Multi-State Standards Management

Webinar Summary & Transcript - Crosswalking to Contracts

bford — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 18:28:53 +0000

Webinar Summary & Transcript - Crosswalking to Contracts bford Thu, 07/09/2026 - 11:28

Crosswalking to Contracts

Standards Alignment

Curriculum Adoption

Curriculum Alignment

Multi-State Standards Management

High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM)

Summary

This webinar explores the unique requirements publishers and edtech providers must navigate when bringing instructional materials to the Texas K–12 market. Featuring experts from EdGate, Learning.com, Texas Education Alliance, and education technology organizations, the discussion focuses on Texas standards alignment, curriculum review processes, procurement pathways, and the preparation required for successful adoption.

A central theme throughout the conversation is that success in Texas depends on thorough preparation. Panelists emphasize that publishers must go beyond simply aligning content to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). They must also understand state review rubrics, identify gaps in their content, prepare evidence of efficacy, and ensure their products meet procurement and purchasing requirements before entering the market.

The discussion also highlights the increasing importance of standards reporting and transparency. Publishers are expected to provide detailed alignment reports that help districts satisfy state and federal requirements, including initiatives such as E-Rate and CIPA. Tools that generate precise alignment evidence can reduce administrative burdens for districts while increasing confidence during the purchasing process.

Ultimately, the panel concludes that entering the Texas market requires long-term commitment rather than a one-time submission. Organizations that invest in preparation, validate their alignments, understand state expectations, and continually refine their products are best positioned to succeed during adoption cycles and district purchasing decisions.

Key Takeaways

Successful Texas adoption begins with comprehensive alignment to TEKS rather than relying on alignments from other states.
Publishers should conduct gap analyses before submitting products to identify missing standards and improve alignment quality.
Understanding Texas review rubrics is essential for preparing successful submissions.
Detailed standards reporting can help districts satisfy state and federal compliance requirements such as CIPA and E-Rate.
Efficacy studies conducted specifically within Texas strengthen publisher credibility during evaluations.
Preparation before submission reduces delays, clarification requests, and missed opportunities.
Publishers should understand available procurement pathways, including purchasing cooperatives like BuyBoard.
Long-term investment and continuous refinement are critical to succeeding in the Texas education market.

Topics Covered

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) alignment
Curriculum review rubrics and adoption requirements
Gap analysis and standards reporting
CIPA and E-Rate alignment reporting
Texas efficacy studies
Procurement pathways and BuyBoard
Publisher preparation strategies
Best practices for entering the Texas education market

Featured Speakers

Gina Faulk

General Manager & Webinar Moderator, EdGate

Eric Knustrom

Lead Education Attorney, Texas Education Alliance

Dr. Kelli Erwin, Ed.D.

Director of Education, Learning.com

Chad Cantella

Chief Lobby Strategist, Texas Education Alliance

Michael Jackson

Managing Partner, Texas Education Alliance (TEA)

Themes

Building a Strong Foundation Through TEKS Alignment

The panel explains that TEKS alignment forms the foundation of every successful Texas submission. Publishers must understand where their content aligns, identify gaps early, and ensure alignment reports accurately reflect state expectations before entering the review process.

Notable Insight

"Understanding where your gaps are, and where your strengths are..."

Key Questions Explored

Why is TEKS alignment different from alignment in other states?
How can publishers identify and address alignment gaps?
What makes an alignment report credible during review?

Supporting District Compliance Through Standards Reporting

Panelists discuss how detailed reporting helps districts satisfy accountability requirements beyond curriculum adoption. Accurate alignment reporting can demonstrate how instructional materials support federal initiatives such as CIPA while reducing administrative work for school systems.

Notable Insight

"...we can run a report and give it to our customers... here are the exact items that you can use..."

Key Questions Explored

How can alignment reports support district compliance?
What role does CIPA play within E-Rate requirements?
How can publishers make reporting more actionable for districts?

Preparing for Texas Review and Procurement

The conversation emphasizes that publishers should understand every stage of Texas's review and purchasing process before submitting materials. Beyond curriculum quality, organizations must prepare efficacy evidence, understand evaluation rubrics, and ensure products are easily purchasable through approved procurement channels.

Notable Insight

"Do the groundwork in the beginning... if you want to come to market, do all the groundwork."

Key Questions Explored

Why are Texas-specific efficacy studies important?
What procurement options should publishers prepare for?
How can preparation reduce delays during adoption?

What This Means for Education Leaders

For education leaders, this discussion highlights the value of selecting curriculum partners that arrive prepared with transparent alignment evidence, clear reporting, and a thorough understanding of state requirements. As curriculum reviews become more rigorous, independently validated alignments and detailed documentation help streamline evaluation and purchasing decisions.

The conversation also reinforces the importance of tools that reduce administrative burden. Resources that generate precise reports for initiatives like CIPA and E-Rate can save districts significant time while supporting compliance and accountability requirements.

Ultimately, leaders should look for providers that view Texas adoption as an ongoing partnership rather than a one-time submission. Organizations that continually update alignments, respond to changing requirements, and invest in long-term support are better positioned to help districts achieve lasting success

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why is TEKS alignment so important for Texas adoption?

A: Texas requires instructional materials to align specifically to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), and publishers cannot rely solely on alignments created for other state standards.

Q: What is the purpose of a gap analysis?

A: A gap analysis helps publishers identify where content fully meets Texas standards and where additional development is needed before submission.

Q: How do CIPA and E-Rate affect curriculum providers?

A: Publishers can provide detailed alignment reports that help districts document how instructional materials support digital citizenship and internet safety requirements associated with E-Rate funding.

Q: Why are Texas-specific efficacy studies important?

A: Evidence gathered within Texas provides stronger support during state evaluations because requirements and expectations may differ from studies conducted elsewhere

Q: How can publishers prepare for Texas instructional materials adoption?

A: Publishers can improve their chances of success by aligning content to the TEKS, evaluating materials against Texas review and suitability rubrics, identifying standards gaps before submission, and preparing for evolving IMRA requirements and adoption timelines.

Featured Quotes

"Every single box check that you can double and triple check prior to the submission process... will lead to a peace of mind that you've submitted an 'A' paper."

Full Webinar Transcript

The following transcript has been edited for readability. Timestamps have been removed and minor transcription errors corrected. Speaker comments and context have been preserved.

Opening Remarks

Gina Faulk

Well, I'm going to go ahead and start making introductions, so welcome to everyone who has joined the call. There are a couple more panelists who are going to be joining us shortly. I'm Gina Faulk, and I am the general manager here at EdGate. So, I'll start making the introductions.

So, first we have… I want to welcome Kelli Irwin from Learning.com. She resides in Texas, and we actually have worked for a long time together over the years. I worked together with Kelli when I worked at Learning.com, so I am so happy to have Kelli with us today on this call. She has spent her past 20 years… Or she spent 20 years as a classroom teacher, a technology lab teacher, a GT (Gifted & Talented) specialist, and a district-level instructional specialist. And currently, in her role as director of education for Learning.com, she incorporates her years of experience along with new trends and pedagogical understanding to design and create learning experiences and support resources to meet the varying needs of students and teachers. So thank you so much, Kelli, for taking the time to join us today. She's a longtime user of EdGate’s tools and services, so she is the person that we reach out to when we want to get feedback. She will tell us how it is, and what we should change, and we have taken her up on that, gladly. And so, she's played an integral role for us at EdGate, so I really appreciate you being on here. And the fact that you're in Texas really works out well for us, so, thank you.

Michael Jackson, who has zebras behind him, but who is actually in Texas, not somewhere else, he and I have known each other for I think a year and a half, but he's also a proud Texan, and the managing principal at Texas Education Alliance. His focus is on helping education companies gain a strategic advantage in the Texas education marketplace by helping navigate regulatory and policy-based issues at the state and local levels. So, Michael, we really appreciate you. You've helped me out this past year, really getting a better understanding about Texas adoptions, the changes that I've seen in Texas, and figuring out how we convey that to our clients has been crucial to us, so thank you also for joining.

Michael Jackson

Yeah, glad to be here.

Gina Faulk

And then… I think we don't have Chad yet, but we do have our special guest, Eric. Eric serves as a lead education attorney for the Texas Education Alliance and brings over two decades of legal experience to the field. His expertise spans from litigation to the art of legislative drafting, and he currently employs his legal acumen to shape the public policy landscape. So, thank you, Eric, for joining in. I know you're going to be able to add a lot of color to this conversation that we're having today, having been deep in the trenches in Texas. So, we appreciate you being here.

Eric Knustrom

Great. Thanks for having me.

Discussion

Gina Faulk

So, I will just go ahead and get started.

Kelli, it would be great if you could start out by telling us, since the focus is on… Initially, we started… We want to talk about crosswalking content, so that, say, you've created content, and it's just Common Core-aligned. Well, how do you crosswalk to other states? How do you make sure that it's going to actually benefit all states and align with all state standards? But then we realized that one of the main questions that people were asking us was they were asking about Texas. “How do I get my materials adopted to Texas? What are all the policy issues going on? The politics? So how do I do that?” So, I was hoping you could answer the question about how the landscape has changed in meeting the state-to-state alignment needs, and how Learning.com has adapted to those changes.

Dr. Kelli Erwin

Sure.

Learning.com, as a company, is all over the nation; we are worldwide. So, when you look at standards that we have to meet, they're literally all over the board, right? But the nice thing about standards is that regardless of what state or country, we want students to learn similar things, right? The language of the standards might be slightly different, but the concepts that we need for career, for college readiness, for… You know, online safety, all of those things, the standards basically have a similar thread. And so, one of the things that's been really great about using EdGate is that although there are different standards, there's this thread. And so, EdGate allows us to kind of “follow the thread”, if you will, in using categories.

So, the landscape changes drastically at times, right? New standards are adopted… Reviewed, even, before they're adopted by states, and so there's this constant process of knowing what standards are coming, knowing what's been adopted, knowing where they are in the process, and working with EdGate to help make sure that information is in the ExACT tool, so that we can run reports and look at where our content fits is a huge piece of the puzzle. And identifying gaps, and seeing where, if Texas has “this” standard, how can we align an item to “this” standard? And it filters out to all of the other entities of standards that we need. So, it's a constant, changing environment.

Gina Faulk

Thank you.

Yeah, and for those who don't know who are listening in on the Zoom, EdGate's core service and our tools are all about making sure that content aligns to standards, and we use humans for that. We have a staff of subject matter experts who review content and align that content to standards, and then load it up in our reporting tool so that our clients can run reports and see their gaps. But we also have some DIY tools, so our clients can actually go into our ExACT platform, tag the content themselves with the concept of the taxonomy, and then it does a global alignment to all the state or international standards. So, when Kelli's talking about ExACT, that's what she's referring to.

Michael, let's turn to Texas. Can you give us a brief outline of some of the more significant changes that are on the horizon in Texas?

Michael Jackson

Yeah, yeah. I'll give… Is it okay if I give a brief introduction of…?

Gina Faulk

Yes, definitely. We would love that.

Michael Jackson

Okay, that'd be good. And also, sorry. I'm also trying to figure out how to get chat into this, so that's why I'm looking at my phone.

Gina Faulk

No, no problem.

Michael Jackson

I’m not texting friends!

Yeah, absolutely. Texas Education Alliance, you know the work that we do here in Texas is… It really stems from some of the things that Dr. Erwin alluded to, is that the Texas Market is really like his own country. A lot of times, you know, companies come to us and say, “We don't understand Texas or the Texas Market. How do we do this?” And, you know, that's why this firm was started. Not just market intelligence about how to go to market in the state of Texas, but a lot of the timelines of how to foundationally get prepared to come into Texas. And what we find a lot of times is that a company will come into Texas, and they'll say, “Well, we just want to go district to district and, you know, start selling”. And there are a lot of the foundations that we're talking about today that really need to happen on the front end to really drive that success moving forward.

So, there are some parallel efforts, you know, you want some exposure in Texas, but you really need to do this groundwork to get prepared for some of the key upcomings on… Sorry, I'm looking at the chat. Some of the key priorities that are coming down the pipe, as you may or may not know, whoever's on the call, you know, Texas meets every other year, and does the budget for two years. So, the next session begins in January, so right now, a lot of things are ramping up, so there's a lot of activity and movement of what's coming down the pipe for the following years. And, Eric, I'm going to kind of… I'm going to kind of let you answer part two of that question about some of the things that you see coming down the pike in Texas, and some of the new… Actually, you know, coming up this next year with adoptions, and so on and so forth.

Eric Knustrom

Absolutely.

I think, as with any legislation that gets… Or any major legislation that gets passed in the state of Texas, we're going to see what is commonly referred to as a “cleanup bill” for House Bill 1605, and the related legislation that was passed last session. Because we have a part-time legislature that meets only five months out of every two years, it is very understandable that sometimes, there are unintended consequences, and even, you know, the best laid plans sometimes don't play out the way that they're supposed to. And so there's already talk of a bill that would do that coming forward. I think that there's been a lot that has been learned through the first process of IMRA (Instructional Materials Review and Approval) submissions and reviews. You know, in this coming November, we will learn whether or not the first OER (Open Educational Resources) submissions to run through a similar process will be adopted by the State Board of Education, and you know, as recently as their last meeting, the State Board of Education was being presented by TEA (Texas Education Alliance) staff with proposals for how the IMRA process should work relating to schedules for review, and how the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) updates should trigger a proclamation. And so, aside from November 5th, answering a lot of questions for folks, the November State Board of Education meeting here in Texas will help clarify the picture quite a bit.

And I think there will definitely be a need to watch how the general election turns out in November. A record number of incumbents are not returning in Texas this coming session. Some of those people were folks who had opposed other measures for public schools, specifically education savings accounts, and if the folks who come in and take their places don't have similar views, it could shift how they align on everything, from public school funding to some of the changes that led to the new instruction material adoption process.

Gina Faulk

Okay. Thank you so much, and we're going to get more information from you about IMRA and the Texas Suitability Rubrics momentarily.

But first, I wanted to just, kind of as a precursor to my next question, Sharla, if you could show us… We put together a slide that just kind of blew me away, so it's slide 13 if you're able to show that. So, we actually took a U.S. map and compared all of the state standards, and we used natural language processing to do this. So we can compare standards in two different ways: we can compare the standards using our concepts and our taxonomy, but we can also compare the standards using our AI or natural language processing. So, you'll see here that Texas truly is very different. When we compare the ELA (English Language Arts) in Texas, the TEKS ELA to Common Core, we only found a 2.2% match, and that we use the… It had to be a 0.85 match semantically. And then math was 17%, so it was sort of like, “Here's a visual, it's very different”. So if you're trying to use your Common Core in Texas, it ain't going to work, so it's just not going to do the trick. And then, we can do this for anyone, so if anyone comes in, like our clients, and says, “How is Kansas different than… Kansas originally adopted Common Core. Where are they now? How different are they? Can I use some of my existing Common Core in Texas?” You probably can, but they've veered enough away from it. You'll see Washington, where I'm, it's very purple, and that's because we're still very Common Core.

So, moving into that next question, Kelli, as companies look to gain traction in Texas, can you talk a little bit about the ExACT reporting feature you use to meet the requirements of Texas and other states?

Dr. Kelli Erwin

Sure, yeah, that's a great question, actually, Gina. So, Learning.com has been adopted in the state of Texas, and I'll just use technology applications since that was the most recent process that we went through as a company. We have been adopted since the very first adoption of the TEKS at 100%, which is great and exciting, but when you have new standards come out as we did in 2022, the first thing that we as a company did was go to our current content and say, “How do we match up? Are we in a good space? Do we align the way we want to align? Are we still pedagogically doing what Texas is looking for?” And so, that's really where we started the process. And you can do it manually, absolutely. It is a very tedious process, so it was really nice to be able to work with EdGate and say, “Hey, we have this new set of standards that we know are coming down the pipe for us. How can we evaluate and see where we have gaps?” So, it was great to go in and use the ExACT reporting tool to see exactly what aligns and where we have gaps. And it helped us in this decision process that we went through to determine which content we might want to keep and which content we needed to make fresh based on these new standards, and so, whether it's Texas or any other state, we know standards are regularly updated.

We also know that customers want to know that the content they use aligns to their standards, and will help them meet the requirements of their state, so using this report and being able to go in and see what aligns, how it aligns, where it aligns and where maybe there are gaps, was a great way for us to kind of evaluate where we stand for the adoption, but also ongoing.

Gina Faulk

Great, okay.

And I just quickly flipped on the type of report that we run within our ExACT reporting to, or you would load up your content, and you would actually see line-by-line each standard you have content that meets that particular standard. It's going to very clearly say for this example, which is Florida language arts, “Nope. You don't have any content that meets that standard. So your team needs to get to work and write content that meets that standard”, so that's very easy to understand.

And you talked about the standards too, we're always working on adding standards. So, Sharla, if you can flip to slide six. We, every month, release a list of… And, actually, it's so tiny. Sorry, can you make it a little bigger? But we load these up every month and show you exactly which standards that we've updated, and you'll notice if you squint really hard that we've been working on a lot of international standards. So you'll see Singapore and Ireland, but, you know, also Texas, so Texas social studies must have had an update. It's hard for even me to keep track, much less if you're a publisher, and this is not your sole job. It’s really hard to keep up with these standards, so that's why companies use our services, to make sure that they're in the know about what's happening state-by-state, and keep their alignments up to date for each state.

Dr. Kelli Erwin

And Gina, I would add to that. You're right, it is very hard, and there is no one usually dedicated to watching weekly what's going on with all the state standards. But one of the things that I appreciate is that not only can I log in and see what's available, but you all send out that email regularly that's like, “Hi, here's the new standards that we've uploaded”, and it just kind of helps in the process of staying on top of things.

Gina Faulk

Great. Perfect. Thank you so much.

So, let's see. Eric, we have a question for you about the Texas Suitability Rubrics. We would love-

Chad Cantella

Gina, by the way, I finally figured out how to get on! This is Chad.

Gina Faulk

Okay, so, whoever wants to take this question about the Texas Suitability Rubrics, or both of you, could you give us an overview of what they are and how they're shaping the education content landscape? It's new to us too, and I've had to take some deep dives in there, but if you could give us an overview, we would love that.

Eric Knustrom

Yeah. I think I can maybe give an intro, and then let Chad talk a little bit. So, the IMRA process, as opposed to the… What I would refer to as the proclamation process or the previous process has really upped the game for publishers, whereas the previous standards were, you know, 50% of the TEKS covered, and you essentially gained admissions to the list.

With the passing of House Bill 1605, the legislature imposed not only a qualitative standard, which is the rubric that's developed by TEA, but also a Suitability Rubric, which is dictated far more by the elected members of the State Board of Education. And if I were to articulate, I would guess, say, the import or the reason behind the need for a Suitability Rubric, I think it was a feeling among elected officials that there were a growing number of outside influences, from politics, to culture, to, you know, technology that was presenting information that sometimes made it into classrooms through instructional materials, or through teachers bringing in additional materials that really did not align directly to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, and sometimes they were counterproductive to the educational process. And the results of them attempting to find a system that would allow them to create standards to focus the instructional materials on simply teaching the subject matter led to the development of the Suitability Rubric.

Now, the first component of that is beginning out with a prohibition against the Common Core; however, feel about that, it's been a very polarizing and political issue, and Texas definitely comes down on the side of not wanting to adhere to the Common Core. But as was just discussed, there are many parallels, if not analogous ways to draw those connections between standards in an instructional material that meet the Common Core, but also meet Texas's standards. The remainder of the Suitability Rubric really addresses what most people in politics would call “red meat issues”; perceptions related to social welfare issues, questions of patriotism, and things that could be considered subversive to the existing government or the United States. And the intent, as stated, you know, when the legislation was passed, and the recent State Board of Education meetings were simply to try and absolve teachers from the responsibility to weigh into those difficult topics, and allow them to stay focused on teaching essential skills and knowledge that's necessary without all of the distractions.

Chad Cantella

I'll just add quickly to that. In short order, this is a very Texas process here. And it is, you know, it is political. It stems from elected representatives hearing from constituencies. And so, the one thing I'll add to that is that it is working out to be somewhat subjective, so understanding where your curriculum or, you know, or other offerings sit within that before you submit is big. There have been a number of folks who do not understand that have, you know, have every other box

checked, and have not done well with the Suitability Rubric. So, it really much helps to get out in front of that.

Gina Faulk

And I took a little snippet, it always helps me to see it right in front of my face, so, Sharla, can you flip to slide 17? I just wanted to quickly show what these rubrics are, and also point out that there… Not only are there… There's a panel of educators that is reviewing the content and flagging the content for any non-compliance, but also public feedback, too. So, on the right-hand side… And we're going to send out links to all of these rubrics, but yes, you're right, the very first line item was the “Prohibition on Common Core”, and you can go through and see who got flagged. It's just right out in the open. And list the scores and everything else, but also the public feedback too, you can see that as well. So, within… You have to imagine too, when you go into the Texas site, you can see the common… The first one, the Common Core, is pretty straightforward, but if you go in and look at protecting children in “Protecting Children's Innocence”, you're going to find a lot of bullet points underneath that, you know, what were the things that the publisher did not meet under that category.

And let's go to the next slide, which is… I think I gave even more details. Just a closer look… Oh, slide 18. So, yeah, again, I think the “Prohibition on Common Core”, it's just one box, titled 1.1. Did you meet the TEKS standards? And then the other example is 7.1, and I think that was all. The other ones had a lot of the alphabet underneath each of those boxes, but the CIPA (Compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act), which I know Learning.com, you guys are very up on CIPA and have met all those requirements, because it's a requirement in Texas, that was pretty straightforward as well. One thing I noticed, too, that was interesting was that the feedback from the Texas panel was about 400 pages long on the materials they reviewed, where the public feedback… Granted, I think it was a bigger font, but it was over 700 pages long of public feedback, so I was trying to imagine what that's like for the Texas Review Committee sorting through all that feedback that they received so… And Eric and everyone from the Texas Education Alliance, you might be able to comment more on that, just the process that they're using to do this, how that's been going.

Chad Cantella

You mean the process on the Suitability Rubrics?

Gina Faulk

Yeah, yeah, the, yeah, how that's… Because it's very new this year.

Chad Cantella

Yeah, I'll start, I mean… As mentioned, this really adds more authority to the State Board of Education. And so, you know, those are submitted, and like I said, it is somewhat subjective, so when folks have been dinged, you know, they're given a reason, and sometimes the reason stems from the fact that there was just a misunderstanding of what words meant, you know, and what was intended.

So, that's how it is, you know, gone this far from the end result, but in terms of the process… Eric, are there any details you'd add to that?

Eric Knustrom

I think it's important to note that, much like the previous panels of educators that were impaneled to do reviews of materials and the folks that are doing the quality reviews through IMRA, there are reviewers who are impaneled to conduct the review for the suitability standards. Notably, their instructions are that there's no need for consensus. And I know that in the past, when instructional materials were adopted, if there was a question, if there was concern whether a specific portion of a material addressed a specific TEKS, it often turned into a deliberation among the reviewers in the room, and they were able to reach a consensus and then move forward with that.

The directions for the suitability is if there is a concern by any single one, they flag it, and then that is resolved, you know, there's no need to discuss consensus. Anybody who finds an issue or thinks that there's a matter of suitability under the rubric flags it, and then it goes up the process, eventually to the SBOE (State Board of Education), and they are the arbiters of whether or not it actually is… Well, how the scoring should work under the rubric for that evaluation.

Gina Faulk

Thank you.

Eric Knustrom

So that’s kind of detailed but…

Gina Faulk

No, no, I appreciate that. That's helpful, yeah.

Michael Jackson

Gina, real, real, quick, we talked earlier about more of that foundational approach, but, you know, that's kind of the work that we do, is guiding through that process because what you find is, if not, then you're playing a lot of triage, right? So, you know, get, like Chad said, getting in front of that and understanding what this looks like before you get to that point, that’s extremely, extremely important.

Dr. Kelli Erwin

And Gina, I'll jump in and add that from a publisher perspective, you know, we see the rubrics, we know what is expected, right? When you're going in and you're designing your content. And when you are there in person, in Austin, Texas, and the Instructional Materials Review Committee, the teachers, the district, administrators, and whoever's been selected are in the process of reviewing, it's a waiting game for publishers, you know? And there are times, even with Learning.com, I remember having a standard that came back and one of the reviewers said it didn't meet, while a couple of the others on the team felt it did. And so it was… TEA allows for the opportunity for you to have this conversation amongst yourselves as publishers, and determine if you would like to provide information to explain why it meets. Or create something new, or adjust, or whatever? And so it's a… I'm gonna say a “collaborative-at-a-distance” process that does allow publishers, you know, the opportunity to try to demonstrate where they meet and how they meet as you're going through the process, before it goes kind of up the chain. Though that is still a big piece of the process.

Gina Faulk

Right.

Eric Knustrom

If I might, Kelli, that actually reminds me of an analogous situation in my previous life as a practicing attorney. It doesn't happen very often, but everybody who has watched any legal dramas like Law and Order has probably seen an example of it, albeit dramatized. Juries have the opportunity when they can't resolve an issue on a question to send a question out to the council and the parties through the judge. The difficult part in this process is that, oftentimes the question doesn't really help you understand which way they're leaning one way or the other, and it allows you to provide additional information. It’s just complicated to figure out what information is going to help them resolve the question that they're having, because they don't give you a preamble. We can't decide if this is an attempt to, you know, impune the found… You know, Stephen F. Austin's character, “did you mean this?” They simply said, you know, “Do you have any more supporting materials on this section about Stephen F. Austin?” And you need to provide more.

And it would occur to me that much like in a highly… In high-stakes civil trials, what my colleagues who actually practice law now do is they often have mock trials. They impanel juries, and they go through these kinds of questions, and for better or worse, that might be a situation that instructional materials might want to consider is providing the Suitability Rubric to some folks that they think they can get a variety of opinion from just to see what questions they might come up with, because being prepared for any of those scenarios is probably going to be much better than being presented with an opportunity to provide additional information clear up when you don't know what different questions people could be asking, or why.

Dr. Kelli Erwin

Yeah, that's a really great analogy, and it, you know, Learning.com as I said, has been going through the adoption process for TA-TEKS (Technology Applications - Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) ever… You know, ever since the beginning. And though the process has changed over time, we have the experience of knowing from the past the types of questions that come up. So that's a really interesting callout, Eric, because I think that would help publishers. It does make a difference, you know, if you have commonly asked questions or things that you might need to address as you're going through the process.

Gina Faulk

So, Kelli, riffing off the manpower, so you've been working hard at this for, you know, over 10 years, so let's talk about the manpower needed to meet the changing needs. So in the past, companies would have a person or people dedicated to just doing alignments, but tell me about the process that your company uses to deploy today at Learning.com, and how it has affected your output?

Dr. Kelli Erwin

Sure. You know, we don't have a dedicated person; we don't need a dedicated person to do our alignments anymore. Having the ExACT tool and partnering with EdGate in this process allows us to have multiple people on a team who focus on content overall, right? And so, the whole team has been trained in how to use EdGate to do the standards alignment, whether it's a direct alignment or an alignment through categories, on how to pull reports. So, instead of it being that request comes in, for example, let's say one of our Texas districts says, “Hey, we need an alignment report that shows all of the content for the alignment to the new TA-TEKS. Okay, instead of it taking weeks upon weeks for a person to go through and manually do this, it quickly gets into a queue, we run the report, we do some human, you know, touch base to make sure that there isn't something that we've missed along the way, or that needs to be kind of fine-tuned a little bit.

So it's a much faster process than having to do it manually. So running a report takes, I don't know, a minute maybe, depending upon how much content you have in there. And that's far faster than, you know, a couple of weeks. And it's easy to just pass it out to different people on the instructional design team to be able to pull those reports. So it's been a phenomenal change over the past, you know, 10, 20 years, that Learning.com has been dealing with standards alignments to content.

Gina Faulk

Perfect. Okay.

And in addition to, again, doing the actual alignment and providing publishers with the tools

to do the alignment, the other thing that we do a lot is that we do third-party reviews, so rubric reviews. So, just like we're talking about the Suitability Rubric, we currently work for a few different states where we're reviewing publishers’ content against provided rubrics. So, again, super tiny, but just trying to give you an example of where EdGate would receive the publisher’s completed alignment.

So the publisher says, “Yes, we believe this content aligns to these standards, and then we either agree or disagree”, just as if we were a Texas review committee, or the public in Texas. We're saying, as our, you know, with 20 years of expertise behind us, and teachers in the classroom who work for us, that it's kind of like you get a preview of what might happen when you actually submit this content. We are reviewing it, saying, “No, we disagree with this one. This lab does not meet the standard”, and then that gives you the opportunity to go back and fix it before you submit. So kind of, Michael, back to what you're talking about, be ready, so we're also helping publishers get ready to make those changes before you go ahead and submit, because once you submit, this is one of the things we talked about too, sometimes Michael, you can talk about this, but you might not want to submit until you're fully ready. So, yeah, if your team wants to comment on that, and Sharla, we can stop sharing this one.

Michael Jackson

Yeah, absolutely. Chad's had some recent experience with that, but I have a question about what you're showing real quick, Gina. So, when we're talking about Suitability Rubrics, and I apologize, I haven't looked at that alignment before in that document, how granular does that get? Does it mean, like, when you're looking… I'm just thinking about suitability and things like that.

Gina Faulk

Oh, the suitability, the other slide that was shown. It gets quite granular. As I said, there are some categories that are pretty easy to understand. Do you meet Common Core or not? Or do you meet the TEKS or not? Where the others… There are many bullet points below that, and it's similar to looking at a set of standards. It's not to the extent of meeting standards, but those Suitability Rubrics do go pretty deep.

Michael Jackson

I'm just curious about– I don't want to go into a rabbit hole with this– but I was curious about how EdGate can address… When I saw the red flag there, it kind of interested me.

Gina Faulk

Oh, yeah, I mean, we would do the same thing. This is for TEKS standards, but we would do the same thing. If we were reviewing against a rubric, then we would do the same type of thing.

So, say it was the CIPA or E-Rate, and the team was looking at it, we would say, “You know, you might want to look at this. It's using language, this is not appropriate, or it's not meeting the accessibility requirements”, so we would red-flag it just like Texas would do.

Michael Jackson

Okay.

Gina Faulk

Yeah. So–

Chad Cantella

You wanted to… Was the question to add a little bit more about preparing for before you submit?

Gina Faulk

Mhm.

Chad Cantella

Yeah, just quickly, I think we've said it several times, but, you know, getting in front of it, and what I mean by that is, you know, the analogy that Eric laid out with a mock trial? I think too that having somebody, you know, who can look closely through the same lens as, say, the SBOE might, because those things are often nuanced, right? And, you know, without getting into too much detail, we've worked with folks that needed some, you know, didn't score well, and it was based on a misunderstanding of an intent or a word, because you have to remember that TEA is, like every other agency is, underemployed and overworked. And same with the SBOE, they're volunteers, right? They don't even have an office or a phone. And so, the volume that they have to go through requires them to go quickly, and so, you know, one thing can trigger a series of decisions.

So, I think that you should go through it and have someone be able to look at it through that type of lens.

Gina Faulk

Agreed. Okay. And then… Let's see… Eric or Chad, we touched a little bit on House Bill 1605, and we– I might have had the number wrong. Is it 1614? Did we have the number correct?

Chad Cantella

Yeah. We think we got it right–

Eric Knustrom

House Bill 1416.

Gina Faulk

1416. Okay.

Chad Cantella

I'll take a little bit– So, House Bill 1605, I love how you phrased that question, you know, it's an important number. It's one you probably hear in all kinds of discussions around curriculum, etc. Essentially, that was the very large bill that was worked on in conjunction with the agency, with the legislature, etc. It is the bill that brought about these wholesale changes we're discussing with the adoption process. It's, you know, it stands for the Instructional Material Review Adoption, I believe that's– yeah. And it basically makes some big changes, right, that we've covered. One is, you know, there's no set date right for proclamations, it's a rolling process. And, you know, it has a couple of reasons, major ones for doing that. One is, you know, simply to help streamline the process and bring the adoption system into the 22nd century. And then second, it allows for the SBOE to address curriculum needs as they're needed, right, on the fly.

And, you know, it does give more authority in that manner to the State Board to decide when, right? We're gonna hear this next year, or we're not going to hear it for 10 years, and so, that's, you know, the major parts of House Bill 1605. It also created, you know, the OER (Open Educational Resources) portion of the new process, whereas TEA is partnering with folks to create in-house curriculum that is then given out as OER to school districts.

Gina Faulk

And that's in process right now, is that OER is being built, those vendors have been chosen to build that OER.

Chad Cantella

Somehow. I would say that–

Eric Knustrom

It's a big yeah.

Gina Faulk

Go ahead.

Chad Cantella

Yeah. The first round has been decided, and, you know, the rest of it is… We don't know yet. They're still working on it.

Gina Faulk

Okay, TBD. Okay, um–

Eric Knustrom

It will be a rolling process just like IMRA, and the priority for materials, much like the IMRA schedule, will be dictated by the SBOE on the advice of TEA.

Gina Faulk

Okay. And now the other house bill, House Bill 1416, can you tell us a little bit about that one?

Eric Knustrom

If you want, Chad, I can talk a little bit about it.

Chad Cantella

Please do.

Eric Knustrom

So, if folks remember there was a House Bill 4545 in the previous session, and it did several things, but the main thing it did was require individual tutoring for students who did not perform well on the pre-test for the end-of-course assessments, the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) exam. And House Bill 1416 was an attempt to, again, clean up that legislation. There, you know, to put it politely, there was a great idea and concept between the idea of identifying those students that might need help, and preparation before they take the end-of-course exam.

Unfortunately, there wasn't any funding attached or associated with it. That was partially a reality of the legislative session that we were in, and the budget situation we were in coming out of COVID. I think part of what House Bill 1416 sought to do was to give better directions to school districts on how to facilitate this, and avenues for funding that, given that Texas had a budget surplus last session, were not available when House Bill 4545 passed. But I think the bigger takeaway for instructional material providers is that the state, our current commissioner, the SBOE, and the legislature are all very much interested in not just adopting the quality materials, but making sure that they're delivering an entire package to the teachers or giving them all the tools that they need in their tool belt. And while a textbook on Algebra 2, or a pre-K system for a kindergarten, or a pre-K class might be the first step in that. These accelerated tutoring and additional materials are where instructional material providers can talk about the additional things that their publications do that may not be captured in the TEKS review process.

Gina Faulk

Okay.

Chad Cantella

And just to add one more thing to that, House Bill 4545 had some mandatory qualities to it that, you know, by default, were putting folks in non-compliance. And so, those, you know, one of the other reasons to bring that clean-up bill is to correct that as well.

Gina Faulk

I see, okay, thank you.

Michael, I'm hoping you can give us a little bit of information about the IMRA cycle for 2025, with the math cycle coming up. So, would you be able to… You or your team members shed a little light on that one?

Michael Jackson

Yeah. We collectively can. Yeah, I mean, you know, I don't know how you line that up, and Eric, you might be the best person to answer that question, but supplemental math coming down the pike, we had talked about that recently. I think Gina, in the last week or two… And I guess it's kind of like a timeline of what's coming forward with TEA and so on and so forth. So maybe one of the Erics, we have two Erics on the call…

Gina Faulk

Yeah, I know, that's what it looks like. And I put together a quick slide with… It does have some dates on it, so if we want to show that one, Sharla, it’s number 16. Yeah, it's just, and we'll again send out all these links afterward, but it looks like, and I caught it right on the right day, it was just posted two days ago, I think, but it just said, so it's supplemental math will be reviewed in 2025, and the rubrics it looks like they are still awaiting approval. So, for all of our math clients out there, you can take a look at the draft right now. It's just that will give you a head start at least.

But is there anything, any color you want to add to this upcoming supplemental math adoption?

Eric Knustrom

You know, I think, you know, one of the important things to note is this is one of the few things that the State Board of Education took action on at their last meeting, and that's why it was posted two days ago. It was in the presentation that was made by Todd Davis and Monica Martinez, stressed as “This is the must have, we do need your decision on this, because to have the materials in place for the beginning of the school year next fall. We are pressing our luck just with the time available, and it was a part of the larger schedule that they were presenting on other topics that, again, they said, “Let's take under consideration and discuss and perhaps refine and adopt at the November meeting”, but I think it's important because, at least for the next year or two, my assumption is that much of the schedule or the plan that will come from the SBOE regarding whether it's a supplemental adoption for an enrichment material, or it's a core area of TEKS that are being updated, will come in a similar fashion. I don't expect for them to sit down in the next month and a half or 12 months, and develop a schedule for the next 10 years, simply because that is, you know, trying to eat the elephant in one bite.

And I think while they are thinking long term, they're coming up with some rough projections, and still retaining the ability to make changes on the fly if they need to, and I think that aligns with the entire intent of House Bill 1605 and creating the IMRA process that wasn't tied to a set statutory schedule of review for the TEKS. The challenge in that is it does not change the fact that the process of reviewing TEKS, issuing a proclamation, getting submissions for publishers, having it reviewed, it's still a two-year process. And so, it's really a difficult job that they're doing over there, and I think it'll get easier as they get the system a little more broken in, but for now, I would expect to see small spurts of announcements about what materials will be considered and adopted next. And if you know there are folks that are under adoptions that occurred six years ago,, and they're supposed to– or on the old schedule, they would come up in two years and you're worried, I think it's important to pay attention, you know, work with folks like us to try and keep your finger on the pulse of what's going on, because, one, you can't influence that, and two, things can change in an instant at one board meeting because that's the way the the system is designed now. And you don't want to wake up one day and not have an eligible contract in the EMAT (Educational Materials) system for districts to purchase your product.

Gina Faulk

Right. Well, yeah, we just had that happen with a client who was going after a Florida adoption, and they thought that the due date was in January, and suddenly it's November. So, you know, how do you keep track of those things? That's where you guys come in, watching that and being, you know, you've got your finger on the pulse of it more than anyone.

Chad Cantella

Yeah. One nuance that we probably won't have time to get into, because it's a bit vague, you can submit, because it's a rolling process, at any time. And there's some more detail to be learned about that, but, hypothetically, if you were to miss, you can still submit; it would just be reviewed when they get to it.

Gina Faulk

Okay. And have publishers had luck with that? Do you know?

Chad Cantella

Now, it's so new, we haven't gotten there yet.

Gina Faulk

Okay, okay.

Well, let's turn back to Kelli. Can you tell us more… I showed those CIPA requirements, and I think they're also known as the… I think they were labeled in our system as the E-Rate requirements, but–

Dr. Kelli Erwin

Right, yeah.

Gina Faulk

Yeah. Can you tell us how Learning.com has been able to report that you meet those requirements? And what was the process you used to make sure that your content was aligned to those CIPA requirements that I quickly showed on the Suitability Rubrics?

Dr. Kelli Erwin

Sure, sure.

So, CIPA is a very small piece of the puzzle for districts needing to meet E-Rate for funding, and so one of the things that we struggled with initially was that there's a list of things for E-Rate, and while our content may help districts meet, there are a lot of things that are required for the district to do themselves, right?

One of the things that districts have to do is make sure that their students, “their minors,” is the actual language in the CIPA requirements, are receiving instruction on specific topics, right? And so, it's cyberbullying, and then I'm just going to overarchingly use the term digital citizenship, it goes into more than just that. But what we've been able to do is look at our content, ingest all of our content into EdGate, and easily go in and hand-select which of those items our content aligns to. So, the reason I say it that way is because instead of going in and doing a category

alignment, and it shows E-Rate in general because the district has to do some things, it's where we’re able to now go into the the EdGate system, ExACT, and direct a line to those two particular CIPA callouts, so that we can run a report and give it to our customers and say, “Hey, here are the exact items that you can use to assign out to your students to make sure you are you are hitting that one small piece of the E-Rate puzzle”, and it takes a big load off of the districts to know that they can use the content that we're providing and be assured that their report that they submit into E-Rate, that the school board signs off on, that, you know all of these people are held accountable for, they can make sure that they are hitting what they need to hit. And really, the tool has helped us tremendously with that. And even when we've pulled in other third-party content into Learning.com that we deliver out to our customers, we're able to align that content as well.

Gina Faulk

Perfect. Okay, thank you.

We're running short on time, but I did want to ask about the efficacy studies, because Texas Education Alliance, you pointed that out to me that it's been really important to do your homework, with one of those important pieces of homework being the efficacy studies. So, could you tell us a little bit about why that's so important to do before you even try to start selling in Texas? And without those efficacy studies, is that a showstopper?

Michael Jackson

Yeah, I mean, we don't have a lot of time to go into that, but I can just address it really quickly. You know, it's one of the things is efficacy studies, you know, everyone has some really good studies in other states. You know, it’s also what you are doing now to prepare for efficacy studies and studies in the state of Texas, as well. And that's examined, so that's something that you really need to be aware of, especially when you're looking at rubrics, and so on, and so forth. I can't really dig into each house bill list and things like that, but it's something to be aware of. We've had clients before that did not– they had some really good studies in other states, but it did not apply to Texas, so it's something to be aware of.

Gina Faulk

Okay.

Closing Thoughts

Gina Faulk

So, I guess let's just do a quick round the… Round the screen, not the table, but when you're pursuing sales in Texas, you need to check a lot of boxes, we know that. So, if you were to name the top three boxes to check, what would you– what would those be? And we've talked a lot about that, but I guess just to recap… I mean, for EdGate, definitely the way we see it, it's like, you've got to be TEKS aligned, of course, that's number one. Don't try to use your other states, don't try to submit science content that's aligned to NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) standards, that's just not going to fly. And doing those reviews against the various rubrics. So, on the EdGate side, that would be number one on our list, but Kelli, for you, what would be the top boxes to check?

Dr. Kelli Erwin

Sure. For me, I would say the top boxes are understanding where your gaps are, and where your strengths are, for that matter. So that really ties into the standards of alignment, making sure that the reports that you're providing in the process have a level of accuracy that aligns to whatever the rubrics happen to be, you know, that are provided. Whether it's an RFP, or it's a state-level adoption, or, you know, any of the processes that you might go through. And I would say those are probably the biggest things to help you as a publisher make sure you're checking the boxes to meet all of the requirements. Again, whether it's RFP adoption or even just having to meet with a customer.

Gina Faulk

Right, right, okay.

And the Texas Education Alliance?

Michael Jackson

I mean, for me, you know, for me, I'd say be prepared, you know, you're a Boy Scout. Or Scout, be prepared. You know, I think that's very important, and getting back to this, do the groundwork in the beginning. I just find more and more companies that they just see Texas as such a great Market, but, you know, you have to be invested in it. You know, so if you want to come to market, do all the ground work.

Gina Faulk

I think you said a cowboy hat might help you?

Michael Jackson

Cowboy hat? Yes. And boots, definitely. None of that's gonna hurt.

…Well, it depends on where you are, but…

Gina Faulk

Right, that's true.

And anything else from Eric or Chad?

Chad Cantella

I think we've covered– I would just say, don't take assumptions about both rubrics. You know, and if you are coming to market, not going through an adoption to where you can be purchased through the system. The obvious point is to make sure you're aligned with BuyBoard somewhere where folks can buy you, so that that confidence is there.

Gina Faulk

Okay.

Eric Knustrom

And my last– my only piece of last advice would be the same I give to my 11-year-old son, every weekend is… Every minute you spend preparing for your next week at school this weekend is going to save you an hour of video game time when next week gets here. And so, every single box check that you can double and triple check prior to the submission process will lead to not only, you know, more likely than not, the “no need to provide clarification or to correct any errors”, but to a peace of mind that you've submitted an “A” paper, and you're going to get back the A grade that you deserve.

Gina Faulk

Great. Thank you so much to everyone who… All the attendees who have joined us today and to our panel, I appreciate you taking the time to prepare and think about how our clients can crosswalk their content to Texas, get to know Texas, and the various rules that have changed, and what they should do in order to prep for 2025. I really appreciate it, and we'll be following up afterward with some more helpful information.

We put together some documents that we hope everyone will be able to use to prepare for the upcoming adoption cycle, so thank you again, and we appreciate you attending today.

Michael Jackson

Thank you.

Gina Faulk

Thank you!

Webinar Summary & Transcript - Special “International Edition” Webinar - Align to Open New Markets

bford — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:10:30 +0000

Webinar Summary & Transcript - Special “International Edition” Webinar - Align to Open New Markets bford Thu, 06/25/2026 - 08:10

Webinar Summary & Transcript

Multi-State Standards Management

Summary

This webinar explores how curriculum providers, particularly those entering or expanding in the U.S. market, can successfully navigate the complexities of state-level standards, procurement processes, and evolving technology expectations. Featuring perspectives from EdGate, BOOKR, and Advancing Global EDU, the discussion focuses on practical strategies for alignment, market positioning, and long-term growth.

A central theme throughout the conversation is the importance of treating adoption as an ongoing process rather than a one-time event. Panelists emphasize that success in the U.S. requires continuous iteration, such as aligning content to multiple state standards, gathering feedback, and refining products over time. This is especially critical in a fragmented system where each state has unique requirements, and where alignment thresholds can be as high as 100% in certain markets.

The discussion also highlights the growing role of AI in both product development and operational workflows. While AI is accelerating processes like standards crosswalking and content creation, panelists stress that it must be used thoughtfully, with human oversight and a clear focus on student outcomes. At the same time, schools are still early in developing formal AI policies, creating both opportunity and uncertainty for providers.

Ultimately, the panel concludes that success in today’s environment depends on preparation, differentiation, and adaptability. Companies must align to standards, demonstrate value beyond features, and build scalable processes that support long-term growth across diverse and evolving markets

Key Takeaways

Entering the U.S. market is an ongoing process, not a one-time adoption event.
Standards alignment and crosswalking are essential first steps for scaling across states.
Many states require high alignment thresholds (90–100%) and formal review processes.
Gap analysis is critical to ensure content fully meets state requirements.
Vendors must differentiate their products rather than replicate existing solutions.
AI is accelerating workflows, but it must be paired with human validation.
Most districts lack formal AI policies, creating both risk and opportunity.
Success depends on reducing friction in adoption, including data privacy and integration readiness.

Topics Covered

U.S. market entry strategies for edtech providers
Standards alignment, crosswalking, and gap analysis
State-specific requirements (e.g., Texas, Virginia)
Procurement processes and adoption lifecycle planning
Product differentiation and market positioning
AI in content creation, alignment, and classroom use
Data privacy and integration considerations
Global expansion and multilingual content challenges

Featured Speakers

Rich Portelance

Host, EdGate Powers Webinar Series

Gina Faulk

General Manager, EdGate

Mike Campbell

President, Advancing Global EDU

Will Gordon

Head of Sales, BOOKR Kids

Themes

Treating Adoption as a Continuous Process

Panelists emphasized that entering the U.S. market is not defined by a single adoption win. Instead, it requires ongoing iteration, feedback, and refinement across multiple states and contexts.

Notable Insight

“For them, that was literally the beginning… The first moment that some of those teachers had seen our platform.”

Key Questions Explored

Why is adoption best understood as a long-term process?
How should companies plan across multiple adoption cycles?
What role does feedback play after initial implementation?

Alignment, Crosswalking, and Meeting State Requirements

Standards alignment is foundational to success in the U.S. market. Panelists outlined the importance of crosswalking existing content to state standards and conducting gap analyses to meet strict requirements.

Notable Insight

“You have to meet 100% alignment… if you’re going after Texas.”

Key Questions Explored

What is crosswalking, and why is it critical for market entry?
How do states verify alignment claims?
What steps should companies take to identify and fill content gaps?

Differentiation and Reducing Adoption Friction

Vendors must clearly differentiate their products while also minimizing barriers to adoption. This includes addressing pricing sensitivity, integrating with existing systems, and meeting data privacy requirements.

Notable Insight

“The easiest decision is just no decision.”

Key Questions Explored

How can vendors stand out in a crowded market?
What friction points prevent adoption?
How important are partnerships and integrations for success?

What This Means for Education Leaders

For education leaders, this discussion highlights the importance of evaluating solutions not just for their features, but for their alignment, adaptability, and long-term value. Leaders must ensure that curriculum and edtech tools meet state standards requirements while also supporting meaningful student outcomes.

The conversation also underscores the need for thoughtful AI integration. With many districts still lacking formal policies, leaders have an opportunity to proactively establish guidelines that support safe, effective use while encouraging innovation.

Additionally, leaders should prioritize solutions that reduce implementation friction, such as those that integrate with existing systems, meet data privacy standards, and provide transparent alignment reporting. As the market continues to evolve, flexibility and informed decision-making will be critical to success

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the first step for entering the U.S. education market?

A: The first step is aligning or crosswalking content to U.S. state standards and identifying any gaps that must be addressed.

Q: How do states verify standards alignment?

A: Some states require third-party reviews and detailed evidence showing how content meets each component of a standard.

Q: Why is product differentiation so important?

A: Because many solutions already exist, vendors must offer unique value rather than simply improving on existing tools.

Q: What role does AI play in curriculum development?

A: AI helps accelerate processes like content creation and standards alignment, but still requires human oversight for accuracy.

Q: How can edtech companies successfully enter and grow in the U.S. education market?

A: Edtech companies can succeed in the U.S. education market by aligning content to state standards, differentiating their products, reducing adoption barriers, using AI responsibly, and treating adoption as an ongoing process rather than a one-time event.

Featured Quotes

“It’s a process… It’s not like once you’ve landed an adoption, then you’re in.”

Full Webinar Transcript

The following transcript has been edited for readability. Timestamps have been removed and minor transcription errors corrected. Speaker comments and context have been preserved.

Opening Remarks

Rich Portelance

Welcome, everybody, to the EdGate Align to Open Markets: Special International Edition Webinar. We're going to be discussing how companies can access new markets effectively, including how mapping to curriculum speeds this process. This is our fifth EdGate Powers Education webinar. We do one every quarter, and we try to cover topics such as process technology and standards. We always do the state of the standards in Q4, and of course, accessing new markets. If you would like to suggest a topic, be a guest, or a panelist, please feel free to reach out to us. We'll be submitting material after the webinar, and there will be different ways in which you can engage with us. We'd love to hear from you and get some ideas, and continue this process as we inform and we are informed by the market that we serve.

So today, we have a great group. My name is Rich Portelance, I'm the senior marketing consultant here at EdGate, and with me are three wonderful panelists from three different areas of the education market. First, we have Gina Faulk, who is a general manager here at EdGate. Next is Mike Campbell, president of Advancing Global EDU. Finally, we have Will Gordon, head of sales for BOOKR Kids. Before each of the panelists provides background, I want to remind everyone on the call today that while your video and microphones will be muted, the questions can be submitted in the Q&A box at the bottom of your screen.

Please feel free to do so, and if you submit a question, you're going to be in the running for an EdGate mug! These coffee mugs are awesome, they're done by Miir, and so if you submit a question, we'll run a raffle afterwards, and we'll send one lucky participant a new mug.

Also, we're going to send out the recording of the webinar along with some of the slides and other information after the webinar, probably early next week, so you can share it with your friends and colleagues who are unable to join us today. In addition to the webinar, we have recorded some podcasts. Mike and I spoke last week; it's up on our YouTube channel, and I'll be speaking with Will next week, and that will also be on the YouTube channel, so check those out.

Without further delay, Gina, can you start us off with introductions?

Gina Faulk

Sure! I'm Gina Faulk, and I'm the general manager here at EdGate. This is, I think, my 25th or 26th year in publishing. I started on the production side of the business, working in typesetting, content creation, editing, design, and art, so I got to see that whole world. Then, I switched over to working for an edtech company that published digital literacy curricula. There, I was able to participate in lots of different state adoptions. That introduced me to EdGate, because we used EdGate as our standards provider. So, EdGate was actually the company that was helping me get together all the alignments, materials, and the proof that our content met learning digital learning standards for various states. Then, I moved, switched over, and started working for EdGate, so I kind of have been in this world for a while, and I know how important it is that publishers have their alignments and all their ducks in a row when they're submitting for adoption.

So, our focus at EdGate is really on helping companies, whether you are an edtech company, a traditional publisher, or even a state, ensure that your content meets state standards, international standards, and/or national standards so that your material will be used, adopted, and implemented in the classroom.

Rich Portelance

That's terrific, thank you very much. And Mike?

Mike Campbell

Thanks so much, Rich. I appreciate you guys having me on the webinar today.

I'm Mike Campbell, and I am the President of Advancing Global EDU. I started in this business as a teacher, then moved into educational publishing and was in publishing for about 15 years, and then moved into educational technology, where I was involved in a startup, and then after exiting that startup, I started doing consulting about seven or eight years ago. And since that time, we've been working with startups, helping them with their sales, marketing, and go-to-market strategies over that time, both here in the US and globally.

So, we work with companies coming to the US, and companies that are actually thinking about their strategies moving outside the US, as well as those that are from the US. As well, you'll hear in a few minutes about our latest initiative, and that is we are opening a school that is a dual diploma school that's bilingual, that's based here in the US and in Mexico.

Rich Portelance

Oh man, that's going to be an exciting project, Mike, and we can't wait to hear a little bit more about that!

Last, but not least, is Will Gordon.

Will Gordon

Hi, thanks, Rich, and I am also really glad to be on this panel. I’m excited to get into this discussion and some meaty questions.

I'm based in Durham, North Carolina, but I'm head of global sales for BOOKR. BOOKR is a European-based company, actually based in Hungary and in Budapest. My background, briefly, I'm a product of two teachers; both my parents were public school teachers for over 20 years. Also, the topic is close to my heart because I have two daughters, I have an eight and an 11-year-old.

I've been in the education technology space for about 15 years. I got into it initially after teaching English abroad for several years, and then returned to the US to a vibrant kind of startup community, and was really fascinated to combine language learning with technology. For the past decade, I've been focusing on reading and literacy in the different companies I've worked with, working with family-owned companies, working with International groups, taking a kind of US-based content and finding homes, partners, and schools for that content, and online platforms internationally.

My current role at BOOKR is to help expand our partnerships around the world for our classroom platform called BOOKR class, and that includes our expansion into the United States.

So, I think one perspective I'll bring to this conversation is, you know, we are a company that is focused on reaching children who want to read, want to develop a reading habit, and a love of reading no matter where they are in the world, or what their socioeconomic level is. So, that presents interesting challenges trying to align to the standards in different countries, including the US, different states, but also, it's an opportunity to sort of focus on a mission-driven objective, which is, you know, getting literacy materials to young readers.

So, I’m glad to join, and that's a brief summary of who I am.

Rich Portelance

Well, thank you very much, Will.

Discussion

Rich Portelance

And as promised, we have some diversity on the panel in terms of where people are coming from and what their viewpoints are, so let's kick in with a question for Mike. During our podcast, Mike, you and I touched on the complexities of curriculum development in light of the variations that exist today in state standards, particularly in relation to the Common Core. Can you provide us with an overview of what challenges you are seeing as it relates to those variations?

Mike Campbell

So, yes, that's a great question.

I think, you know, even today, the Common Core has been around for several years now, and we still see it changing year after year. 41 states are still on board with the Common Core, there are some with variations to that, and there are nine states that are not on board with that.

So, when we look at companies who are coming from, you know, global companies that are moving into the U.S., we always tell them… they are always are so excited about coming to the U.S. because they look at the a huge market that the US is, but then we have to tell them it's like coming to 50 different states or 50 different countries because of the Common Core, the differences in the Common Core, and the different states that have not adopted the Common Core. So, I think having a company like EdGate that can help those companies align those standards and find out the nuances between those different states is a huge help, because it will make their entrance into those markets quicker and faster.

And you have to look at those because, you know, teachers want to know or the administrators want to know how those standards are aligned, and how that solution is aligned to their local curriculum.

Rich Portelance

So, thank you for that, Mike.

You know it clearly is 50 different markets, and I appreciate you pointing that out.

Will, with BOOKR, you're relatively a neophyte when it comes to the US market. You've been in Hungary and the European markets. Which of the challenges resonate with you, and what processes are you and your team putting in place to overcome those challenges?

Will Gordon

There's an extremely long answer to that, which could probably take the full hour, but I think I might focus on a couple of key things.

I think the first key thing just focuses on making sure that we have a product or a solution that is different and unique, kind of speaking more broadly, no matter where we're bringing it to, and no matter what school we're going into in any market. So with BOOKR, when our founders created the platform, they really wanted to create a reading format that was unique and different, and so the format itself, kind of the content which is the core of the platform, is different from sort of a basic animated story with text and audio. We've built and scaffolded language learning elements, so we're really focused on English Language Learners, actually, is kind of our niche or our focus, and story-based learning in that way. So, that's kind of, globally speaking, that was an important thing to us, is to sort of make sure what we were building was globally unique.

Entering the US market, I think two key skills to have are listening, so really listening to people, that means listening to people, and as we begin to build relationships, meet people and hear what is really needed, and also clearly communicating what we are offering. In all the partner conversations I've been having over the last couple of months, one thing I've heard time and time again is that often, edtech companies in particular will struggle if they are not clearly communicating what they can offer, not in technical terms, but based on what a teacher really, really needs, and what the teacher really, really wants. So, it sounds very basic, but being able to empathize with the local needs, or the state's needs, or even bringing it down to a very local level of “Who is the teacher and the student we're trying to serve and how can we serve them?”

And then the third area I would talk about is sort of making sure that the product has the right nuts and bolts, that it's built in the right way to basically be able to thrive in the US. So that's where standards come in, working with Partners like EdGate and making sure that, you know, in our platform, a teacher can very quickly search the state standards using the US curriculum planner, they can find which books align to which state curriculums, and that means making sure our books are Lexile leveled, making sure that we are talking about informative assessment in the way that U.S. teachers would talk about it. Again, even though to Mike's point, there isn't a one-size-fits-all teacher, we have to be very specific about what we are offering and who we are trying to offer that to. There's more I could say, but I would say those are the three things that we've really focused on.

Rich Portelance

Thank you, Will. I think you mentioned some really important things, you know, getting into the Lexile levels, and obviously, the standards alignment, all really critical components in understanding your audience, which makes a lot of sense.

So, Gina. You've been in this publishing space, as you said, for about 25 years. From your perspective, what do you see as the most common mistakes made by edtech companies that may inhibit their chances of adoption at a state level?

Gina Faulk

Well, of course, I'm going to come at this from the standards perspective, as always, and I think the thing I hear the most is when a company, whether they're in the US already, or they're an international company, they come to the US thinking that they can just use the Common Core, or the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards), or the NCSS (National Council for the Social Studies) sets of standards, but that as we keep saying it's not a one-size-fits-all, so that really won't fly.

It's always easier for me to illustrate something, so I asked Sharla if she could show one of my slides, and I know this is a lot of text, but I just wanted to illustrate one example I thought was really good. It's when you're taking a look at the Common Core 8 “Math Practice” standards that were created in 2010. There were just eight of these mathematics practice standards. Florida took that and expanded it into 35 standards. So, we went from seven to 35 in Florida, and if you multiply that across all the states… And this is just practice standards. So, you can see there's a trend in every state; they've taken the Common Core, and even if, like Mike said, they adopted it, it has expanded into something well beyond anything that anyone can really handle on their own. So, I think that's the number one thing that I would say is just, just remember that Common Core can't be counted on as the one and only set to go to.

Another example, if we move to the next slide, is around social studies, 32 states adopted the C3 Framework; the College, Career, and Civic Life C3 for Social Studies State Standards. Some adopt, so 32 in the beginning, many states have moved away from it, some have rewritten them completely and/or have their own sets of standards. So, again, it's just that it can't be counted on as the uber set of social studies standards to use. And then you have states that, of course, they have their own unique state history classes, and oftentimes that's fourth grade. But sometimes they don't have it at all, so it's just a crapshoot as to whether each state is going to have its own history classes. Then, we looked at trends. Do all states talk about the same American history, even? And they don't. We looked at just an example yesterday of which states talk about the Seven Years' War, and only 24 States even mention it. So, you're really going to get huge differences in every state as far as what they cover in social studies.

I would say those are two examples, and then we can kind of turn off the slide, Sharla, but… Yeah, well, actually, there's another slide I can show you about standards changing, sorry. The other, I guess the second piece of advice I would give to watch out for is that standards change all the time, and so, that's why we are keeping them up to date for our clients. We actually publish them freely on our website; anyone can go to this as a great resource, we are tracking all the standards in our system, and we publish every month what has changed. So, the scary thing about this is that sometimes a state can change standards on a dime, and you might be preparing your content thinking, “Okay I'm writing this to the New Jersey 2025 math standards”, then suddenly New Jersey will change its mind, and then there's a new set of Standards, so that's the thing to be worried about too is that they change all the time, sometimes they don't announce it, sometimes you have to scramble, it is what it is, we're doing our best to to keep up with it. But this is a great resource right on our website to show our clients or whoever. It could even be a different state showing what has changed, what grades, what countries, and again, it's not just the US that we're tracking, there are many different sets, both international sets and then supplemental sets, as well, so there's a huge library of supplemental standards on our website, too, that you can take a look at.

So, yep, that's it in a nutshell, the two big things to be wary of.

Rich Portelance

Those are really big things, thank you. There's a lot to digest there.

Okay, so Mike, as a consultant in an industry where… and you're also in the midst of launching this dual degree online school, which you mentioned at the beginning, what advice are you going to give your clients, and do you also take for yourself as you launch the school regarding the changing U.S. education landscape? Especially as it concerns this new administration?

Mike Campbell

You know, one of the key things that we're coming up against right now is this aligning, you know, much of what Gina was talking about here is the aligning to curricula. We have two curricula that we're aligning to our school as being accredited in New Mexico and in Mexico, and so, not only do we have to get the schools aligned, the two curricula together, we have to make sure that we're constantly keeping those curricula up to date, and making sure that those standards are kept up to date on that.

And, you know, when we talk to other companies that are thinking about looking at the U.S. market, that's another thing that we talk about. Not only, you know, are we thinking about NGSS, you know, but we're also thinking about Common Core, and we're thinking about computer science. There are multiple standards that we're looking at. And now, you know, one of the key things that we're hearing a lot about is CTE standards, and that will be a big one, I think, as more companies… Because that's going to be a big area that will be funded by the new administration. You think about allied health, you think about computer science, those kinds of things all fall into that category. So, as we develop new courses for our school, and as other companies think about solutions coming into the U.S., those are kinds of things that we're offering, you know, some strategic advice about where the money is. That's going to be one of the things about where the money is going to be, is like CTE courses.

Special education is another area that we're looking at, because we know that parents are looking for special education solutions, and those are another area that we look for and are making sure that those standards somehow can be, you know, you still have to align to Common Core, but those solutions still have to be, you know fit within those solutions that go along with that.

And then, you know, some of the other things that we look at are making sure that we're financially accountable. You know, here in the states, we look at, you know, there are more and more states that are looking for that financial push for vouchers, things like that. Those, and the federal government is really pushing for that. You see a lot of the things that the Trump Administration is pushing now, so you're going to see a lot more state and local control. In fact, there was an article today I saw in The Seventy-Four, which is a media piece that's out there about, you know, how can the federal government push for more money to private schools and things like that, so there clearly is a push for more money being pushed down to things like charter schools, private schools, and different things like that. So, I think in the next few years we're going to see more and more of that, and as a result, you know, where companies that have come to the US have really focused on districts and public schools, they're going to have to think about spreading their marketing and sales dollars out further to private schools, charter schools, parochial schools, things like that moving forward.

And then finally, I think there's going to be more competition out there because of that, because you're going to see more private schools come on board, because people you know will want to undo that. We are already seeing things like these microschools that are out there; there are multiple things out there. There was a conference this week called Delock that really focused on online education this week, and I've already heard from that conference alone there's been all kinds of specialized private schools that have come online for that, so there's going to be a lot of different kinds of schools, and as a such, we're going to see a lot more specialized content that comes from those. So, that's a long answer for that one, Rich.

Rich Portelance

But a good answer, Mike. I really appreciate it. I think people have to keep their ear to the rails on this and, you know, actively watch what happens with this new administration because things are going to change.

One of the things I want to mention before I ask Will a question is that EdGate offers, because you mentioned CTE standards, Mike, and Gina was talking earlier about Common Core, this is a free resource I want to make sure everybody out there knows about. It's really important. So, what EdGate has done is to compare Common Core and CTE, and does a comparison, so you can see at any state how close their standards are at the state level to the Common Core, or to the CTE standards, or NGSS, so it really gives you a good starting point baseline for how to prepare your content. So, that's up on the website, it's under the resource tab at the top of the site, so please take advantage of that. It's, like I said, a free resource, Gina and her team keep it up-to-date all the time, and this is also reflected in their tool, ExACT, which is the standards alignment and standards management platform, which also takes in the… When standards are updated at any state, it's automatically updated in the ExACT system, so that if you have alignments done, it'll go through and update those alignments. So that's a pretty, you know, neat resource to have available as things move quicker.

Okay, so, Will, in your opinion, how do edtech providers show the value of their product to K-12 buyers, pushing the product over the threshold of a nice-to-have to a must-have, and how can smaller publishers like yourselves and edtech companies best position themselves for success as they enter the U.S. market?

Will Gordon

Yeah, I think, initially, it comes back to making sure that you have something that's unique. So, bringing it to a kind of reading content… It's important that we are looking at what other reading platforms are out there. You know, I have two kids in Durham Public Schools here, and they both have reading platforms that they use, and, you know, many of us know the names of those platforms, and so we have to make sure we're not just bringing something that just repeats a little shinier version of what's already there.

I also think that with supplemental materials, it's an even bigger challenge in some ways, because the easiest decision is just no decision, right? It's not curriculum-based, we're not selling a textbook, we're not selling a tool that covers all of the NGSS science standards, that covers math, science, everything. Even in English language learning or reading, we're fitting a particular need, and so it's important that we are aware of that, that we're listening to price sensitivities, that we are following where the budget is going, a lot of the things Mike was talking about. It's important for us to reduce friction points for a school to adopt, so, you know, we're partnering with other platforms that are already in the US market. Platforms that deal with student data, security, and things like this, because that's an example of an issue that, oftentimes, products coming from outside the U.S. don't think about, since each state might have different data privacy rules or regulations. Luckily, we're coming from Europe so they have pretty strong data requirements there

And then the last thing that I would say is don't assume that you find one great salesperson, or one great opportunity, or you have one district adoption, and that's kind of your golden egg. I think that's a mistake people entering your companies, entering the US market as well, is that they put all their eggs in one opportunity or one pilot. And we are really taking approach of, again, trying to reach children where they are, so we have partnerships in the at-home reading space going on, we are talking to library consortiums, so we have a library version of our of our platform which can be used, we are piloting with schools on the East Coast and on the West Coast, and so, we're kind of taking a broader approach in that sense.

But I think each product and each company takes a different approach. I know of companies that have, you know, taken a different approach of opening an office in California, and hiring a salesforce there of people who really know the California schools market well, and that's their approach. But you have to really be thoughtful about what your approach is, and then really, really stick to it and follow through.

Rich Portelance

Well, you made a point there that I just want to kind of circle back on, because I think it's so important. I was talking to a former president of a fairly large publisher last week, and he had said, “Companies today tend to go from adoption to adoption instead of planning out a lifecycle of adoptions”. You know, what does that timeline look like? What does that framework look like? How can I plan it out? And you were saying the same thing, you know, don't just put all your eggs in that one basket of one adoption, because there are many more to come. Is that correct?

Will Gordon

I think that's right. I think even in the framing of this panel discussion, you use the word “process,” and I think that's a very good way of describing, kind of, what entering a new market means, especially in the U.S., it's a process. It's not like once you've landed an adoption, then you're in, and you figured it out. You haven't figured it out with that District because you're going to get lots of feedback, and that feedback is iterative and should go back into, you know, how you move forward with your product or your content.

Also, the market's going to change and your next adoption is going to be different, so, you know, this morning I was on training with a large school in the Middle East that we are onboarding. A school we met at ABET, actually. And I was thinking kind of more holistically about it, and how, for us, this moment of the training is sort of, like, we've reached some sort of end. Not an end, but we've reached the end of a certain process we were in, which was to get them to buy into our platform. But for them, that was literally the beginning, the first moment, the first moment that some of those teachers had seen our platform. And so, for us, we have to think about that process as kind of an ongoing process that doesn't just begin or end with a certain moment, or a certain adoption, or a certain success, but it's kind of this rolling process that hopefully will never end if you're successful.

Rich Portelance

Fantastic.

So, with that process in mind, Gina, what kind of preparation are you advising curriculum companies to take to elevate their chances of success in going from one state adoption to the next? So, we talk about that process and how ExACT can help out.

Gina Faulk

Yeah, a couple of different ways.

One, when we see, I know we've been working with Will and his team at BOOKR Kids this past year, and I think number one is to get your materials, what we call crosswalking. So, if BOOKR Kids had already had, and I think you did already have your content aligned to one set of standards, we're able to take that alignment and crosswalk it to the U.S. states. So, that's the first step. If the material is not aligned, we start from scratch, and we're reviewing it and using both human and our ExACT technology to do a global mapping of the content to all the state standards. So, this slide kind of gives a rundown of how that works. We can do that in multiple ways. Our clients can use our internal tools, the ExACT alignment tool, to do that work, where you're accessing our standards, you're aligning your content in our system, and then seeing the results and how your content aligns to all 50 states. So, that's the first step.

The second step is also to look for your gaps. So, there are quite a few states that make it a requirement that the content must meet at least 90%, up to 100% of their standards. So, for instance, when we do reviews for Virginia, this state actually requires a third-party review of its content, and you have to meet 90% of its standards. So, make sure that the work is done where you're actually doing a review, checking for gaps, and if you do have gaps, then you need to write content to fill those gaps.

Texas is a state where, according to their new IMRA, the Instructional Materials Review and Approval process, you have to meet 100% alignment to the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills). So, if you're going after Texas, you really need to be spot on with your alignments. We can run gap reports automatically in our system, and that's where we'll yield a report, and it will show you exactly what standards you're missing in every state, so that you can write the content and fill in the holes.

So I'd say those are the two things that I would suggest first if you're coming from international to the U.S. Do the alignment or the crosswalking, find your gaps, and then go from there.

Rich Portelance

That's fantastic, thank you, Gina. And that follows along with that idea of process first and building it up so that you have something that's iterative and manageable, and it's not just going from one adoption to the next.

Let's go back to Mike here. During our podcast, Mike we spoke about the integration of AI in education. I think we agreed on its potential to enhance learning experiences, but there needs to be some guardrails on it. What are you seeing in terms of AI adoption in this space, and what warning labels should be applied to it?

Mike Campbell

Well, I think… I mean, we've all seen this, every single day it's changing, and every single day we're seeing new solutions that are out there. But the one thing I think is that… Most of the things that I'm seeing out there for schools and school districts are that most school districts have yet to put together a regulation for their school or for their district. And as we get into this AI marketplace that we have these days, it's really important, I think, that we have some kind of, you know, guardrails for schools and school districts because otherwise it becomes like the wild, wild west, and everybody's doing their own thing, and that is not what we want. We want the best of the best in the schools and the ability for teachers and administrators to use these, to use AI, not to replace teachers or administrators, but to use AI as a tool.

And we've both seen AI, you know, that can really be useful in the classroom, and we've seen AI that can help individualize learning of, you know, helping readers, help with math, you know, we've seen it in hardware now in multiple places, but we need some kind of areas that schools and school districts should really help provide that guidance for teachers and administrators. So, you know, I think we all have an opinion on that, and how that's going to be used in the classroom. I really, I think, you know, I was at a meeting a few weeks ago around FETC (Future of Education Technology Conference), and if you know that meeting, it's very early in the year in Florida. Someone had done a review of districts here in the states, and out of about 800 districts or so, only two had some kind of guidance in place for their instructors, and that was kind of scary that they had done that. So, clearly, we need some kind of guidance in place, but it's also a very exciting time to be in education with AI and the ability to do that. For students, especially in areas like special education, they could have an AI that is set beside them or with them to help guide them, to be their personalized, individualized learning helper, and could really change how we help these students learn and succeed on a day-to-day basis.

Rich Portelance

Well, I would agree 100%, Mike. And I appreciate that, you know, we're at the very beginning of that pendulum, so people realize that, you know, AI is in its infancy, it's already made a massive change, and there's a lot more to come, but we can control how it affects and what it can provide if we're thoughtful about it.

A question came in, so I just want to break the cycle here for a second and go to Gina. Jeff Dodds asked Gina, "How does a state like Texas verify alignments relative to the bar that they set if a content provider claims they have addressed 100%? How do they verify it, and do they just take their word for it, or what do they do?”

Gina Faulk

Well, Texas does require a third-party review, so that is part of the process, and EdGate has done that work. I believe they also use teachers, too, and some of those might be volunteers, some might have a stipend, but when I've looked at the Texas site recently, it looks like they have a review process in place where they're actually going through and verifying that the content does indeed meet the standards, that there's proof.

I think we have a slide that shows kind of what that looks like I believe in our deck, but it's the same work that we do where you're actually… Or we might have removed it, I don't remember, but where we go through and say, “Okay, of these three bulleted points within this standard, you met A and B, but you did not meet C, so it's a red flag”. So, they are doing the same thing within Texas.

Rich Portelance

When you do this third-party review, if EdGate does it with the publisher prior to submission, those red flags can be addressed before submission, right?

Gina Faulk

Exactly, yes. So we'll red-flag it so that the client can go back and fix it before they do their final submission.

Rich Portelance

Okay, awesome. Thank you.

Will, I'm going to cut over to you and BOOKR. When we talk about AI to inform the process, does what we were just talking about with Mike and Gina make sense, and does it resonate with you and what BOOKR's looking at?

Will Gordon

Yeah, I think completely… I think the biggest difference between sort of the advent of AI, and as a new technology compared to other things that have impacted education in the past, whether it's the computer, or, you know, word processing, or Google, or Wikipedia, or whatever it is… Spell check. You know, there's always this phase where these things come in, and I remember when I was in middle school, and my teacher told me, “You cannot turn your paper in spell checked. I want you to turn it in, just what you wrote as what you wrote”. And now, you know, I occasionally volunteer at the school I grew up going to, and students are required to spell-check their papers before they turn them in.

You know, I think the flash forward with AI, that process is happening so much more quickly, and part because AI was so ubiquitous, AI itself is kind of improving so quickly. And also, it's so, you know, there's very advanced uses for it, but using it on a basic level is very, very simple. A year ago, I wasn't using it at all in my work processes, and now I'll use it a couple of times a day for an email. You know, I'll write an email, and I'll say, “That email seems a little bit passive-aggressive, and that's not what I'm intending to do. Let me get some help, you know, improving this email in terms of tone, or something”. And I could do that, it could take 20 minutes, or I could do it with AI, and it takes two minutes.

So, I think on the product side, the way we're looking at AI is we're seeing that people want authentic content and actually content that they feel was created by people. That may change because this is a changing landscape, but that's one real value we bring is that we have a team of illustrators and story writers who are creating the content. We use AI to expedite some different processes, but everything we create is, you know, human-created, but in the product itself, we’re using AI in different ways. Whether it's from the algorithm that's recommending books after you read a book, to the vocabulary tool on the student side, which is an AI-driven tool, or speech recognition tools that we have, they’re all AI-driven.

And on the teacher side, there are huge opportunities, you know, teachers can create comprehension quizzes in an instant based on one book or several books, five questions or 50 questions, you know, and that is a task that would take a teacher to spend their evening after dinner creating a comprehension quiz for their class, so we're really looking at it in terms of the product. In terms of the classroom, I think you described it well. This idea that every student someday may have an AI assistant, you know, I think generally that's an accurate description of what it will look like, that everything we're doing there will be some kind of assisted element to it.

I think initially, part of maybe why there's not a lot of regulations is there's sort of this fear of the new, but as with all these standards, ironically, once a standard is put in place or a regulation, paradoxically, what it does is I think it frees you up to actually be free to use that thing, whatever it is. You know, a math standard feels like a limitation, but it actually creates a playground within which you can teach math or learn math, so we're kind of in that in-between phase. I'm not an expert on the US AI standards, but I'll tell you my daughter's elementary school doesn't have any AI policy yet, that's for sure.

Rich Portelance

Thank you for that, Will.

A question came in about BOOKR. Do you have products in other languages, such as Arabic?

Will Gordon

Very good question. This is a very common question. I would say for the U.S. market, we've got the most commonly… Questions come up in Spanish, because right now our library is fully in English. We do have a German version of our library, so we have a collection of… Actually, a separate version is used in Europe and in the Middle East to teach German and reading in German. We don't have Arabic titles left. We're working on a few Southeast Asian language titles for some specific markets, but my guess is that Arabic is in the plans in the coming months. As we say, it's in the road map, as we like to say.

Rich Portelance

And I'm sure if there was an opportunity, you guys would accelerate that road map.

Will Gordon

Yeah.

Rich Portelance

Excellent.

And a question came in for Gina. Do you have standards for the Middle East and Middle Eastern countries?

Gina Faulk

We do, we have some select standards, and we just added some too for a client. So, there is an area on our site where you can see all of the standards. I know we just added Kuwait, but I'd have to check and see exactly which ones we have in the Middle East. I have to be honest, they've been difficult to find some of them. It's hard to reach the right people, and it seems like they can go out of date pretty quickly. They're very buried on these sites in the Middle East, so we've had to use our connections, a lot of LinkedIn reaching out, like, “Do you know this person? Can you help me find these?” So, if you can let me know exactly which ones you're interested in, we… And we can research too.

We've done a lot of research in the past year. If you go to our website, you'll see on the standards update page how much international work we did last year. We added tons of European countries, Asian countries, and some Middle Eastern countries to our site. We hadn't done that in years, but now they're all up to date. And because we have some clients who have subscriptions to keep those up to date, everyone is going to benefit from that.

Rich Portelance

And Gina, when you talk about, you know, we're talking to curriculum providers, people here in the market that are looking to differentiate themselves. How can companies that are clamoring to win business find opportunity, and does AI, in your opinion, have a place for helping them advance their products?

Gina Faulk

Yeah, well, all three of us, Mike, Will, and I, were all at ABET, it sounds like, and so one of the things I heard when I was at ABET is when we were walking around, every stand said something about AI. So, it was clear that everyone is touting the fact that they're using AI to help build their product. And I had a couple of teachers walk by and say, “Ah, everyone's using AI, you know, now it's not so special anymore”. So, I think that it's great that you're using AI because it does save a lot of time to for the creation of the content, but what the teachers were expressing was, you know, what really matters in the end is not the fact that they used AI to build their product, but does the student understand the concept? Are they showing mastery of the concept at the end of the day? On the assessments, can they walk through a problem? Can they solve a math problem? Can they write? So that in the end was sort of, like, yeah, it's really great they're using AI, it's saving a ton of time, and maybe that's bringing the price down in the end for the consumer, but how does that affect the student?

The other thing I was thinking too is that… I think, Will, you were alluding to the fact that I've seen my own kids use it, and I halfway think, “Oh, that seems like cheating. You're taking a picture of a Shakespearean sonnet and picking it apart rather than using your brain”, so that's not going to work on a test. I see the benefit of maybe practicing and learning, but I also think that this could be a really good opportunity. And I've talked to a couple of companies who are working on creating, like, either a digital literacy program that teaches students how to use AI, and then also it could be for digital literacy for safety and how to use it appropriately. I mean there's two different products you could build, and it sounds like there's a rumblings from a couple companies that are starting to do that, but I see an opportunity in that right there, because it seems like students, my own included at home, are using it in ways that I think, I don't know if that's going to fly when you're taking a test.

But the other thing about EdGate is that we are using AI. We started playing around with AI a few years ago. We're using it on the back end, and in the end, it will help our clients save money because what we're doing is… It's helping us to crosswalk the standards. So, eventually we'll be able to… Instead of spending so much time on humans connecting all the standards across the states and internationally, we'll be able to use AI to do that work for us. So, we already have that in the works, and we imagine that, you know, it's only going to improve over the next few years, especially with CTE. We talked a little bit about, Mike, you were mentioning CTE, and yes, there's so much CTE out there, and the standards are enormous, so rather than us sitting down and having a human go and look at all of the agriculture courses across all 50 states, it's going to be a lot easier to use AI to connect the agriculture courses together using semantic matching. So, that's where we're going with AI.

Will Gordon

If I could piggyback on one point you made, Gina, which I think you're right, when you see your child using it, it's a funny feeling. But just like with any technology, the critical thinking skills that are taken to use, you know, ChatGPT, or come up with the right prompt, then receive the information, and then analyze it, you have to really think critically. And so, I think it is about teaching kids how to use it, just like we had to, you know, we had to learn how to use search engines, and be critical about the sources we were just sourcing when we're doing a research paper. You know, there was the other day, I asked ChatGPT to help me slightly revise an email that included dates in the email, and when I reviewed the email, it had changed 2027 to 2037, and so there's, you know, it makes mistakes, and so you have to really, really you know, think critically, review it, and analyze it, so it doesn't again replace the work. But I think I haven't seen products that are teaching those skills; someone's building it and working on it.

Gina Faulk

Good opportunity out there.

Rich Portelance

Well, I'm going to just let everybody know we only have a couple of minutes left. If you have a question, please submit it.

Audience Questions

Rich Portelance

We have a couple of questions in the queue. Mike, this one's for you. If you could actually answer George in the chat, that would be great.

There was a question here from Nicole, and I'm going to just ask it online or out loud here. Are there any recommendations for how to present standards in published content? For example, our content is lined up to Pennsylvania's early childhood standards, but we've sold plans in 48 other states. Can we do the crosswalk on our end? Or we can do the crosswalk, but how can we market to customers out of state when our plans specifically list PA standards? I’m going to guess Gina for you, okay.

Gina Faulk

I'm reading the question again. So it sounds like the actual proof that it meets standards is just for Pennsylvania right now. Yeah, I would suggest crosswalking it and showing, and that's something we can help with, or it sounds like you can do it in-house, but to show that not only does it meet the Pennsylvania early childhood, but it also meets the Florida early childhood, is probably going to be something that's going to be asked for eventually.

And then part of your question was, “How can we market the customers out of state?” Yeah, I think that you would need to show proof eventually. If it's for an adoption or an RFP (request for proposal) someone's going to ask for it eventually.

Rich Portelance

Would that be through something like the COI (Community of Inquiry)?

Gina Faulk

Yes. You know, either a company like EdGate could help, where we have an iframe that actually the teacher can pull up and see your content and how it aligns to Pennsylvania, but then there's a drop-down menu that would then roll up to Florida, and you can show reports on how your material aligns to the Early Childhood standards in Florida. So it's something that is in the power of the teachers on your website to actually go see those reports. It's very useful, so rather than taking up your salesperson's time or your marketing team, you can actually just publish it right on your website so the teacher can pull it up.

Rich Portelance

Excellent, excellent. Well, thank you.

Closing Thoughts

Rich Portelance

We're going to wrap this up, we're going to take the people that have submitted questions, and our marketing person is going to draw a name, and then we'll get in touch with you via email for the winner of the mug, so there'll be a mug sent out to some lucky person who submitted a question.

I want to thank our wonderful panel today, Will Gordon from BOOKR, Michael Campbell from Advancing Global EDU, and of course, Gina Faulk from EdGate. Thank you all for your time today, your great insights, and hopefully, the audience got a lot of positive and exciting information. Any last thoughts from any of you guys before we wrap it?

Will Gordon

Yeah, thanks so much. I feel like we could keep talking. I feel like there's a lot I could learn from Mike and Gina, so hopefully we’ll keep this conversation going offline.

Gina Faulk

Definitely.

Mike Campbell

Yeah, it was a great conversation. I always enjoy talking with Gina, and great to hear from you, Will. It sounds like we've got lots to chat about.

Rich Portelance

Agreed, agreed. And Gina?

Gina Faulk

No, yeah, I was gonna say, Will, it sounds like you need to get your materials translated to many languages after this.

Will Gordon

Yeah, Arabic is on the list. Yeah.

Gina Faulk

Okay, great talking to you.

Mike Campbell

Thank you.

Rich Portelance

Thank you, everyone. Take care now.

Gina Faulk

Alright, bye.

Webinar Summary & Transcript - Taking It Further: Thriving Amid Uncertainty: Manage Adoptions and Win Contracts

bford — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:45:06 +0000

Webinar Summary & Transcript - Taking It Further: Thriving Amid Uncertainty: Manage Adoptions and Win Contracts bford Thu, 06/25/2026 - 07:45

Webinar Summary & Transcript

Curriculum Adoption

Standards Alignment

High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM)

Instructional Materials

Multi-State Standards Management

Summary

This webinar builds on a prior discussion by exploring how evolving state policies, procurement models, and emerging technologies are reshaping curriculum adoption and vendor success in K–12 education. The panel brings together perspectives from state-level organizations, district leadership, and industry practitioners to examine how education stakeholders are navigating increasing complexity.

A central theme throughout the discussion is the shifting role of states in guiding curriculum and edtech adoption. Panelists describe how states are becoming more active in providing funding, issuing guidance, creating evaluation tools, and publishing data to support district decision-making. At the same time, local control remains a defining feature, resulting in hybrid models where state recommendations and district autonomy coexist.

The conversation also highlights the growing importance of alignment, both in terms of standards and broader policy expectations. Vendors are expected to align not only to academic standards but also to emerging requirements around data privacy, interoperability, AI usage, and cybersecurity. The ability to demonstrate impact, provide transparent data, and support implementation at the classroom level is increasingly critical for success.

Finally, the panel explores the rapid rise of AI, cybersecurity concerns, and workforce readiness initiatives. States and districts are actively developing frameworks and policies in these areas, creating both opportunities and challenges for vendors. The discussion concludes that success in this evolving landscape requires continuous awareness of policy shifts, deeper partnerships with districts, and a strong focus on outcomes rather than product features.

Key Takeaways

States are playing a more active role in guiding curriculum and edtech adoption through tools, data, and policy frameworks.
Most states operate within hybrid models that balance state guidance with district-level decision-making.
Vendors must prioritize student outcomes and implementation support over product features in their messaging.
Alignment now extends beyond standards to include data privacy, interoperability, and policy compliance.
AI has quickly become a top priority at the state level, surpassing cybersecurity in many cases.
Districts are increasingly scrutinizing vendors for data privacy agreements and cybersecurity readiness.
Professional development, specifically sustained, job-embedded training, is critical for successful implementation.
Staying current with rapidly changing state policies and frameworks is essential for vendor success.

Topics Covered

State vs. local control in curriculum and edtech adoption
Procurement models and vendor strategies in a fragmented landscape
Standards alignment and interoperability
AI adoption, literacy frameworks, and policy implications
Cybersecurity requirements and district-level challenges
Career and technical education (CTE) and workforce readiness trends
Vendor transparency, data use, and alignment reporting
The role of associations and consortia in influencing adoption decisions

Featured Speakers

Rich Portelance

Host, EdGate Powers Webinar Series

Gina Faulk

General Manager, EdGate

Ji Soo Song

Director of Products & Initiatives, SETDA

Jill Pierce

Executive Director, TETA

Themes

The Evolving Role of States in Adoption Decisions

States are increasingly moving beyond passive funding roles to actively shaping curriculum and edtech adoption. They are providing guidance, developing evaluation tools, and publishing data to support district decision-making. However, local control remains strong, resulting in hybrid systems that vary widely across states.

Notable Insight

“States have become a lot more hands-on… creating tools so districts can more carefully evaluate impact on student outcomes.”

Key Questions Explored

How are states influencing curriculum adoption decisions today?
What does “local control” actually look like across different states?
How can districts balance state guidance with local needs?

Navigating a Fragmented Procurement Landscape

Procurement processes differ significantly across states and districts, requiring vendors to adapt their strategies. Panelists emphasize the importance of understanding local context, aligning to district priorities, and focusing on outcomes rather than features. Implementation time, teacher usability, and professional development are critical factors in adoption success.

Notable Insight

“You’ve got to lead with your outcomes, not features… tell me what that does and how long it takes a student to see growth.”

Key Questions Explored

How can vendors align their offerings to real district needs?
What role do implementation and teacher usability play in adoption decisions?
How can districts leverage shared contracts and consortia?

AI, Cybersecurity, and the Future of EdTech Requirements

AI has rapidly emerged as a top priority for states, with many developing guidance and literacy frameworks. At the same time, cybersecurity and data privacy remain critical concerns. Vendors are expected to demonstrate compliance, ensure human oversight in AI use, and support districts with meaningful professional development.

Notable Insight

“AI is now the number one priority… more than 30 states have released some level of guidance.”

Key Questions Explored

How are states approaching AI literacy and policy development?
What cybersecurity expectations are districts placing on vendors?
How can vendors support sustained capacity building for educators?

What This Means for Education Leaders

For education leaders, this discussion underscores the increasing complexity of decision-making in curriculum and edtech adoption. Leaders must navigate a landscape shaped by evolving state policies, local priorities, and rapid technological change.

Strategically, this means placing greater emphasis on alignment—not just to standards, but to broader frameworks around data privacy, AI, and interoperability. Leaders must also ensure that procurement decisions are grounded in evidence of impact and supported by strong implementation plans.

Operationally, professional development emerges as a critical priority. As new technologies like AI are introduced, sustained, job-embedded training is essential to ensure effective use in classrooms. Additionally, collaboration across districts and engagement with trusted organizations can help leaders stay informed and make more confident decisions

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How are states influencing edtech and curriculum adoption today?

A: States are increasingly providing guidance, tools, and data to support district decisions, while still allowing for local control in final selections.

Q: What do districts prioritize when evaluating vendors?

A: Districts focus on student outcomes, ease of implementation, teacher usability, and alignment with standards and policies rather than just product features.

Q: How is AI impacting K–12 education right now?

A: AI has become a top state priority, with many states issuing guidance and beginning to develop AI literacy frameworks for schools.

Q: What cybersecurity expectations do vendors need to meet?

A: Vendors are expected to comply with data privacy laws, sign data privacy agreements, and demonstrate strong cybersecurity practices and training.

Q: How are states changing K–12 curriculum and edtech adoption?

A: States are taking a more active role in K–12 curriculum and edtech adoption by providing guidance, evaluation tools, AI and cybersecurity frameworks, and implementation support while preserving district decision-making and emphasizing student outcomes, standards alignment, and evidence-based procurement.

Featured Quotes

“You’ve got to lead with your outcomes, not features… tell me what that does and how long it takes a student to see growth.”

Full Webinar Transcript

The following transcript has been edited for readability. Timestamps have been removed and minor transcription errors corrected. Speaker comments and context have been preserved.

Opening Remarks

Rich Portelance

Hi everyone. Thank you for joining us for Thriving Amid Uncertainty Part Two. We're talking about state strategies, vendor success, and the future of curriculum adoptions. Today, we're really pleased to bring back two of our guests, Ji Soo Song from SETDA (State Educational Technology Directors Association) and Jill Pierce from TETA (Tennessee Educational Technology Association). And we're also going to be joined by Gina Faulk from EdGate today. We'll be starting up in just a few minutes. So hang tight as the rest of our audience comes in. We'll start up at two minutes after the hour. So, just hang tight.

And before we get started, I want to mention to everyone that I'm excited to announce that in December, mark your calendars for December 17th, 2025, we will be talking about redefining the standards and skills for the future, what it means to have a “Portrait of a Graduate”, what that framework entails, and how that's shaping the next generation of ST state standards. We'll be joined by Hillary Rinaldi, who was with us last December as well. And we'll have some other exciting guests on that next webinar. So stay tuned, and please mark your calendars. It should be an exciting conversation.

And now we're going to get going with today's conversation, which is really a deeper dive into what we talked about last month: thriving amid uncertainty, what state strategies look like, vendor success, and the future of curriculum adoptions. Joining us today are Ji Soo Song, Jill Pierce, and Gina Faulk from EdGate. They will be sharing with us how leading publishers and edtech companies are using the ExACT platform to advance standards management, to align content, to streamline workflows, and to stay ahead of the changing state requirements, as well as, you know, how edtech is changing with AI cybersecurity, CTE, and data privacy.

We have a lot to cover today, so I'm going to ask each of our guests to introduce themselves quickly, and then we'll dive right into some of the questions. Why don't we start with Jill Pierce, and then we'll go to Ji Soo, and then to Gina.

Jill Pierce

Good afternoon. Thanks, Rich. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I’m Jill Pierce, and I'm the executive director of the Tennessee Education Technology Association (TETA). It's an organization that has been around for 30 years. We work with edtech in K-12 schools and higher ed. The organization works a lot in all the areas you just mentioned. We're also one of the premier providers for training and working with our Superintendents Association.

Just a little bit about me, it's pretty easy to tell I'm from the South. My accent pretty well gives me away, but I was also a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in a school district for 30 years. So, that's it. I'll take it back to you, Rich.

Rich Portelance

Well, thank you very much. Ji Soo?

Ji Soo Song

All right. Thanks for inviting me to speak again today to this audience. I’m Ji Soo, and I’m the director of projects and initiatives at SETDA (State Educational Technology Directors Association), and formerly with the Office of Educational Technology at the US Department of Education. If you're unfamiliar with SETDA, we're a professional association that represents state edtech and digital learning leaders from roughly around 40 member states, as well as affiliate and corporate member organizations that share our mission. And TETA is one of our affiliate members, as well.

We regularly convene our members to exchange promising practices when it comes to edtech policy development and implementation. We also conduct research and advocacy on behalf of our members. We also led the development of the 2024 national edtech plan. So happy to be here today.

Rich Portelance

Thank you. And Gina?

Gina Faulk

Hi, I'm Gina Faulk. I'm the general manager here at EdGate. I am mostly focusing on business development and partnerships, and I have the pleasure of being able to work with many of our clients. Our clients include edtech companies, publishers, both traditional print publishers as well as online publishers, nonprofit organizations, and states as well.

So, the crux of what we do here at EdGate, and I should note that we've been around for 27 years now, is that we focus on aligning content to standards. We also have a huge bank of standards that we license out to companies. So, we're at over, I think, close to 7 million standards today. So, those are all academic standards, the learning outcomes that teachers use in the classroom. We've got all kinds of tools, and we'll touch on some of those today to help companies get their content aligned to standards.

Rich Portelance

Thank you. And as always, I'm Richard Porterance. I'm your host today, and excited to have these exceptional panelists with us to cover some of the topics. And just a point of note, if you're on the call, if you have a question, please throw it into the Q&A box. We'll get to that at the end unless it's relevant at the moment, where we can fit it in and I'll try to ask the question. But please do submit your questions. We always get to them one way or another, and you know we appreciate the feedback.

Discussion

Rich Portelance

So, we're going to get started with Ji Soo. The last time that we spoke, you highlighted how states are increasingly taking the lead in guiding adoption decisions. So Jill, how does that look on the ground in Tennessee specifically? Are you seeing unevenness across the districts as well?

Jill Pierce

It depends. I think when you talk about guiding initiatives, like on curriculum specifically, Tennessee's is unique. I think Oklahoma and we have a couple of options. So, every five to seven years, the state sends out a curriculum based on a particular subject. So, it may be based on the math standards, those kinds of things. And then the district can do an evaluation. They'll have approved four to five different vendors for that particular curriculum. Let's just say reading is one of those, and then that district will go and evaluate those choices that the states already said are aligned to our curriculum and to our state standards.

Tennessee has a rule that a district can formally request an alternative, which is kind of unique if those things from the state to buy some other type of curriculum. So, as we start looking, when you talk about professional learning alignment, you know, states are increasingly linking their curriculum adoption with their professional development, promoting curriculum-based learning, and integrating both the content knowledge and the teaching strategies all in one.

So, basically, in Tennessee, we're seeing the same things that a lot of others, but the district also with the state, can decide not to do that curriculum. We see that a lot in the math because they don't think math changes a lot. So they may keep the same adoption and not spend that money on that particular thing. So, it really behooves, and I hate even using that word, a vendor to really look at what their particular curriculum or their product provides for that district that would be different, that would help them doing their strategies.

Rich Portelance

Thank you for that. I'm going to point this next one at Ji Soo. How have states evolved their role in guiding curriculum for edtech adoption?

Ji Soo Song

I wish Mindy Fiscus from the last webinar was here because she would definitely know the best as the resident state leader on the previous panel. But from my perspective, right, they've become a lot more hands-on as state attrition agencies, becoming more than just a body that grant funds pass through, right? They're producing guidance on what districts should be looking for. They're creating tools so that districts are able to more carefully evaluate the impact of their tools on student outcomes. They're publishing open data to help districts guide some of their decisions as well.

And you can actually see some examples of some of those roles that states are playing in the final section of SETDA's edtech procurement guide, which you can find on https://setda.info/edtechprocurementguide. Hopefully, that URL is simple enough that folks can just type it in all lowercase. So, we highlight actions from Connecticut, from Oregon, from Illinois, around the stuff that they've been doing as the agencies to create different tools, provide guidance and publish data to help those district-level decisions.

Rich Portelance

And Jill, do you see local leaders and biases that are affecting these adoption decisions?

Jill Pierce

Sure. The unfortunate thing for a lot of us, bias plays in everything. So, when you see some district leaders will favor tools they've used before, and they'll favor strong vendor relationships. I think that plays into some of that. Also, sometimes, you got to be very careful because it can lead into fragmented adoptions, and under-utilized software and things like that if they're if they if they do have a bias for those particular things. I'm not saying necessarily they're bad, but you always have to weigh your biases against what's best for that student in that district when you're talking about spending the money. So, as long as they keep that in the front of them, and the vendor uses those languages, too, it's about the student; a lot of times, you can overcome those.

I do think, though, when we have like surges like we've just had with the ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funding surge, a lot of districts went ahead and bought some things. They were trying to do what's best for the student, but maybe they had not spent the time that you would usually see with a typical adoption, because the funds had to be spent within this particular time. Some districts did a really good job with that. So when you start thinking about bias, it's always about how it's going to affect that student. And so I do think you've got to keep those things in the front. You also need to look at visibility and your data gaps with that too. Bias can also if you don't have the right data on the information for what you're buying, that's a biggie, because a lot of people are going to say, “Where's your data for buying this?” So, I do think that another thing is making sure that the vendor and the person who's leading the vision in the district is also pushing the data that comes from buying that particular curriculum or product when they start looking at that in the edtech brown.

Rich Portelance

Okay. And are you seeing, and maybe you're not, but Ji Soo does, so this is an open question. Are there emergency state frameworks or policies that are helping districts navigate these shifts?

Jill Pierce

Well, I was just going to say, SETDA has a state edtech trends framework that they send out that helps districts and states look at. And that's an annual report that comes out, and it has like the key priorities. I think this year is about AI adoption, cybersecurity, and digital citizenship, which are all important. I'll say that before we get into the others. I'll let Ji Soo take the others, but being a person formerly from a district and a person who works with districts all over the state, that's a huge one to use to their advantage. And I'll let Ji Soo talk about a couple of the others.

Ji Soo Song

Yeah, thanks so much for shouting out the trench report. Yeah, we just published that update a couple of weeks ago, the 2025 survey. So, you can take a look at that on the SETDA website. As far as other frameworks go, I would definitely point to the five edtech quality indicators that we talked about during our last time; the safe, evidence-based, inclusive, usable, and interoperable indicators that we're trying to push vendors to use as they describe their products, as well as states to look for these indicators as they're coordinating with vendors. So, I definitely encourage folks to check out that framework, which should be openly licensed for folks to use that language.

Really, the goal of these indicators is to give states and districts some shared language again as they vet different tools before going into contracting. So, I think familiarizing yourself with that framework will be to your advantage.

Gina Faulk

And then I'll just jump in and say, Rich, that at EdGate, we also have a whole page dedicated to making everyone aware of upcoming standards. So, we have a feed constantly running every week, showing what's changed, and that includes future standards that are not even implemented yet. So, we're giving visibility into the standards that have changed in New Jersey for math. So, if you want them, here they are. There are links we can provide that provide that information. But I can put that link in the chat, but we are looking out for the next couple of years and feeding in all of those future standards frameworks.

Rich Portelance

And that's part of the resource section of the website, correct?

Gina Faulk

Yes. Yes.

Jill Pierce

Rich, I would add one other thing. Any person needs to also look at state-level guidance, because there are a lot of new laws going into effect and some new frameworks that the each state may implement.

So, like, and I'll use AI because that's the big subject right now. You may want to look and see if there's state-level guidance on AI and device use because that's a new one. We just talked about that in a meeting Ji Soo and I were in just recently, and because there are a lot of new things. So, if you want to be on top of things, you also need to know what the state-level guidance is on those particular things, too, before you go in and talk to a district. That's being very proactive to make sure that you've got those answers before they're asked of you.

Rich Portelance

No, that makes a lot of sense. And I do have to apologize because I forgot to announce at the beginning that Mindy Fiscus from Illinois, who was with us for the first conversation, wasn't able to make it back today. So, we wish her well, and I'm sure we're going to see her again in the future. But, she added a great deal of interest because Indiana handles things slightly differently than Tennessee, and so there was a nice juxtaposition of different states handling some of these adoptions in unique ways.

But, you know, we are talking about where the states fall in terms of a spectrum of centralized versus decentralized control. Ji Soo, do you have, you know, SETDA is a broader organization that influences many states. Do you see some differences or pockets that are starting to build up as some of this decentralization is occurring?

Ji Soo Song

So, I mentioned this during last month's webinar, part one, but yeah, I kind of raised an eyebrow when someone tells me that their state is unique because they're a local control state. All states are local control to some degree, right? Although some may be more than others, right? It's also very context-specific. So, it's hard to categorize this group of states as being centralized and this group of states as being decentralized, right? Some states might do some more centralized purchasing if they have to budget for it or have a specific charge from their legislature or governor. For example, we saw that during the pandemic, Mississippi led some bulk purchasing of devices and laptops for districts, and configured them centrally so that they were ready to deploy right away with their districts with the right software and the security features, right? So, it's really hard to sort of categorize one state as being one or the other. All states are locally controlled to some degree, and there are different political contexts that play into it as well.

Rich Portelance

Let's kick over a little bit to adoptions in a fragmented environment. We've heard that procurement looks very different from one state to another, right, Jill? Tennessee has the local choice, but with state guidance, and many states are involved in evolving similar hybrid models.

How should vendors navigate it? So, you know, trying to get a little bit more specific about this topic of decentralized versus centralized. Jill, what advice do you have for aligning vendor pitches to real district needs rather than focusing on just the features?

Jill Pierce

Well, one, I think it's going to be very important. I always say Tennessee is a hybrid, but I agree with Ji Soo. I think most states are hybrid. Even with some states, certain things are centralized, certain things the state may say, "Hey, here's your choices. Pick one." But they've narrowed it down for you. In some cases, they're like, "Okay, as long as it has these indicators, you pick what you want, and then you've got some free choice there." And I think that's the way it is with most states, especially in the edtech realm.

The big thing is making sure that you balance your approach, because depending on if it's something that the state says, "We recommend these nine vendors." Well, the district's still going to have to go through a process at which one fits their best needs for that student, or for that admin product that's going to save them time, because at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. But I think you got to lead with your outcomes, not features. So, in that particular case, if I've got a product, it's about student outcomes. Then basically, I don't want it to throw features at me. I want them to tell me what that does and how long it takes a student to see growth.

One of the big questions that a lot of vendors forget to ask is how long it takes to implement and to give them teacher support? How long does it take a teacher to implement that from there? Because here's the deal. It may be a great product, and it does great student outcomes, but if it is very convoluted for a teacher to use, they're not going to use it in their classroom. And so you've got to make sure that you're addressing those things up front. How long is it going to take us to implement? When a teacher's trained, how long is it going to be to train? So, you want to do that.

You also need to understand your local context. So you want to make sure you know the district goes. I think in the last webinar, I talked about, you know, doing a little research before you talk to districts, to say, have they done a recent adoption? Is this product going to be something they already have? Well, chances are, you may be wasting your time unless you can come in and say, "Why would you need to change at this point?" And a lot of things with rural districts, they may also prioritize offline access or low-bandwidth tools for their students who are in rural areas. I'm in a rural area of Tennessee, and even with the great things that have happened with broadband getting to rural households, there are still a lot of households that don't have it. So, being able to give that student options is one of the things, and again, tools that will work with existing platforms. There are a lot of districts that are using single sign-on platforms. So being able to answer those questions and being able to integrate with their student management system. So, it's not going to be a lot of tasks to get that up and running in time.

Again, I'm talking specifically about edtech tools, providing your evidence, and then what that professional learning is. I know it's a little long, but a lot of those things make a big difference when you're walking in the door that you can answer before, so that you can even get an audience with a district about certain things like that.

Rich Portelance

Okay. So, you know, when you're looking at those rural districts and figuring out how to use the tools, on the other side of it, how can they leverage consortia to strengthen their procurement process? Are there things that they can do from that angle?

Jill Pierce

In Tennessee, it's a little tougher. A lot of times, that's done through just several districts. We have, this is unique to Tennessee, we actually have a law that if a district does an RFP (request for proposal), they have everything listed on that, and they award it, as long as they've got language on the back end that other districts can buy off of it and the awarded vendor says yes, it basically becomes like a state contract and other districts can buy off of it. That was put in years ago when I was still a CTO. So, you know, knowing about laws that can help you as a vendor. That would be one for rural districts. A lot of us would get together, and one of us would do an RFP on a product that we want after we did an evaluation, and then other districts would buy off of it. There are a lot of states that have specific laws by that, and a lot of times you can find out very easily by checking, you know, looking at the district and seeing if other people are buying. A lot of those a lot of great vendors take advantage of those particular laws that are on the books to help make it easy for districts, because we all have rules that we have to follow. There are federal guidelines on purchasing; there's a certain amount that has to be done as an RFP. So, anything that helps with that process is going to be beneficial even for rural.

I mean, and I'm not just talking rural. I mean, you've got small city systems too that have to take advantage of that because they don't have the buying power. But also sharing evaluations. And I do think it's important that if you have a really great story with the district on outcomes and those kinds of things, presenting in front of other districts with that district holds real value to other districts. It's great. You can come to me as a vendor and talk, but at the end of the day, if you bring me another district that I respect because they're doing a good job and they're using your product, and they can talk about it, that gives a big push. That's a very good way to share how that product's doing well.

Rich Portelance

So, if we take the vendor side, and you're looking at trying to become interoperable, Gina, what are you seeing from the publisher side in terms of what those edtech providers are doing to improve the alignment quality, so they can be interoperable?

Gina Faulk

EdGate has always actually, when we're doing alignments from content to standards, we've always provided that data at the end. It's open. We don't lock our clients into a GUID. We let them see the text of the standard. So, we've always done that. So, if they choose to walk away and go use that alignment in the future, they can do that.

But we also belong to the 1EdTech consortium. So we are a member of 1EdTech. So when we are aligning content to standards, we can also provide our clients with the 1EdTech case IDs. Those are the interoperable identifiers. So, each of those identifiers stands for a specific standard across the states, so that if they want to sell to a specific district that's using an LMS, and they're using those case IDs, that will be understandable. So, it used to be that you could standards would all have different GUIDs or IDs. So, an LMS wouldn't necessarily understand that ID. So, by using these case IDs, it allows for interoperability across the board. So, that's one of the main things that EdGate has been doing. And of course, not locking in our clients to a GUID that's not understandable once it leaves our system.

Rich Portelance

Okay. Very good. Thank you for talking about that. I want to talk a little bit about AI, cybersecurity, and career readiness. We touched on that in the last webinar, and it was a topic that I think there was a lot more exploration to do.

Ji Soo, are AI literacy frameworks emerging nationally, and how should vendors support them?

Ji Soo Song

Yeah. So, I'm going to start off with the data from the state attempt survey that Jill mentioned. We published that a couple of weeks ago, and a question that we ask every year is “What is the number one priority and what is the number one initiative at the state education agency?”

It used to be cybersecurity for the last three years. Now, it's AI, right, and more than 30 states have released some level of guidance for AI use and building AI literacy. Our colleagues over at the Center for Democracy and Technology has conducted an analysis of these guidance documents, and it seems to be a lot of focus on you know what are the promising approaches with AI and K12 education, what are the potential risks, and some emphasis on human oversight of AI-generated outputs, right.

And this moment definitely feels, you know, different from other innovations like VR (Virtual Reality), AR (Augmented Reality), XR (Extended Reality), and blockchain, with how fast you know the federal and state governments are moving in this space. The Department of Education has signaled flexibilities, and even some of their grant programs, to focus on AI literacy. And a lot of different organizations are coming up with their AI literacy competency frameworks. You can think about the TeachAI framework or the Digital Promise framework, right? And there are proposals up on the hill to allow states to define formal academic standards in AI literacy. So, we'll likely, you know, see additional momentum in the next few years, continuing to refine these competencies, and maybe even adopt them at the state level. But as you all know, standards updates in any state are a very slow-moving process. So, we'll have to see how fast that gets done.

So, going back to your question, what can vendors do? Really, partner with districts in the necessary capacity building. We're about to release some research in the coming weeks that shows that a lot of AI-related professional development is just tool operations training, right? It's one and done. I was a formal classroom education educator myself. Usually, it's like a 30-minute thing before the school day starts or after the school day ends, right? So, how might vendors support districts in creating some sustained job-embedded opportunities for educators to build their knowledge about AI products, AI literacy skills, and how they can support their instructional goals? I think that sort of baseline capacity building should be the number one support that vendors can provide to educators at this moment.

Rich Portelance

Excellent, and Jill, anything specific to Tennessee in terms of AI adoption at the district level? As Ji Soo said, it's probably going to take a little while, but you guys have got to be thinking about it.

Jill Pierce

Well, we do have a state law that was put in effect, and we're starting to see those policies come up. The biggest thing with AI that is one of the biggest concerns from an educator standpoint, the first thing you hear is how that AI is going to affect their current process of education, and what they do with their work. So, a lot of teachers are concerned with that. So, I do think the biggest thing for a lot of that is to make sure that we're training teachers.

Looking at professional development, I know we've been working with our Superintendent’s Association and with school leaders on how important it is for teachers to understand how AI works. A lot of schools are going and buying plagiarism detection tools. The problem is that with a lot of those, it's going to show up as AI-positive in most of the assignments. Even if you're not using AI. We're actively working with some schools. I do think that being able to answer how your AI works in your product, what those things are, and knowing if the district has an AI policy to see how stringent they are, because districts have to follow state law, but here in Tennessee, and what we're seeing in other states, it's not so strict that they can't use it.

The other thing is that we have a lot of products that they may already have adopted, that if they're adding AI to it and it's just becoming part of that daily thing, we have to know. One of the things that I think is very important is asking vendors to make sure that if they add AI to an existing product or to a product add-on, that they're following the federal guidelines like FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), and that they can sign a digital privacy agreement with their AI enhancement. So, I do think that those are kind of things that we'll see.

I don't think there's a state right now that doesn't have some type of state law on AI, but it is far-reaching, because everything's slow-going. And as we see this technology advance, it's going to be even more important that we're being smart about it, and I think the biggest area for a lot of us is going to be the cybersecurity area. I think that's where a lot of schools have questions about the AI. Is it following federal guidelines? Is it following state guidelines? And how secure is that? Is that going to make problems with cybersecurity on my network?

Rich Portelance

Well, we're going to get to cybersecurity in a second. I do want to ask this. I think this is actually a really good question. Gina, because we have a lot of discussions internally about AI being used within the ExACT product. I know a lot of vendors are starting to apply AI, and there's speculation as to, you know, the level and the degree to which people are applying it. How is it being used in the standards alignment process and content tagging, and how does that help publishers and vendors respond faster to policy changes or framework changes?

Gina Faulk

Yeah. So far at EdGate, what we've been doing is that we've been using AI in a couple of different ways. One of the ways is that we developed this tool quite a few years ago, and it relies on some AI. It's basically a suggestion tool. So, you can load up your metadata into the EdGate platform, and our system will evaluate the metadata automatically, then suggest the most applicable concepts or standards to be applied to that piece of content. Whether that's a lesson, or a video, or whatever it might be. It's all based on the metadata.

Then, the other way we're starting to use it is with the comparisons and the analysis between state or international standards. So, say if you want to compare the Texas standards to Australian standards for some reason, maybe you want to branch out and sell internationally. Our system will do an analysis that is basically a semantic comparison, but it compares those two sets of standards, and it will show you your gaps and where you might need to build more content in order to meet those gaps. So, we are starting to use it within our own products.

The other thing I wanted to comment on was that sometimes we do contracts for states. Whether that might be a third-party review, for instance. There are several states that require a third-party review of how the content meets the standards. But, in looking at some of the contracts more closely and the conditions that you must work under for some of the states, I have noticed things, like Jill was saying, about the standards requirements. So, some of the standards that you might need to meet are the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) standards, or the ISO/IEC (International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission) standards. Of course, there's language around how any confidential information used cannot be fed into generative AI, even if it's anonymized.

The other things I noticed in looking at the state contracts were that there still has to be human oversight and checks for bias. One state requires quarterly training around AI. Language about the security of generative AI and human oversight is very important, along with ensuring that the output is accurate and free of bias. And one thing that kind of made me smile a little bit was just like, when you use AI, you cannot use AI in decision-making. So, sort of like, oh, what does that mean? Contractors shall not allow generative AI to make decisions or judgments in performance of the contract. It's like, wow, we've gotten that far that you can't let it do that. That makes sense. But yeah, we're seeing it all over the place. Whether that's thinking about our own products, how we're using AI, how we'll be securing the content, looking at state contracts, and what we need to know when we're working on a state contract.

So, it all makes sense, but I think we're going to see more and more of that as we see states requiring third-party reviews and having to make sure that our team is up on all of the language and the training to do those reviews.

Jill Pierce

Rich, if I may. I'm sorry. I just wanted to say there are a couple of emerging things that Cosen has, like a general AI readiness checklist that is being used by districts, kind of like for AI integration. So that's a good way to start, to look if you fall within that checklist as far as that goes. And then also looking at districts that are now including AI policy alignment, data privacy compliance appliance, and their procurement reviews. So, most of that stuff is public. With those particular things, those are good ways to get ahead of the game if you're looking at a new product and you have generative AI in your product.

Rich Portelance

Jill, before you mentioned cybersecurity, and, you know, kind of going hand-in-hand, it was a precursor to AI to some extent, but it doesn't go away, right? Cybersecurity is something that is ever-present now. There are certainly different requirements in place at the district, state, and national levels.

So I'm curious, Ji Soo, on the national level, are there any initiatives, such as FCC (Federal Communications Commission) pilots, that are helping states address cybersecurity and education at this point?

Ji Soo Song

Right, so, in the previous administration, the FCC allowed some flexibilities to allow districts to pilot some cybersecurity supports with E-Rate funds, right? That typically funds school connectivity initiatives, but they allow some flexibility towards cybersecurity as well. I know the FCC removed off-campus related flexibilities last week, but so far, the cybersecurity pilot seems to be protected. But we'll have to see how this goes. But with any sort of pilot, there's the inevitable question around, like when the pilot ends, what's next, right? So we published a report earlier this year called the Universal Connectivity Imperative with our members, and we asked federal leaders to at least commit to carefully examining the impact of that cybersecurity pilot in the future, so that sustained support can be determined thereafter.

We also reemphasized that to Congress when the Universal Service Fund Working Group opened up comments around the future of E-Rate and the Universal Service Fund. So, we'll have to keep up on how this work sort of evolves over the next several years.

Rich Portelance

And Jill, how are districts balancing cybersecurity needs with some of the limited budget?

Jill Pierce

I think the first thing is that districts are looking at two things now. Typically, when they're purchasing something, you have the service agreement, which has all of your commercial language in it. And then districts are also making sure that a vendor can sign a data privacy agreement. And a lot of that has to do with, it's outside of that commercial language, where the data rests, what do you do inside if there's a breach, those kinds of things. It's more preventative in the sense that it helps if something does happen, that they have some recourse there.

The other thing that I think that we're seeing with a lot of districts is that they're coming together and talking about things they can do as a whole. Not necessarily as far as purchase, but the questions they ask. So, they're helping each other. Like just yesterday, I had some districts, you know, Tennessee is kind of a wide state. We're kind of broken down into three regions. We have monthly meetings, and they talk about things in cybersecurity. So, being able to offer training as a district, then districts getting together to share ideas and things that they're using that are inexpensive, and things that maybe they already have available to them, but they didn't know how to implement, and using the knowledge from another district to do that. So we're seeing a lot of that happening.

We're also including our vendors. So, a lot of our vendors that come to those meetings, they'll sit down, and they can provide some of their guidance there too, because you know, school districts in a lot of cases do not have the personnel to do all the cybersecurity stuff that they need. And we talk a lot about small and rural districts, but it's really everywhere. I mean, it's a very competitive industry. It's very hard to keep people in that K-12 environment. So, we have to have ways that we can communicate and do that. And so, depending on vendors to bring their expertise to the table and things that we can do from there is a big thing.

But, I think the biggest thing we've seen in Tennessee, and that I've also helped a couple of other states with, is this type of community training about things that maybe you didn't know that you need to know on cybersecurity, and then using those vendors for information and for guidance where they have bigger pockets than that district does.

Rich Portelance

Okay. Thank you very much. It kind of leads me into, you know, conversations about cybersecurity advances and becoming more mature. What we're doing in terms of, you know, keeping on technology trends, CTE coding, and creativity tools, there also have to be certain frameworks.

Ji Soo, are states embedding career readiness and digital literacy into their new frameworks, or what's happening there?

Ji Soo Song

Yeah, we see a lot more focus on workforce readiness, I think, happening at the state level. Actually, in the State Edtech Trends Report that we published a couple of weeks ago, we highlighted one of those states, Alabama, with its access program. Typically, Korean technical education was offered for in-person only at the state, but with increased sort of connectivity across the state, Alabama has really been trying to break some old barriers. So, the access program now offers 23 CTE courses with six fully virtual pathways that are designed with the University of Alabama and some industry partners over there, and that's been able to successfully reduce the cost for a lot of rural students who may have had to travel to some centralized tech centers to access this coursework. We were talking to the program director over there, and it seems like the program currently serves around 28,000 students in the state, but the state is committing to expanding the budget to support this program. So, yes, to answer your question, we see a trend towards workforce readiness and career readiness initiatives at the state level.

Rich Portelance

Okay. Jill, I'm going to change the question here, and if you can't answer, it's okay. We can try to get to it later, but Joyce Whippy, who's on the webinar, asked a question in the Q&A, and it seems to fit. And I'm not sure if you have the answer, maybe Ji Soo does, but she asked if we could address state-level educational services agencies like the BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services), the ESCs (Educational Service Centers), IUs (Intermediate Units), etc., in terms of procurement process, alignments, and implementation. Any help there?

Jill Pierce

The problem is that in states like Tennessee, we don't have both these or district offices. A lot of states don't. Some states do. You take states like where Mindy Fiscus is at, they actually have an entity that's state employees, but they run their edtech program. So that's very different depending on the state. In New York, they have BOCES, which are regional district offices where they can do some of those things. When you're talking specifically about that, I think a lot of it is… here in Tennessee, it's about us getting the districts together. Like I talked about a while ago, I don't want to repeat myself, but when you start looking at other types of procurement, it's all about utilizing what that particular state has, knowing what those state laws are, and knowing what your caps are on procurement.

So, I'll use Tennessee as an example because I know it well. In most districts in the state, most public school districts in the state of Tennessee, you have to do an RFP if it's over $25,000. So, that's a formal RFP that, if it's in advance of that. Now, if you had a district that already had a contract that they put that language I talked about earlier on there, then that district could buy off of that without doing a formal RFP if it's over that amount. So, it's really important as a vendor to know what the state laws are. It's also good if you've already got it involved there that you make sure that the district, once you’re in there, can put that language in there so other districts can buy off of it. And then looking at also federal cooperative agreements. So, for us, that's what we have to use. There are several federal cooperative agreements that districts can buy off of. I hope that answers Joyce's question, but that's kind of where we fall there.

Rich Portelance

I think that's really helpful. And I'm curious, Gina, from your point of view, I know you're building up CTE standards within the EdGate repository, right? So, there are thousands or millions of CTE standards out there. And you're putting them in because there's more and more demand. Are you seeing things specific to some of these agencies now?

Gina Faulk

Yeah, we did start putting them in years ago. They're really hard to keep up with because they are huge and they are changed all the time. So, it's been the hardest area to keep up with, but one of the things that we've done is we've put many of the CTE updated standards in, and we're able to run standards comparisons against them. So that's how we're currently using them. If a company comes to us and wants us to align their content to standards, they could align to one state and then see across the board how they compare to other states.

But your question, I think, was more about… say it again? How the agencies are approaching them?

Rich Portelance

Yeah. Are some of these agencies coming to groups like EdGate to do alignments for CTE standards today? Are you seeing a trend up to do alignments to CTE standards?

Gina Faulk

There's definitely an interest. It kind of goes up and down in waves, depending on if CTE is the news. Now that it's in the news that there's going to be more funding for CTE, we've gotten a lot more inquiries about CTE. It also seems like people are looking to secure that funding right now, looking for grants, looking for how they can align their content to those standards, or states looking for help and how they can get their CTE in a more manageable state. So, for instance, a lot of those CTE standards might be sitting around in PDFs, or they're outdated. They need to be updated. So, we've heard about organizations looking to digitize them and use them more readily than they're currently able to be used.

Rich Portelance

Okay. All right. Thank you for that. Let's kind of talk a little bit about, you know, how we're going to continue to build trust as the states take control of some of these policies and frameworks. Ji Soo, you know, I know SETDA is an important and influential association. Are there other associations that people should be following or specific publications that you'd recommend to stay current with?

Ji Soo Song

Yeah. And I know Rich, you and I talked about these organizations during our prep call a couple of weeks ago, but I'll shout out, you know, a couple of our partner organizations that do a really good job. Each network plays a unique role, and I think it's good to get acquainted with all of them.

You know the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), right? They convene some local CIOs and CTOs who advise on a lot of local procurement and edtech implementation policy. The Council of Chief State School Officers, it's not just the state chiefs that are part of their membership. Their IMAC group convenes state CIOs and CTOs that work alongside our state edtech directors in providing guidance and advising policy. We also have the seven organizations, including SETDA, that formed the Edtech Quality Collaborative, that have committed to promoting the five tech quality indicators, which are, again, safe, evidence-based, inclusive, usable, and interoperable. And many of those organizations in the Collaborative offer certifications and badges that are aligned to these indicators to help vendors, you know, show that they are, you know, promoting and aligning to these indicators.

So, my recommendation to vendor solutions providers is to engage with, you know, as many networks as possible because we're always in conversation with one another about who we should be on the lookout for. For many of our corporate members, even, were recommendations directly from one of these organizations. So, I think it's good to be, you know, well acquainted with who's who in the association space because again, we're always talking with one another about up-and-coming stars, folks to watch out for, and you know, some innovations that are happening in this space.

Rich Portelance

I think that's really great. You know, especially with the decentralization, having these local alliances is going to be more and more critical to the individuals and to the districts. And if you're in a decision-making process, understanding who those agencies are, if you want to be able to get into specific states or districts, you need to know the consortia.

Back many years ago, I was part of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools Technology Commission (CAIS Technology Commission), and we helped vendors assimilate into the schools and also conducted audits of each school's infrastructure, which was really important. So the schools rely on the agency, and the vendors rely on the agency as that joining force to be able to understand what's going on, and how to apply the technology. So I think we're seeing that same kind of thing today.

Jill, any local organizations or frameworks that carry the most weight in influencing adoption decisions from where you come from?

Jill Pierce

Well, I wouldn't necessarily… I mean, it's very important that organizations are a little self- serving too. Organizations like ours and the Superintendents Association. We work with the data supervisors, and we work with the Principals' Association. All of us are all promoting different areas of education in the state of Tennessee. So, it's very important that we talk about things that work. I do think that with vendors going in knowing which of those associations to be part of and to get information from, if you're in edtech, it would be us. Almost every state has an organization like us, and that's a good way to get involved, to know what's going on, and know what districts are more progressive. A lot of times, when you’re making a decision about vendors, when you're looking, I get that you want to sell to anybody you can, but getting in with the right district that you know is respected, and people know that they are progressive and they use their standards correctly, and they do the right things by students.

A lot of times, you can find those things out. Obviously, Ji Soo already talked about how our organization is aligned with SETDA and CoSN. Knowing who those organizations are nationally aligned with can also be beneficial because you know that they're being progressive in that edtech market. So I do think that those things help because they may not necessarily influence that decision, because a lot of that has to be done properly with RFPs and different things like that. But it does help that vendor to know which organizations maybe to partner with to get their word out, and things like that, to get in front of school districts as far as that, because there's a trust with that organization.

Rich Portelance

Yeah. And Gina, you know, as we're talking about that transparency component, I'm curious with EdGate's ExACT system, you know, are there any kind of reports or things that can be generated that would help a vendor to build more transparent and accurate alignment data so that they can build credibility with states?

Gina Faulk

Yeah, one of the things that we do that I think is very popular and is very helpful is that we're doing the alignment, or our client is doing the alignment using EdGates tools, and then we have something called a correlation user interface. It's basically an iframe that sits on our client's site. So, if you’re the publisher “ABC” of ELA (English Language Arts) content, you would have this iframe sitting on your site so that teachers or decision makers at the district can instantly go in and see how that company's content aligns to standards at any given moment across all states. So, you could be a teacher sitting in California or a teacher sitting in New York, and either way, you're able to pull up the standards alignments in real-time, and that includes, say, a New York standard changed, we're instantly capturing that change, and then their content will automatically realign to that particular standard that's been updated. So, the language might have been slightly tweaked, and we're capturing that. So, that's probably the most transparent way to get your alignments across to your customers. It's just it's already sitting up there ready to go with the most current alignments out there.

Rich Portelance

Thank you, Gina. So, it's good to hear that there are tools addressing some of these changes, and having some reporting that makes sense to allow you to have these better adoptions and to meet the criteria that are being set out.

Closing Thoughts

Rich Portelance

We're running tight on time. So, one of the things I do want to make sure that each of the panelists has a few minutes to just kind of give a synopsis, on, you know, what's the single most important thing that vendors should do differently today and going forward into the future than they would have done maybe six months ago?

So, if you guys are good, let's start with Ji Soo. If you could give us, you know, kind of your thoughts from the seat you sit in at SETDA, of what the most important thing that vendors could do differently, that would be tremendous.

Ji Soo Song

What's the saying? Keep your ear to the ground, right? I think this year, especially when it comes to the edtech and AI policy space, there's been so many changes, and they're all very significant, right? California this week is just about to pass a new AI safety transparency law, right? And more states will probably follow suit, right? So, keeping aware of how these policy shifts might influence the priorities of states and districts that you'll be talking to will be really, you know, important to know that so that they know that you've done your homework, right? I know it's hard. I find it hard, like, I try to set aside like 30 minutes each morning before work starts just to, like, read through some newsletters just so that I'm on top of what the heck is happening. So, it's an uphill battle for sure, but doing your homework around like how priorities are shifting on a real-time basis will come to your advantage so that you're able to speak the same language with the folks that you're talking to, right? When I talk with different partners and potential members of SETDA, you know, if they know the pain points of our members, wow, like you're already like halfway in, right? So, I think that's a really good point. Again, I'm not saying it's easy at all because every day there, every hour, even there's a new piece of legislation being proposed. There's always a new, you know, priority set by the federal and state governments. But, you know, just doing your homework there, I think it will be to your advantage.

Rich Portelance

I would agree 100%. The more educated you can become and keep your ear to the ground, I think that's wonderful advice. Jill, what do you think people can do that's going to be most impactful?

Jill Pierce

Well, I think it goes back to what we said at the beginning, and I agree completely with Ji Soo. One of the biggest issues that we have is vendors going in to talk to districts or state entities, and he used the term, and it's the right thing, “not doing their homework”. And how's that changed in the last 12 months? By a lot, because you need to know what state laws are affecting those districts, what data privacy, what cyber security, and if any standards have changed, because it's moving at the speed of light, and you're not going to be able to answer everything. But I do think that the more you're informed, people hate to waste time, and the more things that you can answer and not have to say, "We need another meeting” for, gives that first impression that you know what you're doing. And I know that's not new. It's really not new, but in this climate, it'll be more respected. So, I do think that if I can answer those questions on the front end to the best thing, and being transparent, I think that holds a lot of water when you're working with districts or with the state entity either way.

Rich Portelance

Amen. Thank you, Jill. Gina Faulk, any thoughts on that?

Gina Faulk

Yeah, I'm back to cybersecurity again. I think every contract we work on, we're seeing something about, you know, has your staff been trained with cybersecurity and handling confidential information? So, have your staff been trained? Has your team implemented adequate cybersecurity frameworks? Be up on all the frameworks that you need to have in place as you talk to your clients, and then, of course, from being at EdGate, I would say probably make sure all of your content is aligned to the most up-to-date state or international standards because they're constantly changing. And I did put that link in the chat. So, we have a view into all of those state standards or international standards that are changing. So, be ready.

Rich Portelance

Well, and you know, on behalf of EdGate, the EdGate Powers podcast, again, I'm your host, Rich Portelance, and I want to thank all our panelists, Ji Soo, Jill, and Gina, for joining us today. This was another great discussion. A lot of amazing information came forward. Please take the time to visit some of the resources that were provided. Make sure you check out SETDA and their new report that just came out. And everyone have a wonderful day. Thanks for attending.