UCLA CRESST

Name

UCLA CRESST

Legal name

Regents of the University of California

Website

https://cresst.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

UCLA CRESST is a non-profit university research center founded in 1966 that designs educational assessments, develops psychometric methodologies, and evaluates programs for federal agencies, state education departments, and defense organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

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, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Research Grants and Contracts: CRESST operates as a federally funded research center with grants from agencies including U.S. Department of Education, Department of Defense, Office of Naval Research, and National Science Foundation. Funding supports evaluation studies, assessment development, and methodological research.
2. State and Local Government Contracts: Contracts with state education departments (California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada) and school districts for program evaluation and assessment services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

UCLA CRESST is a university-based research center that delivers educational research, assessment design, psychometric methodology, learning-technology development, and program evaluation services to government, defense, and education clients. Its named operational programs include the ELPA21 English language proficiency assessment (used by eight states), the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) administering national CIRP surveys, the PBS KIDS Learning Analytics Platform, and Navy training simulations using Bayesian-network assessment engines. Underlying all offerings are advanced psychometric and statistical methods (item response theory, diagnostic classification models, Bayesian hierarchical models, multilevel modeling, deep learning, and telemetry analytics).

Product overview

UCLA CRESST is an educational research center established in 1966 within the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, operating as a research organization rather than a commercial product company. CRESST offers a portfolio of research programs, assessment systems, and evaluation services organized around four major service areas: Assessment (design and analysis of quality assessments), Methodology (psychometric and statistical methods), Technology (innovative data collection technologies), and Evaluation (program effectiveness insights). The core programs include ELPA21 (English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century), a comprehensive assessment system for English learners with its own Dynamic Screener; HERI (Higher Education Research Institute), the nation's largest higher education empirical study administering the CIRP Freshman Survey; the Learning Analytics Platform developed with PBS KIDS for tracking children's learning across media; and specialized evaluation services for the Literacy Design Collaborative, Magnet Schools Assistance Program, and Navy training simulations. CRESST has worked on over 200 projects with 150+ clients including government agencies, defense departments, and educational institutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ELPA21: English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century - a comprehensive English language proficiency assessment and instructional system designed to support English learners and their educators
• HERI

Products and services

• ELPA21 (English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century) A comprehensive English language proficiency assessment and instructional system that supports English learners and their educators. Includes the Dynamic Screener for initial identification of potential English learners across eight states, operationalized as a high-stakes test determining eligibility for English language development services.
• HERI (Higher Education Research Institute) The nation's largest and oldest empirical study of higher education, housing the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP). Administers six national surveys of college students, faculty, and staff including the CIRP Freshman Survey, with survey portal enhancements for streamlined data collection and institutional benchmarking.
• Learning Analytics Platform (PBS KIDS)

Quantifiable outcome

• Statistically significant positive impact on middle school students' ELA performance with effect size d = 0.15
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PBS KIDScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative development of the Learning Analytics Platform for tracking and evaluating children's learning processes across PBS KIDS educational media content. CRESST helps develop sophisticated systems that process approximately 200GB of data monthly from tens of thousands of players.
• U.S. Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary federal funding source and collaborative partner for assessment initiatives, evaluation studies, and research programs including the Magnet Schools Assistance Program and Enhanced Assessment Grants.
• U.S. Navy / Office of Naval ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for developing Navy training assessments, games and simulations, and automated assessment systems for evaluating complex skills including shiphandling and damage control.
• National Science FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal funding partner for research on learning technologies, game-based assessment, and educational innovation projects.
• Educational Testing ServiceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research and assessment development partner in the educational measurement field.
• Smarter Balanced Assessment ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership on K-12 assessment system development including Implementation Readiness Package and assessment delivery compliance testing.
• Beijing Normal UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational research collaboration including hosting Beijing Normal University students for educational assessment workshops and joint presentations at CRESSTCON.
• California Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState government partner for California K-12 assessment initiatives and career readiness assessment programs.
• Los Angeles Unified School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal school district partner for magnet school evaluations and various program assessment initiatives.
• Organization for Social Media SafetycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSMASH project collaboration studying the impact of social media hate speech on youth mental health and academic development, positioned within the Initiative to Study Hate at UCLA.
• Chan Zuckerberg InitiativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPhilanthropic partner represented at CRESSTCON with keynote speaker on learning science applications.
• UCLA School of Education & Information StudiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCRESST is housed within UCLA GSE&IS, collaborating on graduate education, joint research initiatives, and academic programs.
• RAND CorporationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research partner in education policy and evaluation studies.
• WestEdminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducation research and development organization partner for collaborative research initiatives.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Pearson Clinical and Talent Assessment: Pearson is a global commercial assessment publisher operating widely in K-12, clinical, and workforce assessment. As a broad incumbent in psychometric and language proficiency tooling (competing with ELPA21-adjacent commercial products like WIDA and Pearson's EL offerings), it competes indirectly with CRESST's assessment portfolio while operating at much greater commercial scale.
• ACT, Inc. ACT is a broad incumbent assessment and research organization administering the ACT test, ACT Aspire, and a portfolio of K-12 and workforce assessments. While primarily a commercial test publisher rather than a research center, ACT operates a research division tackling overlapping problems in psychometrics, college readiness, and validity research, placing it in adjacent space to CRESST's HERI longitudinal work.

Direct peers

• NWEA (formerly Northwest Evaluation Association): NWEA is a non-profit research organization best known for the MAP Growth adaptive assessments used across U.S. school districts. It is a natural CRESST peer because it sits at the boundary of university-grade psychometrics and operational K-12 assessment delivery — exactly the territory CRESST's methodology and learning analytics platforms occupy.
• Educational Testing Service (ETS): ETS is a non-profit educational measurement organization that designs and administers standardized assessments (e.g., GRE, TOEFL, Praxis) and conducts psychometric research. Like CRESST, it operates at the intersection of psychometrics, assessment design, and large-scale program evaluation, with research anchored at the graduate-school level. Both organizations are federally-influenced assessment powerhouses; CRESST's research often validates tools ETS operationalizes.
• HumRRO (Human Resources Research Organization): HumRRO is a non-profit research organization focused on psychometrics, personnel selection, training evaluation, and assessment for military and civilian federal clients. It is a strong CRESST peer because both organizations translate psychometric methodology into federal-defense and federal-civilian assessment contracts (e.g., Navy, DoD, OPM).
• WestEd: WestEd is a non-profit education research and development agency serving state agencies, districts, and federal funders across assessment, evaluation, and educator development. CRESST lists WestEd as a partner, reflecting tightly overlapping scope: both operate on federal grant dollars, conduct K-12 program evaluations, and contribute to assessment consortia like Smarter Balanced.
• Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER): WCER is a major university-based education research center at UW–Madison funded by federal agencies (IES, NSF) and foundations. Like CRESST, it conducts psychometric and program evaluation studies, hosts large federally-funded centers (e.g., NCES work, IES grants), and translates methodology into classroom-facing tools and assessments.
• American Institutes for Research (AIR): AIR is a large non-profit behavioral and social science research organization with deep K-12, higher education, and workforce evaluation practices. Like CRESST, it competes for federal education contracts from ED, NSF, and DoEd program offices, runs quasi-experimental program evaluations, and employs psychometricians and statisticians to do program effectiveness work at scale.
• RAND Corporation: RAND is a non-profit policy research institution with substantial K-12, higher education, and workforce evaluation practices commissioned by federal agencies and foundations. CRESST explicitly partners with RAND on education policy and evaluation studies, making them co-bidders for the same federal contract vehicles.
• Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE): SCALE is a Stanford-based research center focused on equitable assessment design, performance assessment, and validity research for K-12 systems. Like CRESST, it operates as a university-hosted assessment research center with deep psychometric expertise and strong federal partnerships (e.g., Smarter Balanced successor work).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ucla_cresst
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@cresstucla
• Facebookfacebook.com/uclabruins
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cresst-national-center-for-research-on-evaluation-standards-and-student-testing
• Instagraminstagram.com/cresstucla

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about UCLA CRESST