As students and teachers shift to working from home, many district policies need to shift as well. Our new publication, "Recommended District Policies for At-Home Teaching and Learning," provides recommendations with a focus on: What policies are both feasible and most likely to produce strong learning outcomes for all students,…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Fair Discipline." Contents include: (1) Federal School Safety Commission…

Online social networks such as Facebook have changed the context and definitions of socialization. Focusing on teacher use, this article considers the size and impact of these forums and the importance many young professionals feel toward them. Themed as a common sense approach, the author uses anecdotal points and discussions with…

In response to the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, President Donald Trump established the Federal Commission on School Safety to review safety practices and make meaningful and actionable recommendations of best practices to keep students safe. The Commission conducted field visits,…

This guide was written to help school and local education agency staff better understand and apply the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law that protects privacy interests of parents and students in student education records. The Forum has developed full reports on student (and staff ) privacy guidance, but a shorter…

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 sets the basic standards for disclosure of data in educational records. The manner in which data are to be classified within the records is to be determined by local policy. This article describes the Massachusetts regulations on student data classification. (Author/GC)