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SIS SIG - Meeting 17 - 2025.08.19

SIS SIG - Meeting 17 - 2025.08.19

Participants

First Name

Last Name

Organization

Nathan

Gandomi

Ed-Fi Alliance

Eric

Jansson

Ed-Fi Alliance

Vinaya

Mayya

Ed-Fi Alliance

Sean

Casey

Ed-Fi Alliance

Turab

Fatakdawala

PowerSchool

Anita

Nesby

Focus

Oscar

Ortega

Edupoint

Josh

Bergman

Skyward

Ali

DeGeorge

Skyward

Meg

Morgan

Jupiter

Britto

Augustine

EdWise Group

Agenda

  • Bulk Sync and Performance: Lessons from Indiana

  • DMS Integration Testing

  • Data Standard 6.0 Feedback

Key Takeaways

1. Bulk Sync: Indiana’s Approach to High-Volume Attendance Loads
Britto Augustine presented a case study on attendance data challenges and performance optimization in Indiana’s statewide Ed-Fi implementation.

  • Problem: 300M+ attendance records statewide; existing full sync process required up to 180 API calls per student

  • Solution: Indiana developed a custom attendance-bulk API that accepts an entire attendance record list for a date range in a single API call

  • Preliminary results showed a 75–85% performance improvement in processing time

Community Reactions & Next Steps:

  • SIS vendors highlighted that this issue is relevant not only for state reporting but also for large districts and data hubs

  • Suggested expansion of bulk-style endpoints for other high-volume entities like studentSectionAssociation or transcripts

  • Consensus: Forward recommendation to TAG for discussion and decision point

    • Should Ed-Fi move forward with bulk sync support?

    • Should the Indiana model serve as the starting point?

2. DMS Integration Testing: Tooling, Compatibility, and Feedback
The group reviewed key DMS features and testing tools in preparation for broader SIS integration:

  • DMS conforms to Ed-Fi API specs (resources, descriptors, discovery, profiles, etc.)

  • Compatibility being verified using:

    • SmokeTest Utility

    • Bulkload Utility

    • Performance Test Suite

Discussion Highlights:

  • No concerns raised about case sensitivity or deprecation of link metadata in GET responses

  • Most attendees do not use code-generated SDKs and don’t require DMS-specific SDK support. However, it was noted that smaller vendors likely use the SDK.

  • Noted that applications using the ODS/API library can integrate with DMS without source code changes

  • Attendees mentioned using filters on GET requests to populate the UI and to filter data for specific students, schools, etc.

  • Action: Skyward volunteered to support initial testing of the DMS release candidate

  1. Data Standard 6.0 Feedback

  • The group acknowledged the proposed changes to demographics, contact info, and identification codes (RFC 27b)

  • No performance concerns were raised; the group understood that API call volume may increase, but processing efficiency and error clarity are expected to improve

  • No additional feedback or concerns were shared during the session

Looking Ahead

  • Stay tuned for TAG’s response to the bulk sync recommendation

  • SIS vendors interested in DMS testing are encouraged to reach out

  • Continue tracking RFC 27(b) for Data Standard 6.0

Next meeting: Sept. 16, 11:00am CT

Topics to explore in next meeting

  • What common requirements or issues are you seeing across states and customers?