TeachScape

Founded in 1999, Teachscape established itself as a professional development provider for educators in the K-12 market. The company was the brainchild of co-founders Mark Atkinson, an Emmy Award-winning news producer, and Dr. Roy Pea, a respected figure in educational research from Stanford. Atkinson's background in media production and Pea's in learning sciences converged to create a platform aimed at bridging educational research with classroom practice. The company's core business involved providing online professional development services to K-12 school districts.

Teachscape's offerings included a suite of teacher observation and evaluation tools, video case studies, and a library of over 170 online courses and 1,500 videos designed for educator training. A significant milestone was a 2009 partnership with Charlotte Danielson, leveraging her widely adopted "Framework for Teaching" rubric within its evaluation tools. This collaboration was central to a $15 million project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, known as the Measures of Effective Teaching project. Revenue was generated by selling these professional development tools, content, and services to an estimated 1,500 district clients. The company also offered graduate credit courses through partnerships with universities.

Over its 17-year journey, the San Francisco-based company raised more than $43 million in venture funding from investors including ABS Capital, Credit Suisse, and Industry Ventures. Despite a growing client base and a rich content library, the company faced challenges in sustaining its pace as an independent entity. Andrew Morrison was brought in as CEO in March 2014 to navigate the company toward a potential acquisition. Ultimately, in January 2016, Teachscape's assets and customer base were acquired by Frontline Technologies (now Frontline Education) and integrated into Frontline's professional growth product suite.

Keywords: Teachscape, teacher professional development, K-12 education, EdTech, educator evaluation, video-based learning, observation training, Charlotte Danielson, Framework for Teaching, Measures of Effective Teaching, Mark Atkinson, Roy Pea, Frontline Education, online courses for teachers, teacher evaluation tools, classroom observation, professional growth for educators, K-12 professional learning, education technology