The State Role in Addressing Student Data Privacy Concerns
By Paige Kowalski, Director, State Policy and Advocacy, Data Quality Campaign
Like a house supported by its foundation, the success of nearly every education reform from measuring college and career readiness, to supporting great teaching, to turning around schools, and improving accountability systems, rests on a foundation of high-quality data. States have been working for over a decade to create their own state data systems to collect and use the education data needed to answer critical stakeholder questions.
However, along with the power of data comes the responsibility to protect student privacy and implement good data security and data governance. States are rising to the occasion by making important investments in new and updated privacy and security policies that supplement federal student privacy laws (FERPA). Oklahoma recently passed a bill delineating roles and responsibilities around the collection, sharing, and use of education data. And, Louisiana created a task force with the goal of better understanding data needs and available solutions to recommend state policy improvements to ensure student privacy. It is imperative that state policymakers act now to:
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The Chalkboard Project, an independent education transformation organization dedicated to making Oregon’s public schools among the nation’s best, awarded three implementation grants to TeachOregon partnerships. TeachOregon is a Chalkboard Project initiative that gives school districts and universities the opportunity to design innovative models to strengthen teacher preparation. The partnerships are:
Read More →Turning America’s Education System Around with Common Core
Business leaders Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Governor John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, are straight forward about America’s public education system not making the grade in their op-ed, “Common Core Brings Benefits to Both Education and Our Economy.” This op-ed originally appeared via the McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
Donohue and Engler discuss how K-12 public education is “setting our nation up to fail,” noting that it’s not preparing students for college or career success, not delivering skilled works for businesses and a stronger economy, or enabling our country to compete and lead in the global economy. They conclude that “proficiency in fundamental disciplines is slipping,” and that it is an impending national crisis that requires urgent action at the K-12 level.
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