N.J. to review student privacy concerns about test monitoring
March 19, 2015, 12:53 PM Last updated: Friday, March 20, 2015, 12:29 AM
By HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
The Record
New Jersey’s education commissioner will review alleged cases of test-question leaks on the Internet to see if the state’s contractors violated student privacy when monitoring exam discussions online, officials said Thursday at an Assembly hearing.
The announcement follows days of public outrage over reports that the Pearson testing company scanned students’ comments and reported question leaks to the state Department of Education in what some people believe was a violation of student privacy.
At the hearing, legislators grilled education officials about the monitoring.
“I just find this to be unacceptable, to say we should monitor the social media of every student in New Jersey and to delegate it to a third party we don’t control,” said Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan Jr., D-Middlesex, chairman of the education committee.
He added, “I think the response is disproportionate to find two or three questions.”
But education officials continued to defend the actions Thursday at a hearing before the Assembly Education Committee.