Collins Education Associates

What Collins Education Associates does

Collins Education Associates LLC is a private US education services company that delivers the Collins Writing Program, a research-based K-12 writing-across-the-curriculum framework built around the proprietary Five Types of Writing taxonomy and Focus Correction Areas (FCAs) assessment method. Founded in 1993 by Dr. John Collins and currently led by Owner and Managing Director Kristine Gibson, the company sells a long-tail catalog of physical products (posters, portfolio folders, desktop reference guides, books), digital downloads (PDFs, editable RTFs, MP4 videos including the Math Words in Motion kinesthetic math vocabulary program), and hands-on professional development workshops and public courses delivered by a small team of credentialed master-teacher Associates.

The underlying methodology is content- and pedagogy-driven rather than technology-driven: instruction, materials, and teacher training form the core IP, with a Wix-hosted e-commerce storefront (collinsed.com) supporting direct-to-consumer purchases, institutional purchase orders, and volume or site licensing for video content. Pricing is transactional and low-ticket, with single-copy items priced between $5 and $30 and packages of 25 folders, guide sets, and downloadable resources available for bulk purchase.

CEA serves two primary customer segments: K-12 schools and school districts adopting the program for cross-curricular writing instruction, and individual classroom teachers purchasing materials directly. The company markets through its website blog, a YouTube channel, a free Collins Writing Exchange newsletter, and organic social channels (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn). Headcount is in the 11-50 range, the company is privately held with no disclosed investors, and revenue is not publicly disclosed; the operating footprint is the United States.

Name

Collins Education Associates

Legal name

Collins Education Associates LLC

Website

https://collinsed.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Collins Education Associates delivers the Collins Writing Program, a research-based K-12 writing-across-the-curriculum framework featuring the Five Types of Writing taxonomy, to schools, districts, and individual teachers via physical products, digital downloads, and professional development workshops.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Writing Instruction and Teacher Professional Development

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

K–12 Instructional Design & Curriculum Development Services (EDAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Writing Skills & Composition Enrichment (EDAMAJAC)

Keywords

• Writing instruction program
• Teacher professional development
• K-12 writing curriculum
• Writing across curriculum
• Educational resource publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

West Newbury

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Product Sales (Physical): CEA sells physical educational products including posters, portfolio folders, implementation guides, desktop reference guides, and teacher resource materials. Products are priced per unit or in packages (e.g., packages of 25).
2. Digital Downloads: CEA sells downloadable PDF and digital versions of books, guides, and resources. Single-user downloads and editable versions are available for instant purchase.
3. Video Content Sales: CEA sells video downloads (e.g., Math Words in Motion mp4 files) and offers volume/site license discounts for multiple teacher-users.
4. Professional Development Services: CEA provides custom-built professional development training to schools and districts, tailored to staff, budget, and timeline. Workshops and public courses are offered as part of the PD delivery model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Collins Education Associates delivers the Collins Writing Program—a research-based, K-12 writing-across-the-curriculum framework built on the Five Types of Writing methodology—through companion physical and digital classroom products and direct professional development services for teachers, schools, and districts. Its offerings include posters and implementation portfolios, the Essential Conventions Check Mate series, desktop guides and books authored by CEA staff and Associates, video downloads such as Math Words in Motion, and tailored on-site PD workshops and public training courses delivered by master teachers.

Product overview

Collins Education Associates offers the Collins Writing Program, a unified, research-based writing program with its cornerstone Five Types of Writing framework for grades K-12. The portfolio includes core program resources (Improving Student Performance book, Five Types of Writing Poster), Essential Conventions Check Mate series with multiple levels for grades 2-12, various desktop guides (Ten Percent Summary, Vocabulary Cards, Sentence Expansion), writing project books for elementary through high school, math-specific resources (How Did You Get That?, Math Words in Motion), professional development services, and free teacher resources. The program emphasizes writing across the curriculum with products available as physical items, PDF downloads, or video content, supported by assessment tools and portfolio organization materials.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Collins Writing Program: Research-based writing instruction framework with Five Types of Writing for K-12 classrooms

Products and services

• Collins Writing Program A unified, research-based writing program providing teachers, schools, and districts with a framework grounded in the science of writing to engage, teach, and assess students while building essential writing skills and habits in the context of everyday classroom learning from grades K-12.
• Professional Development Services Custom-built professional development including Collins Workshops, Public Courses, and tailored training for educators, delivered by master teachers who are CEA Associates to fit staff, budget, and timeline.
• Five Types of Writing Poster A 19" x 24" poster that briefly defines the Collins Writing Program's different types of writing assignments, serving as a helpful classroom visual aid for grades 4-12.
• Essential Conventions Check Mate (Levels P, A, B, C) A comprehensive writing conventions program with multiple levels (Level P for grades 2-3, Level A for grades 4-6, Level B for grades 6-9, and Level C for grades 9-12), including teacher resource guides, quick reference folders, posters, and Daily Quick-Fix Sentences.
• Math Words in Motion (Video Download) Single user video download (mp4 format) with 15 chapters introducing a dynamic, kinesthetic approach to teaching over 274 critical math vocabulary words in grades K-8, with volume and site licenses available.
• Improving Student Performance Through Writing and Thinking Across the Curriculum Dr. John Collins's flagship book serving as the foundational resource for the Collins Writing Program, with companion downloadable Teacher Resource Masters available in PDF and editable RTF versions for grades 4-12.

Quantifiable outcome

• Schools that adopt Collins Writing demonstrate measurable improvement not only in writing but across content areas.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Learning Without Tears (Handwriting Without Tears): Provides handwriting, keyboarding, and writing curriculum for K-5 classrooms sold to schools and districts, combining physical products with teacher professional development — closely comparable offering and customer base.
• Time4Writing: Online writing instruction for K-12 students with structured courses and writing lessons, serving the same end-customer (schools, districts, families) with an adjacent curriculum-product/PD hybrid business model.
• Thoughtful Learning (Thoughtful Literacy): Publishes literacy and writing instructional materials (formerly Kylene Beers' resources) and provides teacher support — similar K-12 writing curriculum publisher overlapping on customer segments and product.
• Institute for Excellence in Writing: Sells a structured K-12 writing and literature curriculum, trains teachers via workshops, and operates a similar PD + product business model to CEA. Closest one-to-one comparable in product, customer, and go-to-market.
• WriteScore (Writesource / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt): Online scoring and instruction tools for student writing sold into K-12 schools and districts — competing head-to-head for the writing-assessment and writing-instruction wallet where CEA's FCAs operate.

Emerging players

• NoRedInk: Adaptive digital writing instruction platform used widely across U.S. schools. Competes for the same K-12 writing-instruction budget with a software/SaaS model that pressures traditional print-and-PD providers like CEA.

Broad incumbents

• McGraw Hill Education: Major K-12 publisher offering writing curricula and ELA programs across all grade levels; broad incumbent competing for the same district ELA/writing curriculum budgets that CEA targets.
• Pearson Education: Global education publisher and assessment provider with writing instruction and ELA products sold into K-12 schools — overlapping buyer and category, though it sits much broader than CEA's niche.
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Large educational publisher with reading/writing ELA curricula for K-12 districts, including the former WriteSource writing program; competes for district-level ELA/writing adoptions.

Others

• Student Achievement Partners (Achieve the Core): Non-profit producing standards-aligned ELA/literacy instructional materials and PD used by K-12 teachers; serves the same standards-aligned writing-instruction buyer through a different (free) channel that competes for adoption mindshare.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CollinsEd
• Facebookfacebook.com/collinseducationassoc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/collins-education-associates
• Instagraminstagram.com/collinseducationassoc

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 Collins Education Associates