Center on Reinventing Public Education

What Center on Reinventing Public Education does

Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) is a nonpartisan research and policy analysis organization focused on K-12 public education in the United States. Founded in 1993 by Paul T. Hill at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Policy, CRPE originated the "portfolio strategy" model that has since been adopted by school districts in New York City, New Orleans, Denver, and Indianapolis. In February 2022, CRPE moved its institutional home to Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation, where it operates as a self-sustaining nonprofit research center from Tempe, Arizona, with an additional office in Seattle, Washington, and a staff of approximately 30-40 researchers, analysts, and operations personnel.

Name

Center on Reinventing Public Education

Legal name

Center on Reinventing Public Education

Website

https://crpe.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CRPE is a nonpartisan K-12 education research and policy analysis organization, founded in 1993 and hosted at Arizona State University, that produces evidence-based research, datasets, and grant programs for school districts, state agencies, policymakers, and education philanthropies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation and Philanthropic Grants: CRPE is a self-sustaining nonprofit organization funded through public and private grants from major philanthropies. Major funders include Walton Family Foundation ($9M grant, $2.6M in subgrants), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bezos Family Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and others.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) is a nonpartisan research and policy analysis organization that produces evidence-based studies, annual reports, data tools, and grant programs on U.S. K-12 public education. Its core output is research and policy guidance on systemic challenges including pandemic learning recovery, AI adoption in schools, special education reform, teacher workforce innovation, and district transformation, delivered through publications, surveys, data centers, and direct engagement with district leaders and policymakers.

Product overview

The Center on Reinventing Public Education is a nonpartisan research and policy analysis organization (not a product company) that produces research reports, annual publications, surveys, and grant programs focused on improving public education. Its portfolio includes: AI in Education research tracking technology adoption in K-12; Phoenix Rising publication series on education reform; The American School District Panel (ASDP) survey program partnered with RAND; The Canopy Project database of innovative schools with Transcend; The Evidence Project tracking pandemic recovery; The State of the American Student annual reports; The Math Hub resource for math education; The Next Education Workforce staffing model research; Unlocking Potential special education initiative; District Transformation in New England study; and the Innovative School Systems Grant (ISSG) program. These are research and policy publications/programs, not commercial software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AI in Education Research A research initiative tracking AI adoption in K-12 education, examining how districts are using and piloting AI tools, the challenges they face, and what others can learn from them. Includes databases of early adopter districts and states. Targeted at K-12 district leaders, state education agencies, and education researchers.
• The American School District Panel (ASDP) A nationally representative recurring survey of school district leaders in the United States, conducted in partnership with RAND Corporation and the Council of the Great City Schools. Provides district leaders a platform to share perspectives on education policy and practice.
• The Evidence Project Initiative tracking the pandemic's impact on education and learning recovery, providing urgent research, data, and analyses, and stewarding subgrants funded by the Walton Family Foundation to support researchers studying pandemic learning gaps.
• The State of the American Student CRPE's annual situation report documenting student and family needs, synthesizing data on pandemic aftermath, and highlighting strategies to create a more equitable, personalized, and resilient American education system.
• Unlocking Potential: Rethinking What's 'Special' About Special Education Project exploring why the U.S. special education system fails many students with learning challenges and advocating for a needs-based approach, including a data center tracking 50 years of state-by-state special education trends.
• Innovative School Systems Grant (ISSG) Grant program developed with the Walton Family Foundation supporting 11 school systems with funding and resources to pilot, refine, and scale new solutions for student learning, including a cohort experience with coaching and technical assistance.
• District Transformation in New England Two-year study funded by the Barr Foundation investigating what enables and constrains transformative change in New England school districts, including surveys, interviews, and case studies.
• The Canopy Project Collaborative effort stewarded by CRPE and Transcend to build collective knowledge about innovative, student-centered learning environments nationwide, featuring a public database and annual research reports.
• Phoenix Rising A special series exploring evolving federal role in education, innovative reforms, and shifting responsibilities of states and communities, featuring guest authors from education practice, policy, and advocacy.
• The Math Hub A consensus-driven and expert-guided resource for improving K-12 math education, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, providing insights on what matters now in math education.
• The Next Education Workforce A model of team-based strategic school staffing developed by ASU's Mary Lou Fulton College that aims to serve students better and create more sustainable careers for educators, with CRPE researchers studying the program's impact.

Quantifiable outcome

• Pandemic learning recovery tracking: Students recovering about one-third of math losses and one-quarter of reading losses
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 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

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Arizona State University - Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning InnovationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2022CRPE officially joined ASU's Mary Lou Fulton College in February 2022. This partnership provides CRPE with academic affiliation, expanded research capacity, and collaboration opportunities on education workforce innovation. ASU has been ranked No. 1 for innovation by U.S. News & World Report for seven years running.
• RAND CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe American School District Panel (ASDP) is a research partnership between RAND and CRPE, conducting nationally representative recurring surveys of school district leaders. RAND provides methodological expertise and research infrastructure for the panel, which also collaborates with the Council of the Great City Schools and MGT.
• TranscendcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Canopy Project, which studies and shares innovative learning environments, is stewarded jointly by CRPE and Transcend. The project builds collective knowledge about diverse innovative learning environments nationwide.
• Next Education WorkforcemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearchers at CRPE partner with Next Education Workforce staff to study the program's impact on teachers and students. Next Education Workforce is a model of team-based strategic school staffing developed by ASU's Mary Lou Fulton College.
• Christensen InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaunched the Canopy Project in 2018 to study innovative learning environments. CRPE now stewards the project following initial development by Christensen Institute.
• USC Center for Economic and Social ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted interviews with parents of students in special populations for the State of the American Student 2024 report, specifically researching pandemic impacts on vulnerable student groups.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• RAND Corporation: Nonpartisan research organization that conducts education policy research and surveys. RAND is a direct peer and an active partner — CRPE and RAND co-run the American School District Panel — making it the most directly comparable organization.
• Transcend: Nonprofit focused on designing and spreading innovative, student-centered school models. Partnered with CRPE on the Canopy Project and shares CRPE's interest in district-level school innovation and transformation.
• Bellwether Education Partners: Nonprofit education advisory and research organization working with school systems, funders, and policymakers. Comparable as a mission-aligned nonprofit producing research and strategic guidance for K-12 leaders.
• WestEd: Nonprofit education research and development organization serving districts, states, and federal agencies. Overlaps directly with CRPE on K-12 system reform, accountability, and district capacity-building research.
• American Institutes for Research (AIR): Large nonprofit behavioral and social science research organization with a substantial education division conducting evaluation, assessment, and policy research for districts and federal agencies. Highly comparable in mission, scale, and funder base.
• Urban Institute (Education Policy program): Nonprofit research organization producing evidence on social and economic policy, including a substantive education policy portfolio. Comparable as a nonpartisan think tank serving federal and state education decision makers.
• Mathematica Policy Research: Nonpartisan evidence research and evaluation firm with deep K-12 and education policy practices. Comparable as a research and evaluation partner to school districts, states, and federal funders.
• Brookings Institution (Brown Center on Education Policy): Major Washington-based think tank producing education policy research and data on U.S. K-12 systems. Operates in the same nonpartisan policy research space as CRPE with overlapping audiences of policymakers and education leaders.
• National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE): Nonprofit policy organization focused on U.S. education and workforce competitiveness. Operates in a closely adjacent niche on standards, assessments, and system reform, overlapping with CRPE's portfolio strategy work.

Emerging players

• Edunomics Lab (Georgetown University): Georgetown University-based research center studying education finance and resource use in K-12 systems. Smaller and more narrowly focused than CRPE, but produces comparable research aimed at district and state education leaders.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-on-reinventing-public-education
• Xx.com/crpe_uw
• Facebookfacebook.com/crpeUW

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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