For many K-12 companies, the idea of establishing or bolstering the research base for their education products surely holds a lot of appeal.

For one thing, it allows vendors to make a stronger case to the districts they’re hoping will buy their products. And on a more basic level, internal or independent research can gives companies a lot more information on whether their curriculum, software, apps, games, and platforms are doing what they’re designed to do–and how they can be improved.

But how can companies know what kind or research to conduct on their product? And what kind of research matters to schools?

On Jan. 18, at 11 a.m. eastern time, I’ll be hosting an EdWeek Market Brief webinar that will give vendors advice and insights on how to build and refine the research base for their products. I’ll be joined by a group of panelists who have deep experience working with education providers and trying to figure out what typeof research and evidence makse sense for them and the K-12 districts they serve.

The presenters include Bart Epstein, a former executive for Tutor.com who is now the CEO of the Jefferson Education Accelerator, a commercial effort that offers investment to companies and helps them conduct high-quality research on their products in districts.

He’ll be joined by Steven Glazerman, the director of the educator impact laboratory at Mathematica Policy Research, who has done extensive work on methods for evaluating the impact of school programs. Glazerman will offers his thoughts with his colleague, Alexandra Resch, the associate director and senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research. Resch has broad knowledge of rapid-cycle evaluation, and  program evaluation methods, and she leads a team that has developed an online toolkit–the Ed Tech RCE Coach–that helps school districts and other users conduct rigorous, quick-turnround evaluations of ed tech in schools.

Epstein, Glazerman, and Resch will offer advice to companies on how to structure research and partner with districts, and common mistakes to avoid. Another topic we’ll discuss: the potential implications of new calls for evidence-based strategies in the Every Student Succeeds Act. We’ll also save plenty of time for Q-and-A.

You can register here. EdWeek Market Brief members can take part for free. Looking forward to your participation, and your questions.

Image by Getty

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See also:

• How to Build a Research Base for Your K-12 Product
• Breaking Down Impact of New Ed. Law’s Evidence Base for Vendors
• Districts’ Desire for Evidence Base Varies by Ed-Tech Product