Data Exchange

The purpose of this project is to improve the process of data transfer and certification for student and educator level data submitted by schools and school corporations. Data Exchange implementation will begin with the 2020-21 school year. Data Exchange will be regarded as the sole source of truth for all data for the purposes of required reports beginning with the 2021-22 school year. This site will be updated periodically with resources. For questions specific to Data Exchange, please contact dataexchange@doe.in.gov.

The Data Exchange project will implement a solution to improve the transfer and certification of student and educator level data between the IDOE and education entities. In May 2018, the IDOE publicly announced the Data Exchange project as a part of the LINK Initiative consisting of multiple projects improving customer support for schools. Data Exchange will modernize how data is transferred from schools to the IDOE and how schools access record level data in IDOE systems. Using a widely accepted data standard compatible with most student information systems, schools will be able to automatically transfer data to the IDOE rather than submitting collections of data as is the current practice. Indiana will join other states in a modern approach to managing education data. Details regarding the data standard and the IDOE's implementation partner are shared below. As a consequence of these projects, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year STN Application Center will be retired with the exception of outliers such as the Choice Program. The Ed-Fi Data Standards and Technology Suite is the foundation of the Data Exchange project. By adopting the Ed-Fi standard, schools will be able to connect their Student Information Systems to an IDOE database and seamlessly transfer data to the IDOE through automated processes. The Ed-Fi technology allows the IDOE to implement data management methods currently used by other State Education Agencies to allow for interoperability between local student information systems and IDOE databases. The IDOE has partnered with systems integrator Double Line, Inc. from Austin, Texas to provide technical assistance, solution development and implementation services for the implementation of the Ed-Fi technology. This partnership, as well as collaboration with the Ed-Fi Alliance, positions Indiana to implement a strong, statewide solution. The Ed-Fi technology was developed by the Ed-Fi Alliance. Aligning to the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Data Standards (CEDS) initiative, the Ed-Fi technology provides methodology to achieve streamlined data exchange and enhanced access to timely information. Licensing is available to states, districts, vendors or service providers at no cost. More information about the Ed-Fi Data Standards and Technology Suite are available at https://www.ed-fi.org/. For upcoming events, including stakeholder communication sessions, please see the LINK News and Events page.

Modules