Without NY's contract, controversial student data collection company calls it quits

[hrmjustin]

By KELLY FAY

After months of concern from parents and teachers, the company previously contracted by the state to collect and store student data announced it will shut down over the next few months. InBloom, a private, not-for-profit backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation indicated Monday it would "wind down" operations with a letter from its Chief Executive Officer Iwan Streichenberger posted on its website.

As part of the federal Race to the Top Program, New York received $50 million for a data system project, and contracted inBloom to store information and develop infrastructure to make the data available to parents and teachers through a portal known as EngageNY. The move drew criticism from some lawmakers, parents and teachers who were concerned about the potential for a security breach and that information gathered by the company could be used against students in the future. The state halted its agreement with inBloom with legislation included in the final budget and now, the Atlanta-based company is ending its work.

http://www.legislativegazette.com/Articles-Top-Stories-c-2014-04-22-87654.113122-Without-NYs-contract-controversial-student-data-collection-company-calls-it-quits.html

[JimDandy]

1. Some schools in Colorado and a couple other states were

also part of this data collection trial and we're happy it's ended. The privacy concerns outweigh any potentially positive aspects of tracking kids from ages 4 to 18.

[hrmjustin]

2. Agreed!

[JimDandy]

3. Collecting '400 different data points' on kids

was ridiculous. Hopefully this sends a message to the Gates to quit interferring unnecessarily with the public school system in the U.S.

[hrmjustin]

4. I hope so as well but other states might welcome this.