SIF Association

Where Innovation and Interoperability Are Standard®

SIF Data Model Implementation Specification (North America) version 3.0

HTML Document Links

[Last updated: 08/19/13]

The links below take you to html documentation of the 3.0 schemas. You are first taken to the top-level SIF object. The graphs are clickable and allow you to drill down into the elements and lists of each object. The annotations (if present) provide additional SIF-specific information for elements.

Press the Back button on your browser to return to this menu.

XSD Files and Codesets

[Last updated: 08/19/13]

The downloadable file below contains the XSD (schema) files for the 3.0 Specification. These are the official normative specification documents.

Schemas (zip)

The file below is an Excel spreadsheet containing the current codesets for the 3.0 data model.

Codesets (.xlsx)

The schemas will soon be hosted at a URL to be posted here.



Data Model Diagrams

[Last updated: 08/19/13]

Below are links to diagrams that will help understand the SIF Data Model at a high level. Not all SIF objects may be represented by the diagrams.

  • Type Hierarchy: This diagram illustrates the conceptual model that forms the underpinnings for the SIF Data Model. SIF types make up the basis for all SIF Entity Objects and for other major concepts in SIF. The SIF Data Model uses types from the Conceptual Model as building blocks to create objects and elements.
  • Relationship Diagram - Student: This diagram shows the relationship among selected objects in the SIF Data Model. It begins with the Student object in the upper left corner. This diagram is simplified and does not show all relationships.
  • Relationship Diagram - Assessment: This diagram shows Assessment objects and Learning Standards objects.

Data Model Guide

[Last updated: 07/29/13]

Here are some things to keep in mind as you view the Data Model links above.

  • Grade Level is sometimes refered to as yearGroup. This more generic name allows integration with the international community
  • All elements that are repeatable are wrapped in an outer element that ends in the word List.
  • The SIF Data Model is segmented according to data model design patterns:
    • Entity Objects - These object are design-driven. They have an E-R structure as well as an inheritance structure.
    • Composite Objects - These objects have structures convenient for specific use cases. They are mashups of Entity Objects in most cases.
    • Report Objects - These are snap-shot objects.
    • CEDS Objects - These objects are a complete representation of CEDS 3.0 in XML.
  • In the HTML documentation you may have to click a lot of times to get to the definition of an element. Sometimes after you have run out of diagrams, you may have to click the element type to get the definition.
  • Information about the element is also included in the annotation/appinfo box. Look for the annotation box in the tables below each diagram.

Glossary of Important Terms

[Last updated: 07/15/13]

The downloadable file below provides a list of terms in order to quickly come up to speed on new 3.0 data model concepts and terminology.

Glossary (pdf)