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How Are Edtech Companies Thinking About Data and Research?

Forces of the rebellion were actively at work at SIIA’s Annual Conference last week in San Francisco. Snippets of conversation revealed a common theme of harnessing and leveraging data in order to better understand and serve the needs of schools and districts.

This theme was explored in depth during one panel session, “Efficacy and Research: Why It Matters So Much in the Education Market”, where edtech executives discussed the phases and roles of research as it relates to product improvement and marketing. Moderated by Pearson’s Gary Mainor, session panelists included Andrew Coulson of the MIND Research Institute, Kelli Hill of Kahn Academy, and Shawn Mahoney of McGraw Hill Education.

Coulson, who was one of the contributing reviewers of our Research Guidelines, stated that all signs are pointing to an “exponential increase” of school district customers asking for usage data. He advised fellow edtech entrepreneurs to start paying attention to fine-grained usage data, as it is becoming necessary to provide this for customers. Panelist Kelli Hill agreed with the importance of making data visible, adding that Kahn Academy proactively provides users with monthly usage reports.

In addition to providing helpful advice for edtech sales and marketing teams, the session also addressed a pervasive misconception that that all it takes is “one good study” to validate and prove the effectiveness of a program. A company could commission one rigorous randomized trial reporting positive results and obtaining endorsement from the What Works Clearinghouse, but that study might be outdated, and more importantly, not relevant to what schools and districts are looking for. Panelist Shawn Mahoney, Chief Academic Officer of McGraw-Hill Education, affirmed that school districts are interested in “super contextualized research” and look for recent and multiple studies when evaluating a product. Q&A discussions with the panelists revealed that school decision makers are quick to claim “what works for someone else might not work for us”, supporting the notion that the conduct of multiple research studies, reporting effects for various subgroups and populations of students, is much more useful and reflective of district needs.

SIIA’s gathering proved to be a fruitful event, allowing us to reconnect with old colleagues and meet new ones, and leaving us with a number of useful insights and optimistic possibilities for new directions in research.

ETIN Releases Guidelines for Research on Educational Technologies in K-12 Schools

The press release (below) was originally published on the SIIA website. It has since inspired stories in the Huffington Post, edscoop, and EdWeek’s Market Brief

ETIN Releases Guidelines for Research on Educational Technologies in K-12 Schools

Changes in education technology and policy spur updated approach to industry research

Washington, DC (July 25, 2017) – The Education Technology Industry Network, a division of The Software & Information Industry Association, released an important new report today: “Guidelines for Conducting and Reporting EdTech Impact Research in U.S. K-12 Schools.” Authored by Dr. Denis Newman and the research team at Empirical Education Inc., the Guidelines provide 16 best practice standards of research for publishers and developers of educational technologies.

The Guidelines are a response to the changing research methods and policies driven by the accelerating pace of development and passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which has challenged the static notion of evidence defined in NCLB. Recognizing the need for consensus among edtech providers, customers in the K-12 school market, and policy makers at all levels, SIIA is making these Guidelines freely available.

“SIIA members recognize that changes in technology and policy have made evidence of impact an increasingly critical differentiator in the marketplace,” said Bridget Foster, senior VP and managing director of ETIN. “The Guidelines show how research can be conducted and reported within a short timeframe and still contribute to continuous product improvement.”

“The Guidelines for research on edtech products is consistent with our approach to efficacy: that evidence of impact can lead to product improvement,” said Amar Kumar, senior vice president of Efficacy & Research at Pearson. “We appreciate ETIN’s leadership and Empirical Education’s efforts in putting together this clear presentation of how to use rigorous and relevant research to drive growth in the market.”

The Guidelines draw on over a decade of experience in conducting research in the context of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, and its Investing in Innovation program.

“The current technology and policy environment provides an opportunity to transform how research is done,” said Dr. Newman, CEO of Empirical Education Inc. and lead author of the Guidelines. “Our goal in developing the new guidelines was to clarify current requirements in a way that will help edtech companies provide school districts with the evidence they need to consistently quantify the value of software tools. My thanks go to SIIA and the highly esteemed panel of reviewers whose contribution helped us provide the roadmap for the change that is needed.”

“In light of the ESSA evidence standards and the larger movement toward evidence-based reform, publishers and software developers are increasingly being called upon to show evidence that their products make a difference with children,” said Guidelines peer reviewer Dr. Robert Slavin, director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins University. “The ETIN Guidelines provide practical, sensible guidance to those who are ready to meet these demands.”

ETIN’s goal is to improve the market for edtech products by advocating for greater transparency in reporting research findings. For that reason, it is actively working with government, policy organizations, foundations, and universities to gain the needed consensus for change.

“As digital instructional materials flood the market place, state and local leaders need access to evidence-based research regarding the effectiveness of products and services. This guide is a great step in supporting both the public and private sector to help ensure students and teachers have access to the most effective resources for learning,” stated Christine Fox, Deputy Executive Director, SETDA. The Guidelines can be downloaded here: https://www.empiricaleducation.com/research-guidelines.

SIIA ETIN EIS Conference Presentations 2017

We are playing a major role in the Education Impact Symposium (EIS), organized by the Education Technology Industry Network (ETIN), a division of The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).

1. ETIN is releasing a set of edtech research guidelines that CEO Denis Newman wrote this year
2. Denis is speaking on 2 panels this year

The edtech research guidelines that Denis authored and ETIN is releasing on Tuesday, July 25 are called “Guidelines for Conducting and Reporting EdTech Impact Research in U.S. K-12 Schools” and can be downloaded from this webpage. The Guidelines are a much-needed response to a rapidly-changing environment of cloud-based technology and important policy changes brought about by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

The panels Denis will be presenting on are both on Tuesday, July 25, 2017.

12:30 - 1:15pm
ETIN’s New Guidelines for Product Research in the ESSA Era
With the recent release of ETIN’s updated Guidelines for EdTech Impact Research, developers and publishers can ride the wave of change from NCLB’s sluggish concept of “scientifically-based” to ESSA’s dynamic view of “evidence” for continuous improvement. The Guidelines are being made publicly available at the Symposium, with a discussion and Q&A led by the lead author and some of the contributing reviewers.
Moderator:
Myron Cizdyn, Chief Executive Officer, The BLPS Group
Panelists:
Malvika Bhagwat, Research & Efficacy, Newsela
Amar Kumar, Sr. Vice President, Pearson
Denis Newman, CEO, Empirical Education Inc.
John Richards, President, Consulting Services for Education

2:30 - 3:30pm
The Many Faces of Impact
Key stakeholders in the EdTech Community will each review in Ted Talk style, what they are doing to increase impact of digital products, programs and services. Our line-up of presenters include:
- K-12 and HE content providers using impact data to better understand their customers improve their products, and support their marketing and sales teams
- an investor seeking impact on both disadvantaged populations and their financial return in order to make funding decisions for portfolio companies
- an education organization helping institutions decide what research is useful to them and how to grapple with new ESSA requirements
- a researcher working with product developers to produce evidence of the impact of their digital products

After the set of presenters have finished, we’ll have time for your questions on these multidimensional aspects of IMPACT and how technology can help.
Moderator:
Karen Billings, Principal, BillingsConnects
Panelists:
Jennifer Carolan, General Partner, Reach Capital
Christopher Cummings, VP, Institutional Product and Solution Design, Cengage
Melissa Greene, Director, Strategic Partnerships, SETDA
Denis Newman, CEO, Empirical Education Inc.
Kari Stubbs, PhD, Vice President, Learning & Innovation, BrainPOP

If you get a chance to check out the Guidelines before EIS, Denis would love to hear your thoughts about them at the conference.