Office of Educational Technology has released a preview of the Ed Tech Rapid Cycle Evaluation (RCE) Coach

…a year ago we called for better methods for evaluating educational apps to help states, districts and schools have more transparency into what technology was really making a difference for teaching and learning. The need to make good decisions based on evidence, as opposed to relying on marketing hype or the buzz among a small group of peers, is critical.

Source: Preview of New Tool for Schools: Ed Tech Rapid Cycle Evaluation (RCE) Coach – Medium

As this tool is refined, I could see it becoming very handy for school districts. To run a pilot with the Ed Tech Rapid Cycle Evaluation Coach you must be able to set aside a control group of similar students, schools, or teachers that are not using the edtech product being evaluated. This shouldn’t be a problem in larger districts, but I could see it being an issue in smaller districts.

Future plans include building a bank of evaluations that other districts can use instead of having to run their own pilot programs.