Throughout its 30+years in business, Questar Assessment, Inc. has evolved from essentially a one-product business into a multi-dimensional, service-oriented firm focused on fulfilling the needs of the emerging educational assessment market. The company established a mission of cultivating its core business through a combination of new product development, selective acquisitions, and a dedication to the highest level of customer service.

Founded in 1976 as Touchstone Applied Science Associates, Inc. (TASA), the company’s first order of business was to develop an “effectiveness measure” in reading for the state of New York. The well-respected Degrees of Reading Power® (DRP®) Program was the result of that development. Other company-developed proprietary products followed, including The MAC II Test of English Language Proficiency®, Signposts® Early Literacy Assessment System, Reading Power Essentials™, and most recently, the SSSMART™ Content Area Reading assessment program.

In the late 1990s, company management foresaw the need for a new area of concentration – custom test products and related services – and acquired one of the most respected firms specializing in custom assessment, Beck Evaluation and Testing Associates (BETA), Inc.

In early 2005, Questar (as TASA) created a second subsidiary with the acquisition of our company, Assessment and Evaluation Concepts (AEC). We provide in-depth assessment and evaluation services to state boards of education and to individual school districts.

In mid-2005, the Questar secured another growth opportunity through the acquisition of Achievement Data Inc. (ADI), already a well-known and well-respected business in the field of online assessments.

Finally, in 2006, Questar Educational Systems— with its state-of-the-art distribution, collection, and processing abilities for large-scale assessment programs, and experienced project management and handscoring staff—became the company’s newest subsidiary.

In order to better integrate our company’s several operating units, the management decided to unify TASA, BETA, ADI, and Questar Educational Systems under a new name: Questar Assessment, Inc.

Assessment and Evaluation Concepts, still a subsidiary of the company, will continue doing business under our new name.