Why Isn’t a Finished Study Enough on Its Own?

A study answers the question “does our product work?” It does not answer the question a buyer is actually asking, which is “how do I know I can trust this answer?” Procurement teams, state reviewers, and RFP scorers are trained to look for independent confirmation. A report written by the company, or by a firm the company paid, carries real information, but it does not carry a stamp.

That is not a criticism of the research. Many companies produce solid studies and then never take the second step, because nobody told them there is one. The step is verification: having an independent party review the work against a published standard, and then making the result visible where districts already look.

What ESSA Tier Did Your Study Actually Reach?

Before you submit anything, it helps to know where you stand. The Every Student Succeeds Act sorts evidence into four tiers, and the design of your study, not the size of the effect, decides which one you can claim.

• Tier I (Strong): a randomized controlled trial with random assignment of students or schools.
• Tier II (Moderate): a quasi-experimental study with a matched comparison group.
• Tier III (Promising): a correlational study with statistical controls.
• Tier IV (Demonstrates a Rationale): a research-based logic model and a plan to study the product.

If you are unsure, you are in good company. Founders often find that their study is stronger than they thought, or that a missing piece, such as a logic model or a description of the comparison group, is the only thing keeping it from a higher tier. Our guide to how to get ESSA certified walks through each level in detail.

Not sure which tier your study reached? Send us your study for a free review here and we will tell you.

Which Research Firms Run This Kind of Study?

Edtech studies come from many places. The list below is a working inventory of well-known US research organizations that conduct education evaluations, some with specific edtech and ESSA-aligned work. It is not complete, and being on it is not a ranking or an endorsement. The point is practical: if your study came from any of these organizations, or from a university team or your own staff, it can still go through independent review.

Descriptions are brief summaries drawn from each organization’s public materials. If your firm is missing, or something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.

You may also have received an evidence badge directly from a platform company or certifier, such as Instructure’s LearnPlatform, Digital Promise, or EduEvidence. Those are separate credentials, and you can hold more than one. They do not replace each other.

Submit Your Study for a Free Review

What Happens When You Submit Your Research to LXD Research?

LXD Research reviews research produced by other firms as well as our own, and the best time to submit is right after your firm delivers the final report. The process starts with a short form, and it is built to be low-effort for you. You share a folder, with a link we can open, containing up to five papers or reports for one product. Drafts are fine, and full studies, case studies, white papers, and internal data reports all work. Everything you share is confidential.

Dr. Rachel Schechter, Founder and President of LXD Research, reviews the materials against ESSA criteria and the standards used by state and certification reviewers. The first review is free. You get next steps: where your research stands, what it supports, and, if something is missing, a request for more information along with brief guidance on what to provide. You may already have it. A logic model, a sample description, or a clearer account of how the comparison group was built is often sitting in a different file. Within two weeks you get a written memo that names the ESSA tier your research supports and marks each fix as small or major. With small fixes only, you can resubmit at no charge within two weeks, and you get a 30-minute meeting with Dr. Rachel to talk through the fixes, go over your EdTech Index product page, and use your digital assets. It is also a good time for a quick product demo, so you can show how you represented the product in your ESSA Tier IV documentation. With major fixes, you can use your included 25-minute meeting, or buy a one-hour working meeting with Dr. Rachel for $300 to learn what needs to change, why, and how, and then resubmit once more for free within two weeks. If it still needs major fixes, a second $300 meeting comes before any further resubmission. Each product gets one free review, and if you do not resubmit within two weeks the file closes; starting over is a new submission of up to ten files for $1,000. The full details are in the terms and conditions.

If your research qualifies, each LXD Research ESSA Evidence Badge is $100, invoiced after the review confirms the tier, and that special price runs through December 31, 2026 for products new to LXD Research. One condition matters: a Tier III LXD Evidence Badge requires documentation that covers Tier IV, meaning a logic model and research foundation. If you do not have that yet, we can tell you how to build it. Not every submission earns a badge, and we will say so plainly. What we will not do is hand you a credential the research does not support.

One requirement comes with every LXD Evidence Badge: the documentation has to be public-facing before you can use your certificate. The supporting documents need to be on your website, on the LXD Research website, or both, or on a public page where people can request them, at the time you display the badge or certificate. They do not need to be public while the review is in progress. A certificate says little about what the research includes, so every certificate carries a “request documentation” line. Plan where the documents will live, even if it is a simple request page, before you display your badge.

If you need to submit your evidence to EduEvidence, a state department of education, or an RFP, the reviewers on the other end will want more than a badge image. For those cases we offer a co-branded research summary for $1,500: a polished, shareable write-up of the research behind your verification, formatted for the people who will read it. Most of the cost of an ESSA study is the research itself, so this is a modest step on top of work you have already done.

Where Does Your LXD Evidence Badge Go After You Earn It?

A badge on your own website helps, but it is not where district teams do their comparison shopping. LXD Research ESSA Evidence Badges are listed in the ISTE EdTech Index, which is live now. The index is a public directory that educators use to find and compare learning products, and its evidence filter is one of the quickest ways to narrow a list.

We also share LXD Evidence Badges on a regular basis with Clever, Lightspeed Systems, ClassLink, SchoolDay, and EdVice K12. These are the systems many districts already use to approve, roster, and manage the tools in their classrooms, so your evidence level appears closer to the moment a decision is made. Sharing happens on a regular schedule and is not instant, so plan for a short lag between earning a badge and seeing it everywhere. One setup step is yours: LXD Research sends your LXD Evidence Badge to ISTE, but your product needs its own profile page in the EdTech Index (a company profile will not work), matched to the subject of your claims. If your claims are about STEM improvements, for example, you need a STEM profile, because subject-specific badges cannot display on multi-subject profiles. You then give us the profile’s ID number.

Because LXD Research is independent of any single learning platform, this distribution does not depend on which learning management system a district uses. A district that has never touched one particular platform can still find your LXD Evidence Badge. For examples of what finished, verified research looks like, you can browse our published studies, and for a broader view of how the main credentials fit together, see our overview of edtech evidence certifications.

What Should You Do This Week?

Gather what you have in one shared folder, up to five papers or reports, and submit it for review. You will learn what your research supports, what is missing, and what a verified listing would cost before you spend anything beyond the badges you earn. The study is the hard part, and you have already done it. Verification is how it starts to work for you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Submitting Your Research Study

I finished my research study. What should I do next?

Get it independently reviewed. A finished study and a credential districts can verify are two different things. Send up to five papers or reports for one product to LXD Research through the intake form. Dr. Rachel Schechter, Founder and President of LXD Research, reviews them, and the first review is free.

Can LXD Research review a study that another firm conducted?

Yes. We review research produced by other firms as well as our own, including studies from research organizations such as WestEd, AIR, MDRC, RAND, and Johns Hopkins CRRE, from university teams, and from your own staff. You do not need to redo the study.

What does it cost to submit my research?

The first review is free, and each product gets one free review. If your research qualifies, each LXD Research ESSA Evidence Badge is $100, invoiced after the review confirms the tier, with special pricing through December 31, 2026 for products new to LXD Research. Optional extras include a one-hour working meeting with Dr. Rachel for $300 if you have major fixes, and a co-branded research summary for $1,500. Read the full terms and conditions.

How long does the review take?

Within two weeks you receive a written memo that names the ESSA tier your research supports and marks each fix as small or major.

What happens if my study needs fixes?

With small fixes only, you can resubmit at no charge within two weeks and get a 30-minute meeting with Dr. Rachel. With major fixes, you can use an included 25-minute meeting or buy a one-hour working meeting for $300, then resubmit once more for free within two weeks. If you do not resubmit within two weeks, the file closes, and starting over is a new submission of up to ten files for $1,000.

Which ESSA tier did my study reach?

The design of the study, not the size of the effect, decides the tier. Tier I (Strong) is a randomized controlled trial. Tier II (Moderate) is a quasi-experimental study with a matched comparison group. Tier III (Promising) is a correlational study with statistical controls. Tier IV (Demonstrates a Rationale) is a research-based logic model with a plan to study the product. A Tier III LXD Evidence Badge also requires Tier IV documentation, meaning a logic model and research foundation.

Where does the LXD Research ESSA Evidence Badge appear?

LXD Research ESSA Evidence Badges are listed in the ISTE EdTech Index and regularly shared with Clever, Lightspeed Systems, ClassLink, SchoolDay, and EdVice K12. LXD Research submits the badge to ISTE for you, but your product needs its own product-specific profile page on the EdTech Index that matches the subject of your claims, and you send us that profile’s ID number.

Do my research documents have to be public?

Yes, once you display a badge or certificate. The supporting documents need to be on your website, on the LXD Research website, or on a public page where people can request them. They do not need to be public while the review is in progress.

Is a case study or internal data report enough?

It is a common starting point. A case study can earn an LXD Research Effectiveness Case Study badge for your own website while you work toward Tier III, but it is not an ESSA tier and it is not listed on evidence indexes.

Is what I share confidential?

Yes. Everything you share is confidential during the review.

How do I send you my study?

Share a folder with a link we can open, containing up to five papers or reports for one product, and submit it through the free review form. Drafts are fine. Full studies, case studies, white papers, and internal data reports all work.