2025 at LXD Research: A Year of Evidence
As we close out 2025, we find ourselves reflecting on a year of meaningful work, productive partnerships, and steady progress toward our mission: helping educational technology companies demonstrate the impact of their products through rigorous research.
This year reinforced something we’ve observed for some time now. Schools and districts are becoming more sophisticated in how they evaluate educational products. Evidence matters — not as a marketing checkbox, but as a genuine tool for helping educators make informed purchasing decisions. That shift has shaped our work throughout 2025.
The Scale of the Work
Through more than a dozen studies, LXD Research reached over 35,000 students across 15 states, spanning PreK through 8th grade as well as higher education. We gathered insights from more than 500 educators who shared their experiences, observations, and ideas with our research team. These aren’t just data points — they represent real classrooms, real teachers, and real students whose experiences inform the evidence our partners bring to market.
Our work now includes 46 published reports on ERIC, the Institute of Education Sciences’ database of education research. Each of these reports undergoes review before publication and becomes part of the permanent record of educational research. Dr. Rachel Schechter has over 100 papers on ResearchGate, placing her in the top 15% of EdTech researchers in the world.
Third-Party Evidence, At Scale.
One area where we’ve seen substantial growth is in third-party certifications — the kind of independent validation that district procurement teams, grant reviewers, and state education agencies actually look for.
of reading studies approved on Evidence for ESSA over the past five years were authored by LXD Research.
of ESSA Tier III and IV certifications with Digital Promise were supported by our team.
of LXD Research studies now come with EduEvidence certification through our ongoing partnership.
This dual validation approach gives our partners multiple credibility signals for different audiences — whether they’re presenting to state departments of education, district curriculum committees, or grant reviewers. Different buyers weigh different badges, and the companies that can speak to several audiences at once tend to move through procurement more cleanly.
What 2025 Taught Us
Beyond the metrics, this year surfaced a few shifts that we think will shape the evidence landscape heading into 2026.
Districts increasingly expect to see research before making major purchasing decisions. That means EdTech companies need to start thinking about evidence earlier in the product development cycle — not as an afterthought once the product is mature, but as a parallel workstream from the start.
Five years ago, having any study at all set a company apart. Today, decision-makers are asking more nuanced questions: What population was studied? How long was the intervention? What were the comparison conditions? Companies that can answer these questions clearly have a distinct advantage over those who can’t.
The companies we work with increasingly view their research as foundational to their market position — not merely as documentation to satisfy RFP requirements. That reframe changes how research gets scoped, funded, and published, and it tends to produce stronger evidence in the end.
The through-line: evidence used to be a finishing touch. In 2025, it became part of the foundation — planned earlier, scoped more ambitiously, and integrated into how products go to market rather than appended after the fact.
What’s Next in 2026
There is, as the saying goes, so much more to do. The educational technology landscape continues to evolve rapidly. New modalities emerge, learning science advances, and schools face new challenges that call for new solutions. All of this creates opportunities — and obligations — for the research community to keep pace.
We enter 2026 with a full slate of studies in progress and a growing roster of partners committed to evidence-based development. We’re grateful to everyone who has been part of this work: the educators who participate in our studies, the companies who invest in understanding their impact, and the broader community of people who believe evidence should inform educational decisions.
Plan Your 2026–2027 Study Now
Schools book their participating cohorts months in advance. If you’re considering a study for the coming school year, the conversations that produce the strongest research designs start now.
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LXD Research partners with educational technology companies to design and conduct rigorous efficacy research, helping products achieve ESSA certifications and other third-party validations. Learn more at lxdresearch.com.