Ed-Fi® Alliance Continues to Deliver Industry-First Features with Ed-Fi Version 1.2

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Ed-Fi Alliance announced the release of Ed-Fi Version 1.2 which provides U.S. education agencies free access to high-quality data tools to quickly and cost-effectively integrate and synthesize student data from multiple information systems. Rapidly adopted by U.S. states and districts since its launch two years ago, 35 percent of teachers and students are currently poised to benefit from the market-leading Ed-Fi solution. With Ed-Fi Version 1.2, licensees can take advantage of added industry-first features designed to empower educators to leverage new and existing data quickly and effectively and increase student outcomes.

These enhancements to the solution are the result of real-world implementations and licensee feedback. And—unlike any other education data technology provider—all Ed-Fi licensees have free access to these 60+ community-sourced enhancements of 2013, further enabling their implementation of the Ed-Fi solution to:

• Update Easily: The Ed-Fi solution aligns with Common Education Data Standards 3.0 and supports an easy upgrade path from one version to the next. It also includes conventions and design patterns to guide the specification and implementation of an Ed-Fi REST API to speed transactional updating of data between systems.
• Integrate Easily: The Ed-Fi Alliance provides the only free, online validation tool for the education market's leading data standard, allowing for instant data validation without requiring education agencies or their vendors to create a custom interoperability-testing solution.
• Implement Easily: The Ed-Fi solution now provides enhancements to enable licensees to meet the voluntary standards of both the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 508 of Health & Human Services for technology solutions. Education agencies will be able to implement Ed-Fi-powered dashboards and user interfaces with out-of-the-box compliance, reducing the need to tailor the solution to the disability requirements of an individual district.

"We are continuously improving our technology to exceed the expectations of the current market, by listening to and applying the feedback of our licensees," said Lori Fey, president of the Ed-Fi Alliance. "Our goal is to provide all state and local education agencies with top quality technology tools that enable them to fully harness the power of their existing data."

While state education agencies are often restricted by policies, funding and resources, they should not be restricted by the quality of available technology tools. The Ed-Fi solution is designed to level the playing field and offer the best in class technology to all states and school districts in the U.S.

For more details on added features and functionality in Ed-Fi Version 1.2, visit www.ed-fi.org/whatsnew1.2.

Supporting Resources

• Learn What's New for Ed-Fi Version 1.2
• Read our blog post about Ed-Fi Version 1.2  
• Watch and share a video case study about the difference Ed-Fi-powered dashboards are making in Lubbock ISD

About the Ed-Fi Solution

We connect the data from start to finish. The Ed-Fi solution exists to make a difference for millions of kids…one teacher, one class, one child at a time by transforming data into insights that make it easier for teachers to teach, for students to learn and for schools to succeed. The Ed-Fi solution is an educational data standard and tool suite (unifying data model, data exchange framework, application framework, and dashboard starter kit) that enables vital academic information on K-12 students to be consolidated from the different data systems of school districts while leaving the management and governance of data within those districts and states. Ed-Fi components act as a translator of academic data, integrating and organizing information so that educators can start addressing the individual needs of each student from day one, and can measure progress and refine action plans throughout the school year.

The Ed-Fi solution can be licensed from the Ed-Fi Alliance free of charge by districts, state education agencies and vendors. Licensees gain unrestricted access to all Ed-Fi components and maintain ownership of derivative works. For more information, visit http://www.ed-fi.org/.

About the Ed-Fi Alliance

The Ed-Fi Alliance, LLC, was founded as an organization dedicated to empowering educators with real-time, actionable education data on every student in their classrooms, schools, districts or states. The organization provides and continually updates the Ed-Fi solution, an educational data standard and flexible tool suite designed to integrate and organize raw education data and information from a broad range of existing disparate data sources so it can be integrated, analyzed and put to use every day. The organization actively solicits feedback and input from licensees and education technology leaders. The Ed-Fi Alliance is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The Ed-Fi Alliance is headquartered in Austin, TX.

SOURCE Ed-Fi Alliance