School districts are imposing stronger demands for “interoperability” on ed-tech providers, with the goal of creating a standard for the seamless sharing of data and content across different systems and applications. K-12 officials are convinced that adhering to such standards will give them greater power to sort through data, pick and choose the digital content they want, and cut down on cost and confusion.

The push for interoperability is forcing content providers and other vendors to make important decisions—about which standards to adopt or ignore, how much time and money to devote to that work, and how to anticipate and adjust to shifting district demands …