Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC)

What Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC) does

CTAC is a Boston-based nonprofit founded in 1977 that provides capacity building assistance, research and evaluation, and public policy services to the U.S. education sector. Its core offerings are organized into six service areas: Education Services (including the Center for Recruitment, Development, and Retention, Charter Center, School and District Improvement featuring the proprietary Standard Bearer Schools process, STEM pathways, Talent Development, and Title I support), Community Development, the Innovations Lab, Technical Assistance, Research and Evaluation, and Public Policy (including the Evidence to Policy initiative). CTAC serves state education departments, K-12 school districts, federal education agencies, and community-based organizations through direct technical assistance, evaluation contracts, and grant-funded programs, including the federal Comprehensive Center network and programs such as the Teacher Incentive Fund and Education Innovation and Research. The organization is not a technology company; it operates an expertise-based delivery model anchored by senior practitioners, proprietary frameworks (e.g., Standard Bearer Schools, Student Learning Objectives), and longitudinal evaluation evidence, with a workforce of approximately 33 employees and field offices across nine U.S. states. CTAC assists more than 90 organizations annually across 44 states and the District of Columbia, with named engagements including Missouri ($50M teacher recruitment and retention evaluation), New York (statewide SLO implementation across 714 districts), Maryland (Teacher and Principal Evaluation system), and Texas (Charter School Program evaluation). In October 2025, founder Bill Slotnik transitioned to CEO Emeritus and 13-year veteran Jeff Edmison became CEO; CTAC has since launched the AI Compass product (2026) and the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Playbook (2025), and added an Artificial Intelligence advisory service line under the Innovations Lab. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the organization is funded through federal and foundation grants and contracted engagements rather than commercial pricing.

Name

Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC)

Legal name

Community Training and Assistance Center, Inc.

Website

https://ctacusa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CTAC is a Boston-based nonprofit founded in 1977 that provides capacity building, research and evaluation, and public policy services to U.S. state education departments, K-12 school districts, federal education agencies, and community-based organizations across 44 states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Consulting and Technical Assistance

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Regional Education Service Agencies (ESAs/BOCES/Intermediate Units) (EDADABAC)

Keywords

• Education consulting services
• Technical assistance programs
• School improvement services
• Educator evaluation systems
• Community development consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government and Foundation Grants: CTAC receives federal grants including Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grants, and contracts with state education departments and comprehensive centers.
2. Contracted Technical Assistance: CTAC provides fee-for-service technical assistance, evaluation, and consulting services to state education departments, districts, and community organizations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CTAC is a nonprofit organization that provides capacity building assistance, conducts research and evaluation, and informs public policy in service of PreK-12 education and community development. Its core work centers on helping states, school districts, and community organizations improve educator evaluation systems, recruit and retain teachers and leaders, turn around underperforming schools, design performance-based compensation, and translate evidence into policy. Services are delivered through contracted technical assistance, evaluation studies, and federal and state grant-funded programs.

Product overview

CTAC provides a comprehensive portfolio of education and community development services organized into six core service areas: Education Services (including recruitment/retention, charter schools, school improvement, STEM, talent development, and Title I support), Community Development, Innovations Lab, Technical Assistance, Research and Evaluation, and Public Policy. The organization operates through specialized sub-services such as the Standard Bearer Schools process for school turnaround, Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) for teacher evaluation, and the Missouri Leadership Development System evaluation. CTAC annually assists more than 90 organizations across 44 states and the District of Columbia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Standard Bearer Schools: A comprehensive school improvement framework that helps schools identify and address root causes of persistent underperformance.
• Charter Center
• Center for Recruitment, Development, and Retention
• PreK-12 STEM
• Innovations Lab

Products and services

• Education Services PreK-12 education consulting and capacity building for states, districts, charter schools, and community organizations, spanning educator evaluation, talent development, school turnaround, STEM pathways, charter school assistance, and Title I support.
• Community Development Community organizing, capacity building, organizational assessments, and policy advocacy services for community-based organizations, including neighborhood revitalization and HIV/AIDS service coordination work.
• Innovations Lab Applied research and innovation service that anticipates future challenges and develops creative solutions for the education and community sectors, including emerging-technology and AI advisory.
• Technical Assistance Capacity building assistance delivered to states, school districts, community groups, and public and private sector funders.
• Research and Evaluation Independent formative and summative evaluation studies and applied research that inform practice and guide policy decision-making at local, state, and national levels.
• Public Policy Policy advisory service that formulates and informs education and community policy improvements in partnership with educators and policymakers, including the Evidence to Policy initiative that connects research findings to policy change.
• Artificial Intelligence Advisory AI guidance and advisory services helping education and community organizations leverage AI technologies for meaningful change and improved outcomes, including the AI Compass guide for K-12 AI adoption.
• AI Compass: A Thoughtful Path Forward for K-12 Education Published K-12 AI adoption guide that provides school districts with a roadmap for integrating AI to support students, educators, and communities, whether at the start of their AI journey or refining existing practice.
• Teacher Recruitment and Retention Playbook State-focused playbook offering strategies for addressing teacher shortages through state-led approaches to recruitment and retention, drawing on CTAC's Missouri evaluation work.

Quantifiable outcome

• Missouri invested over $50 million in teacher recruitment and retention strategies with measurable improvements in educator supply.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and notable.

• Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecognizing CTAC's accomplishments in state-to-district interventions, CCSSO asked CTAC to train and provide counsel to more than 45 state chiefs and leadership teams on intervening in and exiting from state-to-district interventions.
• Region 12 Comprehensive CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTAC, as part of the Region 12 Comprehensive Center, conducts independent formative evaluations of the Missouri Leadership Development System (MLDS).
• Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTAC, in association with the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center, conducted four evaluations and provided technical assistance to the Maryland State Department of Education for their Teacher and Principal Evaluation system.
• U.S. Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTAC assisted the U.S. Department of Education to adopt Student Learning Objectives as a model for new teacher and principal evaluation systems, influencing more than 40 states.
• Denver Classroom Teachers AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association to develop, implement, and evaluate the groundbreaking ProComp performance-based compensation system.
• McREL InternationalnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTAC and McREL International jointly developed a white paper urging schools and districts to think systemically about development of teacher talent.
• Missouri State Department of EducationcoreOthersCTAC conducted a four-phase evaluation of Missouri's $50 million teacher recruitment and retention investment and evaluates the Missouri Leadership Development System.
• Maryland State Department of EducationcoreOthersCTAC provided technical assistance and conducted four evaluations of Maryland's statewide Teacher and Principal Evaluation system implementation.
• New York State Education DepartmentcoreOthersCTAC provided large-scale support to implement Student Learning Objectives across all 714 school districts in New York State, training over 220,000 teachers and 5,000 principals.
• Texas Education AgencycoreOthersTexas Education Agency selected CTAC to conduct an external evaluation of the Texas Charter School Program High-Quality Replication Grant.
• Tracy Unified School DistrictnotableOthersCTAC and Tracy Unified School District received an Education Innovation and Research grant from U.S. Department of Education for Leadership of STEM: The PreK-12 Pathway program.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WestEd: WestEd is a nonprofit education research, development, and service agency that operates one of the Regional Educational Laboratories and a Comprehensive Center. Like CTAC, it delivers technical assistance, evaluation, and policy support to states, districts, and federal agencies across PreK-12 education.
• McREL International: McREL is a nonprofit education research and development organization providing professional development, evaluation, and consulting to schools and districts. CTAC already partners with McREL on teacher-talent white papers, and both serve overlapping PreK-12 audiences with similar TA, evaluation, and content offerings.

Broad incumbents

• MDRC: MDRC is a nonprofit social-policy research organization with an active education practice conducting rigorous evaluations of schooling, college, and workforce programs. It competes with CTAC on state and federal education evaluations and impact studies.
• Westat: Westat is a large employee-owned research firm that leads several Comprehensive Centers and conducts federal education evaluations. It directly competes with CTAC on Comprehensive Center contracts and federal TA and evaluation procurements.
• American Institutes for Research (AIR): AIR is a large nonprofit behavioral and social-science research organization with a substantial education practice covering evaluation, TA, and policy work for federal and state agencies. It competes directly with CTAC for federal evaluation and TA contracts at significantly greater scale.
• RAND Corporation: RAND operates a major education policy research division producing studies, evaluations, and policy analyses for federal and state agencies. It competes with CTAC on federally commissioned research and evaluation engagements.
• Mathematica: Mathematica is a large research and evaluation firm with deep education practice supporting federal, state, and philanthropic clients with rigorous impact studies and program evaluations. It overlaps CTAC on state and federal education evaluation work.

Emerging players

• Jobs for the Future (JFF): JFF is a national nonprofit driving education and workforce transformation with programs spanning K-12 pathways, postsecondary, and workforce. It overlaps CTAC on PreK-12 STEM pathways, talent development, and state-level education-to-workforce policy work.
• Education Trust: Education Trust is a nonprofit advocacy and policy organization focused on equity and achievement gaps in PreK-12 and higher education. It overlaps CTAC on evidence-to-policy work and engagement with state education agencies on accountability and improvement.

Others

• Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO): CCSSO is the membership organization for state education chiefs that has formally partnered with CTAC to train 45+ state chiefs and leadership teams on district interventions. While a peer-ecosystem partner rather than competitor, it is comparable in serving state education leaders on policy and capacity-building matters.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CTAC_USA
• Facebookfacebook.com/CommunityTrainingandAssistanceCenter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-training-and-assistance-center-ctac-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC)