I just found out that ExamSystem II had its beginning from the same professor that developed ParScore® back in the 1980’s. Go figure!
Interestingly enough, National Computer Systems (NCS), at the time Scantron’s main competitor, also had rights to repackage and resell the DOS ParScore programs only, under ExamSystem’s private label. Fifty years later, universities throughout the US still use ParScore and ExamSystem II. Although, I’m not sure if ExamSystem is still being supported.
After being rivals for two decades, Scantron® purchased Pearson NCS in 2008. This coincides to roughly the time I left Scantron®. Although NCS was slightly larger, the companies merged under the Scantron® name.
Read our last week’s post about the history of ParScore here.
Happy Grading,
Mark Espinola
CEO + Founder of GradeHub