its existing product line, new vision, and expansion strategies in booth 231.
ECS Learning Systems is led by a seasoned executive management team and advisors who bring a mix of technology and education experience from Microsoft, K12 Inc., IBM, and Apple. Chief Executive Officer David Cumberbatch, a former executive at ACT, the leader in college and career assessment, brings over 20 years of experience. Mr. Cumberbatch has been a trendsetter in the technology and education sectors with the last 10 years of his career focused on innovative digital education business models. Sam Barnes joins as Chief Operating Officer and brings years of expertise in digital education and leadership in growth initiatives. As Chief Business Development Officer, Mary Jo Eldridge leads the areas of strategic partnerships, corporate and business development and government relations. To complete the team, Dr. Mary Michael Pontzer and Dr. Robert Sapp, have joined as senior advisors.
“Leveraging the expertise with STAAR MASTER in Texas, TestSMART, and Novel Units nationally, our fundamental goal is to offer quality educational solutions throughout the US market and to leverage the latest innovations in adaptive learning and educational technology, marking a new direction for ECS Learning Systems,” said David Cumberbatch, CEO. “I am passionate about the potential for technology to transform education for every student, regardless of background, not just in the US but globally. The company’s mission is to help ALL students achieve academic success.”
ECS Learning Systems pioneered the concept of Integrated Test Prep, which approaches test preparation through six stages: Diagnose, Teach, Practice, Evaluate, Remediate, and Reinforce. The company’s test prep materials build upon these six stages and then go deeper into the core learning required by the standards. Due to of this new strategic methodology, ECS Learning Systems has seen tremendous results over the years and now plans to extend it to go beyond the test and incorporate mastery of all of the core standards. This new extended approach is called “Integrated Standards Prep™”. ECS Learning Systems successfully developed a diverse portfolio of supplemental and test prep materials for reading, writing, mathematics, science, literacy, and critical thinking skills that includes hundreds of activity books, workbooks, and standards practice tests.
The company’s new vision advances this approach to Integrated Standards Prep™. This fresh focus demonstrates a commitment to quality educational solutions that build core knowledge fully aligned to the state standards but goes a step further to ensure students can complete the test with confidence. ECS Learning Systems also remains committed to supporting teachers with their educational solutions, designed by and for teachers supported by independent scientific research.
Experts predict the broader tutoring and test prep market to grow by over 10% annually through 2020 driven by increased competition for college entry, the expansion of school choice and the growth of online options. Another trend driving this development is improved national and state funding and the Every Student Succeeds Act policy of high stakes state testing for accountability and teacher performance measurement. As the Integrated Standards Prep™ company, ECS Learning Systems collaborates with teachers to ensure that ALL students can meet and exceed the standards and fulfill their potential.
About ECS Learning Systems
Founded in 1982 in San Antonio, Texas, ECS Learning Systems is the Integrated Standards Prep™ company that helps over 250,000 students annually with STAAR MASTER®, TestSMART® and Novel Units®. Building on its strong presence in Texas with STAAR MASTER®, the Company publishes proprietary supplemental test-prep materials nationally under the TestSmart ® brand and also offers Novel Units®. For more information, visit http://ecslearningsystems.com/.
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