If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
Achieving data interoperability at scale is a long and daunting feat. All fast solutions to this problem are just temporary, local fixes—not the comprehensive and sustainable solutions K-12 students and teachers desperately need.
Instead, we’re working to go far, and our best option is to go together. In terms of making interoperability the norm in K-12 education, this means tackling the big challenges and developing complex relationships. From a technology standpoint, it means leaning into the tricky problems standing in the way of the frictionless exchange of data to improve student outcomes.
The Ed-Fi Technical Advisory Group (TAG) exists to do just this: focus on the gnarly technical issues blocking our collective path. This year’s TAG accomplished a lot in one year. In addition to general oversight and input into our Technology Roadmap (requires SSO login), the group weighed in on a number of tricky issues, including:
- Models for bulk/batch data exchange over REST API
- Controlled vocabularies: the concept of scoping to contexts, customization vs. shared governed sets, and more
- Proliferation of student identification codes and rostering across agency contexts—state vs. local, LEA-sponsored vs. teacher-sponsored tools, and more
- Record-level security
- Data out APIs, including event-based and date-based API query models
- Certification needs and program design for the Ed-Fi Community
- Upgrade supports and models for the Ed-Fi API, including n-1 APIs as an option
- Models for faster API iteration
- Database platform needs and open-source options
- Technical training resource needs
As we bring our 2018-19 TAG to a close, we want to thank those who generously gave their time to this effort:
- Amazon Web Services – Tarun Verma
- Learning Tapestry – Jon Hickam
- Pittsburgh Public Schools – Veronica Amundson and Scott Gutowski
- NWEA – Laura Keith and Greg Petras
- Nebraska Department of Education – Jill Aurand
- Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction – John Raub
- Arizona Department of Education – Britto Augustine
- Skyward Inc. – Tim Casey
- Double Line – Ben Meyers
- SchooLinks – Michael Discenza
- FLCODE/NEFEC – Sherod Keen
- Infinite Campus – Jennifer Downey
Our thanks again to the folks above for their service. We’re currently in the process of selecting our next batch of community leaders. Here’s to going farther together!
