Study Committee on Student Data Eyes Next Steps

The Study Committee on School Data will meet on September 14 in the State Capitol.  The full agenda is below. As you will see, one of the agenda items is a discussion of a memo created by the Legislative Council that outlines possible next steps the Committee could take.

Some of the legislative options presented to the Committee in Memo 1 (which is linked to below) include:

·         Creating a Student Data Privacy Officer dedicated to maintaining the security of student data;

·         Requiring DPI to create and publish a data inventory of the student data elements it collects;

·         Prohibiting DPI from collecting any new student data element, except as required by state or federal law, unless certain conditions are met;

·         Adding a statement of legislative intent to state law regarding student data privacy and security;

·         Prohibiting entities that operate educational apps and online education services or websites from collecting and using student data for unauthorized purposes;

·         Requiring DPI to retain student data in its longitudinal database indefinitely, as under current practice, or for at least a specified length of time, such as 15 years;

·         Requiring DPI to dispose of student data in its longitudinal database after a specified length of time, which would prohibit the current practice of indefinite retention;

·         Requiring DPI to give students and families electronic copies of certain records upon request;

·         Requiring DPI to make available a “data backpack” option for students and families by allowing them to identify certain records that DPI would be required to maintain, in electronic form, on behalf of the student;

·         Require DPI to develop a model policy regarding ownership of and access to student data, and to provide training and assistance to local school districts regarding such policies.

NOTICES
Study Committee on School Data, 10 am, Wed, Sept. 14, 412-E
Agenda:
Presentation on Longitudinal Student Data:

• Robert Meyer, Research Professor, Wisconsin Center for Education Research
• Eric Camburn, Professor, Dept. of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, UW-Madison
• Eric Grodsky, Professor, Dept. of Sociology, UW-Madison.

Presentation on Student Data Policy Options:

• Benjamin Silberglitt, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, CedarLabs, LLC.

Presentation by Third-Party Vendor:

• Doug Mesecar, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, IO Education.

Discussion of Memo No. 1. Options for Further Study Committee Consideration.

Next Meeting: Thursday, November 17.

Documents:

• DPI Data Incident Response Procedure
• DPI Data Incident Response Plan.
• Procedures Guidebook: Student Data Access & Confidentiality of Individual Pupil Data and Data Redaction.
• DOA, Division of Enterprise Technology. Information Technology Security Policy Handbook.