2015-16 Public Education in Tennessee: A Policymaker’s Guide | Page 20

What protections exist for student data? COLLECTION ACCESS STORAGE State: States report aggregate information, not personally identifiable student information, to the U.S. Department of Education or any other federal agency.51 State: Every district is required to create guidelines for teachers in giving surveys or evaluating students.52 Federal: FERPA provides specific Federal: The U.S. Department of Ed- Federal: Student information cannot State: Tennessee is required to ensure the security of all data storage systems.56 ucation is prohibited from creating a national database of personally identifiable student information.54 be used for marketing purposes.55 guidance to states and districts for data storage.53 Table 2 In 2014, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation increasing state protections for student data privacy. Specifically, the SBOE is charged with the following tasks: • Creating a publicly available data inventory along with the purpose or reason for inclusion in the data system • Developing publicly available district and state policies to comply with FERPA, Tennessee Code and other privacy-related statutes, regulations, and policies. Strict regulations on the contracts governing third-party agreements are also included, along with prohibitions on collecting student data related to (1) political affiliation; (2) religion; (3) voting history; and (4) firearms ownership. 20 | Public Education in Tennesee A key component of the Tennessee legislation is the enhanced protection of de-identified student data within third-party contracts that still allow districts and schools to use data for educational improvement. Further, the TDOE is required to develop a model student records policy for districts including: annual notification of parental right to request student information; security when providing student data to parents or guardians; and a plan to allow parents and guardians to view online, download, and transmit data specific to their children’s educational records. This legislation is designed to ensure the protection of student data within the effective use of educational information.