Why Edgenuity Is Now "Imagine Learning", and Where EdgeEx Fits
If your login page now says "Imagine Edgenuity" and your newer courses run on something called EdgeEx, you're not imagining it. Edgenuity has been folded into a bigger company, Imagine Learning, owned by the private equity-backed Weld North. Here's how that happened, what came with it, and what it means for the courses you're taking now.
Disclosure: EdgyPro makes software for students who use Edgenuity and EdgeEx. Facts in this article come from the reporting listed under Sources.
Key findings
- Edgenuity started in 1997 as e2020 and was bought in 2011 by Weld North, founded by former Kaplan CEO Jonathan Grayer.
- Weld North bought more than 16 companies in eight years, including Edgenuity competitors Compass Learning and Odysseyware. One former salesperson called Edgenuity "the Amazon of ed tech."
- In November 2021 Weld North merged its companies under the Imagine Learning name, saying its software reached more than 10 million students in over 7,500 districts.
- At least 25 sales staffers were laid off in the final phase of the merger, BuzzFeed News reported.
From e2020 to Edgenuity
According to BuzzFeed News, the company began in Michigan in 1997 as e2020, a small software firm focused on online education for children who couldn't attend school because of illness or disability. It later moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2011 it was acquired by Weld North, a private equity firm backed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and founded by Jonathan Grayer, who had built Kaplan into an online education giant. Weld North renamed e2020 "Edgenuity" and set out to get its courses into the nation's largest districts.
"The Amazon of Ed Tech"
Over the next decade Weld North bought more than 16 companies, including competitors Compass Learning and Odysseyware. In March 2021 it received $275 million in new investment to keep acquiring. Former employees described a high-pressure sales culture to BuzzFeed; one said leadership "wanted to own everything, and not really invest in the products anymore." Edgenuity responded that its business depends on renewals and referrals, "so misleading customers is not in our best interest."
The Imagine Learning Rebrand
In November 2021, Weld North announced it would rebrand as Imagine Learning, the name of a smaller Utah ed tech company it had acquired in 2014, and merge Edgenuity and its other holdings under it. Weeks earlier, at least 25 sales staffers learned they would lose their jobs in the final phase of the Edgenuity-Imagine Learning merger; the company said the cuts were due to overlapping territories. Most of Imagine Learning's previous executive team, including its former CEO, had already left.
"That's the problem about trying to privatize education. The only thing that matters in education is the student outcomes. But as soon as you add the profit component to that, then the only thing that matters is money."
Former Imagine Learning employee (BuzzFeed News)
Within weeks of the rebrand, the combined company was also dealing with an ethics finding from Los Angeles Unified; we cover that in LA's investigation of Edgenuity.
Where EdgeEx Fits
Under Imagine Learning, Edgenuity courses now come in two flavours. "Classic" Edgenuity is the familiar course map and player. EdgeEx is the newer platform at student.ex.edgenuity.com, with a redesigned player, Learnosity-powered question types and Proctorio on proctored tests. Many students now have a mix of both, and plenty of older tools only handle Classic.
What It Means for You
Whatever the logo says, the coursework is the same grind. EdgyPro has supported EdgeEx since version 1.4.0:
- Auto Answers covers EdgeEx's Learnosity question types, from multiple choice to drag-and-drop matching. See EdgeEx answers.
- Video Skipper and Auto Advance move through EdgeEx lessons for you.
- EdgyOne keeps EdgyPro running on Proctorio-proctored EdgeEx tests.
Sources
- Caroline O'Donovan, "This Virtual Classroom Company Made Millions During The Pandemic While Students Languished," BuzzFeed News, October 11, 2021, buzzfeednews.com.
- Caroline O'Donovan, "Los Angeles School Officials Are Investigating The District's Use Of Edgenuity," BuzzFeed News, November 24, 2021, buzzfeednews.com.
- Caroline O'Donovan, "Amid Massive Pandemic Growth, A Major Educational Software Provider Broke The Ethics Code Of The Nation's Second-Largest School District," BuzzFeed News, May 13, 2022, buzzfeednews.com.