This resource is a living document that will be updated over the course of the inaugural version 2.0 review process across 2024 and 2025. 

Related resources:

Last updated: November 2024

Over the course of 2024, EdReports has revised all its review tools for evaluating comprehensive, K–12 instructional materials in English language arts (ELA), math, and science. We will be using these “version 2.0” tools for all new reviews of relevant materials starting in early 2025. 

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 to ensure our reports provide maximum value to the field. The version 2.0 tool revisions reflect this commitment, marking our first multi-subject update since 2020. 

Each set of EdReports review tools covers a content area (for example, science) and grade band (for example, K–5), and comprises a Review Criteria document and an Evidence Guide. As of November 2024, version 2.0 Review Criteria are available for all K–12 subject areas on our Review Tools page.

As with all prior updates to our review tools, version 2.0 revisions apply only to new reviews starting in 2025 and do not impact any existing reports (those published in 2024 or earlier). EdReports does not retroactively update completed reports as a result of revising 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.

Please reference the frequently asked questions below for more details. For additional questions:

  • For publishers: please submit questions via this form. Or, if your materials are already in review or about to begin the review process, please email your contact person from the EdReports Reviews Team directly.
  • For general questions and suggested additions to this page: please contact communications@edreports.org.

FAQs: Definitions and purpose

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

A: Each set of EdReports review tools covers a content area (for example, science) and grade band (for example, 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.

Q: What does EdReports mean by “version 2.0 review tools”?

A: 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.

Our 2024-25 development of version 2.0 tools is a multi-subject update covering all review tools for K–12 comprehensive materials in ELA, math, and science, similar in scope to our 2020 version 1.5 tool revisions. For more information on the details of version 2.0 tool revisions, see this article and below. To view all current and previous review tools, see our Review Tools page.

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

A: 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.

Q: What does EdReports’ tool revision process involve?

A: Since our last multi-subject tool revision in 2020, EdReports has been gathering input from a wide range of education stakeholders, including educators, experts, and decision-makers, to ensure our reviews keep pace with curriculum innovations and meet the field’s evolving needs.

For version 2.0 tool revisions, we incorporated insights gained from stakeholder conversations and from all reviews conducted since our 2020 revisions. 

We also worked closely with expert advisory groups and gathered targeted feedback through our 2024 Listening and Learning Tours for each K–12 comprehensive review focus area (ELA, math, MLL, and science), as well as through surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one discussions. These approaches enabled us to engage deeply with the field to understand how our tools and reports could better support today’s dynamic educational landscape. The resulting updates address the needs of the field and reinforce our commitment to the highest standards for instructional quality.

FAQs: Version 2.0 tools

Q: When will version 2.0 review tools first be available, and when will they be final?

A: As of November 2024, version 2.0 Review Criteria documents are available for all K–12 subject areas on our Review Tools page.

With previous review tool updates and new tool developments, EdReports’ practice has been to share draft criteria only with those publishers undergoing an upcoming review. However, for version 2.0, we have made our Review Criteria publicly available before we begin reviewing materials for two primary reasons. First, to give states, districts, and partner organizations the earliest possible opportunity to consult these documents in support of their work to advise and conduct materials adoptions that align with local needs and policy requirements. Second, to provide equal access to all publishers of comprehensive, K–12 materials to inform their planning for forthcoming program revisions. Second, 

Please note that, while all version 2.0 Review Criteria represent a robust foundation, they remain subject to ongoing refinements until the publication of the first reports using the updated criteria, expected in spring 2025. Please also note that version 2.0 Evidence Guides for all Core: Comprehensive materials will be published alongside the release of the first version 2.0 reports.

* Except for version 2.0 K–2 ELA foundational skills Review Criteria, which were finalized in spring 2024.

Q: When will you start conducting reviews using version 2.0 tools, and when will the first reports using version 2.0 tools be released?

A: Our teams of educator reviewers will begin the first reviews using the revised criteria in early 2025, with inaugural reports expected later in the year. 

Q: What changes have you made in version 2.0 tool revisions?

A: Version 2.0 Review Criteria are available on our Review Tools page. Key updates include:

  • Significant enhancements to ELA criteria to ensure stronger alignment with the science of reading and structured literacy practices.
  • New, multilingual learner (MLL)-specific Review Criteria for each content area to enable broader and deeper evaluation for MLL supports.
  • Deepened emphasis on the Standards for Mathematical Practice in math criteria and phenomena-driven three-dimensional instruction in science criteria.
  • Streamlining of criteria and gateway structures across all content areas to increase consistency, clarity, and efficiency, and to facilitate a more nimble review process.

Our updated criteria also represent continuity alongside enhancements. They maintain EdReports’ decade-long commitment to providing a laser focus on alignment to college and career-ready standards, grade-level content, evidence-based practices, and other markers of quality including teacher and student supports.

We’ll be sharing more details in the coming month about subject-wide changes in version 2.0 review tools, as well as specific changes for each content area and for MLL supports.

Q: Do version 2.0 tool revisions include pre-Kindergarten materials?

A: No. EdReports is currently developing review tools for inaugural pre-K reviews, with the first pre-K reports expected in late 2025. While our pre-K review tools and process will certainly be informed by our learnings from 10 years of reviewing K–12 materials, we’re developing these new tools separately from the K–12 tool revision process due to the many points of difference between pre-K and other grade bands.

Q: How frequently does EdReports plan on updating its tools in the future?

A: 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.

FAQs: Multilingual learner (MLL) tools and reviews

Q: Why have you created dedicated tools to evaluate materials for MLL supports?

A: Supporting multilingual learners is an area of critical need, today more than ever. There are now an estimated 4.9 million children in U.S. public schools learning the English language. Millions of those students are spending much of their days in general education classrooms, often with teachers not specifically trained to work with them.

While we have reviewed all comprehensive K–12 materials for MLL supports since 2020, we first prototyped MLL-specific tools in 2022 in order to broaden and deepen criteria in this essential aspect of curriculum quality. These tools were piloted in 2022 and 2023 and have been further revised since, leading to the creation of dedicated, standalone MLL tools for each K–12 content area in version 2.0 review tools.

Q: What do the MLL criteria ask reviewers to look for in materials? How are MLL tools and scoring structured?

A: The EdReports review tools use research-based aspects of success for MLLs to highlight where and how multilingual students can be successful within the materials. There are four categories of MLL criteria: MLLs’ Full and Complete Participation in Grade-Level Content, Coherence of MLL Supports, Teacher Guidance, and Assessment. Each criterion comprises several indicators.

The MLL criteria are the same across content areas and grade levels. The exact placement of MLL indicators in each tool varies slightly in ways that reflect the priorities and structures of its equivalent core content tool.

While MLL tools and scoring are separate from that of core content, the naming convention of each MLL indicator references its corresponding indicator in the relevant core content tool. This is to illustrate where multilingual learners are and are not supported within the core content. 

Q: How will MLL scores impact overall series ratings or whether a review proceeds to all gateways?

A: MLL scoring will not impact the scores or review process for core content for inaugural version 2.0 reports. In keeping with all existing EdReports reviews, the overall series ratings for materials will be based solely on scores for core content indicators (ELA, math, or science) and will not incorporate MLL scores.

In published reports, MLL indicators and scores will be shown alongside relevant core content indicators to illustrate where multilingual learners are and are not supported within the content. However, the two sets of scores will be aggregated and reported separately.

MLL scores will also not impact the gateway process of core content reviews. For example, if a program meets expectations for core content in Gateway 1 but does not meet expectations for the corresponding MLL indicators in that gateway, the review will still proceed to Gateway 2.

Q: How will MLL reviews work? What types of materials will you be reviewing for MLL supports? 

A: Starting in early 2025, all comprehensive, K–12 materials in ELA, math, and science reviewed by EdReports will also be reviewed for MLL supports using the relevant, subject-specific MLL tool.

The core content and MLL reviews conducted for each program will be separate processes involving separate review teams—although they will take place along similar timeframes. The MLL reviews will be conducted by educator reviewers with expertise in both the relevant core content area and in MLL supports.

Q: Do you have criteria to evaluate MLL supports in ELA foundational skills content?

A: Not yet, but they are currently in development. We are developing these indicators separately from other ELA-MLL indicators because the intersection of the science of reading and MLL supports is an evolving area of interdisciplinary research and collaboration, and we are working to ensure that our MLL indicators for foundational skills reflect the latest expert consensus.

Q: Will you review English language development supplements or materials in languages other than English for dual language/bilingual classes? 

A: EdReports reviews comprehensive, year-long, K–12 materials in English language arts (ELA), math, and science, as well as K–2 ELA foundational skills supplements. Currently, we don’t review any other types of supplemental materials. However, we constantly monitor the landscape of materials used in U.S. classrooms and consider how we can best help decision-makers to make choices that advance more coherent, high-quality academic experiences for all students. Our recent expansion into reviewing pre-K materials is one example of this approach.

EdReports currently only reviews materials in English. From version 1.5 tools (2020) onwards, all of our review tools for K–12 comprehensive materials prompt reviewers to provide information about how materials support the use of home language in the classroom and whether home language is viewed as an asset in learning core content.

For more information on the types of materials we review, see our main FAQs page.

FAQs: Reports published in 2024 or earlier

Q: How will the 2024-25 tool revisions affect materials that have already been reviewed by EdReports? Will they be re-reviewed against the new criteria? Can materials gain or lose points?

A: 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. 

Q: Could programs that were rated green on the previous tools be rated yellow or red on the new tools, or vice versa?

A: Different copyrights of the same title may receive different ratings because publishers often make significant content changes between editions.

When a publisher releases a new edition under a new copyright or creates a new digital edition,* we treat it as a new set of materials. This means we conduct a new review using the latest tools and generate a new report.

All our reviews, including those of current and previous editions, are available on the EdReports website. The same is true for our current and previous review tools. This transparency helps inform the field about how materials and EdReports tools have changed over time.

* Digital copyrights are often unchanged even when the materials are updated (unlike print materials).

Q: How should users approach reports that were created using older review tool versions?

A: All EdReports reviews contain a wealth of valuable information resulting from thousands of hours of work by our educator reviewers.

Since our first review in 2015, we have continuously learned and improved. We believe our best report is yet to come, and we remain committed to ongoing iteration and enhancement of our review tools based on research and feedback from the field and our educator reviewers.

Our latest reviews benefit from the latest improvements and accumulated knowledge. While older reviews are still valuable, they may lack some of the refinements present in our current reports because they were conducted earlier in our journey. When using an older report, we recommend the same approach as with all our reports: use it as one input among several in a comprehensive, teacher-led adoption process. EdReports reviews are a starting point, not the final word. 

Every program, old or new, has implementation challenges. Carefully consider these challenges when comparing materials and plan for how to address them once you’ve made your selection.

Q: Can publishers request an updated review of their program using the new tools?

A: This depends on several factors. Ultimately, EdReports strives to ensure that our reviews accurately reflect what is being used in the field, and we stand ready to re-review materials when they have been substantively updated.

When a publisher releases a new edition of a program under a new copyright or effectively creates a new digital edition of their program,* we consider it a new set of materials and start a new review process using the latest available tools.

If the publisher has made substantial changes under the same copyright, we ask them to indicate the scale and substance of the changes made since our review. Depending on the answer, we may conduct a new, full review process or only update the affected parts of the review.

* Digital copyrights are often unchanged even when the materials are updated (unlike print materials).

FAQs: Publishers

Q: How has EdReports engaged publishers in the tool revision process?

A: As an independent nonprofit, EdReports regularly communicates with and seeks input from publishers while materials are being reviewed, inviting feedback on ways to continuously improve our process. 

As of fall 2024, we are in direct discussions with publishers whose materials are due to begin reviews in Q1 of 2025 about version 2.0 tools and their use in the upcoming review process.

Q: Will publishers have access to the updated tools before they’re officially released in 2025?

A: Yes. Anyone can access version 2.0 Review Criteria via our Review Tools page.

Publishers whose materials are due to be reviewed using version 2.0 tools starting in early 2025 will also have access to copies of draft version 2.0 Evidence Guides, which are embargoed until they’re officially published on our website.

Over the course of the review process for each content area and grade band, we will fine-tune both the Review Criteria and Evidence Guides to maximize clarity and practical use for our educator reviewers. In the unlikely event of significant changes to review tools during the inaugural review process, we will update relevant publishers as well as posting the latest versions of Review Criteria on our Review Tools page when ready. 

Q: What’s the best way for publishers to find out more about the implications of EdReports’ tool revisions for materials development?

A: Please submit questions via this Publisher Questions Form. Publishers and authors of K–12 comprehensive materials are also invited to attend a series of virtual information sessions in December 2024 during which we will address the most frequently asked questions submitted via the form. You can register for the information sessions via the links at the top of the Questions Form.

 Q: I’m a publisher whose materials have been confirmed for EdReports review using version 2.0 review tools starting in 2025. Whom should I contact? 

A: For reviews scheduled to begin in Q1 of 2025, please email your contact person from the EdReports Reviews Team directly. 

For reviews tentatively scheduled to begin in Q2 of 2025 or later, EdReports will begin scheduling conversations in early 2025 to ensure your questions are answered and to confirm your status in the review pipeline.

FAQs: Listening and Learning Tours and Advisories

Q: How does EdReports use Listening and Learning Tours?

A: During each review tool development or revision process, EdReports conducts a Listening and Learning tour for each review focus area in order to understand the market landscape, assess the status of standards, identify needs, and engage various stakeholders for feedback. We seek input on a range of topics including technological innovations, the evolving nature of curriculum, the latest research, and how our reports can better serve users, the field, and decision-making around instructional materials.

Q: Who participates in Listening and Learning Tours?

A: Participants include classroom educators, researchers, nonprofits, states, districts, publishers, and students, ensuring comprehensive input and clarity on next steps. Depending on the review focus area, the tour involves up to hundreds of individuals through interviews, surveys, and focus groups with educator reviewers, professional organizations, curriculum leaders, and more.

Following initial conversations, EdReports continues to engage tour participants through specific follow-up discussions and contributions as we consider tool developments and adjustments.

Q: What are EdReports’ “advisories”? How is their involvement different from other Listening and Learning Tour contributors?

A: During each review tool development or revision process, EdReports convenes an “advisory” group for each review focus area. These groups consist of experienced classroom educators, researchers, curriculum experts, state and district leaders, and representatives from partner organizations. The advisories are subject-specific and often grade-band-specific, with members selected for their content expertise. Together, they provide a comprehensive range of independent field perspectives to guide the tool revision process for each subject. 

Advisory members play a key role in bringing in other organizations and experts for the Listening and Learning Tour and actively participate in its sessions. They also help EdReports teams synthesize feedback from the tour and offer ongoing input on the creation and refinement of draft tools.