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RE: [school-discuss] Student Information Systems



I think that is a great idea!

Why should everyone create a different wheel?

Two cautions upfront.  Don't make the same mistake as PowerSchool by not
having a set and stated direction and build in a set standard of
documentation that everyone follows.  By documentation I mean both for the
source but also for the user.

Doug Coats

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net
[mailto:owner-schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net]On Behalf Of Tim
Mansfield
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2003 1:53 PM
To: schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net
Subject: Re: [school-discuss] Student Information Systems


I think we should collectively develop a specification for what an open
source Student Information System should do.

Les Richardson is working on "Open Admin for Schools".  James Smyth is
working on "District DNA".  I'm working on a project that needs to have some
SIS functionality as a supporting layer.  It's fine of course for everyone
to be working on their own thing, but it seems to me that we should be
pooling our efforts on a common specification.

We could set up a website to do this requirements capture -- for starters,
maybe it'd be just a wiki, some doc archival facility, and some mailing
lists.  Representatives from all the stakeholder groups -- teachers,
administrators, office managers, students, parents, superintendents, tech
coordinators, developers, etc. -- would use the site to collectively develop
the spec, with moderation/coordination from some core volunteers.  (These
core volunteers would probably emerge from Schoolforge.)  Both functional
and non-functional requirements would be captured.

As this spec developed, then we could talk knowledgably, consistently, and
actionably about the extent to which the systems out there currently meet or
plan to meet the standard.  The coverage charts could include both open
source and commercial packages, so people like Doug Coats can make the best,
informed decision.

The spec would help developers like Les, James, myself, and whoever else,
understand what the market wants.  It would help adopters like Doug do due
diligence and get what they need.

What do you think?

--Tim