Paul Gollash joins ETS to Lead Reimagined K-12 business

“In an unprecedented time of challenge within the K–12 education system, ETS is committed to disrupting the status quo,” said Sevak. “Paul brings a wealth of experience as a former CEO and founder who has successfully scaled innovative education and workforce products, and I’m thrilled to have him at the helm in K–12. His vision for ETS’s future in K–12 — especially around better support for teachers and improving the educator pipeline — is exciting and I look forward to working closely with him.” 

Led by Gollash, the reimagined ETS K–12 division aims to address these challenges by revolutionizing high-stakes assessments and leveraging advanced technologies to build new products that deliver advanced insights to a broader range of stakeholders. The portfolio of businesses currently includes student assessments, its school turnaround and coaching service, and Praxis — the market-leading teacher certification exam used by 42 out of 50 states to help ensure teacher quality — and will be bolstered through strategic M&A.

“Amit’s vision for the future of ETS is bold, and I’m excited to be here at this pivotal moment to help shape the future of teaching and learning,” said Gollash. “Preparing students and teachers of all backgrounds to thrive in the future has never been more important. A focus on a more comprehensive set of skills — cognitive, behavioral, and affective — will require new instructional models and new measurement systems. ETS, as the foremost expert in skill measurement, can play a pioneering role in this important work.”

Gollash was previously the founder and CEO of Voxy, Inc., a leading online language-training business. He also developed and launched Virgin Hotels, Sir Richard Branson’s boutique hotel chain and winner of Conde Nast’s Best Hotel in 2019. Earlier in his career, he served as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton (now PwC), where he advised Fortune 500 C-level executives. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago. 

Gollash will be speaking on the subject of the future of K-12 assessment next week at the ASU+GSV 2023 Summit during a panel titled Meeting Kids Where They Are: The Future of Assessments and Testing.

About ETS 
At ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and postsecondary education, and by conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded as a nonprofit in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® tests and The Praxis Series® assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide.
www.ets.org 

SOURCE ETS