The U.S. Department of Education has issued new guidance outlining how states and school districts should evaluate, procure, and deploy educational technology in classrooms. Released in a Dear Colleague Letter by Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education Kirsten Baesler, the guidance calls on education authorities to judge edtech by its instructional quality and measurable student outcomes rather than passive usage metrics like logins or device screen time.

The guidance recommends that districts distinguish between recreational and instructional tech, demand independent evaluation data—such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs)—during procurement, and provide ongoing professional development for teachers. The department commended Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, and Texas for testing performance-based contracting models that tie vendor agreements to learning results rather than product adoption rates. Edtech developers were similarly urged to involve teachers and parents in product design, minimize non-instructional screen exposure, and publish independent evaluations of student achievement.

The move signals a shift in education policy away from binary screen-time limits toward evidence-based procurement. By framing basic usability and product certification as merely the baseline, the guidelines pressure edtech developers to demonstrate specific classroom efficacy, addressing longstanding concerns from researchers and school leaders over the lack of verifiable proof behind digital learning tools.