| Date Issued: |
January 14, 2021 |
| Status: |
This is an informative IMS Global document that may be revised at any time. |
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1. Introduction
The IMS Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) Standard supports interoperability in that CLR publishers and consumers
can consistently send, receive, and verify records among conformant systems. The
CLR Standard describes an information model, service definition, and implementation
guide to allow institutions, suppliers, and others to 'extend' the traditional transcript
with records and types of information that are typically not found in a traditional
transcript, such as competency attainment, co-curricular activities, Open Badges, and to define
and facilitate an institution's learner achievements record store for collection
of CLRs.
CLR Standard data can be consumed by other schools, institutions, employers, and any other
entities that are conformant as CLR consumers. In this machine readable format, CLR
data enables granular and expansive discoverability of learning achievements and competencies that
was not previously possible.
1.1 Status of this Document
This document is intended as a starting point for those looking to implement the Comprehensive Learner Record Standard in their system. This guide can be used to get a fundamental understanding of the CLR Standard data structure and API through the examples and definitions included in the guide, as well as a central hub containing links to the specification documents, conformance certification requirements, and other important resources. This guide may be updated over time.
IMS strongly encourages its members and the community to provide feedback to continue
the evolution and improvement of the CLR Standard. To join the IMS developer and
conformance certification community focused on CLR please visit the IMS Digital Credentials
and Badging Alliance online here:
https://www.imsglobal.org/digital-credentials-and-badging-alliance
1.2 Specification Documents
CLR Standard specification documents are available on the IMS website:
1.3 Where Can I Get Help?
If you have questions or need help with implementing the CLR Standard or achieving conformance
certification, here are some available resources:
-
Public
Forum
for all parties interested in CLR.
-
Affiliates
Forum
for IMS Digital Credentials and Badging Alliance Members, Affiliate, and Contributing Members.
-
Reference Implementations for a CLR Client Application,
a Resource Server, and an Authentication Server.
-
IMS Contributing Members have access to private GitHub repositories and a Slack
channel for CLR Project Group discussions and collaborations. Contact an IMS staff
member to gain access.
1.5 Product Directory Listing
The IMS Certified Product Directory
is the official listing of products that have passed IMS Global conformance
certification testing. Products that are listed in this directory are guaranteed
to meet the IMS standards for which they have passed testing. If you experience an
integration issue with a product listed here, IMS will work with the supplier to
resolve the problem. If a product is NOT listed here it has either not passed IMS
testing or its certification has expired.
1.6 Key Terms and Definitions
- CLR
- A document of structured data created by a Publisher containing one or more Assertions about one
Learner.
- Achievement
- An accomplishment such as a degree, evidence of competency mastery, a course completion, or other
accomplishment. An achievement may be asserted about one or more Learners (though a CLR contains records
for only one Learner).
- Alignment
- A relationship between an Achievement and a node in an external educational framework such as a
[CASE-10] framework.
- Assertion
- The attestation made by an Issuer about a Learner regarding an Achievement. The Assertion may also
include associated evidence, results, or other metadata regarding a specific Achievement.
- Association
- A relationship (e.g. isChildOf, precedes, etc.) between multiple achievements.
- Consumer
- A REST API actor that makes requests to CLR endpoints on a Provider.
- Evidence
- Information supporting the issuance of an assertion such as URL to an artifact produced by the Learner.
- Inspector
- A Consumer that inspects a CLR to verify or validate the data.
- Issuer
- The profile of an organization or entity that has made a particular Assertion about a Learner. The
Issuer of an Assertion is the authoritative source for that specific Assertion.
- Learner
- The profile of the person who is the subject of the CLR and assertions contained in a CLR.
- Protected Information
- In the United States, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal Law that
protects personally identifiable information (PII) from students' educational records from unauthorized
disclosure. CLRs fall within the definition of educational records; and the CLR Learner Profile contains
PII. Therefore FERPA may apply to some uses of the CLR spec.
- Provider
- A REST API actor that responds to requests to CLR endpoints from a Consumer.
- Publisher
- The profile of the organization providing the CLR (typically the educational institution, a 3rd-party
agent, or the learner). The Publisher is the official record keeper for Assertions in a CLR. In the
majority of cases, the Publisher is also the Issuer of some or all of the Assertions in a CLR. Except
in the case of a self-curated CLR, the publisher is either the issuer or has a trusted relationship
with the issuer of all the Assertions in the CLR. In the case of a self-curated collection of Assertions,
the Learner is the Publisher of the CLR.
- Verification
- Instructive information for third parties to verify Assertions.
