Student Privacy & K-12 Data Governance

Student Privacy & K-12 Data Governance

On this page you'll find information and resources to help you understand how Montana districts, the OPI and other partners work together to ensure student privacy and confidentiality are protected.

• New! Student Privacy Toolkit - From the Student Privacy Forum, this toolkit provides information about how schools and districts use and protect student data, but also provides guidance on how to communicate with students about being responsible digital citizens and protecting themselves online. 

• OPI Data Governance Committee - The OPI Data Governance Committee establishes and enforces policies related to the collection of, access to, and use and dissemination of all information and data at the OPI, including student information. 

• OPI Student Records Confidentiality Policy - All student information and data published by the OPI follows the OPI’s Student Records Confidentiality Policy, which prohibits the OPI from disclosing data from student groups that are 5 or fewer in number or would otherwise reveal the identity of an individual student.  Montana has many small schools and small sub-group populations where an individual student’s identity could be revealed without this safeguard. In places where data has been suppressed to protect student privacy, you will see an asterisk ( * ) instead.
  • OPI Student Records Confidentiality Training

• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) -  Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
  • Parents' Guide to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: Rights Regarding Children’s Education Records

• Transparency And Public Availability Of Public School Performance Data -- Reporting -- Availability For Timely Use To Improve Instruction (20-7-104, MCA) - The State of Montana law specifying what student data may be collected and how it can be shared and disseminated.
  • K-12 Data Task Force - The K-12 Data Task Force advises the OPI on the use of data collection policies, practices and the use of data in schools.

• Montana Student Privacy Alliance - The 2019 Legislature passed the Online Protections for Pupils (20-7-1325, MCA) and Pupil Records -- Online Privacy Protection (20-7-1326, MCA) laws to further protect the privacy of Montana students.  The Montana Educational Technologist Association (META) and Office of Public Instruction have collaboratively developed the Montana Student Privacy Alliance as a resource for districts to find and share terms of service, agreements and contracts.

• TrustEd Apps - The TrustEd Apps program is a process devloped by the non-profit learning consortium Global IMS to vet applications and certify them for data privacy.  Most educational applications are created and managed by vendors who do their best to protect the identity of the individuals accessing the system and the data that they generate. However, a comprehensive review of student privacy, data security, and other safety issues is the responsibility of the school or district to ensure that appropriate safeguards of student data are in place. Using vetted educational applications can provide additional assurance that the information gathered by these educational applications is being used responsibly.

• Data Integrity and Errors and Omissions
  • Reports and Data Errata