Learn21's Weekly EdTech Update

July 31, 2025

The ABCs of SDP: A Fresh Approach to Student Data Privacy

by Stacy Hawthorne, Ed.D.

As school systems evolve in their use of digital tools and cloud-based platforms, one thing remains constant: protecting student data is not optional. It’s a foundational responsibility that schools must embrace systemwide.

Yet, in many districts, conversations around student data privacy (SDP) are still siloed, seen as a tech department issue, or reduced to annual checkbox training. That’s why the EdTech Leaders Alliance developed a new, accessible workshop designed to change that narrative.

Introducing The ABCs of SDP

The ABCs of Student Data Privacy is a practical, people-first professional development workshop that helps school staff at every level better understand the why, what, and how of student data protection. This isn’t another compliance presentation, it’s a high-impact session that makes privacy approachable, memorable, and actionable.

Using the “ABC” theme as a framework, the workshop breaks the content into three core focus areas:

A is for Awareness — Understand what student data is, why privacy laws matter, and how individual choices impact trust and compliance.

B is for Boundaries — Learn what tools and practices are allowed (and which ones aren’t), how to vet apps, and why relying on parent permission is not a privacy workaround.

C is for Culture — Embrace privacy as a whole-school mindset, where every staff member plays a role in protecting student data.

What's Included

Each 90-minute session includes:

An engaging, real-world discussion on FERPA, COPPA, and state-specific laws like Ohio’s SB29
Interactive scenarios about app use, vendor vetting, and risky behaviors
A takeaway classroom-ready infographic outlining the ABCs of SDP for staff lounges and bulletin boards

How Districts Can Participate

In-Person Workshops:

Available to districts in Ohio, Texas, and Arizona, these on-site sessions are perfect for back-to-school days, in-service time, or whole-staff PD events. There’s no cap on participants.

Webinar Format:

For all other states, a dynamic webinar version is available, making it easy to bring the content to your team no matter where they are.

Pricing

ETLA Member Districts: $1,000 per site
Non-Member Districts: $1,300 per site
Add-ons:
$350 for a second same-day session
$250 for workshop customization (tailored content or co-presenting with district leaders)
Webinar ETLA Member Districts: $500
Webinar Non-Member Districts: $750

Why This Matters

Student data privacy isn’t just about avoiding fines or checking a legal box. It’s about building trust with families, modeling digital responsibility for students, and ensuring safe, equitable access to educational technology.

The ABCs of SDP delivers a message that sticks through strong storytelling, relatable examples, and resources your staff will actually use. Whether you're a district tech leader, principal, curriculum director, or PD coordinator, this workshop is a must-have in your back-to-school toolkit.

Learn more or request a session at your district.

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It’s not about shielding students from the world, but more about helping them process it. This guide from Loma Linda University offers age-specific advice for discussing frightening headlines with children. It’s a crucial reminder that media literacy begins with emotional literacy. Students need tools to understand what they’re seeing before they can analyze it.

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Better Together: Working with a Trusted Parter by Jennifer Fry, Chief Technology Officer at Delaware City Schools

Building a culture of data privacy is not easy work and it is definitely not an individual task. It is certainly a journey that requires collaboration with teams of stakeholders in your school district as you build your privacy team, educate stakeholders on data privacy laws and policies, create inventories of current digital tools, examine your current privacy practices, develop a district plan for privacy, and train staff on best practices regarding student data privacy.

One of the larger tasks that a district must develop and implement in their student data privacy journey is a digital resource approval or vetting process. This process is important not just for curricular alignment, but also for schools to meet FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) compliance requirements. Under FERPA, schools are responsible for their vendors, especially when they store or process student PII (personally identifiable information). The way a vendor or digital product handles student data practices enables a school district to be compliant or not. Schools often use the FERPA “School Official” Exception when working with digital third party vendors. This exception lets schools share data with third party vendors without parent consent, if the following conditions are met by the school district:

The school must establish criteria in the annual notification of FERPA rights about who is a “school official” and what constitutes a “legitimate educational interest”
Determine the provider has a “legitimate educational interest” in the information
Use reasonable methods to ensure that school officials obtain access to only those educational records that they have a legitimate educational interest

Notably, the school district is the legally responsible party for FERPA compliance–not the vendor. Therefore, the district should carefully vet the digital tools and the vendors to make sure that the practices support compliance obligations and keep the district in direct control of student data. In many states, state laws have also been put in place that add additional requirements regarding vendor contracts with digital content providers and school districts.

How does a school district accomplish this requirement of securing vendor contracts with the often vast amount of digital educational service providers that are being used in the district? Putting a data privacy agreement into place is one way to handle this requirement. Again, lean in on leveraging trusted partnerships and collaboration. Working with a consortium to leverage a multi-district approach to data privacy agreement sharing is a way to lighten the load for your district. Working together on shared agreements also helps vendors to take data privacy requirements seriously. It isn’t just one district asking for these requirements, it is hundreds of districts! It also eases the legal burden on the vendor when their legal team only has to read one agreement, instead of a different agreement for each district that it works with. Finally, this collaboration on data privacy agreements with educational technology vendors puts all of our school districts in a better student data privacy stance and helps us move forward together in the journey of building secure learning environments for our students.

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