On April 9, 2024, Digital Promise reorganized its product certifications around the ESSA tiers of evidence. It launched a new certification, Evidence-Based Edtech: ESSA Tier 3, and relaunched its design certification as Research-Based Design: ESSA Tier 4. The older design certification for instructional learning products, which came before the Tier 4 version, is no longer offered.
For edtech companies, the change simplified the question a district asks. Instead of wondering what a badge means, a district can see which tier of evidence stands behind it. This post explains what each certification requires, why districts are paying attention, and why the part buyers read most closely is the logic model.
What Did Digital Promise Change in April 2024?
The change was announced in a Digital Promise post on April 9, 2024. Its stated aim was to help education leaders quickly identify edtech that was intentionally designed for learning, and to align the certifications with the ESSA tiers of evidence so that districts can lean on them when they need to show federal compliance.
The result is two certifications that map directly onto the two lower ESSA tiers. Research-Based Design: ESSA Tier 4 sits at Tier IV (Demonstrates a Rationale), and Evidence-Based Edtech: ESSA Tier 3 sits at Tier III (Promising Evidence). A product can earn Tier 4 first and add Tier 3 once it has a study of impact, which is the path Classtime, an LXD Research client, took.
What Does Each Certification Require?
Both certifications start from the same foundation: a logic model grounded in empirical research. They differ in the kind of study that sits on top of it.
| Certification | What the Product Provides |
|---|---|
| Research-Based Design: ESSA Tier 4 | A well-defined logic model based on empirical research, one well-designed qualitative study of learners’ or educators’ experiences with the product, and easy public access to the product’s research basis. |
| Evidence-Based Edtech: ESSA Tier 3 | A logic model supported by at least five empirical citations, with a problem statement, inputs, activities, outputs, and short- and long-term outcomes. One well-designed study of the product’s impact, and easy public access to the research basis. The certification expires after two years and can be renewed. |
Those requirements come from Digital Promise’s own pages for Tier 4 and Tier 3. One caution is worth repeating from Digital Promise itself: the design certification is not an endorsement of a product or its efficacy. It tells a district how the product was built and what research backs it, which is a different thing from proving a particular result.
Those counts reflect the certifications LXD Research clients hold at each tier as of 2026. A good recent example is Classtime, which earned Tier 4 in 2025 and then, in January 2026, Tier 3, after the usage and outcomes study we completed with them.
The Logic Model Is the Part Buyers Are Starting to Read
Both certifications require a logic model, and that is not an accident. A logic model states the claim: here is the problem, here is what we do about it, here is what we expect to change. A study then tests part of that claim. Without the model, a district is left with a result and no way to tell what produced it. Without the study, the model is a plan nobody has tested yet.
This is why several recent pieces of coverage point the same way. A new paper on ESSA IV methods, shared on the Edtech Partnerships Substack by our friends at the International Centre for Edtech Impact, looks at how these evidence packets are built. Its useful suggestion is that decision-makers move past asking whether a product has some research behind it, and ask how strong that research is, how closely it relates to the product’s actual design, where the gaps are, and what the plan is to test those assumptions. That is a logic-model question.
Describes what the program is, what teachers and students do, and how that is expected to lead to results. It tells a district what good implementation looks like.
Shows what results look like when schools use the product, and at what level of use. It tells a district what to expect.
The need for that discipline is getting harder to ignore, especially in AI. An EdReports brief, covered by EdSurge, reviewed ten curriculum and edtech vendors building AI into their products, and only one included third-party evidence that the AI features improved student outcomes. Separately, Instruction Partners’ AI in Action Learning Tour observed 20 AI-powered products in classrooms across 16 school systems. Each product profile includes evidence of impact on student learning, and next year’s tour plans to evaluate the empirical research on efficacy. It was good to see familiar faces featured, including Coursemojo, an LXD Research partner.
The pattern: buyers and reviewers are asking for the model, the study, and the link between them. A certification is a quick way to show that all three exist.
Why Are Districts Paying Attention to These Certifications?
Digital Promise describes a growing group of districts and consortia that now use certification status in procurement. Some add a weighted question about certification to their requests for proposals. Some use it as a filter for vendor pitches. Others count it in their own program evaluations. In California, the Edtech Joint Power Authority, which buys edtech for about two million students, has added Digital Promise certifications to its RFP process. One assistant superintendent quoted by Digital Promise described certification as something that can break a tie between competing products.
The timing matters too. With pandemic stimulus funding ending, Digital Promise notes that many states and communities will need to cut their edtech contracts, in some cases by half or more. Districts need a quick, defensible way to decide which tools to keep. From the vendor side, companies we talk with report losing RFPs to competitors who simply have evidence to point to.
What this means for a vendor: a certification is a short answer to a question districts are asking in many places at once. It will not replace a study of impact, but it gets you into the conversation and makes the next step, whether a Tier III study or an outcomes-based contract, easier to discuss. Our guide on how to get ready for outcomes-based contracting picks up from there.
What Should an Edtech Company Do Now?
The practical order is to build the logic model first, then test it. A Tier IV package, which is the model and a qualitative study, is the fastest entry point and usually does not require new data collection from district partners. From there, a Tier III study using usage and outcome data you may already have shows what results look like. For the Tier IV work, we do most of the writing: your team joins a kickoff meeting and demo of 60 to 90 minutes and reviews two rounds of drafts, which comes to less than five hours of your time. If you want the full picture of the tiers, our guide to getting ESSA certified walks through each one.
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