Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC)

Establish a Community of Stakeholders who have various needs addressed through policy, technology and/or effective practice sharing around effective privacy management.

Tools and Resources

Development of tools and resources to address operational issues not currently being addressed.

Leverage Partnerships

Leverage partnership organizations working in the privacy space to have their good work utilized and no reinvention of existing work.

Identify projects that have on-the-ground and real-world impact

Identify projects that have on-the-ground and real-world impact on student data privacy enabling schools, districts, state and vendors find resources, adapt them to their unique context and implement needed protections.

Develop a clearinghouse of student data privacy operational issues

Development of a clearinghouse of student data privacy operational issues and resources to support schools, districts, states and vendors in managing those issues - no matter where the resources originate.

Increased interoperability without the inclusion of privacy requirements = increased RISK.
Both data sharing and privacy parameters must be identified and communicated.

The A4L Community is a leader in K12 interoperability. FIND OUT MORE >>

Streamlining Digital Ecosystem Processes & Community Effective Practice Sharing

SDPC Resource Registry

An “on the ground and real world” set of privacy tools allowing schools to manage and communicate on the software solutions impacting learning. The SDPC Resource Registry allows schools, districts, divisions, states, territories, and vendors to find resources, adapt them to their unique context and implement needed protections.

National Data Privacy Agreement (NDPA)

The NDPA streamlines application contracting and sets common expectations between schools/districts and marketplace providers in addressing legal obligations on student privacy. Thousands of schools are using the SAME privacy agreement with thousands of vendors - what could be easier?

National Research Data Privacy Agreement (NRDPA)

Modelled after the successful NDPA, the NRDPA is designed to address the complex issues in student data sharing requirements and best practices between schools and research organizations.

Resource Center

A great place to start and/or come back to weekly. Check here to see the latest resources from the Community...

Members / Partners

Explore which vendors and service providers are partnering to address privacy AND interoperability.

Global Education Privacy Standards (GEPS)

GEPS is designed to simplify, and in some cases automate, the software on-boarding process by aligning contract clauses to technical obligations to security standards It is designed to set common expectations between vendors and their customers.

Global Education Security Standards (GESS)

The SDPC has been extremely successful in bringing the educational technology (EdTech) marketplace and school districts together in addressing student data privacy obligations. As the SDPC continues to expand, the ability to audit and/or certify that providers, and schools, are meeting their security obligations to safeguard data is critical. Currently, there are very few mandated requirements for providers to adhere to specific security benchmarks. Some states have legislated their own set of security requirements. In the absence of any framework or identified benchmarks to audit providers against, it is impossible to certify any application is meeting privacy and security obligations. The new Global Education Security Standard (GESS) Project Team has been working diligently to develop a matrix/crosswalk of all existing security frameworks and identify a core set of controls applicable to PK-20 data. The group is at a point now that they would like to share this work with industry experts to obtain feedback to further guide their work.

“While I commend the various legislative and organizations beginning to address the issue of student data privacy, the “high level” recommendations, guidance, certifications, etc. are difficult if not impossible to keep organized and more importantly implement at the district level. In my role as the CIO of Cambridge Schools in Massachusetts, I and my peers at the school level, need on the ground tactics and tools that help us reach the high bar set for us as student data stewards”

“The California IT in Educational (CITE) Association, representing over 1,000 districts, has joined the Student Data Privacy Consortium. The Consortium has a mature process for establishing a statewide contract and a database for posting vetted applications and provides transparency to staff and community. Collaboratively working with our partners, we expect to build clear steps that will streamline the process in protecting our student’s data by having a state-wide contract demonstrating compliance with CA legislation.”