In this report, the authors describe the strategies that one district and its schools used during a two-year period in which the number of students meeting usage goals in Zearn Math, a mathematics educational technology platform, more than doubled. The authors use two concepts from implementation research, accountability and alignment, to examine the district- and school-level strategies associated with this increased usage.

Accountability and Alignment Strategies for Implementing Edtech

How One School District Narrowed the Gap Between Promise and Practice

Ivy Todd, Alice Huguet

ResearchPublished Sep 30, 2026

This research was sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences.

Educational technology (edtech) products are central in many school districts’ instructional strategies. However, prior research shows that school districts often struggle to move from adopting edtech products to ensuring that students use them consistently. Students’ and schools’ use of edtech products often fall below developer-recommended levels. But what if a district could meaningfully narrow the gap between recommended and actual use?

In this report, the authors describe the strategies that one district and its schools used during a two-year period in which usage of Zearn Math, a mathematics edtech platform, increased markedly. The authors draw on a randomized controlled trial in which 32 schools in a large, urban school district supplemented math instruction for grades three through five with Zearn Math. In the study’s first year, fewer than one in five students met the platform’s annual lesson goal. In the second year, about half did.

Zooming in on qualitative data from six case study treatment schools, the authors use two concepts from implementation research, accountability and alignment, to examine the district- and school-level strategies associated with this increased usage. They found that clear expectations, monitoring, and incentives helped prioritize Zearn Math’s usage. Such strategies as better alignment between the platform and primary curriculum, dedicated usage time, fewer competing tools, and expanded professional learning opportunities made using Zearn Math easier for teachers. The authors also discuss trade-offs, including that, while most participating teachers found these strategies to be helpful, others reported that they might have displaced other valuable learning activities.

Key Takeaways

District- and school-level accountability strategies signaled that the edtech platform was not an optional add-on but part of the district’s broader approach to math instruction.

  • These strategies included setting clearer expectations, centralizing usage monitoring, and offering incentives for individual students, classrooms, and schools.

Teachers and leaders credited alignment strategies with making regular use more feasible.

  • These strategies included improved alignment between Zearn Math and the district’s core math curriculum, dedicated time for platform use in school schedules, fewer competing products, and expanded professional learning.

These strategies appeared to build on one another.

  • A spring incentive campaign in year two appeared to build on the expectations, scheduled time, and monitoring that were already in place. Interviewees often referred to these shifts in conjunction with one another—more as a package than as independent components.

The changes involved trade-offs.

  • Although many teachers welcomed the added clarity and structure, some described the new expectations in year two as stressful, worried about consequences for not meeting targets, or questioned whether time spent on the platform displaced other valued activities.

Recommendations

  • District and school leaders should clearly and consistently communicate expectations for edtech implementation.
  • District and school leaders should consider using incentives at the school, classroom, and student levels to build buy-in.
  • District and school leaders should plan professional learning that specifically supports a platform’s or product’s implementation.
  • District leaders should preserve space for school- and classroom-level decisionmaking within implementation guidance.
  • District leaders should evaluate whether edtech products fit with the primary curriculum so that time on the platform supports their overall learning objectives.
  • District leaders should monitor progress toward edtech implementation goals using both quantitative data (e.g., the number of lessons completed) and qualitative feedback (e.g., results from teacher surveys or school leader check-ins).
  • School leaders should ensure that edtech expectations align with other teacher guidance to avoid contradictory messages about priorities.
  • School leaders should explore options for allocating dedicated time for edtech use in the school schedule.
  • School leaders should explicitly connect edtech with the school’s instructional vision to help teachers understand how the edtech product supports students’ learning goals.

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Todd, Ivy and Alice Huguet, Accountability and Alignment Strategies for Implementing Edtech: How One School District Narrowed the Gap Between Promise and Practice. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA5192-1.html.
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This work was sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, and conducted within RAND Education, Employment, Infrastructure.

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