A: Confidentially is protected by giving each child a random number and only using that number to identify children when doing any research or analysis of data. No child, teacher, school or district name will ever be identified in any reports, graphs, or used in any research. It is not legal to do so, and the University of California who funds the CRLP, the legislature and the governor of California who fund RPDI, and the California Reading and Literature Project are committed to following both the spirit and the letter of the law with regard to confidentiality of student data. We need the correct names of children so the RESULTS data can be correlated with SAT 9 data so that we can see to what extent a score on a given assessment predicts a score on SAT 9.

Q: Who has access to individual student data?

A: The only person who will have access to a given teacher's student data by individual teacher's and students' names will be the teacher submitting the data herself/himself. Neither the school site principal nor the school district will have access to data unless the teachers provide access personally by releasing their private password. In order to allow research access to data, all students and teachers and school sites will be given a randomly selected number which will allow researchers to look at data by grade level and demographic groups, etc., for purposes of looking at reliability and validity of results, reporting statewide data trends back to participating teachers, schools, districts, policy makers, funders, etc. The CRLP will have access to data by these numbers but not by individual student, teacher, or school names. The one exception to this is the CRLP's interest in identifying school sites in which high percentages of students meet grade-level benchmarks so teachers from these successful sites can provide leadership to RPDI and the CRLP. The CRLP has a three-year track record collecting student data. In 1996-1998 we collected data on paper. In 1998-1999 we collected data from over 18,000 students using Microsoft Excel and paper submission of data. We have not once breached confidentially or privacy of student, teacher, or school data. We intend to maintain the same high standards in the 1999-2000 collection of RPDI and CRLP Reading RESULTS data.

Q: Why do teachers need to provide either their social security number or birth date?

A: When a teacher first signs onto the web-site, the social security number or birth date information they have sent to CRLP Regions or Local Design RPDI Directors will be matched with the information they themselves type in at that time of data entry. If there is a match, they will be asked to select a password. This password will be used for all future web access. If this information does not match or they have failed to give CRLP or RPDI the information initially and it has therefore not been put it into the security system, they will not have further access to the web-site for student data entry. They will get a message telling them to try again in three days. Regional Coordinators and Local Design RPDI Directors will get a list of teachers who have tried to access the web and failed to gain entry. They will verify if teachers are legitimate participants and if so authorize entry so they will be able to log on by the end of the three-day waiting period. This system of authorization of teacher users protects the system from unauthorized access to the web site.

Q: What safeguards are in place in regards to teachers using personal information--their social security and/or birthdates?

A: Social security numbers or birthdates allow us to identify individual teachers. This information is protected on the website. Again, our organization will fully comply with the laws of California in regard to this issue. The CRLP has been collecting data on over 18.000 children over the last three years. There has never been a breach in security of this data. No child, teacher, school, or district data has ever been seen or published in any forum. We fully plan to continue this record of confidentiality.

Q: Isn't collection of data on-line subject to problems with security?

A: Edmin, the company providing web services for the CRLP, uses a "firewall" system for protecting and securing data. Edmin has a long track record of protecting data and takes full liability for any breaches of their own system. Edmin has won several awards for the web development and is a recognized leader in the field.

Q: Why collect data on line?

A: We have chosen to move to a web-site data collection system because we believe that it will save time and provide an easier format for teachers to submit data. (For example, pull-down menus are faster and less prone to error than typing everything in by hand.) Teachers without access to the web will have the same easy and timesaving option by using the CD format. In addition, we will be able to provide a wealth of information on-line about how RPDI schools in general are doing when data is disaggregated according to a variety of demographic information (such as poverty level, grade level, level of English language proficiency, and by language of instruction). In addition, the web will create a forum for suggestions from the field about what factors and which instruction is making a difference. With the large numbers of teachers participating in this project, collecting data on paper or on Excel is no longer feasible.

Q: It takes a lot of time to input all this student data? How does participation benefit the teacher or school site?

A: Teachers have on-line access to information about how students similar to their students are doing across the state on selected assessments. They will be able to graph and sort their student data and print out these graphs and sorts for their own use. They will also eventually, once this initial period of data collection is worked through, have access to on-line information about protocols for assessments, suggestions for instruction designed to improve student's reading and motivation for reading, etc. They will have access to grade-level chat rooms.

Teachers, principals, district offices, parents, policy makers, and others will have access to reports on how RPDI students are doing at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. They will have access to reports on percentages of students reaching benchmarks in schools similar to their own school.

Q: Are we obligated in any way to inform parents that assessment data about their student is being shared with the Results project?

A: No. The California Education Code makes provisions for educational organizations such as ours to access student data without parent permission for educational purposes. (See California Education Code, Section 49076 (b) (5), included above.)