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EPDM-Community Model Updates

Legacy Content

This changelog covers the EPDM-Community extension versions prior to Ed-Fi Data Standard v6. Starting with Data Standard v6 (November 2025), EPDM is integrated into the Ed-Fi core standard. For changes in v6, see V6 Ed-Fi Data Standard EPDM Related Domains.

This page documents new features and changes made for each EPDM-Community release (previously TPDM-Community). It is intended for technical professionals including business analysts, database administrators, and software developers.

v1.2 (Latest Extension Release)​

Model Documentation​

Model Improvements & Enhancements​

Path Domain (DATASTD-2173)​

Working with members of the community, the original PlanMilestone design from v1.2-pre.1 was revised to produce the Path domain. The Path domain allows institutions to track status towards a goal — primarily a candidate receiving a teaching certificate or a student graduating. With Paths you can:

  • Set milestones to be met
  • Group milestones into phases
  • Build path templates for an entire cohort of students or candidates
  • Customize a path to a specific student or candidate
  • Track status of student milestones or entire phases
  • Transfer statuses of milestones completed in one plan to another plan

Evaluation Domain Updates (DATASTD-2139)​

  • Added optional field ActualDuration to EvaluationRating
  • Added optional field Comments to EvaluationRating

Previously, ActualDuration and Comments were on PerformanceEvaluationRating, meaning they acted as rollup values across all EvaluationRatings. Adding these fields to EvaluationRating allows both granular collection and rollup to PerformanceEvaluationRatings.

Other Additions​

  • Added a StudentAssessment reference to CertificationExamResult, enabling hierarchical exam scores through the use of assessments.

v1.2-pre.1 (Pre-release)​

note

This was a pre-release version intended for review and testing only. It should not be used in a production deployment.

Model Improvements & Enhancements​

PlanMilestone (TPDMX-258)​

New PlanMilestone entity for tracking progress toward a plan — a certification plan for candidates working toward certification, or students working toward graduation.

v1.1​

This version introduced the EPDM-Core / EPDM-Community split:

  • EPDM-Core — A new extension based on RFC-26 containing the entities required to power the Program Diversity and Persistence Starter Kit and the Clinical Experience and Performance Starter Kit. Installed by default with ODS/API v5.3.
  • EPDM-Community — The new name for the existing full EPDM model, made fully open-source including the MetaEd model.

Model Improvements & Enhancements​

Candidate Updates (TPDMX-189, TPDMX-162, TPDMX-215, TPDMX-210, TPDMX-243, TPDMX-194)​

  • CandidateIndicator — Added BeginDate (required) and EndDate (optional) to support longitudinal indicators. Period deprecated.
  • DegreeSpecialization — Deprecated on Candidate; moved to CandidateEducatorPreparationProgramAssociation.
  • CohortYear — Deprecated on Candidate; moved to CandidateEducatorPreparationProgramAssociation.
  • Aid — Deprecated as a common object on Candidate; replaced with a top-level API resource /tpdm/financialAids.
  • EPPProgramDegree — Changed to optional.
  • ProgramComplete — Deprecated; program completion is now determined by ReasonExited on CandidateEducatorPreparationProgramAssociation.
  • TuitionCost — Replaced currency data types with decimal(19,4).

EducatorPreparationProgram Updates (TPDMX-232)​

  • Deprecated EducatorPreparationProgramType (duplicate of the required ProgramType descriptor already on the entity).

CandidateEducatorPreparationProgramAssociation Updates (TPDMX-233, TPDMX-162)​

  • CandidateIndicator — Updated from optional to optional collection.
  • DegreeSpecialization — Added here (deprecated on Candidate); increased length from 75 to 255 characters.
  • MajorSpecialization / MinorSpecialization — Deprecated shared strings (replaced with DegreeSpecialization common type).
  • CohortYear — Added here (deprecated on Candidate).
  • ApplicationReference — Added optional reference.

Credential Extension Updates (TPDMX-209, TPDMX-248)​

  • Person reference and CertificationTitle made optional.
  • Added optional EducatorRole descriptor.

Performance Evaluation Domain Updates (TPDMX-224, TPDMX-196, TPDMX-206)​

  • PerformanceEvaluation — Added optional PerformanceEvaluationDescription (255 characters).
  • Evaluation — Added optional EvaluationDescription (255 characters).
  • EvaluationObjective — Added optional EvaluationObjectiveDescription (255 characters).
  • EvaluationElementRating — Increased Feedback field length from 1024 to 2048 characters.
  • EvaluationRating — Updated EvaluationDate from date to datetime; added optional EvaluationRatingStatus descriptor.

Goals Updates (TPDMX-248)​

  • Added optional ParentGoal reference to Goal, enabling hierarchical action steps.

New FinancialAid Entity (TPDMX-210)​

Created a new top-level API resource for financial aid data, allowing it to be loaded independently from candidate data. This resolves integration issues when financial aid is stored outside the SIS.

StaffEducationOrganizationEmploymentAssociation Updates (TPDMX-214)​

  • SalaryAmount — Replaced currency data types with decimal(19,4).

Non-Model Improvements​

v1.0.0​

Model Improvements & Enhancements​

Education Organization Updates (TPDMX-175)​

University and TeacherPreparationProvider removed; use PostSecondaryInstitution and School instead.

  • PostSecondaryInstitution — Added FederalLocaleCode descriptor.
  • School — Removed SchoolStatus descriptor; added PostSecondaryInstitution reference and AccreditationStatus.

Survey Domain (TPDMX-178)​

Survey extended to use the Person model:

  • SurveyResponse now has a Person reference; TeacherCandidate and Applicant references removed.
  • SurveyResponseTeacherCandidateTargetAssociation renamed to SurveyResponsePersonTargetAssociation.
  • SurveySectionResponseTeacherCandidateTargetAssociation renamed to SurveySectionResponsePersonTargetAssociation.

TeacherPreparationProviderProgram (TPDMX-181)​

Renamed to EducatorPreparationProgram to be more inclusive. Related sub-elements also renamed (e.g., TeacherPreparationProgramType → EducatorPreparationProgramType).

Fieldwork Experience (TPDMX-182)​

  • School reference changed from required collection to single optional reference.
  • Added optional EducatorPreparationProgram reference.

TeacherCandidate (TPDMX-183)​

Renamed to Candidate. Notable changes:

  • Required Student reference removed (use Person reference instead).
  • TeacherCandidateAcademicRecord and TeacherCandidateCourseTranscript removed; use StudentAcademicRecord and CourseTranscript.
  • Candidate characteristics added.

Application Pipeline (TPDMX-180)​

  • Applicant renamed to ApplicantProfile; Person reference removed.
  • Prospect renamed to RecruitmentEventAttendance; Person reference removed.
  • RecruitmentEventAttendance now requires a RecruitmentEvent.
  • Fields moved from Application to ApplicationProfile.
  • EmploymentEvent and EmploymentSeparationEvent removed.

Staff Extension Updates (TPDMX-179)​

Added StaffEducationOrganizationEmploymentAssociation.

Removed: Anonymized Students (TPDMX-138)​

Removed: AnonymizedStudent, AnonymizedStudentAcademicRecord, AnonymizedStudentCourseTranscript, AnonymizedStudentAssessment.

Removed: GrowthMeasures (TPDMX-187)​

Growth measures removed as unused in EPDM implementations.

Non-Model Improvements​

  • XML sample data for v1.0 added to the Ed-Fi-EPDM-Extension repository.

v0.8​

Person Model​

A Person entity was added to EPDM, introduced alongside Ed-Fi Data Standard v3.2.0-c. This unified multiple person-roles (student, staff, teacher candidate, applicant) under a common identifier, enabling institutions with person ID systems to link roles.

New Performance Evaluation Domain​

The existing Performance Measures and Staff Evaluation domains were combined into a single PerformanceEvaluation domain. A new Goal entity replaced TalentManagementGoal. Performance Evaluation uses Person references rather than role-specific references.

note

Use of the Performance Evaluation domain requires implementation of the Person model.

Updated Credentials and Certification Domains​

  • Added ability to track the lifecycle of a credential.
  • Added CertificationLicense entity for pre-built credential catalogs.
  • Credentials now reference the Person model.
note

Use of Credentials and Certification requires implementation of the Person model.

Removal of Survey Domain​

With RFC 25 approval, the Survey domain moved into the Ed-Fi Data Standard core and was removed from EPDM. Teacher Candidates and Applicants can still take or be targeted by surveys via the core Survey domain.

Alignment to Ed-Fi Core​

  • FieldworkExperience reworked to use the Student role.
  • Facts-style tables removed (EducationOrganizationFacts, EducationOrganizationStudentFacts).
  • GradebookEntry extension functionality moved into core.
  • Absence event entities removed as unused.
  • Community/network education organization extension entities removed as unused.

Recruitment and Staffing​

Fields moved from Applicant to Application; Education Organization requirement on Applicant removed to support multiple applications.

Non-Model Improvements​

  • New GitHub repository Ed-Fi-TPDM-Extension created to hold XML sample data, XML descriptor values, and UML diagrams.
  • "Real world" sample data added representing actual Teacher Preparation Provider usage.
  • Descriptor files split per descriptor type for easier reference.
  • Descriptor spreadsheet created listing all values with Code, Short Description, Description, and Namespace.

v0.7​

Highlights​

  • Online TPDM sandbox available at https://api.ed-fi.org/v0.7.0-tpdm/docs/.
  • Decoupled versioning — TPDM version number decoupled from ODS/API product version.
  • Ed-Fi + TPDM Data Handbook introduced.
  • Upgraded ODS/API base to v3.2; TPDM updated to MetaEd v2.0-compliant.
  • Simplified installation via source branches with TPDM pre-integrated; standardized descriptor namespace to tpdm.ed-fi.org.

Survey Domain Enhancements​

Added Teacher Candidates, Staff, and Educational Organizations as survey targets. Key tickets: TPDMX-25, TPDMX-45, TPDMX-54, TPDMX-67, TPDMX-78, TPDMX-79, TPDMX-80, TPDMX-95, TPDMX-96, TPDMX-97, TPDMX-100.

Talent Management Enhancements​

TPDMX-10, TPDMX-34, TPDMX-40, TPDMX-68, TPDMX-85.

v3.0.6​

Refinement release adding new entities/elements and correcting field-work issues:

  • TPDMX-75 — Allow multiple GPAs on TeacherCandidateAcademicRecord
  • TPDMX-88 — Change TeacherCandidateFieldworkExperience school reference to collection
  • TPDMX-94 — Add optional School reference to TeacherPreparationProvider and University

August 5, 2019 (v3.0.5)​

  • TPDMX-64 — Add Survey Teacher Candidate Association
  • TPDMX-65 — Add Survey Staff Association

May 15, 2019 (v3.0.4)​

Changes to Survey/SurveyResponse entities and addition of TNTP domains to Recruitment and Staffing interchange schema. Key tickets: TPDMX-35, TPDMX-36, TPDMX-37, TPDMX-38, TPDMX-53.

March 19, 2019 (v3.0.3)​

  • TPDMX-41 — Add SurveyLevel to Survey
  • TPDMX-42 — Add enumerations to Application Status descriptor
  • TPDMX-44 — Extend field lengths in several areas
  • TPDMX-46 — Add Staff Evaluation domains to StaffSectionAssociation interchange
  • TPDMX-47 — Change Elements in ProgramDegree to Unbounded

February 5, 2019 (v3.0.2)​

Initial tracked release. Key additions:

  • TPDMX-32 — Change PerformanceMeasure.RubricReference to unbounded
  • TPDMX-1 — Add Major and Minor to Teacher Candidate
  • TPDMX-5 — Add Application Event
  • TPDMX-8 — Change GPA to Collection
  • TPDMX-16 — Add CertificationExamDate and CertificationExamPassFail

Full ticket list: TPDMX-1 through TPDMX-19.