EduEvidence recently announced its Top 25 Global Impact-Certified EdTech Companies, recognizing organizations that pair strong products with credible, independently reviewable evidence of impact. Released at the BETT 2026 Conference in London, the list highlights learning products that have demonstrated measurable outcomes through EduEvidence’s certification process—a rigorous evaluation using an international framework that assesses learning outcomes, pedagogical quality, teacher involvement, safety, equity, and environmental responsibility.
We’re grateful to have partnered with many of the organizations recognized. These teams build the impact; our role is supporting the evidence—helping translate outcomes into research that’s clear, rigorous, and review-ready.
What the Top 25 Recognition Represents
Inclusion on this list requires independent validation through EduEvidence’s 5Es model: Efficacy, Effectiveness, Ethics, Equity, and Environment. Organizations are grouped into three tiers—Leading Impact, High Impact, and Emerging Impact—based on the strength of their verified evidence.
For educators and administrators making purchasing decisions, third-party validation offers a useful signal. In a market where evidence claims vary widely in rigor, certification from organizations like EduEvidence helps distinguish products with research that’s been reviewed and verified from those relying primarily on testimonials or self-reported outcomes.
LXD Research Partners on the List
We’re proud to celebrate the LXD Research partners recognized this year:
Leading Impact:
- Spalding Education
High Impact:
- StrongMind
- Lexercise
- REED Charitable Foundation
- MindPlay
- Zaner-Bloser
- Just Right Reader
These organizations span literacy instruction, supplemental learning platforms, and comprehensive curriculum solutions. What they share is a commitment to building evidence alongside their products—not as an afterthought, but as part of how they demonstrate value to the educators they serve.
What Makes Evidence Stand Up to Independent Review
Across our partnerships, we’ve found that evidence that holds up under independent scrutiny tends to share certain characteristics:
- A clear claim. The research specifies what the product is expected to impact—and for whom. Vague assertions about “improving learning” don’t give reviewers (or educators) much to evaluate. Strong evidence starts with a focused, testable claim.
- A design that fits the context. Not every study needs to be a randomized controlled trial. The “right next study” depends on where a company is in its evidence journey, what data is available, and what questions need answering. A well-designed correlational study often provides more useful evidence than a poorly executed experimental one.
- Strong implementation documentation. Reviewers want to know what was actually used, by whom, and how consistently. Studies that can demonstrate fidelity of implementation—showing that the product was used as intended—carry more weight than those that can’t.
- Transparent measurement. Outcomes need to match the claim and be interpretable by decision-makers. This means using measures that are independent from the product itself, valid, and reliable—and being clear about what they do and don’t capture.
- Review-ready reporting. Methods and results should be explained clearly, with limitations stated plainly. Evidence isn’t about proving perfection; it’s about providing enough information for others to assess whether findings are credible and relevant to their context.
The Path to Certification
EduEvidence awards Bronze, Silver, or Gold certifications across two dimensions—Efficacy (demonstrating impact under controlled conditions) and Effectiveness (demonstrating impact in real-world implementation). The certification tiers align with ESSA standards, meaning companies can build evidence that resonates with U.S. educators while also gaining international recognition.
For many of our partners, the journey to certification began with foundational work: articulating a logic model, collecting baseline implementation data, and designing a study aligned with where they were in their evidence trajectory. Some started with correlational studies at the Promising level before progressing to quasi-experimental or randomized designs. Others came to us with existing research that needed validation and documentation to meet certification standards.
As an official partner of the International Centre for Edtech Impact, LXD Research helps coordinate this process—from study design through validation and submission.
Looking Ahead
We extend our congratulations to all the organizations recognized this year—not just our partners, but every company whose work reflects a commitment to building credible evidence. For EdTech companies considering their own evidence journey, the path forward involves asking honest questions: What claims are we making? What would it take to support those claims with research that others can review? And what’s the right next step given where we are today?
Building evidence is an investment, but it’s one that pays dividends in credibility, market differentiation, and confidence that your product actually helps students learn.
@LXDResearch is an independent evaluation and research firm specializing in research communication, efficacy study validation, and the design and execution of ESSA-aligned research studies. As an official partner of ICEIE/EduEvidence, we help EdTech companies build evidence that’s clear, rigorous, and review-ready. Visit www.lxdresearch.com to learn more.