In the 2020-21 school year, school districts provided data on classroom-level use of educational technology assessments. Districts also reported data about instructional opportunities in educational technology at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The educational technology assessments developed by the Office of Superintendent of…

This guide addresses the challenge of inaccessible digital learning resources by providing K-12 education stakeholders with actionable information about EPUB, a digital file format. EPUB is a widely adopted format for many digital books and is specifically designed to display text, audio, images and, in some cases, video in a manner usable by all…

In accordance with RCW 28A.655.075, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) must report annually to the Legislature on the number of school districts that use the Educational Technology Assessments each school year. The assessments can be used to determine if students are meeting academic learning requirements and grade-level…

Educational technology products offer potentially effective means of supporting teaching and learning in K-12 classrooms. But for any given instructional need, there are likely to be numerous product options available for purchasing. What can school districts do to help ensure that good selections are made? In a recent, comprehensive study of…

This toolkit is for school districts that are considering using text messaging to improve attendance. Text messaging can reach large numbers of parents with minimal cost. This toolkit is intended to enable district leaders and staff to: (1) Consider goals and priorities for using text messaging to communicate with parents about student absences;…

The 2016 Education Choice and Competition Index (ECCI) is the fifth release of an annual compilation of data on the condition of K-12 school choice in the geographical areas served by the nation's 100 largest school districts. The ECCI captures information on: (1) the extent of choice; (2) the characteristics of the process by which parents and…

When K-12 schools in California closed for in-person instruction in response to COVID-19 in March 2020, few would have predicted that most schools would remain physically closed for more than one year. Throughout this period, California's educators and students have continued teaching and learning remotely for the most part, demonstrating…

Public school facilities primarily serve an educational role, and they also serve a civic role as voting places and emergency shelters. School districts collectively spend tens of billions of dollars each year on facilities construction needs at the nearly 100,000 K-12 public schools nationwide. About half (an estimated 54 percent) of public…

U.S. school districts have taken widely varied approaches to reopening public schools for the 2020-2021 school year. The divergence stems from the highly localized approach to both schooling and addressing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and differences in COVID-19 transmission rates among communities. To develop a national…

Schools connect students with peers and mentors, channel youthful energy into productive pursuits, teach essential academic skills and knowledge, and give overwhelmed parents room to breathe and work. Adapting to the challenges of COVID-19 gives America's schools the opportunity to provide what is uniquely possible in the schoolhouse while seeking…

Due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, almost all school districts rapidly shifted to distance learning in spring of the 2019-2020 school year. This shift laid bare both the logistical and instructional challenges of distance learning, particularly for English learners and students with disabilities, both of whom have faced…

As required by Minnesota 2015 Special Session Law, House File 1, Article 6, Section 8, the commissioner of Education must research existing one device to one student (1:1) device programs in Minnesota and across the country to determine best practices for Minnesota schools implementing 1:1 device programs. The commissioner must develop and publish…

As schools closed their physical classrooms in March 2020 due to COVID-19, educators across the United States reported that English Learners (ELs), immigrant students, and students in low-income families were particularly difficult to reach with online instruction. The pandemic and the sudden, forced transition to remote learning have brought into…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most elementary and secondary schools and local educational agencies (LEAs) across the United States stopped offering in-person instruction in February or March 2020. By the middle of April 2020, 48 states, four U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense Education Activity…

This report is designed to help state and local policymakers identify the policy changes needed to expand access to quality personalized learning in their states and communities, and to give them the tools to make those changes. Each of the 15 policy ideas, or "plays," in this playbook provides background context on the challenges it is…