Do we know what software tools school systems actually want? Demand-side analyses typically reflect the loudest voices in the market that companies are eager to please—in the case of education technology, the largest urban districts with the largest technology budgets. But half of the nation’s 48 million public school students attend approximately 3,700 small- to medium-sized school systems.* These school systems face some of the same struggles as large districts in delivering high-quality blended learning and running effective and efficient central offices. They also face distinct challenges in the marketplace, as they find themselves unable to afford large enterprise solutions or powerless to push suppliers to customize to their particular needs.
To answer the question of what these school systems want, we surveyed education leaders in 30 small- to medium-sized public school systems that each serve between approximately 2,500 to 25,000 students to shed light on developing education technology trends and desires. Many of these 30 school systems are operating at the leading edge of technology integration. As such, this sample does not reflect the status quo across all systems of a similar size, but rather points to where we think such systems are headed as technology inevitably improves and becomes more affordable and accessible.
