The Problem of Student Data

The topic of student data is one that leaves many students, parents, and teachers weary. We live in a world where uploading a picture onto Facebook is cementing it into the realm of the Internet for all time. It’s not all bad, though; there are many benefits to student data being uploaded into the cloud and used in their education. The question is whether it’s worth it.

Benefits

The differentiation of education is something that you’ll see me harp on a lot. No student is the same and each one deserves differentiation and adaptations to their coursework. The use of student data can do precisely that. In her article for KQED, Francesca Segre comments just that, saying that most educational institutions use student data to, “collect and analyze student data and assessments in order to help teachers adapt curriculum to students’ specific levels.”

In conjunction with allowing educators to adjust and adapt to student data, collecting student data also benefits the students in another way: they become empowered in their own learning, feeling that they have a voice when they can analyze their data themselves in an understandable format and work toward success in a systematic way.

Another major benefit of student data being digitalized is the ability of teachers to cross-reference student assignments with the entire Internet. Sites like Turnitin allow for the checking of plagiarism, ensuring that student assignments are original to the student. Additionally, this form of digitalization of student work allows teachers to use that data in their content planning. Access to test scores on formative assessments, for example, can show how well the student is doing comparative to the rest of the class, compared to the rest of the school, compared to the rest of the district. As a teacher who works in a district that uses a site like this, called Performance Matters, it is immensely beneficial to see how my students are doing, even if it is only to assure myself that having half the class failing may be because of them not being in the classroom as opposed to be just not being a good teacher.

Challenges

Clearly, there are plenty of benefits to the usage of student data, but if it was all positive, people wouldn’t be panicking about it. So, what are the issues?

First off, safety is a major concern. Much in the same way your parents would warn you that sending a nude is forever, so is student data. It seems like every day that another celebrity is having their nudes leaked, but what about student data? For children branded a troublemaker–whether wrongfully or otherwise–that can go on their permanent record. Professor Joel Reidenberg, director of the Center on Law and Information Policy at Fordham Law School, says this can act like a “no-fly” list that follows the student for their entire educational career. It seems silly to think of not getting into a prestigious school because of something you did in middle school, but for students today it is becoming a very real possibility.

Another huge concern of educators and parents is data breaching, and it isn’t as unfounded as many would have you believe. According to The State of K-12 Cybersecurity: 2019 Year in Review, there were a total of 348 cybersecurity incidents last year, which is almost three times as many as the year prior. This alone should be startling, but add this to the fact that this very report indicated that many of these incidents resulted in “the theft of millions of taxpayer dollars, stolen identities, and the denial of access to school technology and IT systems for weeks or longer” and we can see how dangerous housing student data digitally can be.

Pros vs. Cons

These are, of course, only a few of the slew of pros and cons but it is very easy to see why the topic of student data can be such a tense conversation. On one hand, you can empower students in their learning and allow teachers to adjust curriculums on the fly, as well as compare student work and achievement. On the other, you have the potential to have student identities and taxpayer dollars stolen (not to mention targeted advertisement based on student work!).

So, is all this worth it? Honestly, I entrust my personal data to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for a lot less, so it’s tempting to say “absolutely, it is,” but we also have to remember that we are speaking for students, minors who aren’t having a say in the regulation of their identities. Because of that, my “absolutely, it is,” is taken down a few notches to a solid, “maybe.” Maybe it is worth it. Many companies consciously make an attempt to only make agreements with developers who are FERPA compliant, FERPA being the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act that ensures student data is only used for educational purposes. However, Reidenberg found that “fewer than 7 percent of agreements between schools and developers restrict the sale or marketing of student information.” So companies aren’t exactly being safe with student data, but society isn’t getting any less-digitalized, either. Instead of debating whether we should be using student data, perhaps we should be focusing our sights on how to do so in a safer way that protects student identities and school resources.