Group Releases Best Practice Resource on Technology and Training for CN Programs
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August 3, 2005 — Last week, the Schools Interoperability Framework Association
(SIFA) announced the release of “Best Practices in Technology and Training Child
Nutrition Programs” for state level implementation of software solutions to meet
new requirements of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004.
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SIFA is a non-profit membership organization comprised of over 100 software vendors,
school districts, state departments of education and other organizations active in
primary and secondary (K—12) markets, who have come together to create a set of
rules and definitions to enable software programs from different companies to share information.
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“Best Practices” addresses the strategies for integrating technology
to meet several state agency objectives, including program oversight and training
for the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program and other federally
funded Child Nutrition Programs.
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The Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) specifications for data
interoperability essentially allow different departments and schools within a
given school district to communicate electronically across a variety of software
applications. SIF also allows easy sharing of data between the state agency and
school district. While these standards have been in use for some time in other
departments within school districts such as finance, library, transportation,
and student achievement, it is hoped that child nutrition data can also be shared,
when appropriate, using SIF.
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The U.S. Department of Education, dozens of states and numerous schools have
encouraged or mandated SIF standards for data interoperability. Several states
are implementing statewide SIF solutions to connect various state level administrative
departments to local schools and school district systems.
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Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published “Developing
an Open Process for the Purchase of a Software System” a procurement
document for Child Nutrition Programs providing guidance for software in Requests
for Proposals (RFPs) issued by local school districts.
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In its guiding document, USDA recommends, “the technology department
will be interested in a vendor’s ability to conform to the ‘Schools Interoperability,’
or ‘SIF’ initiative for data exchange among disparate administrative systems.”
School districts should not only be able to securely share data and information at the
local level, but also vertically from the local school district, to the state agency,
to USDA, and in the opposite direction.
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SIF is a trademark of the Schools Interoperability Framework Association
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For more information, please contact:
Edustructures LLC
Sandra Richards, 1.877.790.1261 Extension 438
news@edustructures.com
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