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Thankful for the vibrant Community we are part of…
Foreword by Ben Silberglitt, Co-Chair Association Board of Directors
The school year is in full swing, and as we approach the holidays one thing we can all be thankful for is the vibrant community that we’re part of. True grassroots community initiatives are strong, long-lasting, and directly connect to the needs of their members. A4L exemplifies that approach. As the ball drops and we turn the calendar to 2025, there is so much to look forward to. A4L continues to strengthen its ability to meet members’ needs around both interoperability and privacy.
On the interoperability front, A4L hosted a convening of state leaders to discuss Unity implementation. Five states and three vendors were able to attend in person, with a total of eight statewide implementations of SIF Unity being shared. As you know, Unity represents a modern, REST API-based infrastructure on which the SIF data model (or any other data model) can be transported. As we learned at the convening, this flexibility to support any data model not only reflects the needs of our membership, it also reflects an inclusive approach to interoperability – one that doesn’t dictate a specific approach or require software systems to make drastic changes. “SIF just works” became the theme of the meeting, and states demonstrated that in a variety of ways:
• Virginia is implementing Unity for statewide ID assignment, supporting interoperability for statewide assessments.
• Iowa is the first state to implement Unity for full state data collection, with the Alma student information system. Rather than adopt the existing SIF 2.x approach (which has been working well for the other 3 student information systems in Iowa), when Alma entered this new state they jumped immediately into Unity, allowing them to meet Iowa’s state reporting requirements in a very compressed timeline.
• Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Massachusetts have been implementing Unity for state-level interoperability, connecting both SIF and non-SIF data to other data systems via the Unity REST API.
The two newest adopters of the SIF standard, Maine and Idaho shared their plans to roll out Unity as part of their state modernization, and we look forward to hearing about their successes in the coming months. Both shared their perspectives on the benefits of SIF, and why they selected it over the alternatives.
On the privacy front, A4L continues to lead the way for our members, providing services that save money and improve members’ ability to maintain the privacy and security of their data. In addition to webinars and thought leadership, A4L will soon be offering an online, self-paced privacy training program to help our members keep their staff up to date. A4L is also offering legal services through a pilot partnership program, to help members address their legal needs around privacy.
Last but certainly not least, the Board recently approved the establishment of a Director of Data Privacy position. This full time position will allow A4L to continue to grow its support for our membership around privacy, parallel our interoperability efforts in terms of dedicated staff, and allow our Executive Director to focus on their role as leader of the entire organization. If “SIF just works” is a theme that resonates with the interoperability crowd, maybe “A4L just works” fits the organization well. Or, more specifically, “A4L just works for you”.
We are proud to be part of such a thriving organization, and to help make sure that A4L maintains its member-driven ethos, to truly be putting the needs of members first.
Global Community News:
Welcome new members!; Welcome David Sallay, Director of Data Privacy; New A4L collaboration tools available!; Scheduled Maintenance; Join Us for the A4L Annual Meeting 2025; A4L Community and PESC announce Joint Venture Agreement; In Case You Missed Them…; Coming Soon: SIF Infrastructure Specification 3.7 (global); Want to get more involved in the Community?; Under Development: SIF Test Harness; Stronger Together: Highlights from the PESC October 2024 Summit; and Community Project Team Updates.
NA Community News:
Empowering Federal Reporting: Your Input is Needed for the Proposed EDFacts Information Collection Package!
Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC) News:
Keep an eye on the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA) before the end of the year…