Springboard Collaborative
Help Springboard Collaborative understand FERPA/COPPA compliance for our literacy app & website
This will help us responsibly implement a literacy assessment into our educational application to better support teachers and families by informing content and gauging student reading growth.
Posted August 12, 2020
Background & Context
Springboard Collaborative is an exciting non-profit that coaches educators and family members to help kids learn to read by 4th grade. Our mission to close the achievement gap is even more paramount right now as existing gaps and inequities will certainly be compounding by prior and pending lost classroom time. With the onset of Covid-19 related school closures, we quickly pivoted to fill that void by making our current programs available remotely and adding new more low-cost virtual options. One feature of our virtual offerings is a literacy application called Springboard Connect. Connect can be used either independently or in tandem with our programs. Within the application, families can receive targeted reading tips, set reading goals, track reading time, and (within programming) earn incentives for achievement of goals. We would like to enhance this tool by embedding a literacy screener assessment, provided by a FERPA compliant third-party vendor, that will more accurately gauge reading growth and improve the learner experience. We previously received help in determining our FERPA (not in scope) and COPPA obligations and in vetting our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We could now use additional consultation to know if adding this new data collection component (literacy screener assessment) will impact those statuses.
Immediate Problem
Given that parents sign a consent to participate in programming and/or actively agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy before they access Springboard Connect (our literacy App), would we be required to have families sign an additional consent form use the literacy screener assessment? Are there any other FERPA implications, or changes to our compliance requirement that we will need to consider?
Work & Deliverables
We would like to have a conversation with a lawyer to understand how, and if, our obligations under FERPA and COPPA would change by adding the literacy screener assessment to the Springboard Connect app. Specifically advice on the question of will the embedded assessment require additional consent from parents/families.
We would also appreciate guidance and review on any subsequent changes we might need to make to our current Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Springboard Collaborative
Springboard Collaborative closes the literacy gap by closing the gap between home and school. We coach educators and family members to help kids learn to read by 4th grade. Springboard envisions a world in which all children have the requisite literacy skills to access life opportunities. In pursuit of the vision, Springboard will help 100,000 children reach reading goals by 2023. The path forward consists of five main elements: Flagship programs: Our flagship Summer and Afterschool programs double students’ annual reading progress through parent-teacher collaboration. Franchised programs: We successfully launched an affiliate model through which Springboard trains and certifies leaders to implement our playbook in their context for half the cost. Family engagement blueprint: We distilled the best practices from our programs and wove them into a framework for embedding family engagement into the school day, school year, and—ultimately—the school culture. Marketplace: We created an a la carte menu of products and services that drive impact, scale, and financial sustainability. This includes a home literacy app, our family workshop curriculum, and teacher training modules. Springboard as an idea: Finally, we are distilling Springboard into an open-source methodology for engaging parents that can become ubiquitous. We aim to catalyze a culture shift, making family engagement in education the new normal. It took decades for the sector to embrace the idea that all children can learn. It is Springboard’s ambition—and our charge—to prove that all parents can teach.
Springboard Collaborative
Springboard Collaborative closes the literacy gap by closing the gap between home and school. We coach educators and family members to help kids learn to read by 4th grade. Springboard envisions a world in which all children have the requisite literacy skills to access life opportunities. In pursuit of the vision, Springboard will help 100,000 children reach reading goals by 2023. The path forward consists of five main elements: Flagship programs: Our flagship Summer and Afterschool programs double students’ annual reading progress through parent-teacher collaboration. Franchised programs: We successfully launched an affiliate model through which Springboard trains and certifies leaders to implement our playbook in their context for half the cost. Family engagement blueprint: We distilled the best practices from our programs and wove them into a framework for embedding family engagement into the school day, school year, and—ultimately—the school culture. Marketplace: We created an a la carte menu of products and services that drive impact, scale, and financial sustainability. This includes a home literacy app, our family workshop curriculum, and teacher training modules. Springboard as an idea: Finally, we are distilling Springboard into an open-source methodology for engaging parents that can become ubiquitous. We aim to catalyze a culture shift, making family engagement in education the new normal. It took decades for the sector to embrace the idea that all children can learn. It is Springboard’s ambition—and our charge—to prove that all parents can teach.