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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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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.
Read MoreThe Standards Glossary by Project Unicorn is a directory that contains a list of Interoperability Standards in K-12.
Read MoreAs local and state governments, businesses, and institutions across the country implement the first phases of reopening after weeks of lockdown, schools are beginning to plan for learning this fall…
Read MoreThis infographic illustrates that, when all the important people in their lives have appropriate access to information, individuals get the support they need to succeed.
Read MoreLearn about the benefits of signing the Project Unicorn pledge which includes joining a community of districts and vendors, access to other resources, scholarships, and technical support.
Read MoreLearn about how you can get started with Data Interoperability if you are a state leader.
Read MoreLearn about the different organizations in K-12 that provide data standards to make Data Interoperability possible.
Read MoreThis issue brief shares state policy recommendations and action steps for policymakers who are supporting the redesign of educator workforce systems.
Read MoreInsert language from our partners at EdFi in your requests for proposals so that your school or district procures only technologies that are interoperable.
Read MoreHow does your school network rank? Review the rubric to assess your tier of interoperability.
Read MoreLearn more about the Project Unicorn initiative.
Read MoreRead more about how highlights how state leaders tackle data interoperability with the emergence of data standards for student information, assessment, digital content, and other educational applications. Provided by SETDA.
Read MoreRead this 1-pager to learn more about Project Nessie a state initiative by CCSSO and SETDA focused on Nurturing Engagement & Support for State Education Interoperability Efforts.
Read MoreThis report urges school innovation funders, intermediaries, and researchers to engage more proactively with standards bodies to integrate school design concepts into existing standards to maximize adoption, rather than pursuing a new standard
Read MoreRead MoreData should maintain its meaning as it gets passed between schools, districts, and even states. Interoperability standards assist in providing solutions for increasing concerns over linking student, teacher, school, and district data to create actionable outcomes.
Corey Matlack, No.Inc
Read More“The Oklahoma SDE serves 512 traditional school districts, 28 charter school districts, 58 charter school sites, and over 1,795 schools. With over 693,700 students in the state, the OK SDE works hard to meet the challenging needs of students with educational technology.”
Ariana Bauer, CPSI, Ltd.
EdMatrix is a cooperative effort to create a directory of Education Standards. The emphasis is on Education Data standards but important Competency & Achievement standards and Design & Practice standards are also included.
Read MoreFrom Ed-Fi Alliance, join Troy Wheeler as he discusses the value and role of technology providers in the larger movement towards interoperability.
Read MoreLeveraging Data for Academic Excellence This report examines the current data interoperability efforts in nine states: Delaware, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Throughout the report, states explore the successes and challenges in making interoperable solutions where data is seamlessly connected and readily available for use by decision makers, teachers, parents, and students.
Read MoreThis infographic from the Data Quality Campaign shows how critical data is to personalizing education.
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