How can we leverage the power of data while fulfilling our responsibility to safeguard students’ personal information? That’s the question the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE)’s new journal issue asks. The issue features education policy thought leaders taking on big issues of 2016, with topics such as how we can better ensure equity of education for all students with data and trendsetting state legislation.
DQC President and CEO Aimee Guidera and Vice President of Policy and Advocacy Paige Kowalski contribute to the issue. Read excerpts from their contributions below.
The Federal Role in Student Privacy by Khaliah Barnes and Paige Kowalski
Excerpt
Nearly all education stakeholders can agree on two things. First, using data to personalize learning for all students is the wave of the future and not a fad. Second, safeguarding student data privacy is both critical and urgent. Happily, the two are not mutually exclusive. Districts, states, and the federal government have a role to play in both ensuring the privacy and security of students’ personal information on the one hand and, on the other, in building trust that student data are used appropriately. In fact, privacy safeguards and effective data use are mutually supportive. Strong safeguards enable schools to confidently make the case to parents that student data are being used safely in beneficial ways. Read more.
The NASBE Interview: Aimee Guidera
Excerpt
What I need as a mom is different from what a state board member needs, which is different from what a teacher needs or a school superintendent needs. We need to ask people what questions they have and then we need to map backward and figure out what information those individuals need in their roles. Then we make sure we are collecting the right data, minimizing the amount of data that we are collecting [and] only collecting data that are necessary to answer the priority questions, and making sure we are not just collecting that data but that we are turning it into information. And we are getting that information into the hands of those individual users in a way that’s timely, that’s useful, that’s tailored to those questions they have, and in a way that respects privacy, security, and confidentiality requirements. [We need to] be able to show the value of data and to build trust that this information will be used well and protected. Read more.
Read the full journal issue: The State Education Standard: The Power of Data.
