The company was founded by two Stanford University professors in 1996 to develop advanced language testing systems using speech processing technology and the advanced science of linguistics. Ordinate is the first company to develop a completely automated method for testing spoken language.

The Versant tests are the result of years of research in speech recognition, statistical modeling, linguistics, and testing theory. Over the last 11 years, more than 27 million test questions have been delivered, responded to, and automatically scored for individuals from over 100 countries around the world. Ordinate's patented technologies are applied to its own language tests such as the Versant series and also to customized tests. Sample projects include:

• the assessment of spoken Spanish for the US Department of Homeland Security
• a test of aviation English, co-developed with the Federal Aviation Administration, to certify that pilots and air traffic controllers meet the language requirements set forth by International Civil Aeronautics Organization (ICAO)
• a test of Dutch language and culture for the Justice Ministry's Immigration and Naturalisation Service in the Netherlands
• an assessment of children's oral reading fluency to support the US No Child Left Behind and Reading First initiatives

Ordinate Corporation is committed to the best practices in the development, use, and administration of language tests. Each Ordinate employee strives to achieve the highest standards in test publishing and test practice. As applicable, Ordinate follows the guidelines propounded in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, and the Code of Professional Responsibilities in Educational Measurement.

Ordinate is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harcourt Assessment Inc., which is part of Pearson. Ordinate is a registered trademark and Versant is a trademark of Ordinate Corporation, a Harcourt Assessment company. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.