Illuminations and Insights

Meet Kate Marquez-Sweeney, Education Analytics’ Business Development Coordinator, in the latest installment of our Day in the Life series. In this blog, Kate shares insights into her role on the Business Strategy team, her journey from educator to Business Development Coordinator, and her key contributions—like ensuring that EA stays proactive in our partnerships and business development efforts.

Get to know IT Manager Mark Stokosa in the latest blog for our day in the life series. In this blog, Mark discusses his role on the Information Technology team, his experience in overseeing and maintaining EA's IT Helpdesk, his involvement in developing a Knowledge Base for the IT team and EA staff, and more!

Governance structures at the state, district, and federal levels have significantly influenced how educators, administrators, students, and parents engage with and understand data. These spheres have evolved over several decades, due to technological advancements, streamlined data management systems, and most notably, the influx of additional funding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this blog, we sat down with the Vice President of Interoperability Solutions Rosh Dhanawade to gain a clearer understanding of how these spheres interact and influence educators, parents, and students.

Assessment data plays a pivotal role in tracking student progress, and as Data Engineer Manager Julianna Alvord highlights in this blog, integrating this data remains a significant challenge. Variations in formats, standards, and structures across vendors, states, and educational levels often create barriers to effective data use. Julianna details how EA has addressed these challenges by developing tools like Earthmover and Lightbeam. These innovative solutions enable seamless integration of assessment data into the Ed-Fi data model, transforming diverse datasets into standardized formats for meaningful analysis. By converting and mapping data from multiple sources, these tools empower educators to make data-driven decisions; however, the complexity of assessment data—ranging from differing score types and definitions to varying assessment hierarchies—necessitates robust and ongoing governance. This ensures data consistency, clarity, and usability across systems, ultimately supporting more effective educational outcomes. Through our collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE), EA has refined governance practices for assessment data integration, focusing on defining clear assessment structures, handling score variability, and addressing historical data challenges.

 Each year, we have the opportunity to attend and present at several conferences nationwide, showcasing our work and our Ed-Fi-enabled product stack. These events provide opportunities to engage with educators, administrators, district leaders, and fellow Ed Tech organizations, fostering collaboration and sharing insights. In 2024, we participated in the 20+ conferences, including SXSW EDU, AeriesCon, Ed-Fi Alliance’s Technical Congress, the Knowledge Alliance’s Fall Forum, Ed-Fi Summit, South Carolina Ed Tech, and the Florida Educational Research Association’s annual meeting. In this blog, we recap our key takeaways and lessons learned from the conferences we attended this year.