Dive Brief:
- The Consortium for School Networking has named the inaugural list of districts to earn the Trusted Learning Environment seal, which recognizes a commitment to securing student data and creating a culture of trust and transparency.
- Butler County Schools in Alabama, Cambridge Public Schools in Massachusetts, Denver Public Schools in Colorado, Fulton County Schools in Georgia, Lewisville Independent School District in Texas, Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida and Raytown Quality Schools in Missouri all received the two-year TLE designation, according to a news release from CoSN.
- Close to 90 school districts applied for the seal, and CoSN determined eligibility based on demonstration of effective practices in five areas: leadership, business, data security, professional development and classroom.
Dive Insight:
As schools begin to track student data more closely to support learning goals, more of their records are conceivably vulnerable. Many parents across the country are adamantly opposed to this data collection and they do not trust that schools have the ability to keep private information safe. The CoSN’s new seal can provide a level of assurance to skeptical families that a district is doing all that it should to protect student data and, at least, laying the groundwork with best practices in the field.
The New York State Education Department just named its first-ever chief privacy officer, following in the footsteps of Georgia, which named a CPO in 2015. The U.S. Department of Education created a similar position in 2010. Being able to prove there is a foundation for a systemic commitment to data security is important for schools and may become even more so as data tracking becomes more common.
