Web Content Filter Buying Guide for K-12 School Districts
Everything your team needs to evaluate, compare, and confidently select the right web content filtering solution — from pre-evaluation prep to 16 sourcing criteria with interactive checklists.
Introduction
The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires schools in the United States to deploy effective measures protecting students from obscene or harmful online content to be eligible for discounts on internet access through the E-Rate program, or the Universal Service Program for Schools and Libraries.
Although CIPA compliance primarily drives K-12 school districts to adopt web filtering, it should not be the district’s only reason. Web content filtering in today’s technology-enabled schools is more than blocking harmful or obscene websites—it’s about keeping students safe and focused on learning. While it’s vital that web filters protect students from inappropriate content and online predators, blocking non-educational content also keeps students productive and on task.
Selecting the best web content filter for your school district will both keep your students safe online and better the quality of your students’ education.
How to Use This Buying Guide
This guide is divided into three sections:
1
Pre-Evaluation Checklist
2
Sourcing Criteria Checklist
3
Scoring Criteria Definitions
Start by working through the pre-evaluation section with four critical considerations as you and your team take your first steps. Then as you evaluate potential vendors, move on to examine essential criteria for making your best choice.
01 | Pre-Evaluation Checklist
To maximize your school district’s return on investment (ROI), there are four prerequisites to complete prior to evaluating vendors and their web content filtering solutions. The key is to ensure you align on strategic goals and objectives, while clearly defining your problem statement.
The following macro checklist will help you and your team form a solid and insightful foundation for sourcing any edtech solutions.
Duplicative software investment is expensive and negatively impacts efficiency. Document your school district's complete Edtech spend by tracking the product, the supplier, the internal owner, the annual spend and the renewal date. Look to eliminate redundancies and any unnecessary administrative and maintenance fees. Finally, determine a project owner who owns this data and ensures it is updated semi-annually.
Determine all internal stakeholders who need to be involved in the web content filter acquisition and deployment process, and develop an inclusive and collaborative project plan to close any organizational gaps.
Move beyond simply sourcing a web content filtering solution to check the box of a legislative mandate. Maximize value and ROI by confirming a comprehensive solution solves for your most pressing priorities, both in the classroom and in your administrative offices. License only solutions that allow you to fulfill your education mission.
An ideal Edtech buying journey consists of an organized set of steps for both new purchases and renewals. Document your processes internally and ensure relevant stakeholders are aware of timelines and other considerations.
Pre-evaluation complete!
You're ready to start evaluating vendors. Move on to Section 2 to score your top options.
02 | Sourcing Criteria for Selecting Your Best Web Content Filter Solution
Use the checkboxes to score Lightspeed Systems® and any other provider you’re evaluating.
All 16 criteria evaluated!
Ready to see how Lightspeed Filter™ performs against every item on your list?
Request a Demo 03 | Sourcing Criteria Definitions
Compatible with All Devices & Operating Systems
Your school district’s network connects with a variety of devices, and you require a web content filter that can accommodate them all. If not, you will add unnecessary complexity to your daily routine.
Quick Categorization of Unknown Websites
Hundreds of thousands of websites are added to the internet every day, and a great many of them are inappropriate for schools. Choose a filter that quickly categorizes unknown sites and allows you block them.
Decryption of SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Traffic
Viewing search terms and identifying videos accessed and watched requires SSL decryption. Look for a solution that decrypts without extra time or any additional budgetary investment in hardware.
Accommodation of Differentiated Policies
Does the filtering solution accommodate differentiated policies by allowing the establishment of varying levels of access and different filtering policies by user type, grade, individual, and time of day?
Content Analysis and Real-Time Notifications
Web content filters must go beyond simply blocking inappropriate content. They need to keep students safe. The best web content filters go much further than producing a list of URLs by analyzing online content and issuing real-time notifications.
Customizable Access to YouTube and Social Media
“Just block it” doesn’t work for most school districts, as educators are increasingly incorporating user-generated videos and social media into both their curriculum and their own communication strategies. Web content filtering solutions need to provide differentiated access, including read- and view-only, with automated access controls able to block individual videos or restrict specific pages. Additionally, advanced YouTube and social media controls should be available to customize the access of students across the entire K-12 spectrum.
Insightful Reporting
Effective web content filters offer reporting engines that go well beyond URL lists to provide insights schools require. Does the reporting engine produce graphs, overviews, drill-down capabilities, details, and sharing options? Does it deliver Overview Reports (e.g., how devices are used, percentage of educational web activity, etc.), Group Reports (e.g., most effective schools, specific classes needing attention, etc.), User Reports (student access, escalating activity signaling safety warnings, etc.), and Detail Logs (e.g., most frequently watched videos, top search terms, etc.)?
Transparent Parent Portal
Whether parents and guardians are serving as tech support or monitoring their child’s focus and device usage, their involvement is more important than ever. Does the web content filtering solution provide parents visibility and control of their children’s internet usage on school-issued devices outside of school hours?
Off-Site Filtering
Most schools send devices home with students, increasing equity, and advancing remote learning opportunities. In fact, over half of K–12 Chrome OS deployments go home with students. Student devices go everywhere and therefore technology isn’t confined to the server room or the classroom, adding to the complexities of student safety and effective filtering. Your filtering solution must work seamlessly both on-campus and off-campus.
Integration with Multiple Directories
Solutions based on a single directory source will not work for every school. Your administrators simply won’t have time for manually adjusting users and groups in your filter.
Personalization and Customization
Filtering isn’t one-size-fits-all. Schools have diverse needs—just as groups and users within each school have diverse needs.
Professional Services Deployment
Reduce administrative time and its associated costs by collaboratively working with your solution provider on a smooth, timely deployment and short ramp time to full productivity. Determine if your potential vendor has a team that can deliver IT and infrastructure consulting, detailed integration work, high-touch troubleshooting/diagnostics, and specific school district strategy guidance.
Customer Success Support
No school district can afford to source a web content filtering solution and not have it deliver at its very highest capacity. Ensure the ready usage of your investment, and fully realize the full potential of benefits as quickly as possible. Any potential solution provider should have a strong Customer Success team with a positive reputation.
Peer Reviews
According to G2, a peer-to-peer review site, 86 percent of SaaS (software as a service) buyers use peer review sites when buying software. Aside from overall review metrics, sort through the reviews and take deeper dives into school districts like yours.
Referral Customers
Conduct comprehensive customer references when evaluating potential solution providers. Naturally, you’ll be directed to favorable referrals by vendors, but dig deep to learn honest truths about both positives and any negatives. Start your evaluation with general experiences with the vendor, then dive deeper into follow-up questions about customer service, vendor strengths, and vendor weaknesses.
Total Cost of Ownership
The total cost of ownership is the overall cost of the solution throughout its life cycle. A great many customers and vendors start with pricing considerations and don’t go much further. Your initial price point is important, but it is rarely your only investment cost. Examine the full cost of implementing a web content filtering solution, including potential hidden costs for development, administration, and maintenance. Additionally, examine the impact of unreliability, downtime, and inaccuracy on your total annual investment cost.
