Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters in New York City has prepared the following report about threats to the privacy of children, families, and teachers.
She reports as follows:
“The Gates Foundation and Wireless Generation (owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation) have formed something called “Shared Learning Collaborative,” which has now been turned into a new corporation called inBloom, Inc.
This corporation will collect confidential student and teacher data provided by states and districts across the country and will share it with software vendors and other commercial enterprises.
Your child’s data will be used to develop and market products.
Data will be gathered about students and teachers in New York City; Guilford County, North Carolina; Jefferson County, Colorado; Normal, Illinois and Bloomington, Illinois; Everett, Massachusetts; and Louisiana (the entire state).
In phase II, data will be collected in Delaware, Georgia, and Kentucky.
What will be collected and disseminated for marketing purposes?
Personally identifiable information, including student names, grades, test scores, disciplinary and attendance records, and possibly race/ethnicity and disability status.
The records will be stored in an electronic data bank built by Wireless Generation, a subsidiary of News Corporation. News Corporation is owned by Rupert Murdoch and is currently under investigation in Great Britain for hacking into private communications of individuals.
InBlooms Inc. will retain this information and make it available to commercial vendors to help them develop and market “learning products.”
All of this confidential information will be “put on a cloud managed by Amazon.com, with few if any protections against data leakage. inBloom, Inc. has already stated that it “cannot guarantee the security of the information stored…or that the information will not be intercepted when it is being transmitted” to third party vendors.
Haimson makes the following recommendations:
“1. Notify all parents of this impending disclosure, and provide them with the right to consent;
2. Hold public hearings for parents to express their concerns about the plan’s potential to violate our children’s privacy, security, and safety;
3. Explain how families can obtain relief if their children are harmed by improper use or accidental release of this information, including who will be held financially responsible;
4. Affirm that the privacy rights of public school children are respected more than the interests of the Gates Foundation, the Shared Learning Collaborative, News Corporation, inBloom, Inc., or any other company or organization with whom this confidential information may be shared.”
Haimson urges all parents to contact their PTA, their local school board, and their state board of education to protest “this unprecedented violation of the privacy right of children and families.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Here’s the only way I can respond:
http://thetruthoneducationreform.blogspot.com/2012/12/blog-post_4149.html
http://thetruthoneducationreform.blogspot.com/2012/12/blog-post_65.html
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The use of student data is worrisome, to be sure, but I am also concerned about the phrase in there that no one seems to be talking about yet: “and teachers”. What data is being collected on teachers? I suspect that it is “performance” data, which is horribly skewed or inaccurate at this point in the process. In MI, teachers have been told that student performance data is being attached to their “records” in a statewide database, but there is no way for teachers to see what data is reported, to comment on the ways in which it is skewed or inaccurate, and no way to provide any rebuttal. In many cases, teachers are told not to attach rebuttals to yearly evaluation reports for fear that those rebuttals might somehow be used against them in attempts to get rid of more expensive, experienced teachers in the name of school reform. This comprehensive reform movement feels an awful lot like selling our collective souls to the company store.
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The use of student data is worrisome, to be sure, but I am also concerned about the phrase in there that no one seems to be talking about yet: “and teachers”. What data is being collected on teachers? I suspect that it is “performance” data, which is horribly skewed or inaccurate at this point in the process. In MI, teachers have been told that student performance data is being attached to their “records” in a statewide database, but there is no way for teachers to see what data is reported, to comment on the ways in which it is skewed or inaccurate, and no way to provide any rebuttal. In many cases, teachers are told not to attach rebuttals to yearly evaluation reports for fear that those rebuttals might somehow be used against them in attempts to get rid of more expensive, experienced teachers in the name of school reform. This comprehensive reform movement feels an awful lot like selling our collective souls to the company store.
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One of the possible uses of the teacher data is for states to share their info, and create and multi-state blacklist of teachers who have gotten low value-added or student growth scores in case they are moving from one state to another. This could be based on a formula devised by the state, by Gates Foundation, or by a consultant hired by Gates. Teachers should be very afraid and protest this plan, which is now being sold by Gates & inBloom as having a great potential to help teachers “personalize” instruction.
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I AM very afraid. I am a teacher in Louisiana and we have not been told of this data collection. We are already confused about a lack of curriculum as we “transition” to the Common Core, suffering under a new evaluation system called COMPASS, our test scores are tied to our evaluations, we were told just few weeks ago about changes in the test, (excluding the easier GLE questions, leaving the harder ones, including Common Core questions to be field tested, but not telling us which ones…) which is in two weeks, I could go on and on. Yes, this worries me greatly.
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I am trying to become more educated on Common Core. The more I learn, the more horrified I become.
In the words of A.H. “When an opponent says,’I will not come over to your side,’ I calmly say, ‘Your child belongs to us already.’ What are you? You will pass on. Your descendents, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.” -Adolph Hitler,1933
History does repeat itself……
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And within 10 years, the first of those descendants were freezing on the Eastern front, retreating from Africa, building the atomic bomb, and solving the Final Solution. Faster progress is possible now.
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Far be it from me to chill any speech, but today’s Times obits may provide some perspective.
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On March 19th it was reported that about 600 new cases of hacking will be investigated against Murdoch’s News Corp. So far only a few states have signed on in addition to New York. By the way, I read, but can’t recall where, that Randi Weingarten is a board member of InBloom, Inc. Whether RW is a board member or not, I hope Diane Ravitch will see that RW is not supportive of teachers, especially after reading RW’s take on teacher evaluations.
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Weingarten is on the advisory, not governing, board of inBloom, along with education deform pundit Andrew Rotherham.
No one should be surprised. After all, this is the person who twice gave the NYC schools over to Michael Bloomberg, did nothing when he overturned term limits, gave him a de facto endorsement for that third term (while doing nothing to stop the epidemic of school closings) and had Bill Gates give the keynote speech at the 2010
AFT convention.
Of course, she’s connected to this Gates/Murdoch front group: it’s what she does.
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[Explain how families can obtain relief if their children are harmed by improper use or accidental release of this information, including who will be held financially responsible]
How can they obtain relief?
http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S4284-2013
The bill indemnifies everyone:
(3) INDEMNIFIES THE DEPARTMENT, DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION OR SCHOOL
FOR ANY DAMAGES DUE TO A VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION;
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Sheila — I’m not sure how much you know about this bill (I recall you posting drafts of a similar proposed bill earlier), but can you say some more about it? E.g., what it would do, when and by whom it was introduced, what the timeframe is for its consideration, whether there has been any indication of which senators support or oppose it?
I have to question the thinking behind the advocacy against this data project so far. Why are advocates issuing reports with their own “recommendations” if there is already a bill that would prevent these disclosures (which is an “if,” because I haven’t looked at this stuff closely)? This project won’t be stopped unless the legislature stops it, and that won’t happen unless it votes on a bill. Even if the existing bill has problems, shouldn’t advocates at least mention it? While we’re reading Leonie Haimson’s recommendations and calling our PTA, this project continues to move forward. Sheldon Silver’s signed off on it already because it’s a huge project with a lot of money and preparation behind it, and he’s not going to get in the way unless he has really good political reasons to do so. People can call their PTA all day long, but that’s not going to put any heat on Silver or any other lawmakers.
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The state has already agreed to share confidential student and teacher data with Wireless Generation, to be put on a “cloud” managed by amazon.com.
At this point, the only question is whether our legislatures will act to block the release of student data without the permission of parents.
I don’t know how to stop the release of teacher data.
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Right, I thought that was the whole point of this discussion — whether the NY state legislature will enact a statute that blocks the release of student personal information without parents’ permission.
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I had a 45 minute conversation with Steve Winnick today. He clarified some of the issues for me.
I don’t believe this is a viable bill because FERPA allows inBloom & vendors to have the data. That’s not going to change. The bill appears to read as though FERPA doesn’t exists. By saying student data can be disclosed for audits & evaluations puts us right back where we started. Lots of data about kids being shared.
The bill I wrote deals with directory information & I am still working on it — adding a CPO & oversight. I would like to include NYSED in the bill & AGs.
Parents are upset with inBloom when it’s the state & districts who are disclosing the data. I did tell Steve Winnick inBloom has not been available to answer questions.
I told Steve I thought vendors were exploiting student data. His response was that vendors don’t have the data until their product has been developed & a contract with a district or state. Does this make a difference. Yes & no.
I’m going to finish my work with student directory information & turning my attention to the cloud. Whether we like it or not — data is going to be warehoused. In the cloud. My energies are best spent protecting data.
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The bill I linked earlier & commented on was the Senate version of the Assembly bill. They are the same.
The bill I posted in the past prevents the disclosure of students’ contact information w out consent & prohibits the use of student directory information for sale, rent, for-profit & profiling. Currently anyone can have access to a student’s name, address, phone number, email, DOB, Place of birth & more. This bill doesn’t include DOB or Place of birth because if a child has their mother’s maiden name their identity can be stolen.
Currently people who want to harm children have access to kids’ PII & can give it to anyone. Zero restrictions. It doesn’t solve the inBloom concerns however it conforms w FERPA & would go a long way protecting kids’ privacy & well-being.
As I said in an earlier post I am adding a CPO & oversight to the Student Privacy Protection Act.
Click to access Model%20State%20Law%20.pdf
In 2011 S.2357 (also restricts disclosure of student directory) passed the NY Senate 62-0. The Assembly wouldn’t discuss it. In 2012 S.2357 passed Senate education committee but didn’t make it to the floor. Sad to say kids’ privacy is always behind the budget or something deemed more important.
I wrote S.2357 including the sponsor memo but prefer the above linked bill. It’s easier to understand & does the same thing.
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Thanks for the responses, Sheila. I’ll digest them a bit, although my immediate reaction is “well, that’s depressing.”
I’m sure dealing with Albany is maddening and exhausting.
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Diane, this is before the Mass Board of Ed today: http://www.doe.mass.edu/boe/docs/2013-03/item4.html
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More importantly, who owns your child’s dreams?
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This is so outrageously arrogant, even for the ed reform cultists. I don’t understand how this could possibly be allowed under federal privacy law. When I was teaching, we were told that we couldn’t put students’ art work on the wall with their full names because this violated FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). Teachers were frightened of inadvertently leaving a student’s IEP folder on their desk in case an errant maintenance worker happened to see the child’s name. And Rupert Murdoch, that pillar of scrupulousness, is allowed to run a company that provides a leaky cloud of personally identifiable sensitive information about millions of vulnerable students, including their photos and emails, for profit? What politician could possibly think this is a good idea?
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Isn’t Randy Weingarten involved with Gates’ INBLOOM at a high level? I thought Dr. Ravich’s Public Ed Network was created to fight against major issues like this and help politicians fighting issues like this. I don’t agree with the invasion of students’ privacy. As a teacher, I’ll have to collect data and be forced to be involved. Our union leader told us Weingarten is involved with InBloom. Why isn’t this network calling her out on her involvement and her Gates partnership letter today rather than silence? Weingarten demonstrates she is for everything this network is against.Is it because of future donations? If yes, this network is just like the rest of those who climb aboard the money train.It’s always all about money.Who can we trust?
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Steven, we have received no donations from either the NEA or AFT and don’t expect to ask for any.
A word of advice:
Don’t attack your allies.
Diane
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Diane Ravitch is a great ally, Randi Weingarten not so much.
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Is this comment below true?
If yes, Randy did give your organization a donation.That’s what I wrote. You replied by saying NEA or AFT didn’t donate. I was scolded for mentioning Randy’s donation published in the press. Maybe, Diane, you’re not aware of Randy’s donation.
It’s the association with Randy that my union delegates are concerned about.She’s selling us down the river. I’m not attacking my allies; I’m protecting my profession. I’m trying to decide who to align with who will help us protect our profession.
If the statement below is not true, I apologize for the mis-statement taken from NYT. If it is true, my delegates and I agree with Schoolgal below.
schoolgal
March 26, 2013 at 1:40 pm
Diane,
According to an article in the NYTimes, Randi did give your organization a personal donation. Given that her personal philosophy doesn’t agree with The Network for Public Education, shouldn’t your PAC issue a statement saying your disagree with the article? If not the PAC, what about you. You have a history of writing responses to agendas you don’t agree with. I know there are some who feel that Randi’s PAC donation should be returned. And I can understand that argument. Randi’s mission and agenda is so opposite what you believe regardless of your friendship. While my personal opinion is that it will do more for your PAC to issue such a statement–not just because my personal feelings for Randi–but it will show just how strong your PAC really is. And I think it will cause every teacher union to either get on board or show their true hand. I know you have a friendship with Randi, but this is business not personal. And I think it will cause a flood of donations to your new PAC. It’s one thing to have a mission statement, it’s another to show how strongly you will defend it.
Sincerely,
Schoolgal
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I learned from the New York Times about Randi’s personal donation. I welcome her support and the support of anyone who wants to help our cause. If Arne Duncan, Jeb Bush, and Michelle Rhee want to make a personal donation, I would be delighted to add it to our coffers so that we have the funding to hire at least one staff person and more effectively advocate on behalf of our principles.
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Randi is no longer an ally.
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Diane,
You make an excellent point. You know how I feel about Randi, but whereas i’m repulsed by so many of her moves, I will welcome her and anyone else’s money if it furthers NPE’s cause and facilitates our agenda.
Money is one form of power.
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So non-educator corporatists can scatter student data around like chicken feed to be devoured.
I, on the other hand, could be fired for mentioning a student by name in the wrong context.
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Yes, just like you could be fired for looking at the corporate made tests. (at lease in my state)
I guess it would be a huge invasion of Pearson’s privacy if you peaked 😉
Great world we got here!
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Wrongdoing with exemption and “social utility” with justification are only for the rich and powerful, Thay have nothing anymore to do with the rest of us.
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Follow the money! This smells like it is on the $ train.
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Just received a nine-page memo from Associate Commissioner Ken Wagner concerning the “Educational Data Portal and Common Core Implementation” where all data will be housed. Professional development is set to begin in the fall. NYS has been gathering data for years with NCLB, now it’s even scarier with RTTT and inBloom, Pearson, etc.
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And don’t forget that on states where the edTPA is being used for teacher credentialing videos of children and student teachers will be sent to and owned by Pearson, Inc.
http://atthechalkface.com/2013/02/04/pearson-comes-to-teacher-education-and-we-are-supposed-to-be-cool-with-that/
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Diane, you said:
[I don’t know how to stop the release of teacher data.]
Two thoughts. If they put a hold on CCSS for all of the reasons discussed on this blog they wouldn’t have an assessment to use to test students to evaluate teachers, would they?
CCSS is the problem.
The second thought is whereas inbloom may not be exploiting student data giving it to vendors after a contract w a vendor is agreed upon (my conversation w Winnick today) it looks as though they’re pretty clear that teachers will be evaluated using individual student test scores (that’s correct?).
That would be testing kids to evaluate teachers & legislators would have to say that’s why we should be testing students. Who owns the student data? We already know it’s US DOE.
More important — using student data to evaluate teachers is use of data for a reason other than for which it was collected. Collected for what? Evaluate teachers?
A win for kids is putting a hold on CCSS. And it’s a graceful way out of inBloom.
None of this has cost the state anything yet if you exclude the potential/actual data breaches.
States have nothing to lose pulling out of CCSS.
You know who does? Those making money on it.
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Sheila,
Louisiana already uses a student test to evaluate teachers. We are on the Value Added Model. My fifth graders have to show growth on the iLEAP, from fourth grade, the LEAP. These are entirely different types of tests. Yet my job depends on it. It will only get worse when we finally and fully implement CCSS .
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NYSED already released a document about how to talk to your kids about the test & they expect scores to go down. I don’t remember the details but I’m sure someone reading has the document.
Seems as though teachers are being treated as the students.
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Went to a Press conference on this in front of Tweed a few weeks ago with Class Size Matters, hardly any parents, or even press for that matter, were there. Most people do not know about this. there are two reactions that I am getting when I mention this to people, some are very upset, but to tell the truth most say “So what anyone that really wants to can find out anything about someone if they really want to and can pay for it!” My daughter-in-law is a computer program developer and analyst, that works for a major corporation and she told me that this is true, she is upset that anyone could be making money off of her children’s school records, but she says it is already out there in cyberspace for anyone that has the know how and the inclination to look for it! What we should be working on is people making money off of this, and using it to further disintegrate our “Public” school system and to bust our unions!!
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Council parental rights Children
1 – you should also set up as many parents all over impending disclosure informing
when children crest on verschidene famillie, anyone with an own sitiationen erwartetegechichte not much in the school pass through it, everything comes from the teacher shoulder, wayward children are nails to coffin! when a child, a schuler their tasks has not done well to learn their intresse lost, bought her zeitBlig has failed rezpekt for teaching and parents, there are not many parents whose colloquial werklich love for their children is often a blessing ist.Eltern monkey love, for too long, and safety are not always stress-find home good advice for kids, wonder why most good parents often wayward child that comes from our environment efta our circle all schwerigkeiten who not Wiessen who entschiedet us! who our children ended opinions! who intrested to learn Canceled! who get good education from nursery! everyone expects her to come right time!
2 – if man is werklich on Public hearings children all parents expressed concern about the potential for good and right for children to express their collateral sometimes be right. which is always possible if need our children’s privacy, security! Security they weill have plats of the whole country and nation, must not be violating their famillie ergend like, you know all people are equal, should one go for thorough pasende schuler official amount in school!
3-you can see today’s time, many famillie because not beshäftigungen in a work with very less Erzihungs money or entertainment money because relegiun, or with one other Erzire from either or both parents share brings famillie Auserländer intended here Explain were based on verschidene weitter live together from other angry people become verläts! like 2 car ünfhal makes back end must treat this verlätzen famillie and no longer children! or anyone with her pretty but both with children find life more care, not all parents can shülde shoulder on children! how can a family get relief if their children did, by not proper handling! or accidental release! adults are very on the indulgence of children angewisen! Today’s time is more need to remember when you watch children and, they can not be constantly aufzihen only, they will also be working in any blame on her future, if wants to show themselves mchen werklich how to get good credit,
4-everyone has the right to privacy of public school children more than the interests of the Gates Foundation, the same can confirm that the collaborative group learning, and News Corporation have good! an organization or famillie comitte, or famillie bayrat which found that confidential information shared work kumincationen best city and continue to give each responsible on. even if not all decisions can be observed slowly vorbreiten fit in a specified interval time! Ahmad Hesam
1 – you should therefore set up as many parents all over impending disclosure informing
when children crest on verschidene famillie, anyone with an own sitiationen erwartetegechichte not much in the school pass through it, everything comes from the teacher shoulder, wayward children are nails to coffin! when a child, a schuler their tasks has not done well to learn their lost intresse bought, her zeitBlig has failed rezpekt for teaching and parents, there are not many parents Whose colloquial werklich love for their children is often a blessing ist.Eltern monkey love , for too long, and safety are not always stress-find home good advice for kids, good parents often wonder why most wayward child that comes from our environment efta our circle who all schwerigkeiten not Wiessen who entschiedet us! our children who ended opinions! who intrested to learn Canceled! who get good education from nursery! everyone expects her to come right time!
2 – if one is werklich on Public hearings children all parents expressed concern about the potential for good and right for children to express their collateral sometimes be right. Which is always possible if need our children’s privacy, security! Security they weill have plats of the whole country and nation, must not be violating their famillie ergend like, you know all people are equal, should one go for thorough pasende schuler official amount in school!
3-you can see today’s time, many famillie because not beshäftigungen in a work with very less Erzihungs money or entertainment money because relegiun, or with one other Erzire from either or both parents share brings famillie Auserländer Intended here Explain were based on verschidene weitter live together from other angry people become verläts! like 2 car ünfhal makes back end must treat this verlätzen famillie and no longer children! or anyone with her pretty but both with children find life more care, not all parents can shülde shoulder on children! how can a family get relief if their children did, by not proper handling! or accidental release! adults are very on the indulgence of children angewisen! Today’s time is more need to remember when you watch children and, they can not be constantly aufzihen only, they will also be working in any blame on her future, if wants to show themselves mchen werklich how to get good credit,
4th each one has the moral rights of the public school children more than the interests of the Gates Foundation is confirming that the collaborative group learning, News Corporation, Inbloom, Inc., or any other company or organization with Which the confidential information is disclosed adhered to.
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I’ve said this before and this feels like the right time to say it again, the human element can not be taken out of education and it’s a mistake to think that it can be. It feels like large corporations think that students and teachers would produce better results if they were just viewed as numbers, simple. What is being overlooked is the fact that teachers care, not about the numbers, but about the faces and souls in front of them. Educators are not politicians or businessmen/women – the bottom line isn’t what motivates us every day. Should companies use data and nothing else to generate products, they will generate lousy products. Honestly, I see the benefits of having data available, at least at the school level, but it’s not the silver bullet some people think that it is.
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If my struggling child is in a classroom of 25 students, all at various levels of competence, I would treasure my child’s teacher having data at his/her fingertips that would help address the specific needs of my child.
Can we please put aside our fears for just a few minutes and look at the other side of
the data-accessibility coin?
I am a 23-year veteran teacher and have seen many educational movements come and go. I am frustrated by the educational community’s “the sky is falling” attitude toward inBloom. Data is out there already. Let’s make it work for us.
Rather than stand on the railroad tracks trying to stop the speeding locomotive, could we possibly look for a way to get on board and help drive this data train?
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Here is Louisiana State Superintendent John White’s attempt to assure local superintendents that everything is okay because the state will guard the data! Talk about foxes and henhouses!
Click to access 21058.pdf
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