Center for Educational Leadership

What Center for Educational Leadership does

The Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) is a non-profit educational center founded in 2001 and operating within the University of Washington College of Education in Seattle, WA. CEL partners with K-12 school systems across the United States to deliver contextualized, research-based professional learning for educational leaders, organized around three persona segments: central office leaders (superintendents, assistant superintendents, and directors), school leaders (principals and assistant principals), and teacher leaders (instructional coaches and department heads). The organization's stated purpose is to support leaders in creating equitable, student-centered schools where all students thrive.

CEL's core product portfolio consists of four trademarked research-based frameworks and assessment tools—the 4 Dimensions of School Leadership™ framework, the 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning™ framework, the 5D+™ Rubric for Instructional Growth and Teacher Evaluation, and the MILE Assessment—together with a suite of practical learning tools (Principal Support Framework, Visioning Pyramid Explainer, Inquiry Cycle Tool, Student Experience Story Guide, Teacher Learning Guiding Principles, and a Theory of Action guide) and published books (Leading for Instructional Improvement; Leading for Professional Learning). The frameworks function both as standalone licensed intellectual property and as the scaffolding for multi-year professional learning engagements delivered directly to school districts. The MILE Assessment is provided to districts under separate license agreements.

CEL generates revenue through two primary streams: professional learning services delivered via multi-year, custom-priced system-wide partnerships (the dominant revenue stream), and licensing and publication sales of frameworks, rubrics, and books through an online storefront at uwcel.learningcart.com. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is established through direct partnership quotes. The center is owned and governed by the University of Washington rather than operating on venture or private equity capital, and is supplemented by strategic philanthropic grants such as the College Spark Washington grant for the Aspiring Leaders Project and prior work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on the Leading for Effective Teaching (LET) project. The organization maintains a 25,000+ subscriber mailing list community, distributes content through The Throughline blog, webinars, and social channels, and has reported 150+ professional learning partnerships over the past five years.

Name

Center for Educational Leadership

Legal name

University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership

Website

https://k-12leadership.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Center for Educational Leadership is a non-profit center within the University of Washington College of Education that partners with K-12 school systems to deliver research-based professional learning, proprietary frameworks, and assessment tools for central office, school, and teacher leaders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Leadership Professional Development

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Curriculum, Lesson Planning & Instructional Content Platforms (EDAJAMAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Educational Leadership & Administration Programs (EDAHAFAD)

Keywords

• Educational leadership development
• Professional learning services
• Instructional frameworks
• Teacher evaluation tools
• School improvement consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Learning Services: Contextualized, research-based professional learning and adult learning services provided to school systems through multi-year partnerships. Services are customized for central office leaders, school leaders, and teacher leaders.
2. Licensing and Publications: Revenue from frameworks, rubrics, and assessment tools including MILE Assessment licensed to school districts under separate license agreements. Also includes revenue from books and downloadable resources.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Center for Educational Leadership provides contextualized, research-based professional learning and adult learning services to K-12 school systems through multi-year partnerships, customized for central office leaders, school leaders, and teacher leaders. It also develops and licenses proprietary instructional leadership frameworks, rubrics, and assessment tools (such as the 4D, 5D, 5D+, Principal Support, and MILE Assessment), and sells supporting books and downloadable resources through its online store.

Product overview

The Center for Educational Leadership offers a portfolio of research-based frameworks, assessment tools, and professional learning resources for K-12 educational leaders. The core product portfolio includes the 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning™ framework and the 4 Dimensions of School Leadership™ framework for school and district leaders, complemented by the Principal Support Framework for central office leaders and the Teacher Learning Guiding Principles for teacher development. Supporting these frameworks are practical tools including the MILE Assessment, Visioning Pyramid Explainer, 5D+ Rubric, Inquiry Cycle Tool, Student Experience Story Guide, and Creating a Theory of Action guide. The company also publishes books including Leading for Instructional Improvement and Leading for Professional Learning. The offerings are designed for central office leaders, school leaders, and teacher leaders to foster cultures of continuous learning and create equitable school environments where all students thrive.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Professional Learning Services for K-12 Education Leaders Customized, multi-year professional learning engagements delivered directly to K-12 school districts and charter management organizations for central office leaders, school leaders, and teacher leaders.
• 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning™ Framework Comprehensive reflection of the core elements of effective teaching providing a shared language for instruction, used by educational leaders across the country.
• 4 Dimensions of School Leadership™ Framework Framework for equity-driven school leaders describing the key actions and dispositions needed to ensure each student has a school experience that prepares them for a limitless future.
• Principal Support Framework Tool supporting central office leaders in centering the student experience and addressing education inequity with a student-centered vision for growing equity leadership.
• MILE Assessment Web-based professional development and training assessment tool licensed to school districts under separate license agreements with designated district contacts.
• 5D+™ Rubric for Instructional Growth and Teacher Evaluation Growth-oriented rubric for improving instruction and supporting teacher evaluation, built on the 5D framework.
• Leading for Instructional Improvement (Book) Published book for teacher, school, and district leaders on cultivating teacher expertise to deliver high-quality instruction, available for purchase through the online store.
• Leading for Professional Learning (Book) Field-tested book co-authored by Anneke Markholt and Joanna Michelson helping school leaders support teachers' professional development, with case studies and practical tools.

Quantifiable outcome

• 150+ professional learning partnerships over five years
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Educational Service Districts (ESDs)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership network for the Aspiring Leaders Project to deliver leadership development programs to rural communities across Washington state.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WestEd: Non-profit education research and PD agency serving schools and districts nationally with research-based services. Comparable in research-to-practice orientation, multi-state reach, and district partnership model.
• Insight Education Group: Education consulting organization providing professional learning, coaching, and evaluation services to K-12 systems. Comparable in instructional leadership focus, district partnerships, and PD service model.
• McREL International: Non-profit education research and development organization providing professional learning, coaching, and evaluation services to school systems. Closely comparable to CEL in research-based PD delivery to school districts.
• Public Impact: Consulting firm working with school systems on education workforce, leadership, and innovation initiatives. Comparable as a mission-driven partner to school systems on leadership transformation.
• National Institute for School Leadership (NISL): Non-profit delivering executive leadership programs for principals and school leadership teams. Highly comparable as a PD provider specifically focused on the K-12 school leader segment CEL serves.
• Learning Forward: National professional learning association focused on building the capacity of educators and school leaders through standards-based PD. Most directly comparable to CEL as a non-profit specializing in K-12 leader professional learning.
• Education Development Center (EDC): Global non-profit addressing education, health, and economic opportunity through research and programs. Comparable in research-grounded PD delivery, framework/tool development, and large-scale district partnerships.
• ASCD: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development serving educators with PD, publications, and frameworks for instructional leadership. Comparable to CEL in mission, membership-driven K-12 leader audience, and curated content offerings.
• New Leaders: Non-profit dedicated to developing school leaders and leadership teams through principal preparation and support programs. Closely comparable to CEL's focus on building principal and central office leadership capacity.

Broad incumbents

• TNTP: Non-profit focused on educator effectiveness, teacher recruitment, and school system transformation at scale. Comparable as a broader mission-driven K-12 organization that overlaps with CEL in instructional leadership and system-level PD.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/uwcel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-center-for-educational-leadership

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Center for Educational Leadership