Interoperability and data standards in the K-12 education sector: intersections with data justice

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the concept of open-source data interoperability in the United States’ K-12 education domain, specifically addressing the implications of interoperability for data justice. The term ‘data justice’ is a relatively recent coinage; the framing and meaning of this term are still evolving, and it has not yet been applied in the educational domain. Building on the nascent research and theorizing in the fields of both data justice and interoperability in educational contexts, this paper provides an overview of the current state of this intersection. Additionally, the authors draw on their direct experiences implementing interoperability initiatives in several U.S. states in order to build a foundational understanding of the risks and opportunities for data justice in the realm of interoperability and data standards in education. The paper concludes with a call for more research to be completed on this complex sociotechnical topic.

KEYWORDS:

• Interoperability
• data justice
• primary education
• secondary education
• data standard

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Rosh Dhanawade (Education Analytics), Joel Boehner (South Bend Community School Corporation), and Matt Criscenzo (Indiana University) for insightful contributions to the content of this paper. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their incredibly helpful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We recognize that the terminology ‘Hispanic’ is contested and problematic. However, we use the terms used by the jurisdictions of focus here in order to be consistent with the language of the jurisdictions’ policy decisions.