GEOS-CORE-001 — Roles, Authorities, and System Boundaries
Version: 1.0 (Initial Publication) Status: Normative Core Standard
1. Purpose ————--
This document defines the canonical roles, authorities, and constraints governing the Global Education Outcomes Standards (GEOS).
It establishes a shared vocabulary for actors referenced across all GEOS Definition (Def) and Standards Conformity Assessment (Assess) documents, including but not limited to GEOS-FN-001.
This document exists to eliminate ambiguity about:
who defines standards;
who generates data;
who constructs outcome signals;
who assesses conformity;
who relies on certified outputs; and
who does not hold authority within the GEOS system.
2. Core Design Principle —————————-
The GEOS Organization operates as a deliberately constrained standards utility.
The GEOS Organization and its GEOS Standards achieve scale and credibility by:
defining standards and assessment procedures;
certifying conformity to those standards; and
publicly signaling certification status.
The GEOS Organization does not:
control education policy;
prescribe curriculum or pedagogy;
generate data;
allocate funds; or
enforce compliance.
Every role defined below operates under explicit scope limits. No role inherits authority by implication.
3. Canonical Roles ———————-
Role Type: Standards Authority Legal Form: As defined in the GEOS Charter
The GEOS Organization:
defines outcome standards (Def);
defines conformity assessment procedures (Assess);
defines certification criteria for outcome artifacts;
certifies GEOSors™;
certifies GEOSor™ Certified Partners™;
publishes certification outcomes and revocations; and
maintains versioned, public standards documentation.
The GEOS Organization does not:
access student-level data;
generate outcome signals;
audit outcomes directly;
make funding decisions; or
participate in results-based financing instruments.
Role Type: Institutional Stewards (Time-Bound)
Founding Members:
adopt the GEOS Charter;
appoint initial governance bodies as specified in the Charter;
approve the initial standards publication roadmap; and
resolve foundational governance matters within the time limits defined in the Charter.
Founding Members do not:
control ongoing standards outcomes;
participate in conformity assessments; or
influence individual certifications.
Once governance resolutions are adopted, Founding Members retain no special operational authority.
Role Type: Outcome-Producing Institutional Unit
A School System is a legally or operationally coherent set of one or more schools whose educational outcomes are governed, reported, or represented as a unit for policy, accountability, or funding purposes.
A School System MAY consist of:
a national Ministry of Education school network;
a sub-national public education authority (e.g., province, district, municipality);
a private, faith-based, or non-state school network;
a non-formal education provider operating multiple learning sites; or
any combination thereof, provided a single accountable authority exists.
A School System:
serves as the unit of aggregation for GEOS-certifiable outcome artifacts; and
MAY produce one or more Outcome Signal Portfolios for internal use, publication, or submission for GEOS certification.
Role Type: Legally Accountable Representative
A School Leader is the individual or legal officer with formal authority and accountability for a School System.
A School Leader:
authorizes the publication and representation of outcome artifacts on behalf of a School System;
designates agents or partners to prepare, submit, or audit outcome artifacts; and
bears legal responsibility for claims made by the School System regarding those artifacts.
A School Leader does not:
define GEOS standards;
certify conformity; or
control audit procedures.
If a School Leader chooses to submit an Outcome Signals Portfolio for certification, then The GEOS Organization's authority is limited to defining the requirements of certification as assessed by a GEOSor. The GEOS Organization has no authority whatsoever over the School Leader.
Role Type: Data Infrastructure Operator
A Data Source Operator:
operates systems that generate raw educational data streams;
is responsible for the data integrity, traceability, and auditability within those systems; and
supports reproducible extraction of data for authorized aggregation;
A Data Source Operator does not:
define outcome constructs;
construct Sentinel signals;
certify conformity; or
control funding claims.
Role Type: Individual Professional
A GEOSor™:
conducts conformity assessments against GEOS Standards;
evaluates whether outcome artifacts meet published criteria;
documents findings using GEOS-defined audit procedures; and
issues assessment determinations to The GEOS Organization via a GEOSor™ Certified Partner™ (see below).
A GEOSor™ does not:
generate data;
define standards;
make funding decisions; or
advocate for specific outcomes.
Role Type: Accredited Assessment Body
A GEOSor Certified Partner:
employs one or more GEOSors;
conducts conformity assessments on behalf of School Systems;
submits assessment results to The GEOS Organization under defined procedures; and
maintains independence from outcome production.
A GEOSor Certified Partner must:
enforce conflict-of-interest separation between GEOS assessment and other services; and
disclose relevant commercial relationships.
Role Type: Certified Artifact
A GeOSP™ is:
a portfolio of Sentinel outcome signals;
produced by a School System;
derived from conformant data streams;
assessed by a GEOSor Certified Partner; and
certified by The GEOS Organization as conformant to GEOS Standards.
A GeOSP™:
asserts process conformity only;
does not assert educational effectiveness;
does not imply funding eligibility; and
remains contestable under The GEOS Organization's procedures.
Role Type: Capital Provider
A Finance Facility (e.g., IFFEd):
defines funding instruments and risk terms;
selects whether to rely on certified GeOSPs™;
determines disbursement rules independently; and
assumes all financial risk.
A Finance Facility does not:
define GEOS Standards;
conduct conformity assessments; or
influence certification outcomes.
Role Type: Capital Contributors
Funders:
provide capital to Finance Facilities;
set policy preferences through funding terms; and
decide whether to support results-based instruments.
Funders do not:
participate in GEOS certification;
select individual Sentinel signals; or
influence audit outcomes.
Role Type: Independent Learning and Evidence Actors
Evaluators:
study system performance, effects, and unintended consequences;
publish independent analyses; and
inform future standards revision through evidence.
Evaluators do not:
certify conformity;
approve funding; or
exercise authority within GEOS processes.
4. Authority Boundaries —————————
GEOS standards bind only artifacts that:
claim conformity with GEOS standards; or
are relied upon through GEOS certification.
Participation in GEOS-related processes remains voluntary at all times.
The GEOS Organization's trademarks (including, but not limited to, GEOS™, GeOSP™, and GEOSor™) are the intellectual property of The GEOS Organization, and may be used only by permission. This gives The GEOS Organization the right to sue any entity that falsely claims:
Compatibility with GEOS Standards;
GEOSor certification status,
GEOSor Certified Partner status, and/or
GeOSPs certification status.
The GEOS Organization is expected to use this trademark enforcement power solely to enhance and maintain the GEOS system's integrity and economic sustainability.
5. Normative Usage ———————-
All GEOS documents:
MUST reference actors using the role names defined in this document;
MUST NOT use unnamed pronouns where role attribution matters; and
MUST treat GeOSPs™ as certified artifacts, not institutional endorsements.
6. Stability and Amendment ——————————
GEOS-CORE-001 establishes the foundational role model for the GEO system.
The GEOS Organization will amend this document only through:
published versioning;
backward-compatibility mapping; and
public justification.