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Renaissance Learning

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</style><table class="infobox ib-company vcard"><caption class="infobox-title fn org" style="font-size: 125%;">Renaissance</caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image ib-company-logo logo"></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Company type</th><td class="infobox-data category"><a href="Subsidiary" title="Subsidiary">Subsidiary</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Industry</th><td class="infobox-data category">Educational software</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Founded</th><td class="infobox-data">1986 (1986)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Founders</th><td class="infobox-data agent">Judith and <a href="Terrance_Paul" title="Terrance Paul">Terrance Paul</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Headquarters</th><td class="infobox-data label"><a href="Wisconsin_Rapids%2C_Wisconsin" title="Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin">Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin</a>, U.S.</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Area served</div></th><td class="infobox-data">International</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Key people</div></th><td class="infobox-data agent">Chris Bauleke, CEO</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Products</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Accelerated_Reader" title="Accelerated Reader">Accelerated Reader</a>, Accelerated Reader 360, English in a Flash, <a href="Accelerated_Math" title="Accelerated Math">Accelerated Math</a>, MathFacts in a Flash, Star 360, myON Reader, Nearpod, <a href="Flocabulary" title="Flocabulary">Flocabulary</a>, Freckle, Lalilo</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Number of employees</div></th><td class="infobox-data">1,200 (as of June 1, 2017)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="Parent_company" class="mw-redirect" title="Parent company">Parent</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Francisco_Partners" title="Francisco Partners">Francisco Partners</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="Subsidiary" title="Subsidiary">Subsidiaries</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="AlphaSmart" title="AlphaSmart">AlphaSmart</a>; Humanities Software, Inc.; Renaissance Learning UK Ltd.; Renaissance Corporate Services</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Website</th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://renaissance.com">renaissance.com</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Renaissance Learning, Inc. (also known simply as Renaissance) is a <a href="Software_as_a_service" title="Software as a service">software as a service</a> and <a href="Learning_analytics" title="Learning analytics">learning analytics</a> company that makes Pre-K–12 educational software and adaptive assessments. Renaissance employs about 1,000 employees in nine U.S. cities and subsidiaries in Canada, the United Kingdom, Korea, and Australia.<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a> The company is known for creating Accelerated Reader and Star computer-adaptive assessments.<a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>

The company was founded in 1986 by Judith and Terrance Paul after Judith developed <a href="Accelerated_Reader" title="Accelerated Reader">Accelerated Reader</a>, originally named Read Up!, in the basement of her home in <a href="Port_Edwards%2C_Wisconsin" title="Port Edwards, Wisconsin">Port Edwards, Wisconsin</a>. Judith designed Accelerated Reader to encourage her children to read more books. Read Up! changed its name to Advantage Learning Systems, Inc., in 1991.<a href="#cite_note-Vitello-4">[4]</a> On September 25, 1997, the company had its initial public offering and was traded on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker ALSI.<a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a> It adopted the name Renaissance Learning in 2001.<a href="#cite_note-Vitello-4">[4]</a> In 2005, Renaissance acquired <a href="AlphaSmart" title="AlphaSmart">AlphaSmart</a> for $57 million in cash and stock.<a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a>

The company was publicly traded until October 2011, when Permira purchased all outstanding shares and maintained ownership of Renaissance until selling the company in 2014 to <a href="Hellman_%26_Friedman" title="Hellman & Friedman">Hellman & Friedman</a> for $1.1 billion.<a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a> <a href="CapitalG" title="CapitalG">CapitalG</a>, a sister company to <a href="Google" title="Google">Google</a> and subsidiary of <a href="Alphabet_Inc." title="Alphabet Inc.">Alphabet Inc.</a>, became an equity investor in Renaissance in 2014.<a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a> In February 2015, Renaissance acquired UClass, a cloud-based storage and content management service.<a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a> In 2016, Renaissance re-branded and dropped "Learning" from their name.<a href="#cite_note-Vitello-4">[4]</a> In May 2018 the company was acquired by private equity firm <a href="Francisco_Partners" title="Francisco Partners">Francisco Partners</a>.<a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a>

In 2019, Renaissance acquired Schoolzilla.<a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a> In February 2021, it acquired Nearpod and <a href="Flocabulary" title="Flocabulary">Flocabulary</a>,<a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a> and the French education company Lalilo.<a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Reception">Reception</h2></div>

In June 2016, the <a href="United_States_Department_of_Education" title="United States Department of Education">United States Department of Education</a>'s <a href="Institute_of_Education_Sciences" title="Institute of Education Sciences">Institute of Education Sciences</a> in <a href="What_Works_Clearinghouse" title="What Works Clearinghouse">What Works Clearinghouse</a> found Accelerated Reader to have mixed effects on comprehension for beginning readers.<a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a> The company's programs have been criticized for potentially limiting a student's recreational reading to a list of books that fall in their book level, in order to accrue "points",<a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a> and trivializing books and undermining reading by reducing it to a competitive game.<a href="#cite_note-Vitello-4">[4]</a> Susan Straight in <a href="The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times">The New York Times</a> says, "the passion and serendipity of choosing a book at the library based on the subject or the cover of the first page is nearly gone, as well as the excitement of reading a book simply for pleasure. This is not all the fault of Renaissance, which I believe is trying to help schools encourage students to read."<a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180905175817/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/francisco-partners-acquire-renaissance-170000959.html">"Francisco Partners to Acquire Renaissance"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/francisco-partners-acquire-renaissance-170000959.html">the original</a> on 2018-09-05.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.renlearn.co.uk/accelerated-reader/international/">"Accelerated Reader for international schools"</a>.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://mycbs4.com/news/nation-world/test-scores-rising-as-students-return-to-in-person-learning-report-saysrenaissance-learning-inc-star-assessments-covid-pandemic-virtual-learning-schools-students-children-teaching">"Test scores rising as students return to in-person learning, report says"</a>. mycbs4.com. 23 March 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-24.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-Vitello-4">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Vitello_4-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Vitello_4-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Vitello_4-2">c</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Vitello_4-3">d</a> <cite id="CITEREFVitello2014" class="citation news cs1">Vitello, Paul (2014-09-16). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/technology/terrance-paul-developer-of-teaching-software-dies-at-67.html">"Terrance Paul, Developer of Teaching Software, Dies at 67"</a>. The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-12-09.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-5"><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/1997/09/29/daily16.html">"Advantage Learning Systems completes IPO"</a>. Milwaukee Business Journal. September 30, 1997. Retrieved 2025-03-18.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://thejournal.com/articles/2005/03/01/renaissance-learning-to-merge-with-alphasmart.aspx">"Renaissance Learning to Merge With AlphaSmart"</a>. THE Journal. 2005-03-01. Retrieved 2025-03-18.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-7"><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a> <cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.inc.com/issie-lapowsky/renaissance-learning-40-million-google-capital.html">"Why a 30-Year-Old Education Company Just Landed a $1 Billion Valuation"</a>. Inc.com. 2017-02-19. Retrieved 2016-12-09.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-8"><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFde_la_Merced2014" class="citation web cs1">de la Merced, Michael J. (13 March 2014). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/renaissance-learning-is-sold-to-hellman-friedman-for-1-1-billion/">"Renaissance Learning Is Sold to Hellman & Friedman for $1.1 Billion"</a>. <a href="The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times">The New York Times</a>. Retrieved 9 June 2017.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-9"><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFLardinois2014" class="citation web cs1">Lardinois, Frederic (19 February 2014). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/19/google-capital-invests-40m-in-learning-analytics-firm-renaissance-learning-at-1b-valuation/">"Google Capital Invests $40M In Learning Analytics Firm Renaissance Learning At $1B Valuation"</a>. techcrunch.com. Retrieved 9 June 2017.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-11"><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/renaissance-acquired-francisco-partners-new-ceo-takes-helm/">"Renaissance Acquired by Francisco Partners, and New CEO Takes Helm"</a>. 7 May 2018.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-13"><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-02-19-renaissance-learning-to-acquire-nearpod-in-blockbuster-650m-all-cash-deal">"Renaissance Learning to Acquire Nearpod in Blockbuster $650M All-Cash Deal - EdSurge News"</a>. EdSurge. 2021-02-19. Retrieved 2025-03-18.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-16"><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFSilva2012" class="citation web cs1">Silva, Teresa (6 March 2012). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://hacklibraryschool.com/2012/03/06/accelerated-reader-instigator-of-readicide/">"Accelerated Reader: Instigator of Readicide"</a>. hacklibraryschool.com. Retrieved 9 June 2017.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-17"><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/books/review/Straight-t.html">"Reading by the Numbers"</a>. The New York Times. 30 August 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2017.</cite>

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