School Data Rooms Are Not the Answer to FERPA Compliance

http://www.dataroomdata.com/data-room-due-diligence-technological-advanced-solution/

Data rooms in schools have long been a common tool used by schools to showcase and analyze the progress of students. These rooms typically feature whiteboards and charts that display academic information to teachers. The idea is for the teacher teams and administrative personnel to to analyze and discuss student performance in a collaborative way.

However, the issue with these data displays is that they might be in violation of FERPA guidelines. These data spaces could be abused to humiliate students in front of their peers or shame them publicly. This shouldn’t be happening in schools.

Teachers also face difficulties to track progress of students using these walls for data, particularly if there are a variety of grades and subjects being monitored. It is much easier for teachers to tackle complex issues on a digital platform that allows them to filter and drill down to specific assignments, trends classrooms, dates, and student groups or cohorts.

Additionally, a digital application will usually include an annotation tool that allows users to add personal notes to any document stored within it. This feature is great to keep track of tasks and Q&A threads, as well in uploading documents. It would be great when the solution could provide granular permissions for documents, folders and activities based on roles, document and folder levels or activity.

As schools continue to be forced to focus on instruction based on data It is essential that they locate tools that help them review and discuss the data in a more collaborative manner. Schools can make a wise decision by choosing a digital solution with the right combination of features that meet the needs of educators.