Teaching Strategies® Acquires Game-based Direct Assessment Developer Cognitive ToyBox™ to Enhance Holistic View of Young Children's Learning and Development

Acquisition will provide education policymakers and practitioners with actionable data and insights to drive individualized learning in early childhood education programs

BETHESDA, Md., July 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Teaching Strategies®, the country's leading developer of early childhood assessment, curriculum, professional learning, and family engagement solutions, today announced it has acquired Cognitive ToyBox™, a research-driven assessment platform that has developed five-minute per week, game-based assessments designed to capture developmental progress directly from children as part of a comprehensive system of assessment.

As states make larger investments in early childhood education and pre-K programs, policymakers and educators alike need a unified, holistic view of student readiness and progress in the early years. This view should comprise both data captured from direct, game-based child assessment and observational assessment data captured by teachers. The acquisition enables Teaching Strategies to integrate game-based student assessments directly into GOLD®, its industry-leading observational assessment system, for an enhanced comprehensive assessment solution.

The enhanced GOLD assessment system will:

• reduce teacher workload by relieving reliance on observational data capture as a single source of insight;
• increase the amount of high-quality developmental data by combining both types into one system;
• mitigate concerns related to observational bias;
• enrich the developmental progress profile of each child; and
• fuel more data-driven insights and recommendations to help teachers more easily individualize experiences for each child.

"When teachers are equipped with clear, meaningful information and insights about a child's development, they can make better decisions about instruction and can more effectively individualize experiences for every child. But good assessment shouldn't interfere with teacher interactions in the classroom—or require students to 'take' assessments that they may have trouble understanding," said Teaching Strategies CEO John Olsen. "Early childhood assessment should be developmentally appropriate for the child and worthwhile for the educator, which is why we're excited to integrate Cognitive ToyBox into our leading assessment solution, GOLD. Their game-based approach creates a simple, fun way for educators to quickly understand what their students know and complements GOLD's observational assessment data to create a full picture."

Spun out of a National Science Foundation I-Corps for Learning grant from New York University, Cognitive ToyBox is the leading direct assessment system for early childhood. Educators can guide children ages 3 to 5 in age-appropriate games that take five minutes to complete, giving teachers a directly-captured, objective picture of what students know. Adding research-based, game-based assessment in combination with robust teacher-led observational assessment reduces the burden on the teachers by replacing some observational assessment time with game-based assessment. The combined approach increases the amount of high-quality data on children's development to facilitate individualized educational experiences for every child—a hallmark of Teaching Strategies' solutions.

"We know that accurate and actionable assessment is critical to fostering high-quality early learning programs. But too often assessment has been cumbersome and disconnected from the flow of an early childhood classroom. We're changing that," said Tammy Kwan, co-founder of Cognitive ToyBox. "The number one request we've received from educators since we launched is the ability to integrate our assessment and insights with Teaching Strategies' GOLD, the observational assessment that so many educators love and rely upon. So, we're really excited to join forces to create a uniquely comprehensive assessment solution at a pivotal moment for the field."

Across the country, GOLD is the most widely used formative observational assessment. Designed to be an authentic part of instruction, GOLD is a cloud-based, device-agnostic platform that makes it easy for educators to securely capture notes, photos, and samples of children's work in the moment. Educators can automatically connect assessment data with daily instructional resources and family insights, creating an ongoing feedback loop of information to individualize learning.

About Teaching Strategies
Teaching Strategies® is the leading provider of early childhood curriculum, assessment, professional development, and family engagement solutions. Its products, including the most widely used curriculum and assessment solutions, The Creative Curriculum® and GOLD®, are found in over 270,000 classrooms and more than 80 countries around the world and reach over 4 million children each year. A trusted partner and advocate for the early education community for 45 years, today Teaching Strategies connects teachers, children and families to inspired teaching and learning experiences, insightful data, stronger family partnerships, and robust professional learning through the leading early learning platform. Learn more at www.teachingstrategies.com.

SOURCE Teaching Strategies