PARCC

What PARCC does

PARCC is a consortium of U.S. states that jointly developed a modern, Common Core-aligned summative assessment to replace previous state standardized tests. The consortium's operational and licensing functions are carried out by New Meridian Corporation, a 501c(3) nonprofit headquartered in Austin, Texas, which was established in 2017 when CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers) selected New Meridian via competitive procurement to serve as the exclusive agent authorized to license CCSSO-owned test content, including PARCC test content. The company's core products are assessment item banks fully aligned to Common Core State Standards and compatible standards, spanning a wide range of item types and complexity levels accessible to all students, delivered through the New Meridian Resource Center website, which provides educators with ELA and Math test design resources, released items, answer keys, scoring rubrics, and scored/annotated sample student responses.

New Meridian serves state education agencies, districts, teachers, and administrators, with a primary focus on educators in states where New Meridian items are used on summative assessments. Its go-to-market is structurally embedded in the CCSSO licensing mandate and distributed nationally via the Resource Center, with no publicly disclosed pricing model. The company has 11–50 employees, no disclosed revenue or funding rounds, no M&A activity, and operates as a nonprofit subsidiary entity of CCSSO. Leadership is anchored by a Governing Board chaired by Mitchell Chester, identified as Massachusetts Commissioner.

The underlying technology is a content-and-standards library rather than a software platform: there is no public API, SDK, or MCP, no disclosed integrations, and no app. Distribution is achieved through direct access to digital resources on the Resource Center, with accessibility resources also provided. The competitive position is reinforced by the exclusive CCSSO license, national reach through state membership, and an accumulated body of released items and instructional materials; however, the absence of disclosed revenue, headcount growth signals, and any AI/ML capabilities limits visibility into operational scale and forward momentum.

Name

PARCC

Legal name

New Meridian Corporation

Website

https://parcconline.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PARCC is a U.S. state consortium that developed Common Core-aligned summative assessments, operated through New Meridian Corporation, a 501c(3) nonprofit that exclusively licenses PARCC test content from CCSSO and delivers educator resources nationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

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, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

PARCC operates as a consortium of states developing a modern K-12 assessment system aligned to the Common Core State Standards, replacing previous state standardized tests. Through its exclusive licensing agent New Meridian Corporation, it provides assessment item banks, test design documentation, and educator resources (including released item sets, answer keys, scoring rubrics, and sample student responses) for summative assessments in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics.

Product overview

New Meridian Corporation operates as a unified platform for assessment development and educator support. The core offering is the New Meridian Resource Center, which serves as the primary access point for all products and services. The portfolio includes ELA Test Design and Math Test Design resources (both accessible via the Resource Center), Released Items with accompanying answer keys and scoring rubrics, Accessibility resources, and Research publications. The company also maintains Item Banks that are fully aligned to Common Core State Standards, with a wide range of item types at varying complexity levels. As of 2017, New Meridian Corporation was selected by CCSSO to be the exclusive agent authorized to license test content owned by CCSSO.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• New Meridian Resource Center Online portal providing educators with access to high-quality assessment resources for Math and English Language Arts/Literacy, including released item sets, answer keys, scoring rubrics, and scored/annotated sample student responses aligned to Common Core State Standards.
• New Meridian Item Banks Assessment item collections fully aligned to Common Core State Standards and compatible standards, featuring a wide range of item types of varying complexity accessible to all students. Licensed through CCSSO's exclusive agent arrangement.
• PARCC ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment English Language Arts/Literacy summative assessment developed for use by PARCC member states, aligned to Common Core State Standards, with educator resources supporting test design and instruction.
• PARCC Mathematics Summative Assessment Mathematics summative assessment developed for use by PARCC member states, aligned to Common Core State Standards, with educator resources supporting test design and instruction.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2017In 2017 CCSSO selected New Meridian Corporation, by competitive procurement, to be the exclusive agent authorized to license test content owned by CCSSO. This includes PARCC test content.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves3 records

Broad incumbents

• College Board: Provider of SAT and state-wide assessment programs; competes in the same K-12 summative assessment market that PARCC addresses.
• Educational Testing Service (ETS): Large nonprofit testing organization offering summative and formative assessments, including state K-12 programs; comparable in scale and CCSS-aligned assessment development.
• ACT, Inc. Established assessment organization providing ACT and state-level K-12 programs; competes with PARCC for state summative assessment contracts.
• NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association): Nonprofit provider of K-12 assessments (MAP Growth) used across many states; overlaps with PARCC in serving state agencies with standards-aligned assessment content.
• Pearson Assessment: Major commercial assessment provider serving K-12 and higher education with state testing, formative tools, and item banking; comparable in summative assessment delivery and CCSS-aligned content.

Emerging players

• Renaissance Learning: K-12 assessment and analytics provider (Star Assessments) used widely in schools; comparable in standards-aligned assessment content for state and district customers.
• Curriculum Associates (iReady): Provider of formative/diagnostic K-12 assessments such as iReady, increasingly competing in state assessment and CCSS-aligned item banking.
• Data Recognition Corporation (DRC): Testing services vendor that partners with states to deliver summative assessments, including previously for PARCC; comparable in operational assessment delivery for state agencies.

Others

• Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO): Parent entity that owns the PARCC test content and selected New Meridian as exclusive licensing agent; governing partner rather than competitor, but tightly coupled to New Meridian's business.

Direct peers

• Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium: Multi-state consortium formed to develop next-generation assessments aligned to Common Core; direct functional competitor to PARCC as the two original Common Core consortia, with states choosing between them.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PARCCPlace
• Facebookfacebook.com/PARCC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/parcc-partnership-for-assessment-of-readiness-for-college-and-careers-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 PARCC