CREATE for STEM Institute

Name

CREATE for STEM Institute

Legal name

CREATE for STEM Institute

Website

https://create4stem.msu.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 STEM Education Research and Curriculum Development

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Science & STEM Instruction (School-Delivered) (EDAJAFAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

STEM Teacher Tools, Curriculum & Lesson Planning Platforms (EDAFANAK), STEM Project-Based Learning (PBL) & Challenge Platforms (EDAFANAI), Math & Science Interactive Learning Platforms (STEM Core) (EDAFANAH), Health Science & Medical STEM Programs (Pre-Med, Public Health) (EDAMABAJ)

Keywords

• STEM education research
• K-12 science curriculum
• Teacher professional development
• NGSS-aligned curriculum
• Educational assessment research

Headquarters

HQ city

East Lansing

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Primary revenue stream from competitive federal and foundation grants including NSF, Institute of Education Sciences (IES), NIH SEPA awards, and private foundations such as Lucas Educational Research Foundation.
2. University Sponsorship: Administered jointly by MSU College of Natural Science and College of Education with coordination from Office of the Provost.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CREATE for STEM Institute is a university research center that develops research-based K-12 STEM curricula, designs teacher professional development programs, and conducts education research projects aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Its portfolio includes named curricula such as Health in Our Hands, Carbon TIME, ML-PBL, SOLID Start, and Energy Transfer Approach, supported by research initiatives including 3DLP, AMASS, PASTA, CESE, and machine-learning assessment tools such as AACR. Programs and materials are provided to schools, districts, and educators at no cost, with funding sourced from federal grants, private foundations, and university sponsorship.

Product overview

CREATE for STEM Institute is a research institute at Michigan State University focused on improving STEM education through collaborative research, curriculum development, and professional learning. Rather than a unified software product, it operates as a portfolio of interconnected educational research programs and curriculum offerings. The core offerings include Health in Our Hands (genetics and public health curriculum), Carbon TIME (matter and energy transformations), ML-PBL (Multiple Literacies in Project-Based Learning), SOLID Start (K-2 science integration), and the Energy Transfer Approach to Teaching High School Physics. Supporting these curricula are research initiatives like 3DLP (learning progressions), AMASS (mathematical sensemaking assessment), PASTA (instructional decision making), CESE (Crafting Engaging Science Environments), and AACR (automated analysis of constructed responses using machine learning). The institute also conducts significant work in AI and education, including the ADAPT AI system for teacher lesson planning assistance and various generative AI research initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Health in Our Hands (HiOH)

Quantifiable outcome

• ML-PBL shows positive effects across varying student reading abilities, gender, school-level, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Digital PromisecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational nonprofit partnering with MSU and school districts in Michigan and Maryland for the Computational Thinking integration project. Digital Promise provides national reach and expertise in scaling innovative educational practices through their vetted case library of CT-integrated lesson videos.
• WestEdcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner for the PASTA (Supporting Instructional Decision Making) project, providing implementation expertise and research collaboration.
• University of GeorgiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaborator on PASTA project, contributing expertise in educational research and implementation.
• University of Illinois-ChicagocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaborator on PASTA project, contributing to the multi-institutional study of instructional decision making.
• Finnish Research Institutions (University of Helsinki, Finnish Meteorological Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational collaboration for CESE project with researchers and teachers in Finland, where students rank at or near the top of PISA assessments. Joint development of learning materials for high school physics and chemistry classes.
• Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (University of Helsinki)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner for ClimComp consortium studying climate change competencies in education systems.
• Middle Tennessee State UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university for AMaSS project, contributing to the NSF-funded collaborative grant on assessing mathematical sensemaking in science.
• University of MinnesotaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university for AMaSS project, collaborating on assessment of mathematical sensemaking.
• University of California-StanislausminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university for AMaSS project, contributing to the assessment research team.
• School Districts in Michigan and MarylandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban and rural school district partners implementing inclusive computational thinking instruction with professional development support.
• Flint/Genesee Partnership OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-organizational partnership including Flint Community Schools, Atherton Community Schools, Genesee ISD, CRIM Foundation, and community health organizations for Health in Our Hands project.
• University of MichigancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-principal investigator institution for ML-PBL project with Dr. Anne-Marie Palinscar as co-PI.
• University of GeorgiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-principal investigator institution for ML-PBL project with Dr. Emily Miller as co-PI.
• IPN (Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partner for Energy Transfer project with Knut Neuman as co-PI.
• University of IowaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Energy Transfer project with Jeffrey Nordine as co-PI.
• Weizmann Institute of SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational research partner with David Fortus as co-PI for Energy Transfer project and CESE collaboration.
• Alabama A&M UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistorically Black university partner for CR-CESE culturally responsive science education project.
• Winston-Salem UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university for CR-CESE project focusing on culturally responsive science education.
• STEPP Center at Northwestern UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitute for Policy Research partner contributing to CR-CESE project evaluation and research.
• Lyman Briggs College (MSU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMSU college partner for interdisciplinary science education, contributing faculty and research collaboration.
• Office of the Provost (MSU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity-level coordination for CREATE for STEM Institute operations and strategic direction.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Emerging players

• Digital Promise: Digital Promise is a national nonprofit focused on educational innovation and equity, currently a CREATE for STEM partner on the Computational Thinking integration project and comparable as a federally connected nonprofit scaling innovative K-12 practices.
• Vanderbilt Peabody School of Education - STEM Education Programs: Vanderbilt Peabody conducts university-based STEM education research and teacher preparation, overlapping with CREATE for STEM's research-practice partnership model and grant-funded K-12 STEM focus.

Broad incumbents

• WestEd: WestEd is one of the nation's regional education laboratories that conducts large-scale STEM and general education research, professional development, and policy work; broader in scope than CREATE for STEM but a partner on the PASTA project and comparable as a federally funded R&D organization.
• WGBH/GBH Education: GBH Education produces PBS-branded K-12 STEM media, curricula, and teacher resources with a national distribution footprint; broader and more media-focused than CREATE for STEM but comparable as a large nonprofit producing free NGSS-aligned STEM content.

Direct peers

• Concord Consortium: Concord Consortium is a nonprofit research and development organization that creates technology-enabled STEM curricula and learning analytics, overlapping directly with CREATE for STEM's AACR machine-learning assessment and computational thinking work.
• Education Development Center (EDC): EDC is a nonprofit that designs STEM curricula, professional development, and conducts research on teaching and learning, sharing CREATE for STEM's focus on NSF/IES-funded K-12 STEM research and curriculum development.
• TERC: TERC is a nonprofit education research organization focused on STEM and mathematics teaching, with comparable work in research-practice partnerships, curriculum development, and teacher professional development for K-12 classrooms.
• AAAS Project 2061: AAAS Project 2061 is a long-running initiative to advance K-12 science literacy through curriculum, assessment, and research, with comparable focus on three-dimensional learning and NGSS-aligned instruction that mirrors CREATE for STEM's research-driven approach.
• Lawrence Hall of Science: Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley develops K-8 STEM curricula, teacher professional development, and research-based science education programs, comparable to CREATE for STEM's K-12 STEM curriculum portfolio and university-hosted model.
• BSCS Science Learning: BSCS Science Learning is a nonprofit that develops K-12 science curricula, teacher professional development, and research on science education, closely mirroring CREATE for STEM's mission of NGSS-aligned curriculum development and teacher capacity-building.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/create4stem
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/create-for-stem-institute
• Instagraminstagram.com/create4stem

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about CREATE for STEM Institute