GAT Meeting - 2020-04-22

Owned by Chris Moffatt (Deactivated)
Last updated: Apr 27, 2020
4 min read

Agenda

  1. Covid-19 Response & Ed-Fi
    • Gathering input on priorities from GAT members
    • Ed-Fi Alliance activities
  2. Governance Activities
    • Proposed Adjustments to the Ed-Fi Certification Program
    • Review of Two Proposed Ed-Fi RFC’s
    • Quarterly review of governance metrics
  3. Show-and-tell
    • Ed-Fi goes Open Source

Link to meeting PPT

Participation

Members:

Support:

Meeting Minutes

Refer to the meeting PPT for additional details on the meeting minutes and discussions.

When available, meeting minutes should be read, and any corrections sent to Chris.

Covid-19 Response & Ed-Fi

Gathering input on priorities from GAT members

Troy opened the discussion for this session by announcing that the Alliance is actively soliciting input from the Ed-Fi community to understand how to best help in the emerging “next reality” of COVID-19.  Troy discussed the guiding principles for this COVID-19 listening campaign.  The principles stress the importance of understanding the details, focusing on execution, using the resources and talents available, making investments in near-term payback and judiciously placing student learning above standards adherence. 

With this introduction, the GAT members shared a number of current and emerging issues:

  1. Collecting data on the usage of ed-tech products: With school districts turning to online learning and making additional expenditures in this area, knowing what is being used and the return on these investments is becoming more important.  The existing xAPI standard is a possible source for collecting this type of data, but assistance around where to place the data and how to analyze it is important.  Usage data could also be used as a proxy for attendance and for helping to flag issues students have with access to online tools.  Enrollment and usage data by product also allows follow-up on broadband and device access. 
  2. Attendance: Districts are collecting attendance in various ways.  Understanding attendance beyond the teachers’ coding in the SIS could include a mashup of tool-usage data as well.  This is particularly difficult with the various ways products provide login (attendance) and use data.  Districts want this not only to monitor online learning and develop individual student learning plans but also to identify inactivity and conduct wellness checks for problems such as food insecurity.
  3. The challenges are coming in daily – the new (or next) reality imposed by COVID-19 is still unfolding and will continue to do so for the coming months. For example, being able to measure engagement data as well as log-in/usage becomes more important.  Pressure right now is on getting students back in school, but need to plan for probable rolling closures next year as well. Boston’s newest challenge is how to develop an IEP for online learning for students. 
  4. Data requirements for the return of school is an evolving issue. State summative assessments have been postponed or cancelled for this school year. Knowing how to place students and understanding their level of mastery of learning standards will be key as schools/districts open next year and need to place students and plan for instruction.  Virtual charter schools may have some lessons learned that would be helpful here. 
  5. Changing legislative requirements: Districts and states are wrestling with how to deal with legislative requirements such as teacher certification renewals and how to categorize low-performing schools for 2020-21.
  6. Forums for emerging needs related to data:
    • The question was raised to the vendors whether they have a forum for gathering such emerging needs.  While vendors have customer-feedback mechanisms, there may be value in participating in forums to aggregate and discuss emerging issues.
    • The question was raised to the states as to whether the existing CIO networking meets their needs for collaborating or could the Alliance be helpful also. The example of the recent Alliance-hosted discussion of rostering (by Sayee) was cited as very helpful and is an example of the type of assistance needed. The CIO network is a good venue but does not get to the level of detail sometimes required.  LEAs would benefit from this type of support as well.  Need to look at CARES Act release (should be this week) and what data will be required.

Helpful links from the chat log are also provided below:

Key takeaways regarding assistance possibilities:

  1. Ed-tech product usage data capture/retention/analysis
  2. Data collection and analytics to better discern attendance
  3. Determine how SEA's might take in existing sources of data from districts on device availability/type and wifi access, in order to determine availability and equity of access to remote learning
  4. Data collection and analytics to support understanding of student mastery of learning standards
  5. Hosting state/district work and/or collaboration sessions around key state and district challenges (rostering, attendance, etc.)
  6. Hosting vendor discussions regarding COVID-19 emerging challenges

Other Ed-Fi Alliance Activities

It was discussed and agreed that due to the pressures of COVID-19, certifications for Ed-Fi Suite 3 could/should be extended for 12 months.

Ed-Fi Assessment Roster Working Draft has been developed.  Discussions continued with IMS regarding how to best work together on this body of work (including One Roster).  The discussion with IMS came to agreement to do some additional knowledge transfer and gap analysis on the two bodies of work and then to reconvene around the “technical lift” and organizational willingness to move forward.  Options exist for 3rd party leadership/convening by ACT or Delaware.  Field testing of the Ed-Fi assessment roster working draft continues in Wisconsin and Delaware.  There was agreement to continue to work towards potential collaboration so draft RFC can serve across multiple jurisdictions

Governance Activities

Topics were deferred to the May meeting

Show-and-tell

The announcement that Ed-Fi has gone open source was discussed:

The meeting was adjourned.

Action Items

  • Determine COVID-19 near term actions from feedback received

Action items from 3-12-2020 GAT Meeting:L

  • Establish as a standing GAT agenda item the topic of actions being taken to improve vendor adoption and support.
  • Future topic: CEDS (as an open source community) and Ed-Fi communication, coordination and alignment.