Classcraft

Classcraft operates as an engagement management system for the K-12 education market, applying gamification principles to the learning experience. The company was founded in 2013 by brothers Shawn and Devin Young, along with their father, Lauren Young. Shawn's background as an 11th-grade physics teacher, gamer, and web developer directly informed the platform's creation. He initially developed the system for his own classroom to make school more meaningful for students, using it for three years before launching the company with his brother Devin, a creative director, and their father, who handled the business aspects.

The company's core offering is a platform that transforms the classroom environment into a collaborative, role-playing game. Students create customizable avatars and are grouped into teams, working together to earn points and unlock powers by demonstrating positive behaviors and academic achievement. This system is designed to foster intrinsic motivation, teamwork, and social-emotional skills like grit and empathy. The platform gamifies the entire classroom experience rather than just the curriculum, integrating with daily activities and behavior management. It provides teachers with tools for creating lesson quests, managing behavior, tracking student progress through analytics, and communicating with parents.

Classcraft's business model includes both a free version with basic features and a premium subscription model for individual teachers, schools, and districts, which unlocks advanced functionalities like detailed analytics, school-wide implementation dashboards, and curriculum content. The company targets K-12 educators, schools, and districts. In May 2023, Classcraft was acquired by the learning technology company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH). Following the acquisition, Shawn Young became the Vice President of Product Management and Strategy for the Core Digital Classroom Experience at HMH, focusing on integrating Classcraft's approach with HMH's resources. The acquisition aims to combine Classcraft's engagement mechanics with HMH's core curriculum solutions for K-8 students in ELA and math.

Keywords: gamification, education technology, K-12, student engagement, classroom management, behavioral analytics, social-emotional learning, edtech, role-playing game, HMH Classcraft