Five years on from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts are inundated with digital applications and tools — thousands of them. The average number of edtech products used per district soared from around 800 in 2018-19 to over 2,700 in 2023-24. While this proliferation brings opportunities for instructional innovation, it also creates serious procurement challenges especially for smaller or rural districts with limited capacity to evaluate tools effectively.
Recognizing this challenge, the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) and six partner organizations — including 1EdTech, CAST, CoSN, Digital Promise, InnovateEDU and ISTE+ASCD — formed the EdTech Quality Collaborative to help states and districts make smarter procurement decisions by leveraging the five EdTech Quality Indicators. The Indicators offer a practical framework designed to ease the burden on schools by providing shared language for assessing the quality of digital applications and tools. These Indicators are:
- Digital tools that are compliant with federal and state privacy laws and demonstrate alignment with K-12 cybersecurity best practices.
- Evidence-Based. Digital tools that are evaluated according to the Every Student Succeeds Act’s evidence tiers to verify impact on learning outcomes in specific contexts and populations.
- Digital tools that are designed to meet the needs of all learners, including students with disabilities.
- Digital tools that are seamlessly integrated into teaching and learning without increasing educator burden.
- Digital tools that are aligned with open standards to support secure, efficient data exchange across systems.
Empowering Local Teams
Through the Collaborative, SETDA committed to help states provide actionable guidance for selecting high-quality edtech products to districts. Due to the local nature of purchasing decisions, SETDA’s new guide provides customizable prompts for local teams working with vendors rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. These include technical, legal and contextual questions aligned to each Indicator .
Using the Five EdTech Quality Indicators
The Indicators have already helped states across their diverse local contexts. For example, in Oregon, lower enrollment and budget constraints have prevented some districts from recruiting and retaining a dedicated edtech director who oversees digital tool implementation. Therefore, resources like SETDA’s guide and the state’s Digital Instructional Materials Toolkit are ensuring that all members of small district teams are aware of information they need to engage vendors and align technological infrastructure with instructional goals.
In California, the Indicators are helping accelerate the work of statewide education entities that aim to break down siloed decision-making processes within districts. For example, organizations like CUE are helping districts assess the impact of digital tools after they’re adopted to ensure accountable purchasing decisions while uplifting those with innovative approaches to evaluation and contract renewals.
Moving From Guidance to Action
Additional examples of leadership from Connecticut, Illinois and Tennessee cited in SETDA’s guide demonstrate how leadership at the state level can lower barriers for local leaders. States could replicate and build on these successes by:
- Creating statewide edtech libraries of vetted tools.
- Incorporating indicator-based language in procurement templates.
- Offering professional learning to build district procurement capacity.
- Encouraging vendor compliance with recognized third-party validators and certifications.
With the increasing need for and challenges in procuring EdTech tools, states and district leaders need reliable, consistent ways to evaluate tools being used in schools. Though implementation varies based on local contexts and needs, the Indicators can provide a strong baseline for these leaders.
