School's data dilemma: it's a balancing act when it comes to who should be allowed to use, manage and dispose of the vast amount of student data piling up in cyberspace.

• Author: Deye, Sunny
• Position: PRIVACY

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Oklahoma Representative David Brumbaugh (R) was concerned when he learned that students' personal information might be shared with private, out-of-state companies without the parents' or guardians' knowledge or consent.

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"I had been hearing more and more from parents about the data schools gather on our children, what is passed on to the state and federal governments, and how that data could be used--and by whom," Brumbaugh says.

What he heard prompted him to introduce legislation in 2013. "It was the critical first step in developing a set of comprehensive and strict privacy controls on student data collected by Oklahoma's public school system," he says.

The Student DATA Act prohibits releasing student information without state approval to ensure that the Education Department releases only aggregated data and nothing that can be linked to a student. Little did he know then that his bill would be the first of what has become a wave of measures addressing how states, districts, schools and online service providers use, manage and dispose of student data.

Twenty-one states followed Oklahoma's lead and passed 26 bills in 2014, reflecting the increasing complexity of protecting the privacy of student data. Last year, 15 states passed 28 bills addressing a range of related policy issues, gathering the best ideas from other states into comprehensive legislation.

There are many good reasons to collect and use data. Parents can use the information to support their kids' academic growth at home. Teachers use data to design effective instruction and individualized lessons. Policymakers use data to allocate resources fairly and craft important laws.

There are also, however, plenty of reasons to ensure that student data are stored safely.

The digital revolution is changing the nature and quantity of student data. Gone are the days when student files were stored in a locked cabinet in the school office and shredded or recycled on a regular schedule. Today, student information is stored on school and district computers, in state education department databases and across the Internet with a variety of online service providers. Managers face a dynamic, ever-growing mountain of data stored on multiple platforms, with many users and owners, that is much more difficult to protect.

Digital Data--A Whole Different Thing

The digital revolution is also changing learning environments. Schools, libraries, museums and community centers are upgrading technology so young people can access digital tools throughout the day, creating new opportunities to learn at any time, any place and any pace.

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Georgia, for example, is moving away from traditional textbooks and striving to be "all digital...