History

A unique perspective on instructional management
Following a lifelong interest in helping students learn, Karsten Solheim founded Teacher's Pal in 1994. Solheim had turned his attention to K-12 education after a career as manager of global operations, and later Chief Operating Officer, for his family's precision manufacturing firm.

Solheim brought to the field of education the unique perspective of someone who had written software to improve efficiency in a manufacturing process. Solheim had seen how his software improved the effectiveness of people in the manufacturing world by saving them time on paperwork, increasing information sharing and providing quantifiable feedback for future improvement. Later, when he observed capable students falling behind while teachers were forced to spend time on mounting administrative duties, the idea for Teacher's Pal was born.

Solheim believed passionately that every child was capable of learning. He put his passion to work, gathering around him educators who had overseen years of high achievement in students at their schools. Teacher's Pal began consulting for schools and school districts, but soon found that schools could not fully realize the benefits of their counsel without a better way to manage learning for each student. Solheim knew that the right technology could help fix inefficient processes and improve communications with administrators and parents, leaving more time and energy to focus on the prime objective—helping students learn. Taking up this challenge, Solheim launched his first instructional management software in 1997.

On January 11, 2005, Teacher's Pal introduced the concept of an Intructional Operating Network, which links student information, curriculum management, and environmental planning and improvement applications into an integrated technology framework.

Today, Teacher's Pal is a privately held technology company that remains committed to Solheim's vision—delivering and maintaining the most advanced software for educators.