On the question of student privacy
Earlier this month I wrote a post about a lawsuit against the U.S. Education Department that charges the agency with promoting regulations that undercut student privacy and parental consent. The suit was filed some time ago by the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center over 2011 regulations involving the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, also known as FERPA, a law that is supposed to protect the privacy of student education records at all schools that receive federal education funds.The lawsuit argues that 2011 regulations issued by the department changed FERPA in a way that effectively allows more individuals and both private and public entities to have access to sensitive student records. Third parties already could get student data from school districts and state education agencies under certain conditions under rules finalized in 2008.
The issue has gained attention because of a new $100 million database built in large part with Gates Foundation money that holds detailed files on millions of schoolchildren and
Five ways to get kids to want to read and write
How can teachers get students to want to learn? Here is an article about the issue, from veteran educator Larry Ferlazzo, adapted from his new book, Self-Driven Learning: Teaching Strategies For Student Motivation. Some of the ideas in this excerpt … Continue reading →