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Requests for Comment (RFC)

A change to the Ed-Fi Data Standard becomes official by moving through the Ed-Fi Alliance governance process: someone proposes it, the Ed-Fi Alliance turns it into a Request for Comment (RFC) that the community reviews, the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and Governance Advisory Team (GAT) review it as needed, and the Ed-Fi Alliance Management Committee gives final approval. Approved changes are then published in a versioned release of the Ed-Fi Data Standard.

From idea to final approval​

Every change moves through the same stages, whether it starts with a work group or with Ed-Fi Alliance staff:

  1. Idea initiation: someone raises a change or a gap in the standard (see How to propose a change and follow it).
  2. RFC process and engagement: the idea becomes a request. The Ed-Fi Alliance team manages proposed changes and works with community members to design and validate them.
  3. Incorporation of feedback: comments are folded back into the proposal.
  4. TAG and GAT review: the Technical Advisory Group and Governance Advisory Team review changes as needed.
  5. Final approval: the Ed-Fi Alliance Management Committee signs off, and the change is implemented on the roadmap.

The Governance page describes the groups involved at each stage and how to take part.

How to propose a change and follow it​

  1. Sign in to the Ed-Fi Community Hub and submit a case describing the change you would like to see. If you would like the team to be able to contact you on GitHub, include your GitHub handle in the case.
  2. Requests that are shared publicly are tracked on the Data Standard · Product Roadmap in GitHub, where you can follow an item's status to see whether it has been accepted or declined. Anyone is welcome to comment on ongoing work there.

For more ways to take part, such as the Data Standard Work Group, see Reporting Issues and Making Suggestions.

Where to find and comment on RFCs​

  • Data Standard RFCs are published as GitHub Discussions with the RFC label.
  • Proposals for the Ed-Fi Technology Suite are tracked in the Technology Suite Proposals project.
  • When an RFC is finalized, it is published to the API Specifications repository and is no longer open for comment. A finalized RFC is either already implemented in the Unifying Data Model or being implemented for an upcoming release.

What RFC status means​

A draft RFC is a design proposal that has not been incorporated into the Ed-Fi Data Standard's Unifying Data Model. A published RFC represents a design that has been finalized for a versioned release of the Ed-Fi Data Standard: it is either already included in a release or being implemented for an upcoming one.

The Ed-Fi Community may choose to implement a draft RFC as an extension to the Ed-Fi Data Standard so that the model can be put into limited operational use. Doing so helps the Community provide practical feedback on the RFC model's utility in addressing the problem it was designed to solve. In such a case, those implementing the draft RFC should stay in close contact with the Ed-Fi Alliance and other Community members so that any incremental updates do not lead to version fragmentation.

Draft RFCs are not included in the Ed-Fi Certification program, which only relies on the official, published, Ed-Fi Data Standard releases.

After approval: release and early access​

Approved changes are published in a versioned release of the Ed-Fi Data Standard, which uses semantic versioning. New material may first be published as early access when it is not yet fully verified as stable. The "EARLY ACCESS" label is removed in a later release once the material matures. See Ed-Fi Data Standard Versioning and Releases.