Nebraska Joins Ed-Fi Alliance

In the ongoing effort to keep up with, better utilize, and streamline education data, the Nebraska Department of Education has signed on with the Ed-Fi Alliance, Education Week is reporting. 

The Nebraska Department of Education has teamed up with the Ed-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, to create an automated, one-stop shop for teachers, principals, and others looking for information on students' test scores, attendance patterns, class rosters, and more.

"Essentially, the problem that exists [now] is not being able to provide quick, real-time information to teachers," said Dean Folkers, the senior administrator for the Nebraska department's data, research, and evaluation team.

"In many cases, districts are trying to pull all of those pieces together through Excel spreadsheets. Even on a monthly basis, that's an arduous task."

By joining the Ed-Fi Alliance, Folkers said, Nebraska will soon be able to ease that burden on educators, offering them access to browser-based "dashboards" that provide real-time information and customizable reports showing exactly where students stand. The hope is that teachers and principals will be able to use the information to quickly adjust their instruction in order to meet individual students' needs.

Nebraska joins 13 other states already in the alliance. Dean Folkers, NDE's Senior Administrator for Data, Research, and Evaluation, added that professional development in data literacy for the state's educators is on the horizon as the new system is adopted.