Initiatives

CDS

Common Data Standards

In an effort to formalize and organize the approach to state-based, longitudinal, common data standards, a new consortium was recently formed. This new consortium consists of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO), the SIF Association, the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education, and the Data Quality Campaign. Together partners will work across PK20 to advocate, communicate, and promote common data standards; and identify and develop standards as needed.There are three components to this consortium: CCSSO and SHEEO (along with the SIF Association and PESC) will lead the adoption efforts and will target users and providers. NCES, independently, will lead the identification and development through a Technical Workgroup, of which CCSSO, SHEEO, SIF Association, PESC, DQC, and a number of State Education Agencies (SEAs) and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are members. DQC will lead advocacy efforts (note that CCSSO, SHEEO, SIF Association, and PESC are partners within the DQC).

A Common Statement of Purpose (posted to the right) was released in March 2010 to communicate the overall purpose of the activities and events being undertaken and to identify scope. The CDS group has been meeting regularly over the past few months and will soon create two subcommittees: one on advocacy and one on adoption.

At the annual NCES MIS Conference held in Phoenix the first week of March 2010, the Technical Work Group (TWG) released a corresponding communication piece identifying the scope and purpose of the TWG along with a timeline for deliverables and action items and a Powerpoint presentation (both posted to the right). The TWG has also been meeting regularly over the past few months and is establishing four subcommittees: governance, postsecondary, technical, and use case. PESC is participating in all workgroups and subcommittees.

Helping make this consortium possible are the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) which is funding CCSSO and SHEEO; and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF) which is funding the DQC.

DOWNLOADS

Common Statement of Purpose

CDS Flyer by NCES

NCES MIS Presentation - March 2010

TWG Roster

To view the files simply click on the links above. To save to your computer, right-click and select "save target as" (in IE).