From how we work to how we engage in recreation or communicate with our friends and family, technology is a part of nearly every aspect of our daily lives—including the public education system. As a nation, we spend over $6 billion on educational technology (ed tech) annually. Each day, students, educators, and families leverage technology to deliver content, track progress, and communicate with each other.

AIR, the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), and more than 10 other organizations collaborated on the development of publications to ensure ed tech conception, design, procurement, use, and evaluation close rather than widen opportunity gaps between students with and without disabilities. NCLD developed the report, Inclusive Technology in a 21st Century Learning System, and then worked with partner organizations to translate how local, state, and national policymakers can play a role.

The primary report outlines key considerations across the process. The collaboratively developed local primer summarizes key local stakeholders and questions that ought to be addressed to achieve meaningful inclusion for students with disabilities. The collaboratively developed state and federal primer identifies the key considerations presented in federal laws that advance a 21st century vision of inclusion with regards to ed tech.