Dive Brief:
- The number of students filling out the annual Kansas Communities That Care survey has dropped from 100,000 to about 25,000 due to a new privacy law that was intended to address Common Core and data sharing concerns.
- The law requires parental consent for all student surveys dealing with sex, religion, or family life, so the anonymous survey, which gages substance abuse, was not passed out widely this year because many schools did have time to gather the required permission slips.
- The lack of student participation is frustrating for those producing the survey, especially since it is anonymous and therefore doesn't infringe upon privacy.
Dive Insight:
The legislation requiring parental consent was born out of fears of data sharing related to the Common Core State Standards. Since the survey deals with "family life" information, it needs parental approval under the law. This incident is an example of the unintentional consequences of a policy, as what was meant to deal with just Common Core and perceived data sharing threats has now affected a completely anonymous and useful mental health database.