CoSN: The Consortium for School Networking

CoSN Position Statement Regarding Data Interoperability Standards for K-12 Schools

In the recently released CoSN Primer on Open Technologies in K-12 Schools (available free to CoSN Members/$25 nonmembers from the CoSN online store), the topic of open standards system architecture was discussed with the ultimate goal of improving data interoperability. Open standards support the exchange of data among multiple applications. This concept of efficient sharing of data elements among the myriad of information systems employed by the typical school system is not new, and is often a hallmark of efficient information processing in schools today. The purpose of this position statement is to bring a heightened awareness of the need for school systems to make data interoperability a high priority in their overall technology strategy.

There are many options available to provide efficient data sharing utilizing various data crosswalk (mapping) tables, ODBC (open database connectivity) and XML (extensible markup language) transfers. The School Interoperability Framework (SIF) is one popular open technical specification utilizing some of these popular data sharing methods. CTOs should understand that there is no single best method to employ for data interoperability. Each of these options has a place in providing data interoperability and each has particular strengths and weaknesses depending on the applications used and the need for real time versus scheduled data synchronization.

CoSN believes that the example of data interoperability provided in the Department of Education's National Education Technology Plan has been taken out of context and is being used inappropriately by vendors, state education departments, and other organizations to imply that SIF is the only standard of interoperability to be considered. CoSN encourages CTOs to consider the overall concept of data interoperability when writing requirements for the purchase of information systems. By selecting a single interoperability option at the RFP stage, the available solutions will be limited. Instead, CoSN encourages CTOs to require that vendors demonstrate their level of interoperability with associated databases and those vendors assist in the implementation of a final technology solution which provides efficient data sharing with existing applications. It's important that CTOs insist on data interoperability among their information systems - but should not prescribe the solution without considering all of the options.

No commercially available information management system exists today that provides a comprehensive school package in a single, authoritative database solution, which could be a key factor contributing to data integrity and system performance. A growing number of school districts, in partnership with the vendor community, are undertaking that exact task with their own development efforts with this solution as their goal. If these efforts prove successful, they may provide examples of best practices for data interoperability for the K-12 community to consider.

Equally as important as data interoperability for information systems is the ability to report on various measures of information contained within the databases. CTOs would be well served to spend additional time investigating decision support systems, sometimes referred to as data warehouses, which have the ability to pull data from a number of disparate databases and enable the creation of reports involving data fields of the district's choice - a feature most information systems don't provide. These decision support systems exist in both open source and proprietary format applications and are widely used in businesses today.

Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)
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ph 202/861-2676 . fx 202/393-2011 . email info@cosn.org

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