Every fall, the Ed-Fi Alliance hosts its annual Ed-Fi Summit to bring together state and local education leaders, EdTech providers, educators, and technical experts who utilize data to solve education’s most pressing issues. Several of Education Analytics’ staff attended Ed-Fi Summit 2024 to connect, present, and learn. Here are some of their insights:

This year's Ed-Fi Summit reinforced the importance of collaboration as a primary principle in the community's work to support education. Be it between technologists from different companies, different data standards, or the end users of data themselves, the potential of our work is amplified if we do it together. I'm excited about several of these collaborations and for EA to contribute back to the community to drive collective improvement.

Development Strategist

As an EA team member, I was glad to attend and learn from so many thoughtful and caring leaders, educators, and organizations. Every presenter and conversation centered on the most important aspect of our collective work: specifically, showcasing how innovations in the areas of data interoperability and related research have the potential to impact student learning for the better.

Senior Sales Strategist
(Left to right) South Carolina Department of Education Education Associate Wendy Stephens and EA Data Engineer Manager Julianna Alvord presenting the session, "Data Governance for Assessment Integrations," at Ed-Fi Summit 2024.

At the conference, I was excited to learn about the various data-driven projects the community is working on to enhance education. I also saw firsthand the collaboration between vendors and Local Education Agencies (LEAs), driving meaningful change. The energy and excitement around these possibilities left me eager to see how we can continue advancing together.

Technical Delivery Lead

Attending the Ed-Fi Summit was an exciting opportunity for me to connect with the community and to learn from the successes as well as the challenges folks are facing. I was particularly struck by the push to thoughtfully develop analytics powered by Ed-Fi data including approaches to centering the needs of students and educators in the decision-making process.

Manager of Analytics Programs

The Ed-Fi Alliance Summit deepened my understanding of the challenges and progress being made in implementing Ed-Fi — particularly in ways I don’t typically engage with directly as an analyst. This experience heightened my appreciation for the extensive work being done across the Ed-Fi community and inspired me to consider the impacts it will have on our work in the future.

Research Analyst II
(Left to right) EA Data Engineer Manager Rob Little and Chief Solutions Officer Noah Bookman presenting the session, "Enhancing Postsecondary Eligibility and Scholarships with Ed-Fi."

The biggest idea I took away from Summit was "interoperability in service of students." This conception of interoperability goes beyond the specifics of data standards and software. Data ownership, process governance, and easing collaboration within and between education organizations were all top of mind.

Data Engineer II

Attending the Ed-Fi Summit always invigorates me with its spirit of innovation, the passion of the presenters, and the creative solutions that propel the community towards continuous improvement. Since attending my first Ed-Fi Summit in 2016, I’ve consistently gained valuable ideas and feedback to enhance the processes and applications I support. Reconnecting with peers I’ve collaborated with for nearly a decade is always energizing.

Technical Delivery Lead

It is exciting to see the growing number of presentations at Ed-Fi conferences discussing implementation achievements across the country and across sectors.

Research Scientist II - Interoperability
(Left to right) EA staff, Research Scientist II - Interoperability Molly Stewart and Director of Cloud Engineering & Interoperability Rosh Dhanawade, presented a session with Director at the Office of Research & Data Analysis at the South Carolina Department of Education Dan Ralyea and Manager at the Public Consulting Group Greg Nadeau.

Attending the conference was a reenergizing experience, as we heard from various Ed-Fi community members, all united by a common goal: supporting students. It is always inspiring to see how education organizations are leveraging their data systems to provide accurate and timely data to educators, enabling them to quickly assess and meet student needs.

Technical Delivery Lead

In recognition of our impactful work to improve data use in K-12 education, EA has been recognized as a 2025 Ed-Fi Alliance Premier Partner. Each Premier Partner has been selected for their instrumental work in developing and scaling tools that improve data quality, security, and interoperability in K-12 systems nationwide. We are proud to be recognized alongside Aeries, ASCENDER, EdGraph, Infinite Campus, and Skyward as 2025 Ed-Fi Alliance Premier Partners. Learn more about our Premier Partner status here.  

Interested in beginning your Ed-Fi journey?

Learn more about how you can partner with Education Analytics on your Ed-Fi journey by contacting us today. Take the Ed-Fi Alliance Ed-Fi 101 course to get a comprehensive overview of Ed-Fi, the Alliance, and the technology it provides.