Dive Brief:

• The sudden shutdown of online assessment company Thinkgate LLC has left Ohio and Massachusetts, where it had contracts through the end of the school year, scrambling to figure out what to do.
• The company not only received millions in Race to the Top funding from states looking to create "instructional improvement systems,” but had recently expanded and hired more staff, adding to the surprise over its abrupt closure.
• Ohio and Massachusetts signed a joint contract with Thinkgate for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years, and North Carolina and Illinois also have statewide contracts with the company. According to Thinkgates' website, it served 500 education agencies and 3 million students.

Dive Insight:

The states received emails saying the company would be "shutting down" in two days, adding, “If you would like to keep and use any assessments that you have created, you will need to immediately print and save them before the system shuts down,” according to the Washington Post.

Ohio had reportedly paid the company $9.8 million for its services, a significant amount of money, leaving plenty of mystery around why the company shut down and why so quickly. A lot of cash is being tossed around in the education world, and with so many new companies, it's difficult to figure out who is not only legitimate but will be around for a while. Additionally, there are concerns that the quick shutdown may compromise student data.