Clas Ohlson company was founded in 1918 by the technically minded Clas Ohlson (1895–1979), as a mail order business based in the Swedish village of Insjön, Dalarna. Initially, only manuals and technical literature were sold, thus allowing people who lived in rural communities to obtain literature that would otherwise be unavailable. He opened his first shop in Insjön in 1926, but it was not until 1989, when the company opened a store in a shopping centre in central Stockholm, that it expanded into the retail business. The first store outside Sweden was opened 1991 in Oslo in Norway and in 1999, the
CLAS (education) CLAS (education) CLAS was a standards-based assessment based on Outcomes Based Education principles given in California in the early 1990s. It was based on concepts of new standards such as whole language and reform mathematics. Instead of multiple choice tests with one correct answer, it used open written responses that were graded according to rubrics. Such tests were thought to be fairer to students of all abilities. Failure rates among all groups, particularly minorities, was so high that it generated concern. It was terminated in 1995 by the governor after two years. Maureen DiMarco testified to the California State Legislature