Correcting the 5-Star Flaw: Edtech Measurement from Grading to IMPACT

Presented by Dr. Amanda Cadran, Director of Implementation & Customer Success, Lea(R)n; Sarah Hanawald, Executive Director, ATLIS (Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools); Dr. Daniel Stanhope, Vice President of Research & Analytics, Lea(R)n; and Robert Lee Averett, Director, Research and Assessment, Granite School District, Salt Lake City, UT
Sponsored by Digital Promise

Watch the Recording

Are you looking for better, more meaningful ways to review edtech? Five-star ratings paint an insufficient picture for educators tasked with making important edtech purchasing and implementation decisions. More robust methods of evaluation—traditional RCTs—can be expensive and impractical. To best select tools that support student learning and improve outcomes, educators need access to more rigorous, data-driven insights into all of the most important criteria for an edtech product.

With their team of educators, technologists and data scientists, Lea(R)n has created an alternative to the flawed five-star rating and impractical RCT. The research-backed product evaluation rubric and tools support the full continuum of edtech review needs, from teacher grading to managed trials to measured rapid-cycle evaluations (IMPACT™ Analysis). In fact, the evaluation rubric allows educators to grade digital learning tools across the eight criteria they find most valuable, including ease of use, comprehensiveness of features, alignment to learning objectives, impact on student learning, etc.

In this edWebinar, learn how schools and districts are using Lea(R)n’s unique edtech evaluation framework to better understand and communicate the value of their digital learning tools. Viewers will gain an understanding of the continuum of approaches, and learn how to access free tools for grading products and for benchmarking their school or district in its journey to personalizing learning at scale and against similar organizations.

Kindergarten through high school level teachers, librarians, and school and district leaders will benefit from watching this recorded session.

About the Presenters
Amanda Cadran leads the implementation team for Lea(R)n, the creators of LearnPlatform. She uses more than 10 years of classroom teaching, curriculum development and technology director experience to empower educational organizations of all shapes and sizes to organize, streamline and analyze their edtech. Amanda earned her BA and MA from Lehigh University and her PhD from North Carolina State University in curriculum and instruction with a focus on instructional technology. In her work, she most enjoys finding the intersection between research, educational policy and classroom practice. Amanda has worked as a research fellow and consultant with the International Association of K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and has experience deploying school, district and state-level edtech-focused initiatives.

Sarah Hanawald, Executive Director, ATLIS (Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools), has been involved in independent school technology and education for more than 20 years, at Greensboro Day School, Cannon School and most recently, Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh, NC. She’s served as a classroom teacher, a technology director, and an academic dean. Additionally, Sarah has worked as a consultant with Educational Collaborators and independently, assisting independent schools seeking to initiate or improve technology programs. Sarah has presented frequently at national and regional conferences on topics related to managing independent school technology and leveraging technology to improve teaching and learning. Sarah holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University and a master’s degree from UNC-Greensboro. She lives with her family in Raleigh, NC.

Daniel Stanhope is the vice president of research & analytics at Lea(R)n, where he works with a team of researchers, data scientists, and statisticians, and provides expertise on research design, scientific methodology, program evaluation, learning and performance measurement, and psychometrics. Daniel received his PhD in industrial and organizational psychology from North Carolina State University. Daniel has worked as an applied scientist, research methodologist, statistical consultant, and psychometrician with various private, public, and not-for-profit organizations. He has taught higher education at a Tier 1 research university and has published research in numerous outlets, including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, and Journal of Personnel Psychology. Daniel has also delivered dozens of presentations at conferences across the world, serves as a reviewer for multiple academic journals, and sits on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Online Learning Research.

Robert Lee Averett is Director, Research and Assessment for Granite School District in Salt Lake City, UT. In this position he conducts research to improve student achievement in the 93 schools and for the 65,000 students of Granite School District. He has developed and is implementing growth measures that identify best teaching practices. He also directs the district’s summative and formative assessment programs. Previously, Robert was Principal of Kearns Junior High School and Principal of Granger Elementary School. He holds the Certified Data Processor designation by the Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals, and is a licensed teacher, counselor, and educational administrator by the State of Utah.

Robert has a Doctor of Public Administration degree, a Master of Arts degree in counseling psychology, a Bachelor of Arts degree, and a Master of Library Science degree. He graduated from Brigham Young University as a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Army Reserve Officers Training Program and was commissioned as an officer of the Regular Army. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Army in 1996.

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Digital Promise was created with the mission to accelerate innovation in education to improve opportunities to learn.