GlobalScholar
Encyclopedia
GlobalScholar is an operating unit of Scantron based in Bellevue, Washington
dedicated to empowering educators, parents and students throughout the entire learning lifecycle. Its instructional enterprise resource planning
(ERP) software solution, Pinnacle Suite, supports all aspects of managing education at K-12 schools, including a student information system
(SIS), gradebook, learning management system
(LMS), and teacher development, analytics and online learning. The Pinnacle Suite improves productivity so that teachers are able to spend more time with students, and empowers educators with data and insights needed to advance teacher effectiveness and student performance. The company's software is used by some of the most progressive and innovative school systems in America, including recipients of funding from President Obama’s Race to the Top
initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
.
GlobalScholar.com is the company's on-demand collaboration platform for tutor
s, parent
s, and student
s. Parents and students can find pre-screened tutors on a variety of subjects and school levels, and pay for one-time homework help or engage in ongoing tutoring sessions. The sessions occur on GlobalScholar’s website, which provides an online
whiteboard
, audio/video IM
, archiving, and billing
.
chief executive and Amazon.com
senior vice president The company has grown to about 250 people in March 2008, roughly half in the US (Bellevue, WA
and Greeley, CO
) and the rest in Chennai
, India.
In January 2008, GlobalScholar launched two new services, SchoolFinder and CollegeFinder; two new websites dedicated to parents and students to discover and learn more about their current and future schools.
GlobalScholar.com made a strategic decision on January 31, 2008, to acquire Excelsior Software to expand the solutions it offers school districts and in order to offer Excelsior’s many loyal customers an even broader collection of educational services.
firm; and an added investment from Peter Neupert, an existing board member; Excelsior Software, with long-standing relationships in the education community, was also acquired.
In addition to GlobalScholar, the company also launched two other Websites in January 2008. SchoolFinder pulls together relevant information for elementary and high schools and lets parents compare one school against another. CollegeFinder does the same for colleges, pulling in rankings from U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review.
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
dedicated to empowering educators, parents and students throughout the entire learning lifecycle. Its instructional enterprise resource planning
Enterprise resource planning
Enterprise resource planning systems integrate internal and external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application...
(ERP) software solution, Pinnacle Suite, supports all aspects of managing education at K-12 schools, including a student information system
Student information system
A student info system is a software application for education establishments to manage student data. Student information systems provide capabilities for entering student test and other assessment scores through an electronic grade book, building student schedules, tracking student attendance, and...
(SIS), gradebook, learning management system
Learning management system
A learning management system is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training content...
(LMS), and teacher development, analytics and online learning. The Pinnacle Suite improves productivity so that teachers are able to spend more time with students, and empowers educators with data and insights needed to advance teacher effectiveness and student performance. The company's software is used by some of the most progressive and innovative school systems in America, including recipients of funding from President Obama’s Race to the Top
Race to the Top
Race to the Top, abbreviated R2T, RTTT or RTT, is a $4.35 billion United States Department of Education competition designed to spur innovation and reforms in state and local district K-12 education...
initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. It is "driven by the interests and passions of the Gates family"...
.
GlobalScholar.com is the company's on-demand collaboration platform for tutor
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
s, parent
Parent
A parent is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is of a child . Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child...
s, and student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s. Parents and students can find pre-screened tutors on a variety of subjects and school levels, and pay for one-time homework help or engage in ongoing tutoring sessions. The sessions occur on GlobalScholar’s website, which provides an online
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
whiteboard
Whiteboard
A whiteboard is a name for any glossy, usually white surface for nonpermanent markings. Whiteboards are analogous to chalkboards, allowing rapid marking and erasing of markings on their surface...
, audio/video IM
IM
-Im or im:* Instant messaging, a form of real-time communication online using typed text* .im, an Internet country code for the Isle of Man* Im , a giant in Norse mythology* Im * Im, a subtype of irregular galaxy...
, archiving, and billing
Bill (payment)
A bill or invoice is a document requesting payment for an order previously supplied. Presentation of a bill is common practice on the part of credit card companies, utilities, and other service providers...
.
History
GlobalScholar, formally known as InfiLearn, was founded in December 2006 by Kal Raman, a former drugstore.comDrugstore.com
Drugstore.com is an Internet retailer in health and beauty care products headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. Its web operations were launched on February 24, 1999....
chief executive and Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
senior vice president The company has grown to about 250 people in March 2008, roughly half in the US (Bellevue, WA
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
and Greeley, CO
Greeley, Colorado
The City of Greeley is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Weld County, Colorado, United States. Greeley is located in the region known as Northern Colorado. Greeley is situated north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. According to the...
) and the rest in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, India.
In January 2008, GlobalScholar launched two new services, SchoolFinder and CollegeFinder; two new websites dedicated to parents and students to discover and learn more about their current and future schools.
GlobalScholar.com made a strategic decision on January 31, 2008, to acquire Excelsior Software to expand the solutions it offers school districts and in order to offer Excelsior’s many loyal customers an even broader collection of educational services.
Funding
The company secured $27 million in round B funding on January 31, 2008 from existing investors Ignition Partners and Knowledge Universe Education. This was on top of a previously undisclosed $15.5 Million of Round A funding the company raised early 2007. The funding included additional investments from Knowledge Universe Education, a leading global education company; Ignition Partners, a premier venture capitalVenture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
firm; and an added investment from Peter Neupert, an existing board member; Excelsior Software, with long-standing relationships in the education community, was also acquired.
Products
The company's Pinnacle Suite combines seven modules to deliver the only end-to-end solution for managing student data and instructional resources. Specifically, Pinnacle Suite includes a standards-based gradebook; tools to help educators create, manage and align instructional content, assessments, curriculum, standards, and supplemental resources; a student-centered SIS with performance-based scheduling; and a platform to support continuous professional development for teachers.Services
GlobalScholar.com offers a unique online education platform, where parents and students can connect with tutors/educators who provide one-on-one tutoring, homework help or self-paced learning. The platform can also be used by schools and school districts to enable teachers and administrators to more efficiently and effectively create, manage and align content, assessments, curriculum, standards and supplemental learning.In addition to GlobalScholar, the company also launched two other Websites in January 2008. SchoolFinder pulls together relevant information for elementary and high schools and lets parents compare one school against another. CollegeFinder does the same for colleges, pulling in rankings from U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review.