{"id":17685,"date":"2023-06-12T11:12:32","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T15:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/?p=17685"},"modified":"2023-06-12T11:12:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T15:12:32","slug":"imagine-a-world-where-we-can-see-the-full-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/imagine-a-world-where-we-can-see-the-full-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"Imagine a World Where We Can See the Full Picture"},"content":{"rendered":"
John was a 55-year-old man who had been diagnosed with high blood pressure. He was prescribed medication to help control his blood pressure, but he was also encouraged to make lifestyle changes, such as exercising and eating a healthy diet. The solution wasn\u2019t just an intervention \u2013 it was many different inputs into a solution.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John decided to buy a fitness tracker to help him track his progress. The fitness tracker tracked his heart rate, sleep, and other health metrics. John was able to see how his lifestyle changes were affecting his health. He was also able to share his data with his doctor, who could use it to monitor his health and make treatment decisions. After a few months, John’s blood pressure was under control. A key factor in John\u2019s success? His fitness tracker helped organize critical information across a wide range of inputs \u2013 vitals, exercise, activity, and even diet. His doctor and he were able to get the complete picture of his health and how to support him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now imagine if we could do that for every child in America, not only with their health data but also with their academic data, experience, and student information.<\/span><\/p>\n Right now, when an eighth-grader moves from a California school district to one in Kansas, their complete histories often fail to travel with them. The educational records of PK-20 students are fragmented. The challenge is particularly acute for students with disabilities, English language learners, and military children whose families move frequently. Their histories often contain more pieces of information, including those that live on databases or clouds that don\u2019t speak the same language as a district\u2019s data infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n That glaring omission gives administrators and teachers an imperfect view not only into the student\u2019s academic pathway but also into their dreams for the future as well. Disconnected systems lead to disjointed educational approaches.<\/span><\/p>\n A<\/span>s states and school districts look for ways to serve the whole child, some are discovering the importance of building compatible infrastructure and leveraging <\/span>data interoperability<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n In portable learner records, the information ideally includes more than just academic data, detailing students\u2019 participation in clubs, internships and community experiences, sports, or hobbies that might connect to their learning pathways and give insight into their passions. And when that information travels with the student from district to district \u2014 rather than existing in a vacuum \u2014 teachers, staff, and administrators know when to try new approaches with a student or skip those that have failed in the past. They also have to activate a passion from that interest-driven engagement to unlock learning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSimply put, data interoperability is the seamless, controlled exchange of data between applications. In the context of PK-12 education, data interoperability unlocks information about student performance, preferences, and information across multiple domains. <\/span>Interoperable systems allow districts to use different tools \u2013 from communicating with parents to the latest math curriculum tool \u2013 without wondering if they\u2019ll work with their existing student information systems.<\/span><\/p>\n