New Meridian Corporation

What New Meridian Corporation does

New Meridian Corporation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2016 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, that develops instructionally-aligned K-12 assessment solutions for U.S. state education agencies and school districts. Its core technology is a through-year assessment architecture built from short micro-assessments (testlets) that are flexibly aligned to local curriculum and aggregated by proprietary scoring models into summative scores that satisfy federal ESSA accountability requirements. The product portfolio includes MasteryGuide (state-level through-year), ProgressGuide (district-level through-year, launched December 2023), Start Strong (beginning-of-year screening, launched 2020), Science Exchange (a shared NGSS-aligned item bank across states, launched 2020), and traditional ELA, math, and social studies summative assessments.

Revenue is generated through multi-year subscription contracts with state education agencies, annual district subscriptions, licensing of shared assessment content via the Science Exchange, and professional content-development services. New Meridian holds a structural advantage as the exclusive agent authorized by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to license CCSSO test content, secured in 2017. Active customers include the New Jersey Department of Education (statewide, covering 1M+ students), the Montana Office of Public Instruction (MAST pilot with 54 districts and 20,700+ students), and the Louisiana Department of Education (Math Innovative Assessment Program pilot). Distribution is direct enterprise sales to state superintendents and district administrators, with implementation typically conducted through state-selected technology partners.

The organization is sustained by philanthropic capital from the Gates, Hewlett, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Walton Family Foundations, alongside federal Competitive Grants for State Assessments (CGSA) funding and field-testing flexibility waivers. Recent strategic activity includes a February 2026 Knowledge Graph open-data initiative with Learning Commons, Magpie Literacy, and Achievement Network to expand AI-ready math and literacy datasets, signaling an extension beyond traditional assessment into AI-driven instructional content infrastructure. Leadership includes founder and CEO Arthur VanderVeen (former NYC Department of Education assessment executive), COO Eileen Shihadeh, and a senior bench drawn from the College Board and state education leadership.

Name

New Meridian Corporation

Legal name

New Meridian Corporation

Website

https://newmeridiancorp.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

New Meridian Corporation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that develops instructionally-aligned, through-year K-12 assessment solutions for U.S. state education agencies and school districts, with flagship statewide deployments in New Jersey, Montana, and Louisiana.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Educational Assessment Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Assessment, Testing & Analytics Platforms (Formative/Summative) (EDAJAMAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Classroom Assessment & Grading (Formative/Summative) (EDAJAFAC), Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping (State/National) (EDAJAFAD), Portfolio, Performance & Rubric-Based Assessment Platforms (EDAFADAL), Accountability & Performance Frameworks (School/District/Institution Ratings) (EDADAIAD)

Keywords

• K-12 assessment solutions
• Through-year assessments
• Educational assessment development
• Summative testing services
• Standards-aligned assessments

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. State Assessment Solutions: Custom test development and content licensing for state education agencies implementing summative, interim, and through-year assessments. States pay for assessment development, content licensing, and implementation services.
2. District Assessment Solutions: District-level assessment products including Start Strong and ProgressGuide, sold directly to school districts for local implementation.
3. Science Exchange Licensing: States contribute and license NGSS-aligned assessment items from shared item bank, generating licensing revenue for contributing states.
4. Content Development Services: Turn-key assessment delivery including blueprinting, psychometric evaluation, content provisioning, quality assurance, and project management.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

New Meridian designs, develops, and licenses K-12 educational assessment solutions for state education agencies and school districts. Its portfolio includes through-year assessment systems (MasteryGuide and ProgressGuide), beginning-of-year screening (Start Strong), subject-area summative assessments (ELA, Math, Social Studies), and a shared NGSS-aligned science item bank (Science Exchange). Offerings combine content development, psychometric evaluation, and integration with state-selected technology administration partners to deliver federal-accountability-compliant assessments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MasteryGuide: Through-year assessment solution for state education systems providing instructionally useful data to classroom teachers throughout the year and a scaled summative score for accountability purposes.
• ProgressGuide
• Start Strong Assessment
• Science Exchange

Products and services

• MasteryGuide Through-Year Assessment A state-level through-year assessment solution for grades 3-8 that uses short, flexibly scheduled mini-assessments (testlets) aligned to local classroom instruction, providing real-time feedback to teachers and aggregating to a summative year-end score that meets federal accountability requirements. Designed for state education agencies seeking to modernize summative testing.
• ProgressGuide Through-Year Assessment A district-level through-year assessment system for grades 3-8 math and ELA that aligns to adopted high-quality curriculum and instructional materials (HQIM), giving teachers timely feedback on student mastery and producing a through-year growth measure. Designed for school districts seeking curriculum-aligned diagnostics.
• Start Strong Assessment A beginning-of-year screening assessment for grades 3-8 in English language arts and mathematics that can be administered in a single period and delivers quick feedback on student readiness and unfinished learning from the prior year. Created to address pandemic-related school closures.
• Science Exchange A shared NGSS-aligned assessment item bank and licensing program that gives states a cost-effective way to access high-quality science assessment content, allowing states to draw from the bank or contribute items they have developed and earn licensing revenue.
• ELA Summative Assessment An English Language Arts summative assessment offering for state education agencies, developed by educators using Evidence-Centered Design methodology and aligned to state standards with industry-leading cognitive complexity.
• Math Summative Assessment A Mathematics summative assessment offering for state education agencies, developed through educator collaboration, aligned to state standards and designed to measure deeper learning skills including critical thinking and problem solving.
• Social Studies Summative A Social Studies summative assessment offering for state education agencies, providing standards-aligned content designed to measure deeper learning within the subject area.

Quantifiable outcome

• 76% of educators said Start Strong results were helpful for making instructional decisions for groups of students
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Learning CommonscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 February 2026New Meridian partnered with Learning Commons to validate math components of the Knowledge Graph open data initiative, examining difficulty levels and learning trajectories. This partnership is part of an expansion of AI instruction partnerships adding math and literacy datasets to align instructional tools with academic standards.
• Magpie LiteracycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 February 2026Partner expanding foundational map of literacy skills for K-8 reading instruction as part of the Knowledge Graph open data initiative.
• Achievement NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 February 2026Partner revising and expanding math learning components to be piloted through the Compass assessment platform as part of the Knowledge Graph initiative.
• Montana Office of Public InstructionflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlagship partnership to pilot and implement the Montana Alternative Student Testing (MAST) program, a next-generation through-year assessment system. Montana received federal waiver enabling statewide through-year assessment in place of traditional summative testing.
• Louisiana Department of EducationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to pilot the Math Innovative Assessment Program, transforming education landscape with comprehensive through-year assessment system providing actionable data for Louisiana stakeholders.
• New Jersey Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStatewide implementation of Start Strong Assessment covering grades 3-8, with state receiving federal approval based on Start Strong administration.
• The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment (Center for Assessment)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional organization collaboration to help states develop high-quality assessment programs quickly and cost-effectively.
• Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with HumRRO, a professional organization specializing in assessment development, to support high-quality assessment program development.
• Carnegie Mellon UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership contributing to the collaborative network of organizations supporting assessment innovation.
• Education FirstminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational strategy and policy organization providing expertise and support for assessment innovation initiatives.
• U.S. Department of EducationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal agency providing Competitive Grants for State Assessments funding and approving field-testing flexibility waivers for innovative assessment pilots in Montana and other states.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• NWEA: NWEA provides MAP Growth, a widely-used interim/through-year K-12 assessment. It serves school districts with adaptive assessments and actionable data, directly competing with New Meridian's ProgressGuide and Start Strong products in the district-level through-year segment.
• Renaissance Learning: Renaissance provides Star Assessments, a widely adopted K-12 screening and progress-monitoring tool used by districts. It overlaps directly with New Meridian's Start Strong and ProgressGuide in the beginning-of-year and through-year district assessment market.
• Cambium Assessment: Cambium Assessment is a major state-level K-12 summative and through-year assessment vendor delivering operational testing programs for multiple states. It directly competes with New Meridian's MasteryGuide for state education agency contracts.
• Data Recognition Corporation (DRC): DRC is a longstanding state summative assessment vendor that develops, delivers, and scores large-scale K-12 testing programs. It competes with New Meridian at the state education agency level for through-year and summative contracts.
• Curriculum Associates: Curriculum Associates offers iReady, a leading K-12 diagnostic and through-year adaptive assessment used by districts nationwide. It competes head-to-head with New Meridian's district offerings and increasingly pursues state-level contracts.

Broad incumbents

• Educational Testing Service (ETS): ETS develops state K-12 assessments and is a broad incumbent in large-scale educational measurement. It competes with New Meridian for state summative and innovative assessment contracts while also serving higher-ed testing markets.
• College Board: College Board owns CCSSO test content (which New Meridian exclusively licenses) and develops K-12 and higher-ed assessments including SAT and AP. It is both a content licensor/partner and a broad incumbent competitor in K-12 state assessment.
• Pearson Assessment: Pearson is a global education incumbent offering state summative assessments, district interim solutions, and broader instructional products. It is a broad incumbent in the same K-12 assessment space where New Meridian competes, with vastly greater scale and portfolio breadth.

Emerging players

• Illuminate Education: Illuminate provides K-12 assessment, data, and intervention tools to districts and states, with growing through-year and intervention offerings. It is an emerging player with partial overlap to New Meridian's district and state solutions.
• Carnegie Learning: Carnegie Learning provides math instructional and assessment solutions for K-12, with MATHia and other adaptive tools. It is an emerging player in math-focused assessment and instruction with overlapping customer base in states exploring math innovative assessment pilots like Louisiana.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/newmeridiancorp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/newmeridiancorp
• Xx.com/NewMeridianCorp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about New Meridian Corporation