Student Privacy Communications Toolkit: For Schools & Districts

January 12, 2021

Author Jasmine Park, Juliana Cotto, Ann Waller Curtis, Carrie Klein, Anisha Reddy, Jim Siegl, Alexandra Sollberger, Jennifer Triplett, Amelia Vance

You can find the Spanish translation of the toolkit here.
Puede encontrar la traducción al español del kit de herramientas aquí.

Introduction

Across the country, our K-12 education system is increasingly reliant upon data, technology, and online tools to identify opportunities to better support students, to develop policies and strategies to improve teaching and learning, and to inform the equitable allocation of education resources. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent school closures have expedited and expanded the use of educational technology tools to continue learning remotely.

Switching from an in-person school environment to “classrooms in the cloud” heightens the pressure on schools and districts to protect student privacy, as more student data is collected, used, and potentially exposed. In addition to ensuring strong student privacy, safety, and security policies and practices are in place, this shift requires effective communication with stakeholders about student data collection and use.

School and district leaders must actively listen to and address educator, parent, and student concerns by creating spaces designed to inform, educate, and address student privacy questions. Alongside a robust student privacy program, schools and districts should develop a clear and comprehensive communications strategy to share information on student data collection and use and student privacy policies. They must also be particularly attuned to the challenges families with limited access to internet or technology, those students and families using assistive technologies for communications, and non-native English speakers face when accessing these communications.

Proactively communicating and engaging with educators, parents, and students creates opportunities to build trust and partnerships that can cultivate a culture of privacy protection. These efforts also work to reduce privacy risks and to instill an appreciation for the value of student data to support student success. The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) has developed this Student Privacy Communications Toolkit: For Schools and Districts to help school and district leaders have productive conversations with educators, parents, and students about ethical and equitable student privacy policies in their efforts to build trust and develop a culture of privacy.

While some schools and districts have well-established student privacy programs and policies with dedicated staff and resources, others are just beginning their student privacy journeys. Recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, this toolkit is intended to be adapted based on the needs or circumstances of an individual school or district. Each section will provide an overview of student privacy issues, examples of adaptable communication tools, and references to other resources to learn more about student privacy and data governance.

We hope you will use this toolkit to better understand the value of student data, inform privacy practices in an educational setting, raise awareness of the risks and challenges that come with increased data collection, take steps to help safeguard student information, and create a culture of privacy in your schools and districts.

The trusted legal team at F3 Law reviewed and contributed to this toolkit. FPF frequently collaborates with F3 Law’s eMatters legal team, whose expertise in the areas of edtech helps us to ensure the resources we provide to educators are legally compliant.