About EdReports' Review Tools

At EdReports, we’re dedicated to a review process designed and led by educators. Our review tools are documents used by our expert educator reviewers to evaluate the quality of instructional materials. To learn more about EdReports’ reviews and educator reviewers, see Our Process.

On this page you will find:

Commitment to Continuous Improvement

EdReports is committed to continuous learning and innovation to meet the evolving needs of the education community. We examine our review tools and review process on an ongoing basis, updating them as needed across different versions (e.g., v1.0, v2.0) to ensure our reports provide maximum value to the field.

Each “version” of EdReports review tools is similar to the idea of a generation of software or technology products: that is, building on the strong foundation of previous iterations with new innovations and improvements.

Review Tools Overview

Each set of EdReports review tools covers a content area (e.g., science) and grade band (e.g., K–5), and comprises two documents:

  • A Review Criteria document identifying the “indicators,” or specific items, against which EdReports’ educator reviewers evaluate the quality of instructional materials.
  • An Evidence Guide elaborating details for each indicator including its purpose, information on how to collect evidence, guiding questions and discussion prompts for reviewers, and scoring criteria.

Review Tools by Focus Area

Access all versions of our review tools for each review focus area below.

ELA Review Tools icon

ELA Review Tools

Access our curriculum review tools for evaluating ELA K–12 core comprehensive instructional materials and ELA K–2 foundational skills supplements.

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Math Review Tools icon

Math Review Tools

Access our curriculum review tools for evaluating math K–12 core comprehensive instructional materials and learn more about how our tools have evolved.

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MLL Review Tools icon

MLL Review Tools

Access our curriculum review tools for evaluating multilingual learner (MLL) supports in K–12 ELA, math, and science, instructional materials.

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Pre-K Review Tools icon

Pre-K Review Tools

Access our curriculum review tools for evaluating Pre-K instructional materials and learn more about how our tools have evolved.

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Science Review Tools icon

Science Review Tools

Access our curriculum review tools for evaluating science K–12 core comprehensive instructional materials and learn more about how our tools have evolved.

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Additional Focus Areas

At EdReports, we’re always learning and striving to understand the evolving needs of the education field. Through this continuous exploration, we identify areas where high-quality reviews can make a difference. Sometimes, this results in new review areas for us to assess, the creation of review tools without full reviews, or insights revealing that an area is not yet ready to produce reliable national data for curriculum selection.

Regardless, we are committed to sharing our findings transparently and providing valuable resources to support states and districts in their pursuit of high-quality instructional material. Below are review tools that offer meaningful insights adaptable to local needs.

Interim Assessment Review Tools

EdReports developed review tools for evaluating ELA and math interim assessments covering grades 3–8 between 2016 and 2023. While we were unable to review products due to lack of publisher participation, we believe there is value in providing the rigorously developed tools to the field to support local decision-making.

To learn more, see this article.

Interim Assessments: ELA 3-8

Format
Interim Assessments
Review Tool Version
1.0

Interim Assessments: Math 3-8

Format
Interim Assessments
Review Tool Version
1.0

Review Tool Structure

Every review tool is split into two or three stages, called “gateways.” A program must meet certain requirements in the first gateway in order to be reviewed in the next gateway. The same is true for any subsequent gateways.

If a program did not proceed to a certain gateway, it’s labeled as “not eligible” (NE) for that gateway. The requirements to pass from one gateway to another vary across contexts, but:

  • They always include a minimum “passing” gateway score.
  • They may also include minimum scores in specific “non-negotiable” components of the gateway.

Frequently Asked Questions

This section covers frequently asked general questions about EdReports’ review tools. See also:

What does EdReports mean by “review tools” and “tool revisions”?

Each set of EdReports review tools covers a content area (e.g., science) and grade band (e.g., K–5), and comprises two documents:

  1. A Review Criteria document identifying the “indicators,” or specific items, against which EdReports’ educator reviewers evaluate the quality of instructional materials.
  2. An Evidence Guide elaborating details for each indicator including its purpose, information on how to collect evidence, guiding questions and discussion prompts for reviewers, and scoring criteria.

By “tool revisions,” EdReports means revising or updating its review tools, as well as making any related updates to its review process and report formats necessitated by the tool revisions.

Why does EdReports revise its review tools? What is the goal of these revisions?

EdReports is dedicated to continuous improvement, striving to ensure that our review tools and processes stay relevant, rigorous, and aligned with advances in curriculum, technology, and research on effective learning methods. By regularly refining our tools, we aim to help key stakeholders—decision-makers, students, and publishers—in the following ways:

  • For states, districts, and educators: Our goal is to equip curriculum decision-makers with reliable, evidence-based reviews that support informed decisions about program adoptions and allow them to demand high-quality, standards-aligned instructional materials.
  • For students: Revisions help increase access to the high-quality, aligned instructional materials that all students need in order to thrive.
  • For publishers: Updates to our tools provide clear, consistent expectations, supporting publishers in developing materials that meet the evolving needs of the field.
How frequently does EdReports revise or update its tools?

EdReports is dedicated to continuous learning and growth, addressing the needs of students, teachers, districts, and states, and incorporating feedback from our users and the field. We don’t follow a fixed schedule for updating our review tools because the field evolves rapidly; the needs of, and input from, the field primarily determine the timing.

We strive to balance responsiveness to new research findings and emerging trends, such as digital innovations and the use of AI, with near-term stability. This is to ensure our review tools and reports provide reliable guidance for publishers’ design work and allow states to signal quality to districts with confidence.

Do tool revisions impact existing reports?

Tool revisions do not affect existing, published reports. EdReports does not update completed reports retroactively when we revise our review tools. We’re always willing to consider re-reviewing materials if they have been substantively updated, but that decision is prompted by changes to the materials, not to our review tools.

Each report reflects a specific point in time, using the most current versions of both the materials and our review tools. We believe every report we’ve published offers valuable evidence and insights for school systems as they explore potential materials.

What are “earlier” reports? How will I know if a report was conducted on an earlier review tool or the most recent version?

Earlier reports are those created with our earlier review tools (v1.0 and v1.5). For more information, see How to Use EdReports’ Earlier Reports and Review Tools.

How should educators use EdReports’ earlier reports when selecting high-quality instructional materials?

Reports created with our earlier versions (v1.0 and v1.5) contain valuable insights, but may not fully capture the most recent educational priorities and research. Users should:

  • Carefully evaluate specific elements
  • Consult current evidence guides
  • Understand potential gaps in older review tools

For more information, see How to Use EdReports’ Earlier Reports and Review Tools.