Why Sign the School Network Pledge?
In our quest to help networks better understand and improve their K12 school system's capabilities, we created the School Network Pledge. This pledge symbolizes secure access to student data, educates practitioners and families about student privacy, promotes equity, and ensures fiscal responsibility for edtech purchases. By signing this pledge, schools are signaling to other school networks, edtech vendors, and their community that they’re committed to helping students grow with interoperability.
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Why Sign the Edtech Vendor Pledge?
To support edtech vendors in enhancing the use of educational data and improving teaching and learning practices for stronger student outcomes, we created the Edtech Vendor Interoperability Pledge. This pledge symbolizes the commitment to maximizing equitable access and availability through data interoperability. By signing the pledge, edtech vendors are signaling they are committed to enhancing their products' security, access, privacy, and interoperability. This enables educators, and families to be more involved in their student’s education, enhancing the effectiveness of their educational data. It also informs teaching and learning practices for stronger student outcomes.
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SLDS: Envisioning Success with the Modernization of Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems and Federal Funding Policy
A successful and modernized Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) should function as a dynamic tool empowering educators, principals, and decision-makers to directly impact student outcomes. Beyond the mere collection of data, the system must seamlessly transform information into actionable insights through intuitive dashboards. This evolution from data to information to knowledge to wisdom is crucial for informed decision-making at various educational levels.
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SLDS: Federal Funding Braiding to Support Data-Driven Instruction Work
Ready to uncover recommendations, resources, and success stories to enhance your journey to harness the full potential of SLDS (Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems)? Dive into Project Unicorns’s latest resource and learn how to use the strategy of federal funding braiding to secure federal funding sources and improve your implementation.
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Stories From the Field
Stories from the Field, curated by Project Unicorn, provide a glimpse into the collaborative efforts between school systems and edtech solution providers, offering valuable insights into what's possible within an interoperable data ecosystem in education. These stories supplement the findings from the 2023 State of the Sector (SOTS) Report, offering a detailed analysis of K-12 school system capabilities related to education data, with input from 208 unique LEAs, Regional Education Service Agencies, and school systems. Explore Stories from the Field and the SOTS report to better understand the evolving landscape of education data.
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SLDS: Using Cooperative Strategies for State Capacity Building and R&D Infrastructure
The potential of cooperatives to build capacity for implementing Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) is vast. With the ability to foster interagency cooperation and strengthen the data ecosystem, this strategy presents an innovative approach. This resource provides suggestions and examples of incorporating cooperatives into your SLDS initiative. Learn about the key benefits, anticipate challenges, and explore recommendations for state leaders.
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Leveraging People-Powered Student Supports to Advance Digital Equity
Building on lessons learned from a May 2023 webinar/workshop, the NPSS Digital Equity Working Group developed “National Partnership for Student Success: Leveraging People-Powered Student Supports to Advance Digital Equity,” a series of resources aimed to further understanding of current digital equity issues and recommend ways that the “digital navigator” model can be integrated into their services.
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SLDS Basics: Ensuring Interoperability
Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) can be crucial in education data management and data-driven decision-making. Some states have increasingly looked to make these connections to workforce development, such as California’s Cradle to Career system. These systems are designed to collect, store, analyze, and manage a wide range of data related to student performance, school information, demographics, and other relevant indicators in the education data curriculum. To ensure effective use and meaningful data analysis, interoperability is a key consideration in SLDS implementation.
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K-12 Digital Infrastructure Briefs
As we work to provide physical infrastructure for our schools that is safe, healthy, and supportive for all students, the time has come to align resources towards creating a digital infrastructure that is equally safe, accessible, resilient, sustainable, and future-proof.
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Privacy Jump-Start Guide
Protecting student data privacy is critical to implementing interoperable technology systems. Read this jump-start guide to learn about key education data privacy organizations and resources that support best practices in student data privacy during your interoperability journey.
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Better Edtech Buying: A Practical Guide - Revised Edition
To provide more insight and guidance into how edtech purchasing happens and consider how educators and leaders can work together to make more informed purchasing decisions, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and Project Unicorn have released Better Edtech Buying: A Practical Guide - Revised Edition.
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Why Interoperability Matters for SLDS | Stories from the Field
Data interoperability can make it easier for states to deploy and maintain State Longitudinal Data Systems. Learn how the Indiana Department of Education, North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, South Carolina Department of Education, and Texas Education Agency are leveraging data interoperability to support data-based decision-making at the federal, state, district, and local levels.
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Privacy, Security, Interoperability
Why One Supports the Other: Data interoperability is a helpful component to building and maintaining quality software. Interoperability isn't a panacea, but making intentional and informed choices about implementing an interoperability standard contribute to better development practice, better privacy practice, and better security practice. Here are 5 ways interoperability, privacy, and security enhance each other.
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CoSN Resource: An Introduction to Interoperability Standards for Education Leaders
With the explosive growth of digital resources to support both instruction and business decision making, more K-12 staff know how to use technology — and value the use of data to inform practice. Yet many express concern that they are “data rich and information poor,” which makes integrating, analyzing, and applying data a key challenge. Educational leaders who can harness the growing data generated in their districts can be empowered to transform both instructional and business practices.
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Data Integrator List
Data integration platforms, products and services can help school systems seamlessly and securely bring together previously siloed education data, supporting advanced data analytics and reporting. This can help educators make better decisions to support students and save school systems time and money. Peruse our list of integration specialists to find the right provider and solutions for you!
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Standards Glossary V2
The Standards Glossary by Project Unicorn is a directory that contains a list of Interoperability Standards in K-12.
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First Three Steps for K-12 IT Leaders
Student data can be used to improve teaching and learning, but the vast quantities of data is often locked in siloed applications that make it difficult for educators to get a holistic understanding of student progress. Data interoperability can help your school system unlock this siloed data and better support student outcomes. Review the First 3 Steps for K12 Information Technology Leaders to learn more about the first steps IT leaders can take to leverage their school system’s data!
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First Three Steps for Edtech Startups
Are you a startup or early stage edtech company? Learn why data interoperability is so important in today's competitive market and how you can make it your market advantage. After all, what startup doesn't want to be a Unicorn? Read more below!
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Advancing Digital Equity for All: Community-Based Recommendations for Developing Effective Digital Equity Plans to Close the Digital Divide and Enable Technology-Empowered Learning
Digital equity is achieved when all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity that is needed for full participation in the society and economy of the United States (U.S.). Reaching this goal for all learners is a challenge that has been highlighted and exacerbated by the digital opportunity and equity gaps exposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic…”
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Using Multiple Data Standards for Education Data Interoperability
Data interoperability standards make possible the seamless, secure, and controlled exchange of data between applications. If you’re wondering “What’s the best data standard?” you may be asking the wrong question. Instead of thinking “what standards team should I pick” you should be thinking “what standards should I have on my team?” The answer will depend on the game that you’re trying to win. Read more below!
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