Improving State and Local Data Systems

Dr. Larry Fruth II

Executive Director

Change ManagementVision Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Change

Confusion

Anxiety

Gradual

Change

Frustration

Not

Implemented

Skills

Incentives

Resources

Resources

Resources

Resources

Vision

Vision

Vision

Vision

Skills

Skills

Skills

Incentives

Incentives

Incentives

Action Plan

Action Plan

Action Plan

Action Plan

SIF Board of Directors

Task Forces:

Vertical Reporting TF

Features/Functionality TF

Implementation TF

Meta-Data TF

SIIA Transition TF

CommitteesEducation Advisory Panel

Technical Board

International

Membership / Marketing

Policy / Procedures

Certification

Sub-Committees

Executive

Finance

HR

LegalExecutive Director

Vertical Working Groups: Administration Applications (9)

Infrastructure (1)

Learning Applications (6)

Learning Communities (2)

Vertical Reporting Task Force

E-Transcript Task Force

Implementation Task Force

Meta-Data Task Force

SIIA Transition Task ForceTechnical Board

WORK GROUPS (18): Administrative Applications (9 workgroups) Infrastructure (1 workgroup)Student Information System (SIS) ZIS + AgentsGradebookSpecial ProgramsFood Service Learning Community (2 workgroups)Library Management Communication / Collaboration / Portal ToolsTransportation Data Warehouse / Decision SupportHR + FinanceProfessional DevelopmentFacilities Management

Learning Applications (6 workgroups)Academic Standards / CurriculumAssessmentInstructional / Course / Learning Management SystemsStudent Work PortfolioDigital LibraryOnline Tutoring

SIF Components Working Together

Network Account

H.R. &Finance

Data Analysis

& Reporting Instructional

Services

Library Automation

Student Information

Services

GradeBook

FoodServices

– Zone Integration Server (ZIS)

– SIF Agents

– Applications

– SIF Data Objects

Utilizing SIF Can:“Distribute Functionality”

(1) Empower local systems with respect to technology(2) Encourage innovation by vendors and local districts(3) Allow local systems to be heterogeneous(4) Make salient the need for data standards(5) Address the 'local control' issue(6) Provide local entities with technical capabilities that can be

applied in other applications of SIF that can save money when implementing other systems

(7) Redistribute cost to the local districts and vendors. Redistribute does not mean that it will be more. It could even be less to achieve the same benefits.

45,000 students in Anoka and Hennepin Counties, Minnesota The SIF solution

- eliminates redundant entry of student data- saving significant staff time district-wide- indirect savings in eliminating the movement of paper

between offices - greater coordination and reconciliation by keeping data in

different systems synchronized and secure

When a new student is enrolled: Data is inputted in the SASIxp Student Information System The Edustructures SIF Agent for SASIxp sends SIF “Add” events to the

SIFWorks ZIS The SIFWorks ZIS then distributes these events, containing the

enrollment date, name, phone number and other data, to the Follett Circulation Plus SIF Agent (library) and Parlant ParentLink SIF Agent (attendance office)

Each agent then updates its application database. Today, data is exchanged in real time between the district office and

each school’s main office, media center and attendance offices.

SIF School Success Story: Anoka-Hennepin School District

6,800 students outside of Indianapolis, IN

In 2002 Brownsburg became the first district to implement SIF district wide.

When a new student is enrolled: Data is entered in the SASIxp Student Information System.

Novell – Network – Portal – E-Mail accounts School Link Technologies WinSnap - Café’ System School Link Technologies MyCard – ID Card Parlant Technologies – ParentLinkXP – Telephony Web-Based

Grades Follett – Destiny Library System VersaTrans – Transportation System

“Today, data is exchanged in real time allowing us to have one point of data entry” says Laurie Collins, Mew Media Tech. “We can now concentrate on the business of educating our students not data entry.”

SIF School Success Story: Brownsburg Community Schools

SIF School Success Story: Duvall County Florida

130,000 students Utilized SIF because they wanted to control account management

activities.

IT Cost Avoidance $113,464 in account creation costs $379,340 in account change costs $14,300 in account deletion costs

$509,286 total yearly cost avoidance Equivalent to 8+ FTE!

Indirect Cost Avoidance (estimate) $200,000 lost productivity time for employees, teachers and students.

Transport over 2700 students from 5 schools over 88 miles

Whenever new student information is entered in SASIxp, the VersaTrans database is automatically updated. Staff no longer have to spend time tracking down parents only to find that their phone numbers have changed, and they spend much less time calling the schools to look for updated information.

Increased departmental and district efficiency, improved service to the customer, more powerful reporting centralized network architecture and improved level of safety

“One of my ongoing goals for the district has been to reduce the amount of redundant data entry. When I learned about SIF compliance, that goal was the first thing that came to mind.” “There were both immediate benefits as well as benefits reaped at the end of the year.”

SIF School Success Story: Holmen School District

Vertical Interoperability

• Seamless reporting - district, state, federal• Reduce burden on schools & districts• Use ‘management’ data as core data set for

reporting– Responding to changes as they occur rather

than reacting to on an annual basis• Data driven decision making

– Collecting & analyzing information as it is developed

– Data warehousing and data mining– Using business tools to analyze administrative

functions

State Configuration Example

LocalZIS

LocalZIS

LocalZIS

SIS

SIS

SIS

Library

Library

LibraryFoodservice

Transportation

Data Warehouse

State Agent

State DB

StateZIS

Data Consolidator

Agent

Zone to ZoneRouting Agent

1

2

3

SIF Implementation Tools

• Implementation Readiness Assessment Toolkit

• Implementation Planning Kit• RFP Language• SIF Discussion Forum • EdSTART • SIF Certification web site

Who Should Use These Tools?

• Persons who will be providing executive leadership to the data integration initiative.

• Persons who have been given the responsibility to manage the data integration in an education organization.

• Persons who will be responsible for data integrity within any applications which will be part of the implementation.

Implementation Readiness Assessment Tool Kit

• Designed to help schools determine their current state of data management and help them create a plan for future data interoperability involving the SIF Implementations

• Schools answering the questions in the toolkit will obtain an editable output document that will include assessment and next steps for district's interoperability planning.

http://siftoolkit.espsg.com

SIF Implementation Planning Kit• This toolkit was designed to provide

educators with a process for getting the best possible Enterprise Information Management System (EIMS) for their school and/or district

• What is addressed in this toolkit?– Project planning– Data management strategies– Computer hardware, software, networking needs– Budgetary and human resource concerns– Political issues and work flow impact

www.sifinfo.org/tool_kit.asp

SIF Discussion Forum

• Top 3 reasons to be a part of the SIF Discussion Forum.

• #3. One place that connects both SIF vendors and users.

• #2. One place to share experiences and gather information for your SIF project.

• #1. One place to find answers, support and advice for your SIF inquiries.

http://bburgsif.brownsburg.k12.in.us

SIF EdSTART

• SIF's Educational Software and Technology Application Registry Tool

• Allows schools and states to access provider products and best practices aligned with SIF's vision.

• Provides end users and vendors with accurate and up-to-date information on data initiatives, tools and procurement opportunities.

www.sifinfo.org/edstart

SIF Certification

• Officially launched on April 25, 2003• Provides 3rd party validation of application

conformance with the specification• Provides confidence for purchasers• Provides validation for vendors• Tests application functionality• Verifies data delivery• There are currently 50 applications certified

with many more in the testing stage

SIF Certification Web Site

• The SIF Certification program is administered on behalf of the Schools Interoperability Framework Association by its designated Certification Authority, The Open Group

• The SIF Certification program is a voluntary program of

the Schools Interoperability Framework Association, open to any product meeting the conformance requirements.

• SIF Certification is a formal process built around the SIF

Certification Policy document. Suppliers of certified products warrant and represent that the product meets all the applicable conformance requirements.

www.opengroup.org/sif/cert

For More InformationSIF website

www.sifinfo.org

Laurie Collins Larry Fruth, Ph.D.Project Strategist Executive Directorlcollins@sifinfo.org lfruth@sifinfo.org

Mark ReichertChief Technical Officermreichert@sifinfo.org