sif
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from 30,000 feet. SIF. Laurie Collins - SIFA project strategist [email protected] Chris Letterman – EED [email protected]. Schools Interoperability Framework Association. Non-profit membership organization comprised of: K-12 technology companies - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Laurie Collins - SIFA project [email protected] Letterman – [email protected]
SIF from 30,000 feet
• Non-profit membership organization comprised of:– K-12 technology companies– Regional service agencies– Schools & districts– US and State Departments of Education– Other educational organizations
• Jointly building the XML Specifications to enableK-12 software applications to share data quickly, dynamically and securely.
• Dedicated to providing educators with secure, appropriate access to the most current and accurate data available to support decision making.
Schools Interoperability Framework Association
– A technical blueprint enabling diverse pK-12 software applications to interact and share data seamlessly
– Designed by pK-12 technology providers and educators
– Platform Independent/Vendor Neutral• Open standards (XML, TCP/IP, HTTP / HTTPS)• Published specification
– Leverages Existing Standards• NCES Data Handbooks
– Works cross-platform, over a Web-based interface
– Allows automated reporting
The SIF Specification:A Quick Definition
25,483 Total Responses – approx. 7,000 school districts and 18,600 schools represented
5,597 School Tech Coordinators at School level and 4,446 District Tech Coordinators responded as being UNAWARE of SIF
9,612 School Principals and 2,167 District Supers responded as being UNAWARE of SIF
What is the source of this data?
What does it mean going forward?
Nationwide SIF Survey Results
US Depart of Education National Ed Tech Plan
Migrant Education Student Data Exchange
Child Nutrition Act Re-Authorization Bill of 04
NCES State Longitudinal Data Grants Program
Legislative - Implementations - Membership
Data Leadership Summit
NCES Data Model Work
SIFA Usage / Activity Update
Over 330 members – new added each week
Utilized to serve over 4 million students in 43 states
Legislatively mandated in 1 state – 4 in progress
Required/suggested by USED, USDA, NCES, states and schools in dozens current/planned RFP’s Currently 72 certified applications
55 at version 1.517 at version 1.1
SIFA Status Update
What is Data Driven Decision Making?
To:
Students “How am I doing?”
Educators “How are they doing?”
Administrators “How are we doing?”
State/Federal “Where are we?”
Policy Makers “What needs addressing?”
Parents “How is he/she doing?”
Stakeholders “What is the impact?”
SIS
Network Accounts
Cafeteria
Library Transportation
Traditional School Setup
• The situation in many schools and school systems is that there are a series of software applications which all may require the same data, but which have no way to talk to each other.
• It may be possible for one or two applications to share data through proprietary methods, but open, dynamic and synchronized data sharing does not occur.
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Horizontal Questions
Data Warehousing
K12 Data Model
Food
Serv
ice
Gra
de B
ook
HR
/ Finance
Libra
ry
SIS
Tra
nsp
orta
tion
Instru
ction
al S
erv
ices
Voice
Tele
phony
Accountability, Reporting, Planning, etc…
SIF Components Working Together - Horizontally
Network Account
H.R. &Finance
Data Analysis
& Reporting Instructional
Services
Library Automation
Student Information
Services
GradeBook
FoodServices
– Zone Integration Server (ZIS)
– SIF Agents
– Applications
– SIF Data Objects
The SIF “ZONE”
SIF School Benefits
Teachers
– Real-time access to critical information
– Better data analysis
– Teachers time better spent
Students & Parents
– Improved timeliness of service
– Accurate School Data
– Increased Efficiency
IT Departments
– Reduced support costs
– Reduced time needed to manage multiple data sources
– Save money using existing systems and infrastructure
Administrators
– Increased Efficiency
– Reduced redundancy and errors
– Reduced compatibility issues
Efficiency, Accuracy, Cost Savings
Local Return on Investment
New Student Registering for Enrollment into: *Student Information System *Directory Service Application *ID Card System *Library Automation System *Cafeteria Management System *Transportation System
Typical School SIF School- 45 minute task - 4 minute task- 10 times data entered - 1 time data entry
45 minutes/student X 18,000 students=
6 FTE’s!1/10th the Time – 1/10th the Risk
What would your priority be with SIF?
a. Real-time data movement?
b. Cleaner data?
c. Data synchronization between systems?
d. Ease of state reporting?
Typical Horizontal SIF Implementation
SIS Cafe’
Library
Transportation
ZIS
agent
agent
agent
agent
District data warehouse or data repository
Vertical Reporting Implementation
District/StateDistrict/StateDistrict/State
State/Federal
1.5
…Phase IV of the Unity Project…
State Data Warehouse
DistrictE
DistrictF
DistrictA
DistrictB
DistrictC
DistrictD
IU or Regional Center
IU or Regional Center
State ZIS
…A hybrid vertical implementation a mix of locally placed ZIS and Regional ZIS…
SIF Implementations
SIF State Activity Updates• Numerous States Members and statewide activities
– Delaware – state data collection project– Wyoming – statewide implementation; state data collection– Oklahoma – districts required to have SIF Certified software by 05-06;
state data collection and implementation of their vertical SIF project– Idaho – 4 core applications statewide linked by SIF, plus link local
applications via SIF– Utah – state SIS to have SIF Compliant agent– Nevada – allow SIF to feed local data repositories – South Dakota – using SIF to move data locally and vertically– South Carolina – All districts have a horizontal SIF implementation to
assign unique statewide student IDs– Pennsylvania – first to pilot state data collection; purchased IU
memberships work on state SIF project– Virginia – successful pilots; roll out of statewide SIF implementations in
progress.– Tennessee – Rolling out is SIF pilot part of their longitudinal data grant– Ohio – Working on their SIF vertical reporting project
When a new student is enrolled: Data is inputted locally in the various 10 Student Information Systems
Data is then collected at the 10 regional data acquisition sites across the state to the state Zone to the ZIS Server
State then either:1. Sends a unique student identifier to the district (Phase I)2. Utilizes data to populate aggregate reporting database at the state level (Phase II –
Student Information/Finance/Special Ed/Food Service Systems)3. Allows for tools to be used at the state level for schools to utilize their own local data
(Phase III – including Transportation/Human Resource Systems)
“The Wyoming Legislature, responding to complaints about data burden from school districts, was contemplating requiring a single state solution to impose on districts. State data needs are small compared to the needs of local schools and districts. It is the local users, therefore, that should be determining the features and functionality of their software, not the state. SIF’s modular design allows for future maintenance and updates without impacting or upsetting other components. SIF is a flexible solution that promotes competition among vendors -- keeping applications feature rich and prices down. The modular nature also means districts are not locked into a particular vendor. This keeps vendors on their toes and customers satisfied.” Steve King – Wyoming Dept of Ed.
SIF State Success Story: Wyoming Department of Education
WY DOE Investments
HardwareZone Integration Server and Software - Data Router / Access Control– Software pricing based on state requirements or on enrollment counts
Estimated Costs: $5,000 per unit to purchase new hardware Software pricing varies by vendor for state purchases
SIF Agent SoftwarePricing – – Development of SIF Agent for existing applications by State IT Dept– Development of SIF Agent Outsourced to a third party vendor
Estimated Purchase Price: varies by application complexity and State requirements
Staff TimeInstallation – – Varies by staffs technical capabilities and applications involved– Maybe Outsourced to SIF Integration Specialists
Estimated Costs: varied by installation configurations
* Every installation can be unique
SIF State Benefits
Policy Makers
– Real-time access to information
– Better data analysis
– Allow “best of breed” choices
– State dollar savings
Students & Parents
– Personalized Student Content
– Improved timeliness of service
– Accurate School Data
– Increased Efficiency
IT Departments
– Reduced support costs
– Reduced time needed to manage multiple data sources
– Save money using existing systems and infrastructure
State Administrators
– Increased Efficiency
– Reduced reporting burdens
– Reduced redundancy and errors
– Reduced compatibility issues
Efficiency, Accuracy, Cost Savings
SIF Next Steps . . .
• SLDS (Statewide Longitudinal Data System) Grant – funding the SIF phase [2008] of the Unity Project
• Alaska’s SIF membership will include all the school districts
• Education, education, education – SIF holds quarterly association meetings, has online community of practice – virtual work, planning, issue resolution; “SIF U” – online SIF training for SIF Membership
• Participate!