Learner Variability Certification

Our research on the Learner Variability Project (LVP) has demonstrated the tremendous variability among learners. Without designing to reach the full diversity of learners, we risk creating inequitable solutions that support certain kinds of learners and not others, widening opportunity gaps.

Edtech products designed to attend to learner variability are more likely to support the broad range of a learner’s strengths and challenges that can vary in different contexts and that create multiple opportunities for differentiation.

Certification Criteria

Key Method

The product is designed to support learners’ cognitive abilities, social and emotional needs, and personal backgrounds, using clear examples of how different learners benefit. Learner variability is supported by features that can be adjusted by the learners themselves to meet their varying needs. There is easily accessible, public-facing information on how the product has been designed to support variation among learners. Product developers have incorporated input from educators and diverse learners to inform design features.

Method Components

A product that earns this certification will provide evidence of the following:

• at least six distinct features, tools, and/or learning experiences supporting the variability of learners;
  • at least one of the features, tools, or learning experiences is designed to support learners’ social and emotional learning;
  • additional features, tools, and/or learning experiences described must be designed to support cognitive abilities or learners’ personal backgrounds;
  • includes details explaining how different learners are expected to benefit from each feature/tool/learning experience.
• at least two features that can be adjusted by the learners themselves to meet their varying needs;
• clear, easily accessible, public-facing information about how the product has been designed to support variation among learners, along with identification of which aspects of learner variability are supported by using the product; and
• input from educators and diverse learners has been incorporated into the product to inform the design features.