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Using Evidence to Support EdTech Adoption in Schools

The Office of Educational Technology is developing policies and resources highlighting evidence-building practices for impactful educational technology adoption in schools.

Supporting Schools’ Use of Evidence to Guide EdTech Adoption

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) encourages state and local educational agencies to prioritize evidence-based decisions on the use of educational technologies (edtech) in schools. Educational leaders charged with making edtech decisions on behalf of school districts have expressed the need for support in using evidence to inform edtech adoption decisions in schools.

OET has developed an EdTech Evidence Toolkit as a resource to support educational leaders with using evidence to inform the selection of edtech in schools. The following resources offer “how-to” guidance and suggestions for ways educational leaders can build their school district’s evidence base and support professional development.

NEW!! EdTech Evidence Toolkit

Hands shown working with a touchscreen tablet.

The EdTech Evidence Toolkit includes four Evidence One-Pager and Blog Series and offers educational leaders support in using evidence to inform edtech adoption decisions in schools by providing:

  • introductory evidence-building activities for four tiers of evidence, as outlined in ESEA
  • example case studies for using evidence-building activities to inform edtech adoption
  • suggestions for collaborative activities to encourage use of evidence in schools

The EdTech Evidence Toolkit was developed in consultation with federal, state, and local partners with expertise in use of evidence and edtech to ensure that they meet the expressed needs of state and local education leaders seeking guidance on the use of evidence to support edtech adoption in schools.

Evidence One-Pager Series

The EdTech Evidence one-pagers introduce evidence-building activities for four tiers of evidence, as outlined in ESEA: (1) Strong Evidence, (2) Moderate Evidence, (3) Promising Evidence, and (4) Demonstrating a Rationale. There are four evidence one-pagers in the toolkit in total, each one focusing on a different tier of evidence.

Each one-pager provides background knowledge for each tier of evidence and offers a case study example to introduce the reader to evidence-building activities that schools can use as a thought partner resource. Click on the links below to explore each resource by evidence tier:

TIER 4
TIER 3
TIER 2
TIER 1

Evidence Blog Series

In OET’s Evidence blog series, we offer suggestions for ways educational leaders can use the EdTech Evidence Toolkit to build their school district’s evidence base and support professional development. The Evidence blog series discusses using the EdTech Evidence Toolkit as an introductory resource for navigating the edtech evidence landscape; and offers suggestions for how educational leaders can use professional development activities to build capacity for evidence-building in schools.

Building Evidence to Guide EdTech Adoption in Schools

Guidance and suggestions for ways educational leaders can use our EdTech Evidence one-pagers to build their school district’s evidence base and support PD.

@OfficeofEdTech

Using Professional Development to Support EdTech Evidence Building in Schools

Suggestions for how educational leaders can use professional development activities to build capacity for evidence-building in schools.

@OfficeofEdTech

Additional Evidence Resources

Expanding Evidence Approaches for Learning in a Digital World
Non-Regulatory Guidance: Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments
What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)
Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)

Need more information?

  • Contact ed.tech@ed.gov with questions.
  • Please Include “OET EVIDENCE” in the Subject Line
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