The Quantified Student

THE QUANTIFIED STUDENT Meet the most measured, monitored and data-driven students in the history of education. Virtually everything they do is tracked, and parents often don't know where that information is going or how it's being used. School bus. School districts often contract with SCHOOL BUS private bus companies, who have personal information about which kids should be at which bus stop and when. Some districts also release student health data to bus companies, so drivers can respond in emergencies. Biometric scanner. RFID chip. Some schools scan children's eyes or use palm prints, rather than ID cards to keep track of students. The information, nearly as unique as DNA, is typically help by third-party contractors. Privacy advocates worry that the information could be hacked, and a child's biometric data could be stolen. Many states have passed laws outlawing biometric data collection. Radio Frequency Identification chips- often embedded in student IDs-- make it possible to follow students' movements as they get off and on the bus. Some schools also track how students move around school grounds. Privacy experts worry that this data could reveal sensitive information about a child's well-being. Schools keep records on everything from attendance, to grades, to at-risk status, to disciplinary actions. Some schools also gather data from medical and psychological evaluations and from law enforcement records. Schools can disclose a student's name, address, email address, photograph, school awards, and sports participation to some companies, including those that publish yearbooks or sell class rings, without parents' prior written consent. Parents can opt out. PRIVACY PROTECTIONS Student data is protected by some laws and regulations. But there is widespread disagreement over how effective they are. Some student data is sent to state • The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) limits how and with whom educational records are shared. It also gives parents the right to see a child's education records. education departments. Typically, demographics, test scores, attendance. Some states also gather info on pregnancy, homelessness, disciplinary actions, and bullying. In some states, these databases track students into the workforce. • The Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) limits the data companies can collect from children under 13 • There are a variety of state laws limiting data collection and data sharing in schools Schools can release addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses for students-and their families-- to parent groups, booster clubs and others to create lists and directories. SCHOOL OFFICE Classroom-management systems are designed to improve student behavior by letting teachers dole out positive-and negative- feedback in real time, by using smart phones, interactive whiteboards and computers. Many of these web-based systems use rewards points and demerits, and each child's status is visible to the entire class. Behavior data can Data analytics programs can track every click, key stroke, and pause students make while working on digital materials. Millions of pieces of data are collected on individual students, creating detailed profiles of their strengths and weaknesses. The promise of all this monitoring is more personalized lessons that will make each child a more successful learner. be used to create reports that are shared with parents and administrators. CLASSROOM Many teachers bring apps and other digital tools of their choosing into the classroom. These products may be used to track grades, attendance, and behavior-or as educational games. Many of these digital tools are not cleared by school administrators and may have weak privacy policies, or none at all. •.. •.. EMMA MICHAEL JAMES CHLOE RYAN ELLA LEAH ISAAC SARAH The modern teacher operates in a data- driven ecosystem of monitoring, measuring, and evaluating. And it's not just about improving student performance. Teachers, too, are being constantly assessed and judged using classroom data. In some schools, cafeteria software tracks eligibility for free and reduced-price lunch. This includes sensitive financial data about the student's family, including Social Security numbers, weekly income and alimony payments. There have been cases recently where the free and reduced-lunch status of students were improperly shared with school personnel. Student ID cards double as debit cards in some schools; parents can reload their child's account using third party sites that store their credit card information. These payment systems also create a record of everything a student buys, including cookies and chips from the vending machine. A student keys in an ID number or swipes an ID card, which brings up his student profile. It may include his Social Security number, photo, dietary restrictions and allergies. Cafeteria software tracks what the student buys to eat every day. Parents may be able to access the data online. CAFETERIA Some schools use web-based software to keep records on individual students' health needs, allergies, immunizations, and psychiatric issues. Health screenings and injuries may also be included. Companies advertise that student- health records can be shared easily with teachers, cafeteria staff, administrators, coaches, bus drivers and principals. Student health records can be called up on mobile devices. GYM NURSE'S OFFICE At some schools students may wear devices that track their activity throughout the day, including sleep time. The data can be used to generate reports that can be shared with parents and administrators. Some schools have asked НОME students to wear heart-rate monitors in class and PE grades may be based how hard a student works out. Students who use web-based homework sites may open themselves up to being tracked on line and exploited by marketers, who extend "special offers" or serve up ads based on web browsing history. The surveillance continues at home. School-issued devices like laptops often contain location-tracking technology. Some districts make clear that privacy is not assured on school devices, including on password protected accounts, webmail and social media. Kids who spend their free-time online leave a digital trail, just like the rest of us. If children are over 13, marketers can aggregate, sell and use this data. ---- ZZZZZZZZZ MARKETPLACE | ( ||| ||