Student Data & Privacy

Researchers and evaluators must comply with all District policies, and state/federal laws regarding student data privacy including the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minnesota Statute Chapter 13 and The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).                    

What is data?

MPS defines data as any information provided by the school/district (individual or aggregate student data) as well as any information that outside organizations collect directly from students/families. This includes observations, surveys, focus groups, or individual interviews. 

Read more about individual and aggregate student data here.

What is identifiable data?

MPS defines identifiable data as data set where information and data can be connected to a specific student.

What is de-identified data?

MPS defines de-identified data as a data set where any identifiable data has been suppressed or removed from the data set.  REA suppresses data if the n is less than 5, and uses a researcher ID number to identify students for internal matching purposes.

Questions about data?  Please contact MPSresearch@mpls.k12.mn.us.