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Equity in Civic Technology, Privacy & Data

Out of Step: Students, Teachers in Stride with EdTech Threats While Parents Are Left Behind

Layers of glitch effects, in shades of blue, purple, and pink. White text: "Out of Step." Green text: "Students, Teachers in Stride with EdTech Threats While Parents Are Left Behind."
Layers of glitch effects, in shades of blue, purple, and pink. White text: “Out of Step.” Green text: “Students, Teachers in Stride with EdTech Threats While Parents Are Left Behind.”

Since the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) began polling school stakeholders in 2020 about their experiences with educational data and technology (edtech) in classrooms, the sheer number of edtech products and use cases has skyrocketed. Many of the tools being proactively implemented in K–12 schools across the country and adopted by kids in their personal capacity are well intended; however, some of these tools have had unintended consequences such as privacy violations and negative effects on students from historically marginalized communities.

To continue tracking the impacts of edtech tools in the classroom and at home, CDT surveyed 1,028 parents of students in grades 6–12, 1,316 students in grades 9–12, and 1,006 teachers of grades 6–12 to understand their opinions on and experiences with student privacy, emerging technologies, parent engagement, school policies related to gender expansive students, content filtering and blocking software, student activity monitoring, and generative artificial intelligence (AI). Any subgroup n-sizes that differ from the total sample size are denoted throughout this report.

The definitions of these various edtech issues as shown to survey respondents are also denoted throughout the body of the report, and other key terms are included on page 22. This research builds on CDT’s extensive body of quantitative and qualitative research, which is referenced on page 23. For additional details about the survey findings in this report, please reference the comprehensive slide deck.

Read the full report.

Explore the slide deck on the research findings.