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Presentation of available tools and models to analyze complexity of business logic: Michigan and Minnesota as case studies
Group agreed on a need for a unified approach to quantifying and reducing unnecessary extensions in state data models.
A unified approach, backed by the Alliance, could strengthen the case for alignment.
States are already asking how they can move closer to the core Ed-Fi model.
Moving forward, SIS vendors, state agencies, and Ed-Fi stakeholders need to collaborate on standardized metrics and implementation strategies to ease alignment and adoption across different states.
Challenges & Opportunities for SIS Vendors:
SIS vendors are advocating for alignment with the Department of Education (DoE)agree that a common way to measure complexity is good, but different vendors use different calculations.
A unified approach, backed by the Alliance, could strengthen the case for alignment.
states are already asking how they can move closer to the core Ed-Fi modelapproaches and there will be different scoring across vendors.
Possible approach: Convene discussions state by state to ensure consistency.
A scoring system can be a powerful tool to drive change
Education agencies are open to improvements that reduce the scope of their complexity for vendors.
What tools and metrics should be used to quantify alignment and drive adoption?
Key questions raised
Do states care about the complexity of business logic and extensions?
Should complexity be measured using vendor-defined metrics (e.g., story points)?
What incentives exist for states to adopt Ed-Fi alignment?
Examples: SC and TN are emerging leaders in market alignment.
Vision of Ed-Fi as a statewide data ecosystem, supporting both state reporting and local data access.
States recognize the added cost of unnecessary complexity.
State system upgrades present opportunities to reduce extensions and increase efficiency.
Reducing Validation Burdens & Externalized Business Logic
Unbundling validation issues could simplify calculations.
Many extensions are due to calculated and conditional fields that could be handled by state agencies querying their own databases.
However, some states (e.g., GA, NM) face legal constraints requiring data formats to remain unchanged for funding validation.
Some states are demonstrating better practices, with Nebraska being a leading example.
Downstream Complexity & Business Logic Implications: Even after implementation, complex business logic creates long-term challenges for SIS vendors and states.
Considerations for driving reduction of business logic
Show states a clear path from their current state to an optimized Ed-Fi implementation.
Focus first on states actively pursuing Ed-Fi implementations before addressing existing implementations.
Can SIS vendors document and share their business logic tracking methods to facilitate broader assessment?
Next steps and action items
Continue business logic assessment
Edupoint and Skyward to contribute insights and data on business logic tracking
Ed-Fi Alliance to present findings from that work and a recommendation back to the group for a methodology and approach to share back to states to improve standardization and efficiency
Alliance to share SIS Certification changes and use cases ahead of next meeting for discussion.