GAT Meeting - 2022-02-17

Owned by Ann Su
Last updated: Feb 22, 2022
4 min read

Agenda

  1. GAT Ice Breaker
  2. 2021 Carry Through
  3. What we’re up to for 2022
  4. Rose, Thorn, Bud
  5. Next Steps

Refer to the PPT (which can be found here) for additional details on the meeting minutes and discussions.

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

Participation

Members:

Support:

Meeting Minutes

Agenda Item #2: 2021 Carry Through

  • Multi-year data structures and Ed-Fi roadmap
  • Vendor onboarding process and strategies
  • Badging and certification
  • SEA alignment strategies

Agenda Item #3: What we’re up to for 2022

  • Ed-Fi target of 2029 (based on Gartner Hype Cycle - refer to PPT slide) with three goals: Interoperability is a market expectation, broader investment is harnessed and agency and industry convergence. Ed-Fi would be in 25+ states and adopted by 30% of LEAs including 50 large urban LEAs. Interoperability would be the expectation with use by universities within Educator Preparation and by 30 of the largest Ed Tech vendors. 
  • For this year 2022, the three major goals are:
    • Accelerate adoption of Ed-Fi interoperable solutions  
    • Unlock data-out from largest SIS and Assessment Vendors
    • Create sustainable community support model that builds field capacity 
  • It would be good to report progress to date and report to GAT quarterly. The question is how to support, in appropriate ways, agencies and vendors at different levels. Also, we need to better define Ed-Fi’s use cases and determine how we distinguish these from other standards organizations? Add to list of tactical to work on Ed Fi’s place with other similar standards bodies’ interoperability efforts and need clarity of communication on this effort. This could be patterned on example of wireless systems working together seamlessly. 
  • It was noted that Ed-Fi is hiring.

  • Ed-Fi is the “glue” before, during and after data systems’ work. Question of “where should I focus/invest mental energy to be most helpful“? GAT’s role is to represent voice of SEAs, LEAs and partners and share what are most important that Ed-Fi should focus on. The suggestion was made that we all need a system perspective rather than that of a particular group.

  • More communication needed around how Ed-Fi works with instead of replaces existing system. What is Ed-Fi marketing? There are three focus points of “sales”: general funnel (heard about us); the accounts (50 large urban) and partner enablement (large service providers).  Other Indiana state agencies contacting IN DOE to leverage APIs is an example of general funneling in the field

Agenda Item #4: Rose, Thorn, Bud

The mission of the GAT:

The Governance Advisory Team (GAT) is responsible for facilitating Ed-Fi Governance and ensuring that the community’s input and priorities are considered. This team supports activities across the various groups in the Ed-Fi Governance model. The GAT manages the critical governance processes such as work identification, qualification, polling and prioritization.

  • Jamboard was used with GAT members noting current Ed-Fi successes (Rose), challenges (Thorn) and potential (Bud).

  • More discussion is needed around customizations - perhaps weighting especially if in conflict with design considerations. Need to communicate with similar language about SIS customizations. Should develop a multi-year path with identification of real barriers on this issue. Having a lot of options for data out is helpful.

  • How can new members get involved in Ed-Fi’s Slack? What is the #1 main communication tool for Ed-Fi? It would be good to have an internal communication tool that enables articulating (1) this is where we are, (2) this is what we’re doing and (3) this is what you need to do - an understanding of how we’re doing and what we should do next. Troy suggested a capabilities management maturity framework.

  • What resources do we need as an SEA to communicate about Ed-Fi with LEAs? It was suggested to connect with Collaboratives and LEA work group. Another idea is to connect with the CIO Network at the SEA level.

  • Also want to know how to leverage the community and better cultivate GAT members to help each other. Another issue is supporting vendor work in single district implementations. More engagement from vendor side would be good. Some vendors are working to support Ed-Fi and include in their systems certification vs LEA certification. What does certification mean on an SEA/LEA level?

Agenda Item #5: Next Steps

Announcements

  • Jami O’Toole has been at MSDF for over a decade. She is leaving soon and thanked the GAT for their support and engagement with Ed-FI.

Next meeting:   11am CT