Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Summer Data Warehouse Workshops

I will be teaching introductory Data Warehouse workshops over the summer through both districts and collaboratives. These are not necessarily "open to the public" but there may be spots available. If you have a staff member or two who needs to attend this training, please let me know and I will do what I can to find a spot.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Data Warehouse Security Policy

Chapter 2 (Security and Training) of the Education Data Warehouse User's Guide states that "school districts shall adopt policies governing access and confidentiality of data maintained in the EDW." Many districts are looking for resources to help them abide by state and federal laws related to confidential student data, especially as more district personnel are given access to the Data Warehouse.

The state has a Statewide Educational Data Warehouse Project Policy Statement which is posted online at the ESE Web site (as well as from the Welcome Screen of the Data Warehouse itself.) This document summarizes the federal and state laws governing the access to data by Department and district personnel, as well as the general public.

In addition, some districts have created district-specific policy statements and/or agreements for staff members to sign to acknowledge their understanding of the regulations related to use of the Data Warehouse. Special thanks to the Middleborough Public Schools for agreeing to share two documents (which were developed in conjunction with Wareham and Plymouth).

- Middleborough Data Warehouse Policy Document
- Middleborough Data Warehouse Confidentiality Agreement

If your district has similar policy documents to share, please contact me (laura.tilton@dsacma.org) and I'll include them here.