Ed-Fi Alliance: Empowering Educators with Data for Student Success

With easy access to data on students’ strengths, challenges, and needs, educators and families can provide more personalized support to help each child succeed in the classroom. However, K-12 software systems fail to integrate seamlessly with school, state, and district data systems, limiting timely access to valuable insights.

In 2012, we launched the Ed-Fi Alliance to bridge this gap, uniting educators and technology providers to create a secure, unified way to share student data across systems.

Driven by input from the education community, the Ed-Fi Alliance developed a range of tools to simplify data exchange between K-12 systems, including:

• Data Standard: A universal language that allows education technology systems to securely and efficiently share information.
• Technology Suite: A set of practical tools that make data more actionable, providing a roadmap for schools and tech companies to follow.
• Community Support: A comprehensive portal offering resources like guides, training, and documentation to help schools and districts adopt the Ed-Fi Data Standard with ease.

With the Ed-Fi Data Standard and technology suite, education leaders and teachers can access critical student information in just a few clicks, transforming how they make instructional decisions and improve student outcomes. In Michigan, for example, schools can now instantly access transfer students’ data and specialized program eligibility — a process that once took weeks.

This streamlined access to data not only empowers educators to act faster, but also reveals opportunities for improvement at every level, from the classroom to state education systems.