Information Systems Architecture (ISA)

Definition: The information systems architecture is the reference to which everyone goes to when a decision needs to be made regarding the technology, standards, systems, and policy that guide the use of data within an education agency for data-driven decision making.

What This Means: The information systems architecture guides an education agency in the governance and management of all of its information systems. ESP has crafted its ISA template using best practices gathered from work across all states and multiple school districts. Seven major components for a longitudinal data system guide the ISA (governance, portal, collections, data stores, D3M, user support, and infrastructure). The ISA is the starting point for all information and technology planning and design efforts for an agency. At a very high level the purpose is to ensure that when students and the adults who support them reach a decision point, all the information they need to make the right choice will be at their fingertips. When teachers and parents need to know how to accomplish data-driven decision making, they will be supported by the education agency’s ISA to make it happen.

All the agency’s information systems will be integrated to share data embracing adopted standards. Confidentiality, security, integrity, validity, quality, and timeliness will characterize this sharing process. Technology and the creative architecture that takes advantage of it will leverage open standards that allow a single “information network” to evolve. Submitting reports will be replaced by using reports. Assessment, accountability, and accounting will be unobtrusive processes performed by the information network using the transactional applications that make individuals productive.”

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