Dive Brief:

• The Florida Senate passed a bill, 38-1, restricting the type of student data school districts can collect.
• The measure prohibits districts from collecting and/or retaining data on the political and/or religious affiliations of its students or their families. Districts are also banned from collecting biometric information: student fingerprints, palm scans, or iris scans.  
• The state also advocated for a new identification system so that school districts could stop using social security numbers.

Dive Insight:

As we live in an era of constant tracking and “Big Data” analysis, it’s refreshing to see schools take preventive measures to stop the over-share of information. 

That said, this bill does not address a different issue with student data. Currently, companies like Renaissance Learning are using student data and assessments to better the learning environment; however, they are also using that data to turn a profit — a profit that never actually enters the classroom.  Is this fair?