Back to Reference Market Research: Comparable Education Capacity-Building Organizations

Market Research: Comparable Education Capacity-Building Organizations

Purpose: Understand how other organizations in the education innovation space structure paid services and build capacity in people — informing how SAL’s Accelerator Studio might position and scale its own offerings.

Requested by: Josh Weiss (from Feb 12 1:1) Prepared: February 19, 2026

Executive Summary

We researched 9 organizations across the education innovation landscape. They fall into four distinct models:

Model Type Organizations Key Insight
University-embedded R&D center Lastinger (UF), ASU ecosystem Scale through state contracts, licensing, and platform delivery. Research credibility is the moat.
Philanthropic R&D fund AERDF, NewSchools Fund others to build; release open-access outputs. No direct service revenue.
Professional association ISTE+ASCD, Learning Forward Revenue from membership + conferences + certification + district consulting. Standards as influence.
Specialized PD provider PBLWorks, Challenge Success, Digital Promise Fee-for-service workshops/cohorts + trained facilitator networks. Scale through certified practitioners.

Most relevant to SAL’s position: Lastinger (university-embedded), PBLWorks (National Faculty / train-the-trainer), Challenge Success (Stanford peer, cohort model), and ISTE+ASCD (current partnership target).

Detailed Profiles

1. Lastinger Center for Learning (University of Florida)

What they are: University-based applied R&D center (est. 2002), housed within UF’s College of Education. Focused on kindergarten readiness, third-grade reading, and algebra proficiency.

Scale: 50,000+ educators, 1M+ students, 26 states annually.

Services:

  • 160+ self-paced online courses (English and Spanish) via D2L Brightspace
  • Coaching Certification Programs (Early Childhood and K-12) — 10-module, 8-month cohorts
  • Literacy Micro-Credentials — free to Florida instructional personnel (state-funded)
  • Statewide program administration (New Worlds Reading, Florida Tutoring Advantage)
  • District consulting on program design and implementation

Revenue Model:

  • State appropriations (largest): Named in Florida statute as administrator of flagship programs. New Worlds Reading backed by $200M state appropriation + corporate tax credits.
  • Grants: Federal and foundation grants for R&D
  • Philanthropy/Endowment: Founding gift from Lastinger family
  • Program fees: Coaching Certification has participant/district fees (not publicly listed). Lastinger Learning (lastingerlearning.com) appears to be a commercial-facing arm.
  • Technology partnerships: Co-development with edtech companies (D2L, Kibeam Learning)

Capacity Building Approach:

  • Three-Year Sustainability Model (signature):
    • Year 1: Lastinger coaches teach directly + provide 2 hrs/month leadership coaching
    • Year 2: Leadership transitions to local educators; Lastinger in support role
    • Year 3: Lastinger steps back; local coaches sustain independently
  • Train-the-trainer through Coaching Certification
  • Communities of Practice built into all certification programs
  • Online self-paced courses for broad, scalable access

How They Scale:

  • Technology platform (D2L) — 110,000+ learner accounts
  • State statute designation — scale is mandated and funded
  • Statewide intermediary role (hub between state, districts, vendors)
  • National reach through federal grant mechanisms

Key Insight for SAL: Their 3-year sustainability arc has a clear exit ramp built from day one — they design themselves out of the relationship. The research credibility → state contract loop is their moat.

2. AERDF (Advanced Education Research and Development Fund)

What they are: National nonprofit (est. 2021) — the education equivalent of DARPA. A dedicated advanced R&D organization focused on breakthrough innovation, not incremental improvement.

Scale: 4 major programs, each up to $25M over 5 years.

Services (not traditional PD):

  • Funded multi-year R&D programs: EF+Math, Assessment for Good, Reading Reimagined, AugmentED (AI)
  • Open-access resource libraries (EF+Math Library = 700+ contributors’ collective work)
  • Implementation guides and R&D playbooks
  • Professional learning modules — freely available
  • Conference presence (ISTE, ASCD)

Revenue Model: 100% philanthropically funded — no fee-for-service.

  • $200M seed investment from Gates Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Walton Family Foundation
  • Active fundraising for additional philanthropic partnerships
  • They are the funder, not the funded

Capacity Building Approach:

  • Infrastructure-building and field-building, not direct training
  • Educators are co-designers from day one (not product testers)
  • Open-access outputs after program conclusion — anyone can use the tools, frameworks, PD modules
  • R&D playbooks teach how to do inclusive R&D, which other organizations adopt

How They Scale:

  • Products get commercialized and picked up by districts/edtech companies
  • Everything goes public — frameworks, tools, PD modules, research findings
  • Building shared R&D infrastructure for the field
  • Thought leadership (publishing, conference keynotes)

Key Insight for SAL: AERDF operates at the field-building layer, not the direct-service layer. Their AugmentED program (AI + teachers as co-designers) overlaps with SAL’s space. Worth watching — and noting that they partnered with Playlab and TFA for an ISTE session.

3. ASU Ecosystem (EdPlus, Action Lab, UDI, Learning Enterprise, Prep Global)

What they are: Not a single entity — a constellation of interlocking units that collectively make ASU the most visible model of “university as operating system” for education delivery.

Scale: 1.2M+ learners across 157 countries, 550+ K-12 school partners.

Services:

Unit What it Does
EdPlus Online/blended degree design and delivery; EdTech Innovation Fellowship
Action Lab Learning science research on ASU’s own courses/students
UDI (University Design Institute) Consulting for other universities: Discovery Workshops, Design Studios, transformation consulting
Learning Enterprise CareerCatalyst (employer upskilling), Accelerate ASU (dual enrollment), Universal Learner Courses, AI Leadership Lab
Prep Global K-12 school design consulting, digital course licensing, teacher training

Revenue Model (layered):

  • 10% institutional fee on all “Learning Offering” revenue
  • Direct-to-learner fees (courses, certifications, credentials)
  • B2B employer partnerships (Deloitte, Google, McKinsey)
  • K-12 course licensing (Prep Global)
  • Consulting fees (UDI) — not publicly disclosed
  • Grant-funded research (Action Lab, funded by Gates Foundation)
  • ASU+GSV Summit ticket/sponsorship revenue
  • Philanthropy (ASU Enterprise Partners)

Capacity Building Approach:

  • Train-the-teacher (Accelerate ASU): ASU faculty teach directly to high school students
  • LMS + curriculum bundle (Prep Global): Integrated support including teacher training
  • Design workshops + studios (UDI): Intensive cohort experiences for higher ed leaders
  • EdTech Innovation Fellowship: Mid-career fellowship for sector leaders
  • AI certification series: Self-paced + cohort AI fluency programs
  • Partner conference model: First Accelerate ASU partner conference in June 2025

How They Scale:

  • Licensing (curriculum content to K-12 districts)
  • Platform-at-scale (23,000+ students across 550+ schools, 40 countries)
  • Published frameworks and tools (shared freely for thought leadership)
  • Convening (ASU+GSV Summit, 7,000+ attendees annually)
  • IB Partnership (piggybacks on IB’s global school network)

Key Insight for SAL: ASU’s model is “build delivery infrastructure so large that extending it to partners becomes a service.” The 10% institutional fee on all learning offerings is a notable structural decision. Their research-credibility-to-commercial-revenue pipeline is the aspiration model for university-based programs.

4. ISTE+ASCD (Merged entity, Jan 2023)

What they are: The largest innovation-focused education nonprofit — ISTE (edtech-focused, ~23K members) + ASCD (curriculum/PD, ~80K members) merged. Serving 1M+ educators in 100+ countries.

Services:

Category Offerings
Membership Basic ($99/yr), Premium ($299/yr), Institutional tiers
Conferences ISTELive + ASCD Annual (co-located). In-person: $595-$895/person
Certification ISTE Certified Educator — 9-month cohort, portfolio-based, 80+ hours
Online PD ISTE U courses (AI, digital citizenship, etc.) via D2L
Platform ASCD Witsby — district-wide personalized PD platform (subscription)
Consulting District custom PD, ASCD Whole Child consulting, ISTE Standards experts
AI PD AI Deep Dive, Advanced AI Skills, GenerationAI, Leading in Age of AI, Stretch AI tool
Publishing Books, Educational Leadership journal

Revenue Model:

Stream Mechanism
Membership fees $99/$299 individual; institutional tiers
Conference registration ~$595-$895 in-person per person
Exhibitor/sponsor fees Vendors pay exhibit fees
Certification fees Per-cohort enrollment + portfolio/extension fees
ISTE U courses Per-course; cohort volume discounts (25% for 10+)
District consulting Custom quote, multi-year contracts
Witsby subscriptions Annual district license (quote-based)
Publishing Book sales, journal subscriptions
Corporate partnerships D2L, Microsoft, Discovery Education

Capacity Building Approach:

  • ISTE Certified Educator: Competency-based credential, 3-year lifespan. Certified educators often become coaches/PD leaders within their districts.
  • Cohort replication: Public cohorts run monthly; private cohorts for districts (5+ people)
  • School Partners program: Packages of ISTE U + certification + consulting
  • EPP Alliance: 125+ educator prep programs embedding ISTE Standards, reaching 75K+ teacher candidates/year
  • Graduate credit pathways (Dominican University, University of San Diego)

How They Scale:

  • Certification-through-cohorts creates credentialed multipliers
  • EPP Alliance embeds standards in teacher prep at scale
  • Witsby platform for district-wide asynchronous PD
  • D2L partnership powers AI course delivery

Key Insight for SAL: ISTE’s AI PD is growing fast but is still course-based — there’s space for hands-on, experiential formats (like Flash Lab). The EPP Alliance model (seeding standards into teacher prep programs) is a powerful force multiplier worth studying. District partnerships are the monetization layer — if Flash Lab TTT scales through ISTE, district licensing is likely the path.

5. PBLWorks (Buck Institute for Education)

What they are: The preeminent organization for Gold Standard Project Based Learning. Workshops, district partnerships, and graduate courses built on their PBL framework.

Services:

  • PBL 101 (3-day intro, $599 online / $1,400 at PBL World conference)
  • PBL 201 (advanced 3-day workshop)
  • PBL Coaching Workshop (for instructional coaches)
  • PBL Leadership Workshop (for administrators)
  • On-site district workshops (custom-priced)
  • School & District Partnerships (multi-year, cohort-based, with National Faculty)
  • Graduate courses (8-week, 1 credit via SNHU accreditation)
  • Free resources on MyPBLWorks

Revenue Model:

  • Workshop registration: $200-$1,400/person
  • District partnership contracts: Custom-priced, multi-year
  • Graduate course fees (via SNHU)
  • Grant funding (nonprofit)

Capacity Building Approach:

  • National Faculty model (signature): A vetted, trained cadre of expert facilitators — practicing educators/coaches authorized to deliver PBLWorks workshops. They go through “ongoing, rigorous training” and many continue working in schools.
  • District partnership with dedicated Director of District & School Leadership + hand-selected National Faculty
  • 60+ district partnerships currently active

Key Insight for SAL: The National Faculty model is essentially what a scaled Build-a-Bot facilitator program would look like. Key questions: How do you vet facilitators? How do you maintain fidelity? How do you keep the community active? The SNHU graduate credit partnership is a smart credentialing move.

6. Challenge Success (Stanford GSE)

What they are: Research-backed school reform program focused on student well-being, engagement, and belonging. Works through multi-year partnership cohorts.

Services:

  • School Partnership (primary): 12-18 month cohort with coaching, surveys, data dashboards, PD workshops, 1:1 leader coaching
  • District partnerships (multi-school cohorts)
  • Annual Conference at Stanford
  • Free resources (S.P.A.C.E. framework toolkits)
  • Elementary partnership (launched April 2025 — new expansion)

Revenue Model:

  • Partnership fees (sliding scale with need-based financial assistance)
  • Grant funding
  • Stanford affiliation
  • Conference registration
  • ~45 secondary schools/year (expanding 20% over 3 years)

Capacity Building:

  • Intentionally slow-cohort model — constrained to ~45 schools/year by design
  • Coaching done by Challenge Success staff (“School Design Partners”)
  • Free resource dissemination and research publication for broader reach
  • Elementary expansion as growth vector

Key Insight for SAL: A Stanford peer. Their deliberate depth-over-breadth choice is instructive — worth understanding if SAL faces the same tradeoff. Their “research + coaching + community” bundle mirrors what Build-a-Bot could become.

7. Digital Promise

What they are: Global nonprofit focused on closing equity gaps through technology. Known for their Educator Micro-credentials platform.

Services:

  • Micro-credential platform (700+ credentials across teaching, leadership, workforce)
  • Professional services: Implementation consulting for districts/states
  • League of Innovative Schools (district member network)
  • Research and policy work

Revenue Model:

  • Per-submission assessment fees (individual or district bulk purchase)
  • Grant funding (Google, NSF)
  • Contract professional services
  • Institutional memberships

Capacity Building:

  • Platform model: Asynchronous, self-paced, evidence-based competency recognition
  • Districts buy in bulk; states adopting for PD credit
  • Human-reviewed submissions (double-blind, not AI)
  • Organizations partner to create branded credential stacks on the platform

Key Insight for SAL: A “Certified Bot Builder” micro-credential pathway could layer on top of workshops to create verifiable, stackable recognition without requiring you to be in the room every time.

8. Learning Forward

What they are: The professional association for professional learning. Sets the field’s 11 Standards for Professional Learning.

Services:

  • Consulting: Custom district/state engagements
  • Membership: Individual through district tiers (includes journal, books, survey tools)
  • Annual conference
  • Publications and standards resources
  • State affiliate network

Revenue Model: Membership dues + consulting contracts + conference + publications

Capacity Building: Standards-based influence model — by publishing and disseminating standards, they shape PD design at scale without direct delivery. Consulting is the direct revenue engine, standards are the influence engine.

Key Insight for SAL: If SAL wanted to publish a framework for AI-ready educator capacity (analogous to Learning Forward’s standards), that’s a powerful influence play that scales without headcount.

9. NewSchools Venture Fund

What they are: Philanthropic intermediary — raises charitable donations and re-grants to early-stage education innovators.

Services:

  • One-year unrestricted grants ($150K-$250K)
  • 1:1 coaching and access to experts
  • Communities of practice (peer cohorts)
  • Management assistance (org strengthening)

Revenue Model: Purely philanthropic ($44M+ in contributions in 2020, $35M Mackenzie Scott grant in 2022). No fees charged.

Key Insight for SAL: Low direct relevance for PD model comparison, but useful as a field-building reference point.

Cross-Cutting Comparison

Revenue Models at a Glance

Organization Primary Revenue Secondary Revenue Earned vs. Philanthropic
Lastinger (UF) State contracts Grants, program fees, licensing Mostly earned (state)
AERDF Foundation grants — 100% philanthropic
ASU ecosystem Tuition/fees, licensing, employer B2B Grants, convening, consulting Mostly earned
ISTE+ASCD Membership, conference, certification Consulting, Witsby platform, publishing Mostly earned
PBLWorks Workshop fees, district contracts Graduate courses, grants Mostly earned
Challenge Success Partnership fees Grants, conference Mixed
Digital Promise Assessment fees, consulting Grants, memberships Mixed
Learning Forward Consulting, membership Conference, publications Mostly earned
NewSchools Donations — 100% philanthropic

Capacity Building Mechanisms

Mechanism Who Uses It How It Works
Train-the-trainer / Certified Facilitator PBLWorks (National Faculty), Lastinger (Coaching Cert) Vet and train practitioners who then deliver independently. Requires quality control system.
Certification-as-multiplier ISTE (Certified Educator), Digital Promise (Micro-credentials) Credential earners become internal advocates/coaches. The credential itself creates demand.
Multi-year cohort partnership Challenge Success, PBLWorks, Lastinger Deep, scaffolded engagement with designed exit ramp. High fidelity, low volume.
Platform/self-paced Lastinger (D2L), ISTE (ISTE U), Digital Promise, ASU (ULCs) Asynchronous, scalable, low marginal cost. Reaches most people but least depth.
Standards/framework influence Learning Forward, ISTE (ISTE Standards) Publish standards others adopt. Scales influence without direct delivery.
Licensing ASU Prep Global, Lastinger (lastingerlearning.com) License content + LMS + support package to districts. Revenue without facilitation.
Open-access output AERDF, PBLWorks (MyPBLWorks), Challenge Success Release tools/resources freely. Scales reach but doesn’t generate revenue.

Implications for SAL’s Accelerator Studio

What SAL Already Has That Maps to These Models

SAL Asset Comparable Model
Flash Lab / Build-a-Bot workshops PBLWorks workshops (experiential, replicable format)
Independent facilitators running sessions (Courtney, Anna-Lena, Cathy) PBLWorks National Faculty (emerging, informal)
Seed grant lifecycle framework Lastinger’s structured curriculum pathway
ISTE train-the-trainer partnership ISTE’s School Partners + certification pipeline
Stanford research credibility Lastinger’s academic standing → state contracts
Flash Lab as top-of-funnel for GSE programs ASU’s “university as platform” model (at a much smaller scale)

Strategic Options to Explore

1. Formalize a Facilitator Certification (PBLWorks model)

  • Create a “Certified Flash Lab Facilitator” program
  • Vet, train, and maintain quality in external facilitators
  • Revenue: Certification fee + annual renewal
  • Scale: Facilitators deliver without you in the room

2. Build a Micro-Credential Stack (Digital Promise model)

  • Partner with Digital Promise (or similar) to create evidence-based credentials
  • “AI Flash Lab Facilitator” + “Build-a-Bot Specialist” as stackable credentials
  • Revenue: Per-submission assessment fee (individual or district bulk)
  • Scale: Asynchronous, verifiable, no live facilitation required

3. District Licensing Package (ASU Prep Global / ISTE model)

  • Bundle: Workshop materials + facilitator guide + LMS content + support
  • Districts pay annual license, deliver internally
  • Revenue: Per-district annual fee
  • Scale: Content travels, SAL provides quality assurance

4. Structured Curriculum Pathway (Lastinger model)

  • The seed grant lifecycle framework (SPARK → BUILD → SHARPEN → SCALE) is already this
  • Formalize it with named offerings at each phase
  • Revenue: Per-workshop fees or bundled pathway pricing
  • Scale: Predictable, sequenced, can bring in guest facilitators per phase

5. Standards/Framework Influence (Learning Forward model)

  • Publish an “AI-Ready Educator Capacity Framework”
  • Position SAL as the standard-setter, not just the workshop provider
  • Revenue: Indirect (consulting, keynotes, partnerships driven by thought leadership)
  • Scale: Others adopt your framework; you become the reference implementation

Sources

Lastinger Center

AERDF

ASU

ISTE+ASCD

PBLWorks

Challenge Success

Digital Promise

Learning Forward

NewSchools

Prepared: February 19, 2026

Source: reference/market-research-comparable-orgs.md