Ed-Fi Rookie of the Year Award

District data engineer recognized at recent Ed-Fi Conference

Congratulations to Walla Walla Public Schools Data Engineer Nandu Nair for receiving the Rookie of the Year award at the Ed-Fi Alliance Summit 2022 in Austin, TX. The Ed-Fi Alliance is a nonprofit organization consisting of educators, technologists and thought leaders who are working to securely and seamlessly connect educational data systems in order to provide greater insight, access and tools for educators. Nair is charged with helping to lead the district's implementation of Ed-Fi initiatives for Walla Walla Public Schools.

The Rookie of the Year award recognizes Ed-Fi’s newest participants who have demonstrated a commitment to data standards and interoperability. Nandu has helped oversee a systems-level build-out and has an ongoing commitment to ramping up Ed-Fi’s presence across the Pacific Northwest.

“The Ed-Fi platform is designed to pull in core data from our Student Information System, assessment systems and other platforms to help unify it under one umbrella and facilitate a more holistic, 360-degree view of the data,” said Nair. “WWPS is in the process of finalizing data visuals and tools for staff that will allow real-time information by which to adapt and modify instruction and make informed program decisions in order to improve efficiency and learning outcomes for students.”

Over the coming months, Walla Walla Public Schools plans to finalize data reports and dashboards based on a collaborative process that involves teachers and administrators. These interfaces will be used by educators to help track student success.

“This award is a recognition of our district's effort to spearhead the deployment of Ed-Fi in the state of Washington,” said Nair. “We anticipate many more districts will follow suit when they learn of the success districts are seeing as they leverage data to help empower teachers and inform decisionmakers.”