LiveText Joins Taskstream-Tk20 To Advance Assessment Solutions For Higher Education

LiveText is one of the pioneers of learning engagement technologies and assessment innovations for higher education. Since its inception in 1997, LiveText has been driven by a mission to empower institutions and individuals with world-class technology and leadership to elevate and demonstrate the quality of learning. In 2016 LiveText launched Via™, a new learning engagement platform designed to help learners discover their academic and professional identities. Via™ captures and records moments in the learning process so that students, faculty, and programs across the institution can reflect, analyze, and take effective action to improve.

"As one of the innovators in our industry, LiveText has built a wealth of experience in understanding the complexities of learning, engagement, and outcomes assessment," said Kevin Michielsen, CEO of Taskstream-Tk20.  "LiveText shares Taskstream-Tk20's vision to help more institutions engage in meaningful assessment practices and gather, organize, and use better data for learning. With LiveText joining the family, Taskstream-Tk20 will be able to offer even more innovative products that support the improvement of learning across higher education and further strengthens our position as the market leader for assessment management solutions. I am thrilled we are bringing our technology, experience, teams, and resources together to advance our mission."

Dr. Christopher Kalmus, LiveText's President and co-founder, commented, "We are excited to be joining the Tasktream-Tk20 family and look forward to continuing our commitment to help institutions stay at the forefront of learning assessment to ensure their success. With a wealth of employee talents, more opportunities for collaboration, a richer background of experiences, and a client base of over 1,000 institutions from which to draw feedback, we look forward to innovating more rapidly and developing even better solutions to meet our clients' current and future needs."

The Taskstream-Tk20 leadership team will be working closely with the LiveText management team, including Chris Kalmus and Bob Budnik, LiveText's co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, in bringing these companies together to ensure a smooth transition. "We want to recognize Chris' deep commitment to improving student learning at the collegiate level as well as the leadership and vision he exemplifies," Michielsen said. "As a pioneer in the industry, we have deep respect for his contributions and the impact he has made in advancing assessment across higher education and look forward to having him continue his great work in providing the company with his expertise and vision. In addition, Bob will be a driving force in ensuring our customers receive the highest level of customer support – a core value we share at Taskstream-Tk20."

Combined Company Now Largest Assessment Provider in the Industry
In March 2017, the merger of Taskstream and Tk20 combined two of the largest providers of assessment management solutions for higher education. With the addition of LiveText, Taskstream-Tk20 now has nearly 50 years of combined experience, supporting over 1,000 institutions of higher education institutions across the globe. As one company, our  employees will be dedicated to serving this growing user community with innovative solutions and world-class support services and will remain focused on its mission to promote meaningful assessment practices to empower institutions with better ways to measure, demonstrate, and analyze performance to inform improvements at all levels.

"Since Taskstream and Tk20 have come together, we have seen a rapid acceleration in the number of colleges and universities who look to Taskstream-Tk20 for technology solutions to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness" said James Tieng, Taskstream-Tk20 board member and a principal at Quad Partners. "We believe that the combination with LiveText will further strengthen the Company's position as leader in the higher education assessment market."

Terms of the transaction are not disclosed. Webster Bank and Tree Line Capital Partners provided financing for the transaction. Founders Investment Banking acted as exclusive financial adviser to LiveText and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP and Morris, Manning & Martin LLP served as legal counsel.

About Taskstream-Tk20
Taskstream partners with institutions of higher education and national associations to improve student learning and institutional quality with proven, reliable, and user-friendly assessment management and e-portfolio solutions and supporting services. For more information, visit www.taskstream-tk20.com.

About LiveText Inc.
LiveText seeks to empower institutions and individuals with world-class technology and leadership to elevate and demonstrate the quality of learning by providing e-Portfolio, learning assessment, and accreditation management tools, expert consulting services, and broad support services to help continuously improve higher education. LiveText assists institutions in evaluating performance-based student learning achievement, as well as ensuring faculty and administrators can collect, measure, and report on actionable data for continuous improvement. For more information, visit www.livetext.com.

Contact:
Lauren O'Brien
212.868.2700
[email protected]

SOURCE Taskstream-Tk20

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http://www.taskstream.com