Dive Brief:

• Classroom analytics represent a powerful way to improve teaching and learning, but school administrators must approach that potential with an eye toward privacy concerns.
• Ed Tech Magazine reports the best practices for data collection start with gathering only relevant education data and then being open with parents and teachers, bringing students into the conversation about their own data and sharing major findings with the community for a unified response.
• Grand Rapids Public Schools in Michigan identified chronic absenteeism rates through data analysis and involved the community in addressing the problem, and AltSchool plans to collect data on student engagement, mood and academic performance to guide school improvement.

Dive Insight:

The Common Core State Standards were being presented to the public at the same time as a student longitudinal data initiative was pitched, and many parents connected the two. The fear and anger over the idea of student data collection and sharing torpedoed support for the Common Core in some communities, and many have held on tight to that opposition to data collection. It is important for schools and districts to be open about data collection plans and give families an opportunity to opt out of that data collection, though these families should understand what they and the school lose because of that decision.

Engaging the entire school community in discussions about data should also include trainings about safety precautions to keep the data private. Teachers, students and parents all need to know what they are expected to do to keep data safe, and trainings to combat phishing campaigns are a must. End users tend to be the biggest threats to security because hackers can use them to find ways into a secured network.