SIS SIG - Meeting 18 - 2025.09.16

Participants

Agenda

• NACHOS update: complexity & scorecard refinement

• Ed-Fi OneRoster API

• Common issues across states and hubs

Open

Key Takeaways

1. NACHOS Update: Complexity & Scorecard Refinement

• The NACHOS scoring methodology was presented by Maria Ragone from the Ed-Fi Alliance. It aims to be a baseline measure of complexity by estimating the aggregate of business logic added to Ed-Fi implementations.

• The current NACHOS scorecard was acknowledged as a helpful relative measure, but members noted that the 1–3 scoring system did not represent actual implementation effort.

• Concerns were raised that the scorecard does not capture complexity in core elements or cross-domain logic, which can misrepresent the true level of effort required.

• Vendors highlighted that implementation effort varies significantly across SIS platforms, making standard scoring difficult.

• There was general agreement that extensions—especially poorly scoped ones—add unnecessary burden, and that business logic should be considered even when no calculation is involved.

• Extensions (even necessary ones) should not be scored as zero—there is effort involved.

• Business logic on core elements adds significant complexity and needs to be represented.

• States may impose calculations on SIS vendors that could be handled centrally by the state.

• Next steps include:

  • Incorporating cross-domain calculations and core element complexity into future scoring.

  • Improve evaluation of necessary vs unnecessary extensions

  • Communicating clearly to states what aspects of complexity are measured—and what are not.

  • Heads-up: Follow-up meetings are being scheduled with Maria (Summit) to discuss how to improve the usefulness of the analysis.

2. Ed-Fi OneRoster API

• Question about how metadata would be communicated through the API. No specific proposals were made, but the need for clarity was acknowledged

• Gradepassback was flagged as a challenge due to the high variability and custom implementations across SIS vendors. Many have built their own solutions around OneRoster, and there is hesitation about standardizing this functionality.

• The group agreed to reconvene in October to:

  • Review the roadmap for Ed-Fi OneRoster API.

  • Explore governance participation and testing opportunities.

  • Provide feedback on metadata and gradepassback needs.

     

3. Common Issues Across States and Hubs

• This topic was deferred to October meeting due to time constraints

• Topics to be addressed include spec instability, opaque goveranance, dual reporting, legacy system persistence, and others.

Looking Ahead

• Come to Summit! October 6-8 in San Antonio. Register here.

• Next meeting: October 21, 11:00am CT