FAQ
Find answers to common questions and concerns.
Ed-Fi! It's a data standard for the education space. Student data is mapped to a common language so systems can interpret it.
Interoperability means the ability of systems to exchange and make sense of information. Interoperable systems can automate things like data reporting to the state.
It's free during our grant period. Enroll before Sept 1, 2024, and never pay an onboarding fee. Beginning Sept. 1, 2024, membership in The Exchange will be fee-based. The Exchange is committed to keeping our solution affordable for our member districts and charter schools. Contact The Exchange team to learn more about the cost for your district or charter school.
Yes! The Exchange uses the Ed-Fi technology suite, which enhances the security of this data solution. All Exchange software providers and partners must meet stringent security requirements. Districts and charter schools own their data, so they retain decision-making power around who accesses and uses their data and in what fashion. This allows participants to monitor and manage exactly who has access to which pieces of data at all times.
The Early Adopters Group is specific to The Exchange and is managed by The Exchange Collaborative (Regions 4, 10, 11, 13, 20). Districts and charter schools can sign up to be involved in the initial design and testing of the new Exchange platform. Early Adopters have access to data onboarding tools and administrator and educator dashboards. They can engage in a community by joining groups and participating in discussions about best practices, data-informed decision-making, and more.
The TSDS Upgrade Project is provided and managed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and is provided at no charge to districts and charter schools. More than 300 districts across Texas are participating to test the new system and optimize performance as much as possible in preparation for use at scale beginning in the 2024-25 school year. Districts and charter schools participating in the TSDS Upgrade Project will be required to connect their SIS and other data source systems to their TSDS Individual Operational Data Store (IODS) for state reporting purposes. All other districts and charter schools that would like to use The Exchange will connect their source systems to an ODS hosted by Region 4. If a district or charter school is not participating in the TSDS Upgrade Project, they will not yet have a TSDS IODS set-up for state reporting.
If a district or charter school participates in the TSDS Upgrade Project during the 2023-2024 school year, their data source system vendors will publish data to the TSDS IODS for state reporting purposes. The Exchange regional support teams will then work to transfer data from the district or charter school’s TSDS IODS to the Exchange.
The Exchange is live and available to all Texas districts and charter schools. Contact The Exchange for more information about onboarding.
Fall 2023 Release:
Launch of Essential Services, including:
- Source System Data Integration
- Basic data validation
- Online Community
- Educator Dashboards
- Administrator Dashboards
- Portable Student Records
- ESC support network ready to onboard districts and charter schools
Winter 2024 Release:
- Enhanced Functionality
- Data Integration Tools
- OneRoster CSV
- District and school profiles via Leadership Analytics Dashboard
Summer 2024 Release:
- Integrated Reporting
- ESC-developed apps
- Data Health Check
- Student Passport
Fall 2024:
Full release of The Exchange