Ensure communication and co-development with school leaders throughout edtech process rollout¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The report recommends creating space to bring school leaders into the iterative design of an edtech evaluation process and communicating its rationale across all levels and roles. Interviews showed principals often lacked depth of knowledge to support change management, with one noting "all of a sudden you have to go through this process now," and teachers largely misunderstood the process's purpose. Open communication and involvement opportunities are recommended to build buy-in and trust.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Requires time and structures for school leaders and educators to participate in solutioning and to receive clear rationale and timelines for the process.

Constraints¶

• The report frames this as a recommendation from first-year rollout learnings in one large district where schools previously needed no permission to use any tool.

Target Learners¶

• District and school leaders, and classroom teachers in K-12 districts

Target Learning Goals¶

• Effective, intentional use of approved edtech tools in teaching and learning

Related Strategies¶

• Build trust early through quick wins and visible responsiveness to feedback, using a tiered rollout to grow champions
• Center co-design with teachers and students throughout AI tool R&D, using human-in-the-loop workflows as a primary risk mitigation
• Conduct ed-tech pilots by articulating the instructional need, setting clear product-review criteria, involving educators in planning, supporting educators throughout, gathering data from all users, deciding from data, negotiating purchasing options, and sharing results
• Support future edtech OBC cohorts with readiness assessments, early planning, needs-assessment framing, and cross-cohort collaboration
• Co-develop the toolkit with districts and refine it iteratively across cohorts
• Integrate co-design and continuous feedback loops into AI evaluation processes
• Build state AI evaluation on the ESSA evidence framework and integrate results into the existing education evidence base
• Design a service-oriented resource allocation review using continuous improvement and design thinking, engaging LEAs and schools in design, pilot, and test phases before rollout.
• Pair rapid evidence synthesis with community co-development to speed usable implementation plans

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Noakes, S., Shell, A., & Karim, S. (2025). Driving Edtech Coherence and Intentionality: Denver Public Schools' Innovative Procurement Process. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/267