Public Comment Period Now Open on Proposed XML Standard for Exchanging Test Scores

(Washington DC) - The Board of Directors of PESC - the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council is pleased to announce that public comment period is now open on the proposed XML standard for exchanging education test score reports.

"This [standard] will benefit both educational institutions and students," said Arthur C. Peters, Vice President, Information Technology at ACT when originally proposing that an education test score report standard be developed through PESC. "Test scores, demographic and other educational information will be reported in a standardized way that will be easier to organize and read. We want all recipients of this information to be able to use it more effectively, whether it's a college, a scholarship organization, a government agency--anyone interested in this type of educational data."

With the development work recently completed and submitted to PESC, the Education Test Score Report specifications are now immediately ready for public comment period. The complete submission can be accessed at http://www.PESC.org. The public comment period begins today Monday April 20, 2009 and will expire at the close of business on Tuesday May 26, 2009.

All comments from the the general public and PESC membership should be made in the form of an e-mail to the PESC Executive Director at: Michael.Sessa@PESC.org. Public comments can address any and/or all part of the standard being proposed. The comment e-mail should clearly identify the:

• Responder full name and appropriate contact information (phone, email, organization, etc);
• Source of the comments, i.e., whether the comments are individual or originate from a group the responder represents;
• Nature of the responder's interest in the standard (what is the issue and why is it important?);
• Element(s) of the proposed standard with which issue is taken;
• Changes suggested to resolve the issue(s).

  The Process

  Within 30 calendar days after the close of the public comment period, the Change Control Board (CCB) of PESC's Standards Forum for Education will address and consider all public comments and make, in consultation with the Education Test Score Report development workgroup any necessary revisions. All public comments will be posted to the PESC website during the review process. The CCB's consideration/revision period expires on Thursday June 25, 2009 unless extenuating circumstances exist which require further deliberation.

  Once any changes resulting from the public comment period have been incorporated, the CCB will recommend to the Standards Forum's Steering Committee and the PESC Board of Directors that the Education Test Score Report specifications be submitted to a vote by the PESC members. The PESC office will issue electronic ballots to the official contacts of PESC member organizations. Completed ballots, including the reason(s) for any rejection, must be returned to the PESC office via e-mail attachment, fax, overnight delivery, or U.S. Postal Service within ten (10) business days. PESC staff is responsible for the tabulation of the ballots; acceptance of the specification as a standard requires an affirmative vote of at least 80% of all votes cast. Once the members accept and approve the specification, the PESC Board of Directors will within seven (7) calendar days ratify the vote or refer it back to the CCB with specific instructions for further work.

  PESC staff will then publish/post all necessary documents and communications and implement version control on all documents. PESC approved standards are freely accessible on the PESC website (http://www.PESC.org).

  About PESC
  Established in 1997 and located in Washington, D.C., the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) is a non-profit, community-based, umbrella association of colleges and universities; professional and commercial organizations; data, software and service providers; non-profit organizations and associations; and state and federal government agencies. PESC's mission is to lead the alignment of data across disparate systems to improve performance and ensure cost-effective student progression along the higher education lifecycle.

  PESC achieves its mission by: 1) Leading the establishment and facilitating the adoption and implementation of data exchange standards; 2) Highlighting and supporting best practices for data access and exchange; 3) Maintaining collaborative relationships with all public, private, governmental, and international stakeholders; 4) Serving as a standards-setting body; 5) Advocating for operational efficiencies and simplification in student data exchange from initial access of the student from high school into the college environment through successful completion of the education experience; 6) Promoting cost effectiveness of data alignment across disparate systems and across sectors that help mitigate costs for institutions struggling to keep up with the demands of technology and real-time data exchange while maintaining competitive tuition rates; 7) Building a core competency in XML architecture and data modeling

  More information about PESC can be found at http://www.PESC.org.

  Posted 04/21/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Posting of press releases is done as a service to Members and does not imply endorsement or support by NASFAA. NASFAA does not review this information for content or accuracy.