Request for Comment period is now open for the Assessment Outcomes Management API specification.
November 17, 2017 – AUSTIN, Texas – Ed-Fi Alliance, LLC, committed to empowering educators with a complete view of every student, classroom, and school through connected education data systems, today announced the release of a new set of Ed-Fi assessment API standards called the Assessment Outcomes Management API specification.
Simple, efficient integration of assessment data with other key student data has been a paramount desire of the Ed-Fi Community for a long time. Ed-Fi technology like the ODS has been used for a number of years to integrate assessment data with other student metrics, which has been accomplished through a manual process of mapping and ETL. While this process works, it does not scale. The Assessment Outcomes Management API specification solves the scalability issue by providing a blueprint for how assessment vendors and others can exchange assessment data with other systems.
The development of the specification was based off a thorough analysis of over 100 examples of score reports from vendors systems, as well as the Ed-Fi Community’s feedback on moving assessment data into Ed-Fi formats. These insights were used to define the structure and semantics of the data model in order to capture and honor the inherent diversity of information in score reports.
The diversity of score reports, assessment metrics, and formats is a difficult problem to solve. Assessment results include everything from SAT to ACT results, English Language Learner (ELL) diagnostic tests, and standards-aligned formative data from personalized learning systems.
The Assessment Outcomes Management API specification accomplishes this by providing a set of specific classifications – or “designations” – of results types. Data exchanges, and by extension the systems they stem from, are classified as one or more of the five possible types, from “Summative with Overall Outcomes” to “Formative with Category-Level and Item Outcomes,” with three types in-between. Full details are in the standards.
“This is a huge milestone for the Ed-Fi Alliance, as it will accelerate Ed-Fi adoption and impact the entire education ecosystem. Educators will receive all student assessment results in one place, allowing them to create more personalized learning experiences for students – at scale. Vendors, too, will be able to plug and play unlike any other solution or standard out there,” said Chris Moffatt, Director of Technology for the Alliance. “Most importantly, this is something our user community and even those outside our user community have been wanting for a long time. We’re incredibly pleased to provide a solution that addresses these needs.”
The specification is currently in draft and the Request for Comment (RFC) period is now open. The Ed-Fi Alliance invites those interested to read further and share feedback.
###
ABOUT ED-FI
Ed-Fi securely and seamlessly connects educational data systems. A not-for-profit organization fully funded by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Ed-Fi aims to boost student achievement by empowering educators with comprehensive insight into their students.
Founded in 2012, Ed-Fi aims to streamline data management in school districts and states across the country. By allowing schools to integrate the data previously siloed within disconnected tools and software—and organizing it through a single, secure data standard —Ed-Fi finally solves one of the country’s most perplexing educational challenges: how to get a complete, accurate view of individual student achievement.
