Unchaining Digital Data
K-12 Interoperability
November 28, 2018
As schools have become increasingly dependent on technology, many district leaders have come to grips with a frustrating reality: They’re awash in data, but much of it sits in silos, isolated and virtually useless. Now, a nascent effort by K-12 district tech administrators and advocates seeks to break through those technological barriers, by demanding “interoperabilityâ€â€”the seamless sharing of data across products and systems—of themselves and tech companies. In this report, we look in depth at the hard questions that K-12 district tech leaders need to ask about interoperability. And we detail the experiences of districts that have already begun down that uncertain path.
The report includes a profile of one district’s interoperability journey; tips and mistakes for K-12 administrators to avoid when they pursue data overhauls; and the results of an original survey of the nation’s chief technology officers, breaking down their biggest challenges with interoperability, and the problems they are counting on it to solve.