For more than 50 years, Curriculum Associates has focused on a mission to make classrooms better places for teachers and students. Founded by passionate educators, the company has grown from a small print publisher to a leading education technology provider, serving more than 10 million K-12 students in all 50 U.S. states with print resources and online i-Ready math and reading assessment and instruction.

Values guide the company, and the idea of ‘business as an agent for change’ was in use from its origins in a suburban Boston garage. Several innovative employee-focused initiatives have supported tremendous growth, while increasing satisfaction and retention for Curriculum Associates team members, not only at the North Billerica, MA headquarters but all over the country:

●      Living Wage: Curriculum Associates believes companies must recognize the fundamental importance of paying employees fairly and several years ago was among the first to voluntarily raise its minimum wage to $15/hour.
●      Family First: The company cares about its employees’ families and provides Employee Assistance Program (EAP) benefits to ensure they have access to support services.
●      Work Life Matters: Balancing work and home is not always easy, and employees don’t have to face life’s challenges alone. The program offers flexible working hours, daycare and elder care, legal and financial help, professional development and tuition reimbursement, adult re-entry programs, onsite gym and fitness classes, commuter shuttles and mental wellness programs.
●      Continuing Education: Curriculum Associates encourages its people to attend regular trainings and conferences, plus a full catalog of online courses through LinkedIn Learning. The company also encourages its teams to work with open source projects, fostering learning and community involvement, and its Management Development rotational program helps position early career professionals for success whether in a leadership role at the company, another organization or graduate school.

Conscious capitalism is at the core of Curriculum Associates’ business decisions. CA executives believe that each individual interaction comes with the opportunity to be a powerful force for good in the world. The company demonstrates to the K-12 industry and their communities of educators, parents and students that an ethical, long-term focused company is one that will drive the best results. 

The spirit of community service also means giving back in each area the company supports. Initiatives include: 

●      Charitable Giving and Ownership: In 2017, CA made one of that year’s top 10 largest U.S. philanthropic gifts when it donated company shares estimated at $200 million to the Iowa State University Foundation and The Boston Foundation. The company is now majority-owned by charitable organizations, thanks to the largest gifts received by those two stakeholders in their combined 187-year histories.

●      Year Up: Curriculum Associates has partnered to help at-risk youth gain a foothold in the corporate workforce by providing 6-month Year Up internships.

●      Learning Support During 2020 Pandemic: To ensure learning continued despite school closures, the company created a new site to share hundreds of free K-8 learning materials with educators and families. Within the first few weeks, these learning resources were downloaded over 1 million times. Additionally, free access to i-Ready instruction was made available to 2 million new students within the first weeks of the national crisis.