Software Framework Opens Up Data-Sharing

The Schools Interoperability Framework, a method of exchanging data among various school software applications, is ready, finally, to give a technical boost to schools’ ability to use data to improve student achievement.

“I can confidently say we have over 40 states implementing SIF at either the state or district level—in 250 districts serving 2.5 million students,” said Larry L. Fruth II, the executive director of the Washington-based School Interoperability Framework Association.

Mr. Fruth, a former state education technology director in Ohio, said an increasing number of K-12 schools are beginning to use SIF as a criterion in software purchasing. (The framework’s shorthand form is...