SIF from 30,000 feet
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
Regional service agencies
Schools & districts
US and State Departments of Education
Other educational organizations
• Jointly building the XML Specifications to enable
K-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.
The SIF Specification:
A Quick Definition
– 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
Nationwide SIF Survey Results
 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?
SIFA Usage / Activity Update
 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 Status 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 1.5
17 at version 1.1
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?”
Traditional School Setup
Cafeteria
• 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.
?
SIS
?
Network
Accounts
?
?
?
Library
Transportation
Horizontal Questions
K12 Data Model
Voice Telephony
SIS
Library
HR / Finance
Grade Book
Food Service
Instructional Services
Data Warehousing
Transportation
Accountability, Reporting, Planning, etc…
SIF Components Working
Together - Horizontally
– Zone Integration
Server (ZIS)
– SIF Agents
Student
Information Services
Library
Automation
Network Account
H.R. &
Finance
Food
Services
– Applications
– SIF Data Objects
Data
Analysis
&
Reporting
Grade
Book
Instructional
Services
The SIF “ZONE”
SIF School Benefits
IT Departments
Students & Parents
– Improved timeliness of service
– Accurate School Data
– IncreasedEfficiency,
Efficiency
– Reduced support costs
– Reduced time needed to
manage multiple data sources
Accuracy, Cost
Savings
– Save money using existing
systems and infrastructure
Teachers
Administrators
– Real-time access to critical
information
– Increased Efficiency
– Better data analysis
– Reduced redundancy and
errors
– Teachers time better spent
– Reduced compatibility issues
Local Return on Investment
New Student Registering for Enrollment into:
*Student Information System
*ID Card System
*Cafeteria Management System
*Directory Service Application
*Library Automation System
*Transportation System
Typical School
- 45 minute task
- 10 times data entered
SIF School
- 4 minute task
- 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
agent
Cafe’
agent
Library
agent
ZIS
agent
District data warehouse or
data repository
Transportation
…Phase IV of the
Unity Project…
Vertical Reporting Implementation
State/Federal
1.5
District/State
District/State
District/State
State Data Warehouse
State ZIS
IU or Regional
Center
District
A
District
B
…A hybrid vertical
implementation a mix
of locally placed ZIS
and Regional ZIS…
IU or Regional
Center
District
C
District
D
District
E
District
F
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
SIF State Success Story: Wyoming
Department of Education
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.
2.
3.

Sends a unique student identifier to the district (Phase I)
Utilizes data to populate aggregate reporting database at the state level (Phase II –
Student Information/Finance/Special Ed/Food Service Systems)
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.
WY DOE Investments
* Every installation can be unique
Hardware
Zone 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 Software
Pricing –
– 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 Time
Installation –
– Varies by staffs technical capabilities and applications involved
– Maybe Outsourced to SIF Integration Specialists
Estimated Costs: varied by installation configurations
SIF State Benefits
Students & Parents
IT Departments
– Personalized Student Content
– Reduced support costs
– Improved timeliness of service
– Reduced time needed to
manage multiple data sources
– Accurate School Data
– IncreasedEfficiency,
Efficiency
– Save money using existing
Accuracy, Cost
Savings
systems
and infrastructure
Policy Makers
State Administrators
– Real-time access to information
– Increased Efficiency
– Better data analysis
– Reduced reporting burdens
– Allow “best of breed” choices
– Reduced redundancy and errors
– State dollar savings
– Reduced compatibility issues
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!