Crescendo Education Group

What Crescendo Education Group does

Crescendo Education Group is a private professional services firm headquartered in Oakland, California, founded in 2014 by Joe Feldman to help K-12 schools and districts implement equitable grading practices. Its core deliverable is a proprietary consulting methodology — encompassing standards-based grading, 0-4 proficiency scales, separation of academic achievement from behavioral compliance, and structured reassessment protocols — packaged into multi-year System Change Partnerships, professional learning workshops, individualized teacher coaching, self-paced online courses, and a signature annual Equitable Grading Study Tour held in San Leandro, California. The firm derives authority from Feldman's published book 'Grading for Equity' (Corwin, 2nd ed. 2024) and a proprietary 33,000-grade analytical study finding that nearly 60% of middle and high school grades are inaccurate.

The business model is primarily B2B professional services sold directly to K-12 public school districts and individual schools. Pricing is custom and not publicly disclosed for district engagements, which typically span multiple years and follow a structured Discovery → Planning → Partnership engagement process led by a field-sales motion targeting superintendents, chief academic officers, and principals. Ancillary revenue streams include Thinkific-hosted online courses (with periodic promotional discounts) and the annual Study Tour priced at $2,000 per person for groups or $2,500 for individual attendees, capped at 60 participants. Customers include Chicago Public Schools, NYC Department of Education, LAUSD, Arlington Public Schools, San Leandro USD, Placer County UHSD, and Talbot County Public Schools; the firm reports cumulative reach of over 6,000 teachers and 750,000 students.

Distribution relies on content marketing (blog, quarterly newsletter, four social channels), the Study Tour as flagship demand generation, channel partnerships with county offices of education, and referral-driven expansion from satisfied district leaders. As of July 2025, founder Joe Feldman was succeeded as CEO by Dr. Shantha Smith, previously VP of Programs and Partner Success. No external institutional investment has been disclosed, and the company operates as a bootstrapped LLC.

Name

Crescendo Education Group

Legal name

Crescendo Education Group LLC

Website

https://crescendoedgroup.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Crescendo Education Group is a private Oakland-based professional services firm founded in 2014 that helps K-12 schools and districts implement equitable grading practices through multi-year consulting partnerships, workshops, coaching, online courses, and an annual study tour.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Education Consulting Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Instructional Delivery & Pedagogy (School-Led) (EDAJAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Curriculum Design & Scope/Sequence (School-Led) (EDAJAFAA)

Keywords

• Equitable grading consulting
• K-12 professional development
• Standards-based grading
• Teacher coaching services
• Education reform consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Development Workshops: In-person and virtual workshops for school and district educators on equitable grading practices, typically delivered as part of multi-day or multi-session engagements.
2. Teacher Coaching: Individualized and cohort-based coaching for teachers implementing equitable grading practices, often bundled within System Change Partnerships.
3. System Change Partnership (Multi-Year Consulting Engagements): Multi-year structured consulting engagements for districts, including grading audits, leadership support, action research facilitation, and sustained teacher professional learning.
4. Online Courses (Thinkific): Self-paced online courses sold individually through Thinkific; promotional discounts are offered periodically (e.g., 20% off with code Thankyou20 during Teacher Appreciation month).
5. Equitable Grading Study Tour (Event): Annual two-day in-person event held in San Leandro, California, priced at $2,000 per person for groups of 2+ and $2,500 for individual attendees. Revenue is generated through registration fees.
6. Leadership Support & Consultation: Advisory and consultation services for school and district leaders navigating grading policy reform, often included within broader SCP engagements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Crescendo Education Group provides consulting, professional development, and resources to help K-12 schools and districts implement equitable grading practices. Its core offerings include multi-year System Change Partnerships, professional learning workshops, teacher coaching, self-paced online courses, and an annual Study Tour event. All services are grounded in founder Joe Feldman's proprietary equitable grading methodology centered on standards-based grading, separation of academic achievement from behavioral compliance, and structured reassessment protocols.

Product overview

Crescendo Education Group is a professional services company offering a suite of consulting and professional development services focused on equitable grading reform for K-12 schools and districts. The core offerings include System Change Partnerships (yearlong engagements with grading audits, coaching, and leadership support), Professional Learning Workshops, Teacher Coaching, and Online Courses hosted on Thinkific. The company also runs an annual Equitable Grading Study Tour and publishes the book 'Grading for Equity' by Joe Feldman. All services aim to help educators implement accurate, bias-resistant, and motivating grading practices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• System Change Partnership
• Professional Learning Workshops
• Teacher Coaching
• Online Courses
• Equitable Grading Study Tour
• Grading for Equity (Book)

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 6,000 teachers and 750,000 students reached since 2014, with improved teacher-student relationships and instruction quality.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and support.

• San Leandro Unified School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSan Leandro Unified is Crescendo's flagship case study district, having partnered since 2015. The district spent six years in pilot mode before formally changing grading policy in 2021. Crescendo's System Change Partnership with San Leandro produced documented outcomes including more consistent grading across classrooms and grades better aligned with standardized test performance. San Leandro also serves as the host site for the annual Equitable Grading Study Tour, providing an on-the-ground exemplar for visiting district teams.
• Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLAUSD is an active Study Tour participant and district-level partner. The district's Equitable Grading & Instruction Coordinator (Adriana Zuniga) has spoken publicly about the district's equitable grading journey at Crescendo events. LAUSD represents one of the largest urban districts engaging with Crescendo's methodology, demonstrating credibility at scale.
• Arlington Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArlington Public Schools is listed as a served client on Crescendo's website and participates in the annual Study Tour. The district is referenced as a leader among attending district teams working to implement equitable grading system-wide.
• California County Office of Education (Placer County region)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCrescendo partnered with a California county office of education to explore how Community of Practice and Action Research could be intentionally designed together for grading redesign. Multiple districts within the county participated in this model, where district leadership teams came together to surface patterns, share dilemmas, and create meaning across contexts — illustrating Crescendo's multi-district facilitation capability.
• ThinkificsupportTechnology or IntegrationThinkific is the online learning platform hosting Crescendo's self-paced course catalog, including the Redos & Retakes Mini Course and Grading for a Growth Mindset course. Thinkific provides the technical infrastructure for Crescendo's digital product channel, enabling individual teacher enrollment and course delivery at scale.
• MailChimpsupportTechnology or IntegrationMailChimp is used as Crescendo's newsletter service provider for the quarterly email newsletter. It handles subscriber list management, email distribution, and unsubscribes for the company's content marketing and community-building communications.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Marzano Resources: K-12 instructional and assessment PD firm (Robert Marzano-aligned) selling workshops, coaching, and conferences to districts. Closely comparable to Crescendo in customer (district leaders, teachers), delivery model (workshops + coaching), and content authority positioning.
• Solution Tree: K-12 professional development publisher and conference operator (e.g., PLC at Work, RTI at Work). Comparable to Crescendo in audience (districts and teachers), book/conference GTM, and standards-and-assessment-related content.
• McREL International: Nonprofit K-12 research and consulting organization delivering PD, coaching, and evaluation to districts. Comparable to Crescendo in consulting-led GTM, research-anchored positioning, and multi-year district engagements.
• International Center for Leadership in Education: School-improvement consultancy (Rigor/Relevance Framework) serving district and school leaders with PD and conferences. Comparable to Crescendo in audience and equity/school-improvement positioning.
• Learning Sciences International: Standards-based grading and assessment PD provider for K-12 districts. Directly comparable to Crescendo in equitable-grading methodology, school-level coaching, and the same buyer (district curriculum/assessment leaders).
• Center for Collaborative Education: Nonprofit focused on equitable, student-centered K-12 school redesign, providing PD and consulting to districts. Comparable to Crescendo in equity framing, K-12 district consulting model, and mission-driven brand.

Emerging players

• EdReports: Independent nonprofit that publishes free reviews of K-12 instructional materials aligned to standards. Comparable to Crescendo as a standards-alignment thought leader influencing district purchasing and PD priorities.
• Mastery Transcript Consortium: Nonprofit consortium promoting mastery-based and alternative transcript approaches in K-12 and higher ed. Comparable to Crescendo as an adjacent movement player pushing standards- and competency-based grading reform.

Broad incumbents

• Corwin (SAGE Publishing): Major K-12 education publisher (and Crescendo's own 'Grading for Equity' publisher) offering books, PD, and conferences. Comparable as a broader PD/incumbent that can repackage equitable-grading content and out-distribute Crescendo.
• ASCD: Established educator association providing publications, PD, and conferences to teachers and district leaders. Comparable to Crescendo as a broader PD incumbent targeting the same K-12 audience with similar content-and-conference monetization.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/crescendoedgrp
• Facebookfacebook.com/crescendoedgroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crescendo-education-group-llc
• Instagraminstagram.com/gradingforequity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Crescendo Education Group