| |
| June 23, 2026 |
| CONNECT WITH ISTE |
| CONNECT WITH ISTE |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| |
| Edtech news for those building the future of edtech
| SIGN UP ⋅ SHARE |
|
|
|
|
 |
 
| |
 |
| Carvalho in 2023. (MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images) |
Alberto Carvalho resigned Sunday as Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent amid a lingering FBI investigation linked to a $6 million contract with AllHere, although he has not been charged and maintains his innocence. Details about the investigation, which may date to Carvalho's tenure at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, are sparse, but involve procurement and oversight questions over $6 million that LAUSD awarded in 2024 to the AllHere edtech startup.
|
|
SmartTake: Startup AllHere was working with LAUSD to create Ed, a virtual assistant for students, but the concept failed during the pilot phase. AllHere later collapsed under a separate fraud investigation, during which its leader has been indicted. The issue reminds us that scrutiny comes from all corners, not just district safety, student security and parental worries -- and drives home the importance of edtech companies remaining above reproach.
|
|
|
|
|
Attending ISTE? Stop by booth #1955. See how Clever partners accelerate district adoption, reduce friction, and get in front of the right schools. Connect with us →
|
|
|
|
| ADVERTISEMENT |  |
|
|
Code.org has rebranded as CodeAI, expanding its computer science curriculum to include digital fluency and the underlying technology and data science behind AI. CEO Karim Meghji says the goal of the new curriculum is to demystify AI and empower students to become active participants and creators, rather than passive users, in a digital world.
|
|
|
|
|
As ISTE + ASCD approaches, explore how ENCORE, a sub-network of the AIMS Collaboratory, brings educators, researchers, and developers together to design tools grounded in evidence and equity.
|
|
|
|
| ADVERTISEMENT |  |
|
Lina Eroh and Anu Malipatil of the Overdeck Family Foundation are encouraging school leaders to answer five targeted questions to shift from accumulating too many edtech tools to making more strategic choices, write. Educators should determine whether a tool:
- Addresses a specific problem
- Has credible evidence of effectiveness
- Supports rather than replaces teachers
- Delivers measurable outcomes
- Can be clearly explained to families
|
|
|
Iowa has been working since 2021 to reduce chronic absenteeism, and the battle got a big boost two years ago with a controversial state law mandating steps schools must take for different student absence levels, plus potential misdemeanor charges for students who miss 20% of school days. Staff training and the addition of Panorama attendance software in every district have helped on the data front. In the last three years, chronic absenteeism has dropped by 9.8 percentage points compared with 5.9 percentage points nationwide.
|
|
|
SmartTake: The technology tool helps officials analyze attendance patterns at the individual, school or district level, and it supports targeted interventions, informs accountability metrics and helps districts dig deeper into the causes of absenteeism.
|
|
|
|
A recent Senate hearing featuring testimony from Erin Mote of InnovateEDU, Joshua Jones of QuantHub, Cynthia Marten of the Delaware Department of Education and Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers has highlighted a significant federal and state divide over the regulation of AI in education. The Trump administration has promoted AI adoption in several ways while simultaneously trying to block states from enacting their own AI regulations, except for child safety measures. Federal efforts to give states more autonomy over curriculum -- which can include AI -- further blurs the policy lines.
|
|
|
The Education Department is transferring the management of several federal special education activities, including key grants and oversight functions, to Health and Human Services, which critics say signals a shift from an educational to a medical model of disability. Advocacy groups and professional organizations warn that this could treat disabilities as medical diagnoses to be managed, rather than natural aspects of human diversity. Many experts worry that years of progress toward integrated, inclusive education may be undermined and that coordination between general and special education could weaken.
|
|
|
|
Top stories from last week's newsletter
|
|
| Latest Products to Earn ISTE Seal |
Congratulations to the newest ISTE Seal holders, Activate Learning, Hackersjack, and Edia! The ISTE Seal provides third-party validation of an edtech product's alignment with digital pedagogy, technological usability, and the ISTE Standards. To learn more about the Seal and how these tools support student learning and educator development, visit the ISTE Seal webpage. |
|
|
| About ISTE Solutions Network |
|
| The Solutions Network a member-based community that aims to 1) connect innovative solution providers to one another to learn, explore, and share best practices, 2) engage with the ISTE/ASCD member community to gather feedback and increase the impact of high-quality learning solutions, 3) engage in thought leadership conversations and 4) provide benefits for the annual ASCD + ISTE conference, where approximately 16,000 educators, decision-makers, and vendors convene. This community is made up of edtech companies of various sizes that are interested in engaging with each other and with ISTE to discuss Edtech’s role in teaching and learning, industry trends, and solve common challenges. Members of this network can benefit from connecting with industry experts and thought leaders, as well as from gaining key buyer information and insights.
|
|
|
|
| Product announcements appearing in SmartBrief are paid advertisements and do not reflect actual ASCD + ISTE endorsements. The news reported in SmartBrief does not necessarily reflect the official position of ASCD + ISTE.
|
|
|
|
|
| Got this from a friend? Subscribe now and stay in the loop! |
|
 |
|
| |
| I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I said. |
Alan Greenspan,
economist, economic policymaker, 13th chairman of the US Federal Reserve
1926-2026 |
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Copyright © 2026 SmartBrief. All Rights Reserved. A division of Future US LLC. |
| Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036. |
|
|
|
