EdTech Leaders

The following transcript has been edited for readability. Timestamps have been removed and minor transcription errors corrected. Speaker comments and context have been preserved. Please note that the original audio experienced intermittent technical difficulties. While all efforts have been made to accurately transcribe the available content, some portions were unclear or inaudible. Sections where audio was completely compromised are marked as [Audio Difficulties]. 

Opening Remarks

Rich Portelance

So, without further delay, I'm going to provide our panelists some time to introduce themselves.

Gina, do you want to start? 

Gina Faulk

Sure. I'm Gina Faulk. I'm the general manager here at EdGate, and I have been here for the last 10 years. I’m just mark– I’m almost marking my decade here at EdGate. 

So, my main focus is on business, partner relationships, and business development, but I do get involved kind of in the day-to-day too as a manager. So, I get the opportunity to talk with a lot of our clients, who are all edtech companies and publishers, but also states and districts as well. Then prior to working at EdGate, I worked for a digital literacy company for about five years, so I got to be on the other side. And actually, we used EdGate as our vendor to do our standards alignments. And prior to that, I worked for many years at a prepress composition company-type setting, art creation, everything from getting the ISBNs and designing books, mostly K through 12 and college textbooks. So, I feel like I've had my hands in a little bit of everything, and I've kind of been in every nook and cranny up to now, so I've worked from the ground up. I’m happy to be on this webinar today, and talking about the world of standards, as well as many other things that Maria and Conni will be talking about. 

Rich Portelance

Thank you, Gina. You have certainly a wonderful background for this panel, but also for anything in education. 

So, let's jump over to Maria. Do you want to give us a little background? 

Maria Slabaugh

Great, thank you, Rich. 

Hello, everyone! Thank you to the EdGate team for putting this together. I think it was a very timely and relevant webinar. 

So, my name is Maria Slabaugh. I am the VP of research and insights for MMS Education. MMS Education is an agency that is focused on the K-12 education market, and we've got teams of researchers, strategists, marketing, and data experts. We work with nonprofit and for-profit companies to help them succeed with their products and services. We've been around for 40 plus years, and we're a proud, woman-owned, small business. 

So, I head up our research and insights team, and we focus on strategic and tactical insights that are research-informed and that connect back to our client goals. My background is in strategy, consulting, marketing, and research. Research has always been my favorite thing, but what we do with our research combines all of those things, which is why I think it's so exciting. We offer a full suite of quantitative and qualitative research, and combining them is my favorite thing to do because we get much better insights from that. And then we connect research insights into a go-to-market strategy seamlessly, so we're functioning as an extension of existing teams, or we’re the dream team that you pull in when you don't have time or capabilities in-house to make it happen. So, I'm thrilled to be on this panel, I'm excited about our discussion, and I’m excited to hear what everybody else on the panel as well has to say to advise everyone on making the cut, so thanks so much, Rich. 

Rich Portelance

Thank you, Maria, and you're being shy, because I believe today is your 47th birthday at MMS, right? You guys have been around serving this marketplace, which has evolved significantly, so congratulations. 

Maria Slabaugh

Thank you.

Rich Portelance

And Conni? 

Conni Francini

Alright, hi everyone! My name is Conni Francini. I am the CEO of Clarity Consulting, Inc., and we work with K-12 education companies that are frustrated, that are not getting the traction they want to be able to see in the market, helping them both with product strategy and also the messaging around that product. I think those two things go hand in hand in order to enable great and effective marketing and sales. 

Prior to launching this consulting agency, I was previously the editor-in-chief at Teacher Created Materials, and I really helped that company grow into a really strong, mid-market contender. And prior to that, I was a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, and professional development trainer for Los Angeles Unified, so one of the important things that I bring to my work with clients is my perspective as an educator and a professional development leader. Knowing that classroom perspective and how important that is, especially for any learning solutions that are out there right now, wanting to help make sure that those are really true to the classroom, really effective, and the kinds of resources that are going to bring value to the schools and districts that companies here on this call might be working with, so, I'm really excited, this is really timely. 

Rich and I had a great conversation a couple of months ago talking about these trends that we were hearing, and so I'm excited that we've pulled together this great panel to really address these common questions and concerns out there that everyone's thinking about right now, so let's do it. 

Rich Portelance

Well, thank you, Conni. Clearly, all three of our panelists have, you know, deep backgrounds here, so it's going to be an informed discussion.

Discussion

Rich Portelance

Where I want to start is… Let's pull up the slides. We have some common themes that are kind of resonating for people, and we want to talk about these challenges, things that are keeping people awake at night, and each of the panelists contributed. We've all talked about some of these pain points, and hopefully a few of these will resonate with you as well, because this is some of the content that we're going to be covering today. So, struggling to get in the door, not gaining traction, and if you're not sure why, if the school or district doesn't seem to get what you're offering, there could be reasons for that, content alignment, common core standards and how that can play, but, you know, it may not be enough, with there being other standards and things that we can do, and driving awareness to your product and about your product or service. So, those are the first set of pain points. 

The next set [Audio Difficulties]. We're talking about content, the lack of time teachers have for professional development, which is a struggle for many teachers, and that affects, you know, their ability to recommend products, because obviously, the recommendations are going to come from the teachers most often. If your product is viewed as a nice-to-have versus a must-have, and how do you make it essential, and how do you switch it over, content that doesn't meet accessibility requirements, we're going to cover some points regarding this, and the ever-evolving Science of Reading requirements, which is a big topic today. So, those are just some of the pain points that we've identified. There's more, but hopefully this will give you a flavor for some of the things that we'll be discussing today. So, we're going to provide some insider information to help your company make the cut. 

Let's begin with a quick recap of the ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funding cliff and why it's significant. While this is not the first nor the last time budget cuts have hit the K-12 marketplace, these are especially significant cuts. As we all know, the ESSER funding cliff is coming up in September 2024, and then on March 28th, 2025, which, after a few push-backs, is the final date for the obligations. So, everything's coming to a head, and we've heard from several people as our panel has gone out there talking to their constituencies; the sense of dread is broader and deeper than it has been in over a decade. So, I think people are understanding that this is a significant funding change within the environment, and we really need to be ready with our products and services in order to avoid any challenges that come with that funding cliff. 

Okay, so now we're going to jump into some questions, and the first question I have is for Maria. Maria, can you give our audience some insight as to what you're seeing in the market today that will impact the 2024 and 2025 budgets, and why are education sales more complex than in other industries? 

Maria Slabaugh

Yeah, absolutely, thanks, Rich.

So, we're jumping in right here with the good stuff. So, let me start first with, I guess, maybe the education sales complexity, the complexity of the marketplace, because it really provides a great perspective on the forward-thinking predictions that we can touch on next. So, there's a reason why I think our audience is here today. If I had to bet for some of you, or all of you, it's partly because you know that selling into the K-12 Market is really hard. So, maybe you've been thinking it's you or your organization that's the reason for some of these challenges and headaches, and that certainly could be part of it, but I think it's also important to acknowledge that this is one of the most complex markets out there. 

So, I've personally led research across many industries in my background, in my history, including financial services, technology, healthcare, and hospitality. And those are really complicated, but they really pale in comparison to K-12. And so, some of the factors at play that I think lead to some of this complexity… There are so many, but let me touch on a few of them. 

So, the number one thing that I think makes it so complex is the variety. So, there are about 14,000 public school districts in the U.S., representing well over 100,000 schools, but you also can't forget about the important differences among those schools. Private, parochial, charter schools, each with their own unique aspects. And also, not to mention the roughly 400,000 district administrators out there that everyone's trying to get the attention of. You also have different settings. Urban, rural, suburban, town, enrollment sizes, and budgets. And within the districts, of course, we have multiple levels. And when you're thinking about whatever product or service you're selling and offering, is it targeted to pre-K, elementary, or high school? The needs are nowhere near the same, depending on who you're going after.

I think number two really is the source of funding and budgeting that will be a theme, I think, throughout our conversation today. And these budgets and funding sources vary across states and down to the department of the school you're targeting, or maybe it's coming out of a teacher's own pocket. So wherever you're going after, wherever you're, you know, looking to get a solution in, it needs to be funded. And across various states, the funding mix varies greatly for federal, state, and local. States like Texas or California, of course, have massive budgets. This makes them very attractive, but also makes them attract a lot of competitors. A smaller state, like, say, New Hampshire, might have a small budget, and they actually get fewer funds from the federal government as a percent, which is really interesting to note when we're thinking about that federal funding cliff. And, of course, down to the local level, you've got referendums, grants, and other factors at play. 

The other thing that I think is really unique about this market is the buying cycle. It's unlike anything else I've seen in terms of how it works, the process, who's involved, the timing, the ultimate decision-maker, the end users, influencers, committees, anyone who's been selling in this market knows what I'm talking about. Every one of these groups has a voice and matters in making that sale. And, of course, you also have minors and their families, you have boards of education, state agencies, etc. 

And then timing. I think, where else do you have an industry that either goes dark all summer, or it's the perfect time to reach someone, maybe an administration or a superintendent, someone that may have more free time during the summer? 

And of course, I don't think I can help but mention the real stress going on with our schools right now. We've got overloaded, under-resourced teachers, administrators dealing with learning loss, teacher retention, and absenteeism. And so, even the best product out there that's desperately needed can be a struggle to break through and get people's attention. 

So, there's a lot going on in this market, and I think it's helpful for us to realize that the complexity is there, and how do we work our way through it. So, we'll touch on some of that a little bit later, but in terms of future-looking types of predictions and what everybody's thinking about and talking about, building off of funding, I think number one, that cliff is coming, and it's a huge opportunity and distraction for districts right now. So companies that are trying to operate in this uncertainty certainly need to look beyond the funding cliff drama, but be aware of it, because it's legit. And do what you can to understand state and even local trends. So, what we're seeing when we're trying to help some of our clients with figuring out where the best and biggest opportunities are, we're looking to a lot of the states these days, and seeing what they're doing to try to close the funding gap, and how local districts are prioritizing how they spend their limited funds.

So, interestingly, in the State of the State Addresses from the governors across the U.S., at least 31 of them so far have discussed K-12 investments in their addresses, and they're proposing some of them additional allocations. So if you look at Georgia, for example, Governor Brian Kemp has proposed another $1.4 billion in funds for the 2024 and 2025 school years. But on the flipside, a state like New York is one of several that have been bracing for downturns and tax revenue, and they're curtailing spending in K-12 funding. And if you're paying attention, they've also put out legislation for the Science of Reading, which needs funding. So, it's a real challenge, and state by state, you've got a lot of different scenarios going on with unspent funds in some cases, so then you've got a big opportunity. But then, in other places, where every dollar is going to be hard fought and hard won. 

Another trend that's out there is around state involvement in education and standards. We do a ton of surveys, and we talk to different people at different levels across the U.S. involved in education, and we're seeing more and more states involved with issuing policy guidance, mandates, everything from all the sciences –and I put that in a plural– movements out there, with the Science of Reading and writing, science of math, and NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). And we've got some of this coming from backlash from learning loss. Some of it's been a long time coming, and being on top of those state-level mandates and standards really is going to be important when you want to operate. Even at the local level, knowing how you align, what decision makers are expecting, it's huge out there. 

Another thing I'll mention is that we're seeing increased rigor around the RFP (Request for Proposal) process, and so this is definitely something that we're hearing from across the board. It doesn't matter if you're a core or a supplemental, what you're selling in, or how, we're seeing more and more rigor around that process, so demand for information and evidence, and shorter time frames. We're even seeing things like outcome-based contracts increase in popularity, tying payments to performance metrics. So, it's all connected back to that point around justifying the spending, and for, you know, people looking to make the cut and companies who want to get in there, how are you showing that you're worth that spend, and you know, that you are going to deliver on what the goals are? 

And so, finally, I don't think I can talk about the future if I don't mention AI real quick. And so, it really is something that's caught the attention of K-12, along with everywhere else in the world, but just about a year ago, if we really think about it, and so there were a lot of, I don't know, panic and knee-jerk reactions. And now that things are starting to settle down and shake out a little bit, we need to make sure that companies in this space are keeping their finger on the pulse of what's expected, but not going too far, and going to the space of jargon or overpromising, because, you know, checking off those boxes can be tempting, but there's a lot of uncertainty around what the real expectations are. 

So we're watching this space carefully, and I think the one piece of advice here I would offer is that companies that win are going to figure out how AI can address pain points without creating new ones, so I think that's an important thing to keep in mind. And I could talk about the future all day long, but we don't have time for that, so I think those are the things I would highlight for now, and I'll send it back to you, Rich. 

Rich Portelance

Thank you very much, and just a follow-up thought on, you know, kind of the funding and the reason that cliff exists, I think that when you look at those percentages, the percentage of federal government spending in education really had a ramp up with ESSER. And so now you have these expectations that that's changed, so it's really an add-on that's been taken away, and so, here we are kind of back to the table, but there's still all these needs that are out there for the schools, the students, the teachers, etc. Right, Maria? 

Maria Slabaugh

Yeah, absolutely, and I think as companies think about where you are with your customers, it's not just about selling into new markets or selling into districts; it's also retention aspect, because, you know, when the budget cuts come, and for many districts, they're going to have to really look at that carefully, you want to make sure you're not on the chopping block. And so, I think strengthening your customer relationships is so important right now, and also, again, having a really tight message when you go out to the market about why you deserve those precious dollars is really important. 

Rich Portelance

And knowing the state that you're entering, and as Maria pointed out, understanding their fiscal capacity and what they're trying to do on an individual basis. 

I want to kick it over to Conni Francini. Conni, in your experience, what do you think would set a product apart and make it a must-have solution? Because we do talk about that nice-to-have versus must-have. And as a follow-up, how can our audience transform their products into must-have solutions? 

Conni Francini

Yeah, so, there would be, you know, depending on the kind of product, a lot of different nooks and crannies to go into, but at a high level, I think some of the really essential things that you can say about a product that makes it a must-have for any kind of solution is that first and foremost, it must address an important and urgent problem. 

So, one of the challenges that I see often in earlier stages– especially earlier-stage education companies- is that they have a product, but it may not really connect to an urgent and important problem. So, you know, as I like to say, as the water line is getting higher, and the criteria level is really getting higher for investments, whether you're going to be kept as an investment, or you're going to be brought on as a new investment, looking ahead in education, decision-makers are going to be more thoughtful or critical, you can choose your word in what those investments are, and so certainly with that, you know, things that are addressing a real, true, urgent problem, and Maria addressed, some that we hear about constantly with, you know, burnout, turnover, teacher retention, and academic learning loss, literacy and math are always going to be huge and important. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is becoming, you know, just a huge need and an issue in many states. We won't talk about the political pieces of that, but that, first and foremost, I think, is really critical. If you're going to be a must-have, you must be addressing a really important and urgent problem out in school districts; it can't be a kind of fun, off-the-beaten-path solution. Not that it shouldn't be fun, or, you know, creative, that's not it, but we really want to make sure we're solving an important problem. 

And then secondly, and again, as Maria was talking about, districts looking for more evidence, right, they're looking for something that they feel more confident is going to bring value and bring true solutions into their school communities. A successful must-have product really has to deliver high-value outcomes. So, again, it can't just be a product or a solution; it really has to demonstrate those high-value outcomes for our customers. Whether that is you advancing in,  you know, reading levels, whether it is high school graduation rates, whether it is reduction in teachers feeling disconnected or burnt out in their work, or teachers maybe finding value in the professional development and coaching that they might be receiving, whatever that outcome is, it has to be directly attributed back to, solving, and addressing that original challenge, and then you want to have some evidence around that, and we'll talk a little bit about that later, I think. 

And then thirdly, I would say one thing I see a lot is solutions that actually look like they've got some great potential to them, they're solving an important problem, they're really well put together, very intuitive for their users, but they don't have a really clear and compelling way to talk about what they are, what they do, and what makes them different from their competitors. So having a really clear and compelling message that enables prospective buyers to right away go, “Aha! You're talking about me, you're talking about my problem, you're talking about an outcome that I really want to see in my school community. I need to learn more”, right? And so, often, some of the barriers are maybe in the product itself, but I often see it on the messaging and communication side, as well, where it isn't clear what that product is doing, or what problem it's solving. So it's not just in the product, but really in the messaging, as well. 

And then the fourth thing that I would add to that is your brand reputation. So, you know, I could talk about having a clear, compelling brand and being very mission-driven, and I think that's important. But I think what is especially important as we're looking ahead is having a reputation as being a provider that's created something quality, is going to be there to be a partner, is willing to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work right alongside school leaders, because implementing a product takes a lot of work, a lot of pieces and parts, and a lot of collaboration in order to make it successful. Especially if you're looking at the outcomes-based contracts that Maria mentioned, that's got to be a real strong partnership. And so I think that piece, as districts and decision makers are looking more thoughtfully or critically at those investments, they're really going to want to go with companies that have a great reputation for quality, for customer service, for implementation support, and again, really being that true partner. So, those are the kind of four “universal things” that I think are true regardless of whether you're a product/service professional development expert, etc.

Rich Portelance

Fantastic, thank you, Conni. I think those are some great, high-level thoughts for people looking to break this market and see if they can make the cut.

So, let's go over to Gina. You've been in the K-12 publishing space for nearly 25 years, as you outlined earlier. From your informed perspective, what do you see as the most common mistakes made by edtech companies that may inhibit their chances of winning a contract? 

Gina Faulk

Well, being in the business of standards, and I'll back it up a little bit for those who might have joined via Maria and Conni. So EdGate focuses on standards, K-12 standards, as well as higher ed, into career-related standards or professional development. So, our focus is primarily on standards, but not only offering standards to those who need them, but also aligning content to those standards. So we, again, we've been around for over 25 years doing this work, we have a long line of faithful clients that come to us year after year, and always new clients too who are entering the market and trying to figure out what they need to do to be successful and get their materials adopted. 

So, I think the first thing that always tips me off as, “Uh oh. That might not be good”, is when I'm talking to someone, and they say, “Well, I've aligned to Common Core, isn't that good enough?” Or with NGSS, or “We're just going to start with that and see where it gets us”. So that's kind of a red flag, and Sharla, if you will be able to share the map with us at this point, it's risky to do that, to just rely on the Common Core and NGSS alignments, because so many states have veered away from Common Core. So, you'll see in this visual that originally there were 46 states that adopted Common Core, and slowly, they moved away from Common Core, and I outlined which states totally reversed, and which modified or rewrote. Most of them did modify, and there was a 10% roll. So, there's only a handful at this point that are verbatim Common Core. If I really want to go get a good laugh, I have a document that we created a couple of years ago. It’s just internal, but it's really hilarious, because we actually went through and evaluated each state to see which really are still Common Core, and the comments that were made were so hilarious. Like, “It's very Common Core-ish”, or “Not at all Common Core”. For Texas, the comment was just, like, “Yeah, right. Haha, no. Texas is not Common Core at all”, or “This is ‘birthed’ from Common Core”, or that they actually made a law prohibiting Common Core, so no, it's not Common Core. But there are a lot that are, as I said in this slide, “Common Core-ish”. And then all of the states rename them, so even though I'm in Washington state, they're not the Common Core standards, they're the Washington state learning standards. So, they have all moved away, so you simply cannot get away with passing off your Common Core alignments. 

And then we go to the next slide, which is about NGSS, and there is the same thought for NGSS. There are… It's many states, so 26 contributed to the NGSS standards, but there's just the ones that I list here, you know, 10-12 states that are still NGSS states, but many were influenced by NGSS, let's say, so, there were still a lot of NGSS states, but they have their own iteration of NGSS, so you can't just think that, “Okay, well, I've got it aligned to NGSS, so I'm good”. That's not going to work. So, this is one of the areas where you've got to check the box, you have to stay the course, “Yes, I meet the Texas science requirements”, because they're very different.

And then finally, as I think Maria mentioned, SEL is always a difficult one, but there's another slide that we can flip to about SEL… I get this question a lot, is “Can I just align to the CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) standards?”, which are a unique set that many people are using, and that's great, a lot of people should use it, and have adopted the CASEL standards within their state, but at this point, all 50 states have their own SEL competencies that are written to their frameworks, and some are just for the lower levels, like pre-K through kindergarten, but there are many that have their own. So we're up to 27 states, and just in creating the slide deck the other day, I was laughing, like, “I think it's 27?” But, you know, tomorrow I might look, and now it's 29 or 25 because it's very political. And in fact, I actually looked up, you know, “What are the other names that states might using?”, because it's sort of like, they might be rebranding the SEL under different names, and that seems to be much more acceptable in certain states, so it might be called “character or employability training”, “personal and social responsibility”, “resilience building”, etc. So, they email… Rich, “a rose is a rose”, right? I mean, it's kind of like, you can rebrand it, but if you look deeply, it might be SEL. 

The other thing… And I'm done with the slide deck, Sharla… But the other thing that is important, or a mistake that might be made, is to use outdated standards. So, the standards are being updated all the time, and sometimes we're even caught by surprise, like, “Oh my gosh, they changed that? I wasn't even aware. They didn't put up any notifications, it's not even on the DOE (Department of Education) site, I actually have to get on the phone and call them, and they have to dig it out of there and send me a PDF because it's not published yet, so it's hard, but you have to make sure that, of course, when you're submitting your materials for adoption, or for an RFP, that you're up to date with your standards alignments. So check those state department of education sites. 

And then also for future standards, we're also watching those closely, because you might create a product that aligns to the current standards, but lo and behold, those will not be used for the 2024-2025 school year, so you need to… Again, you might need to figure out, “Okay, what are those? Now I need to write my content so it meets those standards, or the 2026-2027 standards. So watch those carefully, because they're constantly changing. 

Rich Portelance

That's really good. Thank you for that, because it's so important, and I know you're being somewhat coy. EdGate provides a lot of these services, but more than that, you know, having been in business, EdGate has been around for quite a long time, I think 27 years or so, they have a team of experts that go out there and scrape for the latest standards, and that's really important in today's environment. And then they're using their tool, ExACT, to disseminate those to clients. So anything that's updated is available through the ExACT tool, and I think some of those technologies are really important today because things change so quickly. 

Okay, we're going to cut back over here to Maria. Science of Reading, because we talked about this a couple of times, hot button topic, we know that. From your lens of research, what go-to market strategies do you recommend for edtech companies? 

Maria Slabaugh

Yeah, great question. 

And I guess I'll start off with saying, you know, we could have picked any number of hot button topics, so when you hear me say the words “Science of Reading”, it could be SAL (Supervised Alternative Learning), it could be NGSS, it could be any number of, you know, movements that are taking place in the K-12 space that are really creating a lot of change. And so, that landscape is complicated, and I think that maybe some of us can relate to that optimism of Googling, like, “What states have adopted Science of Reading”, or whatever it is, and you think you're going to find an answer, and of course, reality sets in pretty quickly. So, you know, the Science of Reading feels perhaps like a freight train, and it's gaining momentum. 

As of the start of 2024, nearly all states have some kind of mandate or legislation in place or pending, and so it feels very solid and very real, and if I were to say, “Well, I need to come up with a Science of Reading solution because everyone's got it”, that would be a bit of a misunderstanding of what's going on in the market. There is so much still going on where, you know, things are not fully implemented by any stretch, there's a lot of optimism and energy around the potential of Science of Reading to improve literacy and it is so very much needed, but at the district level when we talk to administrators, we hear all of the grappling with what's actually going on on the ground. So, a lot of educators in the classroom are still using those old methods. They're hanging onto them because, you know, for many of them, either it's what they're used to, or they feel like it worked. So that means that the transition is going to take time, and we need to always expect and anticipate that resistance and that period of flux, and that's really where we are in most cases. Many different states, the state and district journey, where they are, and understanding that is certainly crucial right now. Thinking about what an administrator might be looking for, which is perhaps that compliance, compared to what an educator in the classroom is looking for with a solution, which might be empathy, patience, and pathways forward, all of that knowledge around what's going to connect to them, as Conni was just mentioning with the messaging, that's really important. They will be motivated by very different things. 

I keep talking about state-level funding. Certainly, with the Science of Reading, we're seeing huge differences in top-down versus local control, and understanding where a state is with that is really important. You will hear, and perhaps some people might be daunted by these approved lists, and the materials that you're allowed to use, and for some states, I'm thinking,  you know, for Texas, for example, when they put out standards, it's pretty hard and fast, but there are ways around it if you want to get on the approved list if you have someone that's your champion that's making your case. So, you don't want to be daunted by those, but you do need to be aware of what it means and how it might differ for different states. 

And it also feels a bit like stating the obvious, but knowing about those expectations around evidence and efficacy is key. And even if you’re a supplemental, it used to be that core got all the attention, not so anymore. Supplementals have a lot of hurdles to get through to prove that they are aligned with Science of Reading, and, you know, it's really important to think about that evaluation and what rubrics are being utilized, your alignment to the standards, your gaps, you know, what sources are being used for third-party reviews, how high-quality instructional materials are being determined is really important. So, I guess a few things I would highlight to make the cut and advise companies on is to have that state-level strategy and customize your messaging to that local unique situation, which is very important. Also, knowing the competitive landscape and how they're positioning themselves, your competitors, but definitely don't assume they have it right. You might feel like, “Oh, they seem to have it all figured out”. You can't assume that. They're trying to figure it out, too. Understanding that expectation from decision-makers and end users will be very important. You have to know who you're talking to and where your product aligns versus your gaps. Understanding where the districts are headed and where the market is headed is also really important, and you have to be flexible, because it is going to take time. 

And a couple of things I would caution: we're hearing more and more about a backlash, where when you're filling out an RFP, or you're making your case and you're embellishing, educators and committees who are reviewing materials, they are seeing through those things. So you really have to be careful that you can back up the things you're claiming. Also, just two other things I would mention, one is the idea of bundling. There's a lot of need and a lot of gaps around product training and helping educators, especially in the classroom, bring products to life. And so no one really seems to be saying that they're expecting companies to be experts in the Science of Reading, but you have to be an expert in how your product connects to the principles of Science of Reading, and help in the classroom, help administrators understand how you can, you know, bring that to light and help support that implementation process. And then the final thing I would just say is taking a long-term view on it. This is not a “if you don't have it figured out by this date, you're done”. This is going to take many, many years for full funding and full commitment to this across states, and they're going to need a variety of solutions to make it work. So I would say stay true to yourself and your journey. There's a lot of need out there, and there will continue to be for many years.

Rich Portelance

Thank you, and as it touches so many different subjects, it is a complex topic, so we have to have some patience. 

We're going to move over to Conni. Let's talk a little bit about making a product great. How do edtech providers show the value of their product to the K-12 buyers, pushing the product over the threshold of nice-to-have to must-have status? Can you also address the concept of innovation versus evidence in today’s tightening fiscal climate? 

Conni Francini

Sure, so, when I'm working with clients, and we're looking at how we can really kind of make the case for our solutions, there are a couple of key things, I call them the three “R’s”; the first is research. Anytime we can show and communicate how our solutions are research-based, based on best practices, and I'm not talking about efficacy research and a double blind study, that's a different animal of discussion, but having it be research-based for your solution is, again, one of those things that can just provide value and reassurance, and again, eliminate any question marks that might be in a decision-maker's mind to show them that you have really developed a solution that they can count on, because it is based on best practices, and based on some important and relatively newer research. So we don't want it to be based on, you know, 30-year-old research unless it's some, you know, foundational, core piece of research findings. So I always advocate for my clients to put those research bases together and make them available, don't hide it, don't make it gated, put it out there where prospective buyers can see it and engage with it. And then within that research base, make sure that you're pointing directly in the solution where that research is reflected. Don't make our prospective customers guess and connect the dots, so show them here are the best practices, here is exactly where you can see this come to life in our solution. So again, we're just making it really easy for them; we're not asking them to do any extra work. 

So that's the first “R”. The second “R” is having results. So we've talked about this a lot; clearly, this is an important priority right now, you know, I think it's always been something that we should be able to show and convey. I think in this market, it is especially important, so we do want to be able to show what those results are, what outcomes we're creating, and put those together into case studies or customer success stories, so that we can really tell that story of what our work with a school or district can look like, and what kind of transformation we can help them to create. So again, don't gate that, don't hide that somewhere, you know, make that really available, put those stories into your marketing and sales conversations and communication touch points, so that potential customers can really see themselves in what their journey might look like. 

And then the third “R” is reviews. To me, this one is such an easy way to demonstrate your value to prospective customers, so if you have, you know, buyer testimonials from a district level decision-maker, maybe you are a literacy program and you've got some kind of a review or testimonial from a literacy director at a district, reviews and quotes from teachers or even students, where you can even just put their name or a second grader, and what they said verbatim… Whether you've got those written, if you can have video testimonials, those are incredibly powerful. I was just talking with a literacy company CEO last week who said, “Oh, we have those, but we just haven't really put those to use”. So put those on your website, put those into your messaging, that's so compelling to know, from one teacher to another, or one district leader to another, what their thoughts and experiences have been with your product. And hopefully, all of those messaging points all align around your problem that you're addressing, and the outcomes that you're creating, and all of that should really work in alignment so that the message comes through loud and clear in all of your different communication touch points. 

So the three “R’s” are what I would say to look how you can put those into practice for your solution, especially as we're here at the end of the school year, but you're getting ready for that next school year push, this would be a great opportunity to go in and add those pieces in and really build the capacity of your team to connect with potential buyers. 

Rich Portelance

And that's a great reminder, thank you, we're going to be sending out information afterwards. I'll remind everyone that the webinar recording is going to be sent out in about a week’s time. We'll also send along the supplemental material, and in there, I am sure there will be something about the three “R’s”, so that you don't have to remember what they are, but there'll be information that we'll be sending out to everybody who attended the webinar.  

The next question I have, and I think this will be the last question, and then we're going to get to a Q&A, there are a couple of questions that have come in, so I want to get back to Gina; what kind of proof do curriculum companies need in order to show… To convince districts and states that their content aligns with their standards? 

Gina Faulk

Well, the first thing, again, being that I worked on the other side of it, where I was working for an edtech company, and I was actually the person working on the adoption paperwork, I definitely can relate to the hard work that goes into completing all that paperwork, and what we needed was proof. We needed to have all of our alignments to the TEKS, or to the Florida Sunshine State Standards, which they used to be called. Whatever state we were going after, we needed all the alignments, and sometimes that was even in paper format; sometimes there were complex formats that the state required you to submit your alignments in, so you need that proof. Or you might need it on your website too, so that teachers can easily find those alignments. Your salesperson might be sitting in an office at a district, and they’ll need to show it right then and there on the fly, so you probably want to have a way to include that information right on your website. 

The other thing that we're seeing is the need for third-party reviews. So, as someone else mentioned, I think Maria, the states are getting a bit more strict on companies claiming to absolutely meet all requirements, so they're requiring a third-party review. So sometimes it's just called a third-party review, sometimes it's called a third-party course evaluation, and an external course evaluator needs to review the alignments and then sign off that, “I'm an unbiased set of eyes, I have not worked for this company before, and I'm reviewing their alignments to show that I indeed agree that they do meet the alignments”. Or, if not, you know, there's a rationale, like, “No, this doesn't check off and here's why”. You then give the publisher, that tech company, time to resolve that issue. So the states, I want to share are the states that we actually know of requiring this, so Texas, Virginia, Indiana, and Missouri are the four states, and we're going to be doing some more research into additional states that might be thinking of doing this in the future. 

The other thing is that you should be able to run gap reports, so that kind of goes back to the third-party review, but you want to see your gaps, and I saw a question come in from the chat about, you know, “If standards are always changing, how do I keep up?” So, you want to have the ability to run gap reports so that you can go in at any time and see, okay, Maryland changed their standards, or Florida changed their standards, how does that affect my alignment? And you want to show that there's a red flag and say, “Oh, whoops. Yep, I'm missing a gap, I have a gap here. So now I need to rewrite or produce new content”. And you want to do this well in advance, of course, with as much time as you can, even though sometimes you can't help it because the states are changing the standards so quickly, sometimes without notice. But the ability to run gap reports is, I think, a great way to solve that issue of “How do I even keep up?” 

The other two forms of proof that you might need… The depth of knowledge is still a requirement. Sometimes states will say, “I need a DOK (Depth of Knowledge) report”, so that's the Depth of Knowledge report, so be thinking about that. And then I mentioned CASEL, so C-A-S-E-L, the social emotional learning standards, those we often see come up as well. 

So, I know we're running out of time, so I'll turn it back to you, Rich.

Rich Portelance 

No, we're doing great, thank you, that's perfect, and thank you for answering that question that was in the chat, because I think that's really important, and it was good that it correlated with what you were addressing already. 

What I'd like to do right now is a speed round of, you know, we're talking about these essential items, but I want to talk about the non-negotiable items, these are the really core things that publishers and edtech providers need to do to win business and to make the cut. So I'm going to ask the panelists to each give the top one, and if you have to, give two examples of what those non-negotiables are. I think that's going to help our audience to prepare themselves.

So we're going to start with Maria, and then we'll go to Conni, and then we'll go to Gina. What's a non-negotiable, Maria? 

Maria Slabaugh

Well, I'm going to go with doing research, which is to do your homework and understand the buying cycle. I talked a little bit before about the complexity of this market, but really having a deep understanding of the timelines, the formal versus informal aspects, the milestones, knowing when is the right time to start outreach, all the way up to the decision-making time, the touch points along the way, knowing what kinds of information people value and at what time, and then also things like expectations or norms for a product like yours, is piloting expected? Referrals, case studies, efficacy, or impact studies, so really having a deep understanding of that cycle and how you're interacting with it is important for success. 

Rich Portelance 

Terrific, thank you. 

And I'm going to remind the audience that if you have a question, put it into the Q&A now so we can address that when we're done. 

Conni, non-negotiables for edtech providers?

Conni Francini 

Okay, so we've covered some great content, so I'm going to add a new one that I think is absolutely essential that we haven't really touched on today. I think about all of the products I've developed, all of the work that I've done with clients. What is the one thing that all of those products really must be able to do? They have to be easy. They have to be easy to use, they have to be easy to talk about, they have to be easy to champion with all of the different decision-makers and folks that are involved in adopting something new, and you have to give them all of the answers that they need that we've talked about today that make it easy for them to say yes. If it's not easy, it is just inherently going to be a tough road for you. And when I'm looking at products, in particular, with the digital products, being easy to use is not often an attribute that I would use to describe those solutions, so if I'm thinking in particular about the product, I would say you want to be the “easy button”, especially in today's climate. There's just no room for “difficult” and “complicated”. Great and easy. 

Rich Portelance 

Alright, we're gonna jump over to Gina. What do you have as a non-negotiable, Gina? 

Gina Faulk

Well, I'm not gonna say standards again. Of course, I think standards are very important, but the other thing that I think really stands out for me, I just went to a conference in January, and they shared with us the results of a survey that they took from district administrators, and the top concern was meeting all the cybersecurity requirements. And I am not the expert on cybersecurity, but I know that that is top of mind for decision-makers. It's especially where personal identifiable information is included in the products, so it has to meet the cybersecurity standards. Every vendor in the educational supply stream will be required to meet these tough, new cybersecurity standards to make the cut, so it's just going to be top. And we're going to follow up with a couple of different links so you can read more about those requirements. I found a good one that shows examples from RFPs and the questions you can expect, so that you could plan out, you know, what kinds of questions, maybe get ready for the coming year, figure out what I need to be able to do to check off the boxes to make sure I'm meeting those cybersecurity requirements. And we at EdGate, we know this, so we're doing everything we can do to make sure that, you know, all of our standards, materials, and logins, everything's safe, because every company is part of a long chain, and so we all need to be playing our part to make sure that all of our information is secure and everyone's information is secure. So that would be my top choice. 

Rich Portelance 

And that's a good one, and within our follow-up material, we do have a couple of resources for people because, you know, we're not cybersecurity experts, but we do have some resources that point you in the right direction. They can give you some help with some of those topics. 

And I do want to address one of the questions that came in was about gap reports. EdGate does have a tool, ExACT Standards Alignment Platform, which does gap reporting, and also delivers the up-to-date standards, and then it does the alignment, as well, so that's a solution that EdGate offers. So I'll save you the pain of being too salesy there, Gina, and I'll go with that one. 

Closing Thoughts

Rich Portelance 

The other question that came in that I want to address, and this can be a discussion amongst the three of you or the four of us, is the role of AI. And, you know, I know it's a huge topic, but the question is, “What part of AI do you think will resonate with educators?” And so, if you each can kind of give a little thought on that, and does anybody have a starting point for us on AI and what's going to resonate with the constituency there in K-12? 

Conni Francini 

Yeah, I can share a little bit. I think that when folks ask what the next great AI product is, I think the question we should be asking is what are the big problems out here in education first, and then how might AI help solve those problems? Problem first, rather than thinking first about the product itself. I think I've seen some really interesting potential in saving time in terms of planning and grouping students. And I've seen some interesting products that do some kind of AI-based coaching of students, and kind of prompting them through some sort of, you know, learning experience. So I think where there's potential to maybe save time, I think there's a real draw there. I think the spooky part for teachers in particular is, you know, whether AI will be seen as a replacement for the teacher, and I think that's just, I think that's not the endgame. I hope that's not the endgame as a former classroom teacher, so that's my quick two cents.

Rich Portelance 

Thank you. 

Maria, you had something to add to the mix here? 

Maria Slabaugh

Yeah, I think similar to what Conni was saying about, like, don't come up with a problem, or don't create a problem, for sure. You know, AI, it's exciting, we all love to play around with it, and I think it's exciting to think about how you could apply it to education. But like anything else out there, you know educational products need to be teacher-led, teacher-informed, student-driven, you have to think about your audience, and what they really need, and you can't forget them in the conversation. You also can't forget those technology people in schools who might not want an AI product, and you might get yourself out the door if they have policies in place. So I think when we think about AI, it is not just what problem it could solve, but what problem is going to be a teacher-involved, student-driven solution that addresses pain points. 

And there are so many exciting opportunities out there with AI, but again, putting my research hat on, you know, you've got to really figure out what your market wants, what it's craving, and what is going to be easy to implement. To go back to Conni's “easy button”, AI can't make things more difficult for education; they've got enough challenges, and there are enough problems out there, but AI, again, has huge potential. We just have to keep our eye on how it develops. 

Rich Portelance

I would agree with that, and having launched products and built products for the education marketplace, if you're not leading with the problem that you're solving, you know, then it's just viewed as fluff. And so, the AI can supplement, it can help to do that, it can help to do things quicker, but it's not the solution; it's a tactic you deploy to help, you know, enforce a strategy that is really the meaningful item, right? 

Gina, did you have anything that you wanted to add to that? 

Gina Faulk

The only thing I wanted to add is just that, we at EdGate, since we work with so much data, we've been playing around with AI, because… And really, our goal is to save our clients some extra costs by, you know, coming up with a way in the background, if we could connect standards, specifically, we're working with the career and technical education standards. There are so many of them, so we're working on connecting those and finding the commonalities so that we can offer those to our clients. So, it's really for us to be able to use AI in order to save costs in the long run for our clients. So, that's my only perspective. 

Of course, we're not selling directly to districts, but we would love to help our clients save time and money by being able to do that automatically versus manually.

Rich Portelance

Yeah, well, we have run out of time. We want to thank all of the audience, everybody, for participating. We'll send out this webinar afterwards. We want to thank the panel today, Conni Francini from Clarity Consulting, Inc., Maria Slabaugh from MMS Education, and, of course,  Gina Faulk from EdGate. Thank you for your time today, thank you for participating and sharing your thoughts and insights. It's been incredibly helpful. There's a ton we can discuss. We'll send out some more supplemental material to cover some of those things, and thank you all for spending your time and energy to share this important information with our audience. 

Gina Faulk

Okay, thank you! 

Rich Portelance

Take care now.