Student Privacy & K-12 Data Governance

  • OPI Data Governance Committee - The OPI Data Governance Committee establishes and enforces policies related to the collection, access, 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.

 

  • 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.
    • Parent's Guide to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: Rights Regarding Children’s Education Records
    • Parent's Guide for Understanding K-12 School Data Breaches

 

  • 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 data collection policies, practices and the use of data in schools.