Customer Spotlight: How an Illinois School District Maintains SOPPA Compliance
With school back in session, districts have reignited the spark that ensures students not only have tools that aid in reaching preferred outcomes, but that the tools are compliant and safe for use. This requires well-run vetting, budgeting and implementation processes. Christopher Thieme, Executive Director of Educational Technology at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Illinois, takes on much of the responsibility of ensuring that these processes run smoothly for his team and district. Read on for a look at how LearnPlatform by Instructure supports his and his team’s efforts to modernize their processes to ensure they meet the district’s needs as priorities and requirements evolve.
Thieme’s team kept an eye out for updates in the legislature as amendments to the Illinois Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA) showed signs of quickly progressing. The team knew they would have to act fast to maintain compliance. SOPPA, which went into effect on July 1, 2021, mandates that Illinois districts provide guarantees that student data collected by edtech providers is protected and used for beneficial purposes only. Once the law was passed, Thieme began the work of parsing out how it would ultimately affect the tools implemented in the classroom.
“We quickly figured out that the volume of work given the number of edtech tools would be insurmountable without a partner. LearnPlatform offered the most comprehensive solution, tools and quick request turnaround with as little impact on classroom instruction as possible. We didn’t want to overburden our faculty or teachers,” Thieme said.
As a result of implementing LearnPlatform, the district now has a central place to store data, a customizable, public-facing library to share information with parents/guardians, and automated workflows for processing application requests. Having these built into the platform meant that the team at Oak Park River Forest could focus on other critical aspects of the procurement process. The shared library also allows for visibility and research for products. Ultimately, LearnPlatform empowered the team to do more than just streamline its processes. It allowed them to rethink their whole approach to managing student data privacy.
“LearnPlatform freed us up to concentrate on the most important work - getting applications reviewed, organized and in teachers' hands as soon as possible without the stress of determining additional factors that come into play before you get to that point.” – Christopher Thieme
Previously, the district used a rating system in which there weren’t clear distinctions between providers’ privacy policies and what were merely interpretations of the providers’ privacy statements. Now, with LearnPlatform, the district can clearly see which providers have a proven commitment to state and federal compliance. The district is responsible for protecting the privacy of its students’ data, so the team values its ability to go beyond compliance to ensure the companies whose products they are using adhere to policies that benefit and protect students.
Being careful stewards of student data allows the Oak Park River Forest team to provide equitable, educational benefits of the edtech tools without worrying about putting data into irresponsible hands:
“With LearnPlatform we have a system that's very streamlined – a request is put in by faculty, our team is immediately notified, and we can move on with the process. The partnership with LearnPlatform has made a very hard job, easy.” – Christopher Thieme
See how LearnPlatform by Instructure can help your district meet compliance needs.
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