For Immediate Release: May 10, 2016
Contact: Renee Rybak Lang, renee.lang@nasbe.org, 703-740-4841
NASBE’s State Education Standard Explores the Power of Data in Education
Alexandria, VA – The National Association of State Boards of Education today released the newest issue of its journal, The State Education Standard, which looks at how states can leverage “the power of data” in education while fulfilling their obligation to protect student privacy.
In the cover story, digital learning specialist and teacher Kerry Gallagher explains how digital tools let teachers gather and act on data from the classroom better and faster, igniting personalized learning and increasing teaches’ effectiveness.
With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and a proposed federal rule to address racial disproportionality in special education, states will shoulder increased responsibility for eliminating educational inequities. Brenda Shum of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law argues data will be central to whatever course states choose in addressing these disparities. She adds that “efforts to adopt policies and build data systems will be for naught unless there is also a commitment to actually use available education data to improve schools.”
On the data privacy front, Khaliah Barnes and Paige Kowalski offer different perspectives on the role the federal government should play in safeguarding student privacy and in setting rules for appropriate handling of education data. NASBE’s Amelia Vance highlights the leading role that Oklahoma and California played in establishing data privacy laws with clear transparency requirements and guidelines around access, while Dana Rickman details Georgia’s struggle to ensure the state could use student data effectively and safely.
Kobie Pruitt from the Future of Privacy Forum and Elana Zeide of New York University’s Information Law Institute suggest ways state policymakers can address parents’ fears without stifling appropriate use of student data. Zeide urges states to go beyond the compliance that federal law requires and craft proactive, transparent policies that include teacher training and student voices. Pruitt explains why policies that let parents opt out of data collections are a nonstarter. “Fear should not be the basis of policy development or hold back genuine improvements to education,” he says.
Other highlights in this issue include an interview with Data Quality Campaign’s Aimee Guidera, an update on the reauthorization of the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, and news on ESSA funding levels.
Read the full May 2016 issue of The State Education Standard. Individual articles can be downloaded here.
The National Association of State Boards of Education represents America’s state and territorial boards of education. Our principal objectives are to strengthen state leadership in education policymaking, advocate equality of access to educational opportunity, promote excellence in the education of all students, and ensure responsible lay governance of education. Learn more at www.nasbe.org.
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