Wisconsin Center for Education Research

Name

Wisconsin Center for Education Research

Legal name

Wisconsin Center for Education Research

Website

https://wcer.wisc.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: WCER's operations are funded primarily through competitive research grants from federal agencies (NSF, NIH, Department of Education), foundations (Spencer Foundation, Gates Foundation, Sloan Foundation, Lumina Foundation), and state education agencies. Current grants include $49,948 from Spencer Foundation, $1,775,742 from U.S. Department of Education, and $715,000 from Lumina Foundation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

WCER conducts education research on teaching, learning, and education policy, producing publications, assessments, and trained researchers. It operates the WIDA Consortium providing English language proficiency standards and assessments to state education agencies, runs doctoral training programs (ITP and WCER Fellows), and partners with K-12 districts and state agencies on applied research and program evaluation. The center's outputs include working papers, journal articles, books, assessment tools, and research-driven professional development resources.

Product overview

The Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) is an education research center at UW-Madison, not a traditional product company. WCER's offerings consist primarily of research publications (Working Paper Series, journal articles, books), graduate training programs (Interdisciplinary Training Program, WCER Fellows Program), and research initiatives. Notable embedded programs include WIDA (language development assessments for multilingual learners) and Field Day Lab (educational video games). WCER also partners with Madison Metropolitan School District through the Madison Education Partnership for early childhood education research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WIDA: A consortium that develops English language proficiency standards and assessments for K-12 multilingual learners, operating within WCER.
• Madison Education Partnership (MEP)
• Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative (WEC)

Products and services

• WIDA Consortium A comprehensive system for K-12 English language development, providing standards, assessments, and professional learning resources for educators serving multilingual learners through member state education agencies.
• WCER Working Paper Series Pre-publication versions of papers, reports, and articles by WCER-affiliated researchers, shared with the research community to stimulate discussion and feedback.
• Interdisciplinary Training Program (ITP) Doctoral training program founded in 2005 that prepares scholars for careers in education science, providing specialized academic, professional, and financial supports and field research opportunities for up to 25 graduate fellows annually.
• WCER Fellows Program Program contributing to diversity of scholarly leaders in research professions, guaranteeing four years of funding and annual travel stipends for research conference attendance for doctoral candidates in the School of Education.

Quantifiable outcome

• Full-day 4K students show better learning outcomes than half-day peers
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Madison Metropolitan School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing research partnership through Madison Education Partnership (MEP) studying 4K programs, student outcomes, and school improvement
• Wisconsin Department of Public InstructioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState education agency partnered on evaluations of Academic & Career Planning, Achievement Gap Reduction, and Career Connected High Schools programs
• WestatminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch organization collaborating on education research and evaluation projects
• Chicago Public SchoolsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban school district partnered on education research and reform initiatives
• Milwaukee Public SchoolsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWisconsin's largest school district partnering on education research and improvement
• New York City Department of EducationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLarge urban school district collaborating on education research initiatives
• Tulsa Public SchoolsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban school district partnered on education research and innovation initiatives
• Boys and Girls Club of Dane CountyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth development organization collaborating on community-based education research

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), UCLA: CRESST focuses on assessment, standards, and evaluation research in K-12 education; its scope overlaps with WCER's WIDA assessment development and program evaluation portfolio.
• Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC), University of Pittsburgh: LRDC is a long-standing university-based education research center conducting cognitive, instructional, and policy research — a near-direct structural and functional analog to WCER, housed within a major School of Education with federal grant funding and graduate training programs.
• Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (Stanford SCOPE): Stanford SCOPE conducts education research and evaluation with a similar emphasis on equity, opportunity, and translating research into practice — comparable in mission and grant-funded model to WCER.
• Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), University of Washington: CRPE partners with districts and state agencies on education reform research and evaluation — directly comparable in operating model, funder mix, and translational research mission to WCER.
• Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE): CPRE is a multi-university education policy research consortium operating out of UW-Madison and peer institutions — overlapping directly with WCER's school-district and state-agency policy evaluation work and sharing principal investigators.
• Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR), Harvard University: CEPR partners with school districts and states on rigorous education research and program evaluation in the same mold as WCER's Madison Education Partnership; both centers translate academic research into actionable evidence for K-12 policy and practice.

Broad incumbents

• Westat: Westat is a research and evaluation contractor that collaborates with WCER (already listed as a minor partner) and competes for the same federal and state education research awards; it operates as a private firm rather than a university center.
• American Institutes for Research (AIR): AIR is a large, established nonprofit that conducts education and behavioral research for federal, state, and district clients; it overlaps with WCER's evaluation and program-assessment work but operates at much broader scale and as a contractor rather than a university center.
• Mathematica Policy Research: Mathematica conducts rigorous education and social-policy research and evaluation for federal and foundation funders; it competes with WCER for the same grant pool and runs similar multi-site district and state evaluation projects.
• RAND Corporation (Education Division): RAND's education division performs policy research, evaluation, and assessment work for government and foundation clients — comparable in mission and methods to WCER but with broader national-security and policy footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WCER_UW
• Facebookfacebook.com/WCERUW
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wisconsin-center-for-education-research

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Wisconsin Center for Education Research