Rob Waldron, President and CEO of an education technology company, shared lessons learned from helping school districts transition from print to digital resources over the past year. Key points include: (1) Educator priorities around technology have remained consistent despite changes, focusing on quality, ease of use, support, and research-backed results. (2) The lines between ed tech vendors have blurred, confusing customers. (3) "Best of breed" individual solutions do not integrate well. (4) Differentiated learning initiatives often fail during procurement. (5) There is a lack of strategic cohesion around technology usage and impact. Waldron offered advice around vetting vendors, accepting the long-term nature of transitioning to digital,

1. Lessons Learned:
OUR JOURNEY TO DIGITAL
Rob Waldron • President & CEO

2. Objectives
• Share what we learned in the journey from
print to 500,000 digital users in one year
• Provide some practical advice garnered
from working with district leaders across
the country
• Learn from you what other priorities we
should be tackling

3. The reality today is that when a
general officer speaks to a captain, the
general officer has never used any of
the communication systems,
intelligence assets, or weapons
systems that the captain has...things
go so fast now it is very difficult… to be
experts and still be leading.
–General Stanley McChrystal

4. A Clear Mandate …
…drove us to redefine how technology can enable
our ―student centered learning‖ mission
2001: No Child Left Behind
Student 2004: National Center for
Centered Response to Intervention (RtI)
Learning
2010: Common Core State
Standards
1National
Center for Education Statistics (2012): http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=46
2Pew Research Center (2012): http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/04/04/the-rise-of-e-reading/

5. A Clear Mandate …
…drove us to redefine how technology can enable
our ―student centered learning‖ mission
1994: KIPP
1997: Florida Virtual
Student
Centered 2006: Rocketship
Learning
2006: Khan Academy
1National
Center for Education Statistics (2012): http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=46
2Pew Research Center (2012): http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/04/04/the-rise-of-e-reading/

6. A Clear Mandate …
…drove us to redefine how technology can enable
our ―student centered learning‖ mission
2003: 93% internet access in
schools1
2012: 95% broadband access
Student in schools1
Centered
Learning 2012: 21% of US has read an
e-book2
1National
Center for Education Statistics (2012): http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=46
2Pew Research Center (2012): http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/04/04/the-rise-of-e-reading/

7. A Clear Mandate …
…drove us to redefine how technology can enable
our ―student centered learning‖ mission
Meet the individual
needs of each child by
Student providing every child
Centered what he/she needs
Learning when he/she needs it.
1National
Center for Education Statistics (2012): http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=46
2Pew Research Center (2012): http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/04/04/the-rise-of-e-reading/

8. An Auspicious Start
• 0 to 500,000 digital users in one year
• Approved as a teacher evaluation input in OH & NY
• Recommended in Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, etc.
• Utilized in many leading charters—KIPP NY, LA, Chicago;
Rocketship; Harlem Children’s Zone, Aspire, etc.
• Praise from leaders and users throughout the country:
―i-Ready is the best online assessment and
instruction combo I’ve ever seen‖
Dr. Eric Conti, Superintendent of Schools, Burlington, MA—
named Top 10 Tech-Savvy Superintendent by eSchoolNews

9. Five Lessons Learned

10. •••••
Lesson 1
Despite political and
market turmoil, educator
priorities are remarkably
consistent.

11. •••••
Singing the Same Song
Provider
Reputable
Easy to Use and Implement
Ongoing Service and Support
Product Training and
Professional Development
Assessment Affordable Instruction
Online
Efficacy Research
Valid and reliable
Link to assessment
Progress monitoring
Data-driven
Common Core &
State Standards Blended Learning
Formative and Differentiated
summative

12. •••••
Lesson 2
The bright lines that
separated publishers
are gone have been
replaced by the same
pitch from
everyone, resulting in
customer confusion

13. •••••
The Trusted Advisor Dilemma
My company (insert company name),
provides an innovative data-driven,
differentiated instruction technology
solution with progress monitoring and
top-notch professional development.

14. •••••
Lesson 3
Technology requires
seamless integration of
programs; thus, buying
the ―best‖ individual
solutions, ―à la carte,‖
doesn’t work.

15. •••••
Best of Breed

16. Square Peg…Round Hole

17. •••••
Lesson 4
Most student centered
learning initiatives fall
apart during the
purchase process.

18. Eyewitness Account
―Differentiated Pilot adaptive diagnostic Test prep ―cramming‖
Instruction‖ RFP issued
No one fulfills the Great insights but More whole class
―kitchen sink‖ doesn’t link to instruction than before
requirements instructional resources RFP
Spring Summer Fall Winter Spring Summer
2011 2011 2011 2011–2012 2012 2012
Buy ―safe bet‖ test Align diagnostic to No conclusive view of
prep software instruction resources success/failure
Edit and re-issue
No impact on Completion of huge original ―differentiated
struggling students effort delayed to March instruction‖ RFP

19. •••••
Lesson 5
Preliminary research*
results suggest a
profound lack of
cohesion in terms of
strategy, expectations,
usage, and impact.
*Initial findings from Frank Ferguson Fellowship, sponsored by Curriculum Associates, Rocketship, and the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation

20. •••••
Game of Telephone
Chief Academic Tech
Officer: Director:
―We have rationalized ―I don’t know but
our assessments to there are 87 programs
focus primarily on that have been vetted
program A.‖ against our tech
requirements.‖
―How many
technology-
based
assessments
Principal: are used in Teacher:
―We have been your district?‖ ―Feels like a new
provided A and B one each week. I only
programs. use product C because
I am piloting 2 other it’s mandated, but I don’t
programs.‖ have a good sense of its
impact.‖

21. What to do? Some advice from your peers
1 Find out what is being used, what is working,
what it costs. NOTE: Our foundation fellow can do this for you
2 Ask more questions*, demand more from publishers
3 Accept the fact that the Common Core journey is
multi-year and needs to start now
4 Ensure the solution works for the average teacher
5 75th percentile ―most innovative‖ solution, executed
at 100% is much, much better than vice versa
*Supporting tools available in handouts

22. Key Questions
Online Assessments:
Was the program built from scratch from the
Common Core or just “retrofitted”?
Online Instruction:
Is the instruction automatically differentiated based
on an integrated assessment?
Online Providers:
Is the program SaaS (Software as a
Service), enabling anytime access and rapid
upgrades?

23. We’re in the middle of one of the
great revolutions in the history of
education. For the first time
ever, technology has given us the
ability to deliver a world class
education to every child in the world.
–Tom Vander Ark

24. Questions and Discussion
Rob Waldron
RWaldron@CAinc.com
978-313-1208
Available Resources
Technology Buying Technology RFP
Guide Template