THINKGATE SINKS: The Washington Post reports that Charlotte, NC-based Thinkgate, founded in 2004, "has folded after receiving millions of dollars in federal Race to the Top funds to provide online assessments and other services to school districts."
Founded in 2004, Thinkgate offered a suite of online tools for assessments, curriculum, classroom instruction and teacher evaluation. It had statewide contracts with North Carolina, Illinois, Massachusetts and Ohio, the last of which has paid $9.8 million for its services, and district customers like Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida.
Thinkgate' products collect a wide range of teacher and student data, and the closure raises question over how such sensitive information will be handled. As WaPo notes, Ohio state officials have transferred data to other in-state servers, while Massachusetts officials will destroy them.
News of the shutdown was first reported by Charlotte Business Journal, which notes that the company had leased a new building just a year ago, in anticipation of adding up to 120 new employees.
