Securing the right to pilot-test a product in a school district can be a tantalizing opportunity for an education company.

The District of Columbia school system, which has an $866 million yearly budget, is a fertile testing ground: It has hosted more than 20 pilots of ed-tech products over the past three years. EdWeek Market Brief’s Sean Cavanagh asked the district’s director of blended learning and deputy chief of educational technology and library programs about what most impresses—and frustrates—them when working with companies to stage pilots in the 47,000-student system …