The Story of Education Advanced
Like all famous software initiatives, the idea of Education Advanced began in a garage in Southern California — well, not exactly. It actually began at a high school in the heart of East Texas during the spring of 2007. While working as a technology trainer, Dr. J. Eli Crow (back then known as Eli, the tech guy) was approached by an assistant principal named Marianne to help solve a problem facing every public school campus of the day: How do we manage all of these tests?
In the beginning, EAI was not really a company, but a single downloadable tool — a test management system named TAKScan after the standardized assessment in Texas, TAKS. TAKScan was heavily focused on scanning test booklets and inventory tracking; however, as technology and testing evolved, a more robust system was needed to coordinate the testing experience.
In 2011, the University of Texas at Tyler’s Ingenuity Center helped transition the ideas behind TAKScan into the modern web-based application we know today as TestHound. Fifteen school districts across the state of Texas were chosen as beta test sites, and in the 2012-2013 school year, they successfully implemented the web-based TestHound for the first time.
In 2015 TestHound was transferred from the University of Texas at Tyler to Education Advanced. This represented a significant milestone, not only for TestHound, but also for UT Tyler, as this was the first ever instance of “technology transfer” from the university to a corporate entity.
The impact of Education Advanced would soon reach beyond test coordination. The team had bigger goals to effectively transition master scheduling and staffing to a web-based system that would improve the speed of scheduling, transforming the current methodology and the bottom line for schools. Like TestHound, Cardonex got its start in a university setting, but it did not officially launch until January 2020. Launching a product during a pandemic presents unique challenges; however, the flexibility of the system allowed the EAI team to adapt quickly to assist school districts with their most challenging year ever.
Today, TestHound and Cardonex serve hundreds of districts, thousands of schools, and millions of students across the nation. TestHound is the industry’s No. 1 test coordination software and the only test enablement solution that integrates data from disparate systems into a single platform to efficiently coordinate and schedule students and staff. With three awarded patents and several others pending, Cardonex is the most advanced master scheduling technology in the industry and the only master scheduling technology that addresses staff planning.
With a growing product line, Education Advanced sought to develop an updated, simplified, and unified look to reflect the company's focus on delivering educational technologies to improve operations within school districts. This vision brings EAI to the forefront of the two current brands: TestHound and Cardonex. The original icon, symbolizing an e and an a together to form an @ symbol, represents our commitment to both technology and community. Our hope is that our customers, partners, and employees will join us in a unified mission to empower educators and transform schools.
