Welcome to our weekly column in which a topic of interest, piece of news, relevant opinion, or general request for feedback is presented. We’ll offer the topic du jour and accompanying question, and you have the opportunity to respond with your thoughts.
Simply fill out the form below. A collection of each week’s responses will appear in the following week’s column. To view responses on our previous topics click here.
Publisher reserves the right to edit responses for clarity and publish online and/or in our print publications.
Please let us know your thoughts!
This week’s Feedback Friday topic is:
Maryland Schools Testing Data: Transparency vs. Privacy
This week at a Maryland Board of Education meeting, State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury was questioned about why the state’s website had recently removed, redacted, and reposted school test results. The central concern being that data from only the lowest-performing schools in the state was redacted, seemingly to mask the failures within those county/city school systems. The data that was originally posted online in January and then redacted included 23 Baltimore City Schools with zero students who tested proficient in math. Yes, you read that correctly.
FOX45’s Chris Papst, who has done admirable and fair reporting on the challenges facing school systems in the greater Baltimore region for the past several years, approached Choudhury and when questioned, Choudhury retreated into another room, closed the door, and locked it behind him. When Papst turned to Board President Clarence Crawford for answers, he seemed unaware of entire scenario and deferred responsibility to Superintendent Choudhury.
When the Maryland State Department of Education was officially questioned about why this year’s data release suddenly changed from the past 13 years, the term “student deidentification” was given—an act to comply with national privacy protection standards for student data.
But now that this situation is becoming increasingly public, many concerned citizens, public policy institutes, and state legislators are beginning to question the integrity of the state department, board, and Choudhury himself.
You can read and watch Chris Papst’s full story by clicking here.
Do you believe the redaction of student test scores is a cover-up of systemic failures or a privacy issue?
Please share your thoughts by filling out this form. Today’s responses—and all future Feedback Friday responses—will be published in our Monday newsletters after the weekend. AND, several responses from recent topics will appear in our upcoming print magazines!
