State Data Standards Map

Project Unicorn is excited to announce the launch of our new State Data Standards Map, a free, interactive resource designed to provide a clear view of how states are engaging with key education technology standards. Whether you're an educator, policymaker, or solution provider, this tool offers a high-level, at-a-glance resource to better understand the evolving K-12 education technology landscape.

Why This Map Matters

In the complex world of education technology, understanding what standards are being used and how can be a challenge. Our new map visualizes the use of different technology standards—including SIF, Ed-Fi, CEDS, OneRoster, and CASE—across key use cases: alignment, infrastructure, and three use cases: assessment, rostering, and state reporting.

By bringing this information together in one place, we hope to make it easier for you to:

  • See patterns and identify areas of alignment across states.

  • Identify opportunities for collaboration and shared best practices.

  • Better understand how states are working to connect, protect, and improve their education data systems.

This interactive map offers a clear, high-level view of how states are engaging with key education technology standards. It is intended to display the use of different technology standards currently being used and in production/deployment in the K-12 interoperability space within each of the following categories: data alignment or schema, infrastructure, and use cases (assessment, reporting, and rostering) (See definitions).

Whether you’re an educator, policymaker, or solution provider, this map provides an at-a-glance resource to better understand the evolving K-12 education technology standards landscape and how states are working to connect, protect, and improve their state-level education data systems. Please note that this map is an evolving data product and will change over time through updates. If you have a correction or update, please fill out the feedback form.  

How We Built This

METHODS

This State Data Standards Map compiles information directly reported from state education agency leaders, and has been verified directly with state contacts. The map reflects the most recent confirmed updates at the time of publication and will be refreshed periodically as new information becomes available. This map reflects only the standards used in live production and deployments.

INTENT

The purpose of this resource is to provide a centralized, high-level view of how states are referencing, aligning to, or implementing K-12 education technology standards. This map does not include information about standards used within any school district; it only includes state educational agencies or their designated affiliates (RICs, BOCES, ESAs). This map is intended to help educators, policymakers, and partners quickly understand the state-by-state landscape, identify trends, and pinpoint opportunities for greater alignment.

HOW TO CORRECT INFORMATION

If you notice an error or have more up-to-date information for your state or organization: Submit corrections directly through our Standards Map Feedback Form. All submissions will be reviewed and verified before changes are made to the map.

The Standards Included

This map focuses on the major education technology data standards used for state-level use cases:

  • The Student Information Framework (SIF), managed by the Access 4 Learning (A4L) Community, is a technical blueprint for data sharing between software applications in the K-12 sector. It utilizes an event-driven architecture to ensure that when data is updated in one application, it is automatically synchronized across all other connected systems.

  • The Competency and Academic Standards Exchange (CASE) is a data interoperability standard that enables the machine-readable exchange of learning standards and competencies. Developed by 1EdTech (formerly IMS Global), CASE ensures that academic standards, such as state learning standards or career readiness frameworks, can be easily published, discovered, aligned, and integrated across platforms. It enables systems to reference educational goals using unique identifiers, ensuring that learning resources and assessments are accurately aligned across different platforms.tion text goes here

  • CEDS is a shared vocabulary for education data elements. It is an education data management initiative whose purpose is to streamline the understanding of data within and across P–20 institutions and sectors. The CEDS initiative includes a common vocabulary, data models that reflect that vocabulary, tools to help education stakeholders understand and use education data, an assembly of metadata from other education data initiatives, and a community of education stakeholders who discuss the uses of CEDS and the development of the standard.

  • The Ed-Fi Data Standard creates a common language for moving data from one system to another. Important student information can come together clearly in one place, giving a complete view of each student’s progress. The Data Standard is developed in collaboration with the Ed-Fi Community (state agencies, service centers, edtech vendors). It is rooted in real-world use cases and aligned with CEDS, and serves as the basis for generating the Ed-Fi Resources API specification.

  • 1EdTech’s OneRoster standard addresses a school’s need to securely and reliably exchange roster information, course materials, and grades between systems. OneRoster supports the commonly used .csv format for exchange and the latest real-time web services mode, REST.

Important Definitions

  • The state has incorporated a standard into its policies, frameworks, or official data definitions and uses the standard’s specific data model or structural blueprint to organize information.

  • The state’s technical architecture, including databases, servers, and data exchange systems is physically built on or powered by the standard.

  • The state’s specific strategic applications to solve operational challenges. This represents the functional value of the data, such as automating classroom access (Rostering), measuring student growth (Assessment), and streamlining compliance reporting (State Compliance Reporting).

Scope Clarification: This map represents state-level use of standards only. It does not reflect district-by-district adoption or implementation, which may vary widely within each state.