Unfortunately, what looked to be a simple step to empower parents, when implemented, morphed into a bureaucratic and technical barrier.
Much to the credit of Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, an opt-out provision was included in the contract signed with Hobson to bring Naviance, a career and college online planning tool, into the district.
Unfortunately, what looked to be a simple step to empower parents, when implemented, morphed into a bureaucratic and technical barrier.
How?
First, parents were required to have an account with The Source, an online dashboard which gives parents access to their student’s grades and assignments.
Yes, I know the district wants every parent to have an account with The Source.
I also know the district has been ratcheting up the pressure to get holdouts to comply with the district’s vision.
But is using opt out as leverage to get parents to comply with the district’s wishes the message our board and superintendent want to send to parents?
The Second Barrier: No Option to Opt Out
If you happened to have a Source account, the second barrier you would encounter while trying to opt out of Naviance would be the option to opt out didn’t exist.
Really.
According to the district, the option to opt out of Naviance would be available under the “preferences” section of The Source — except it wasn’t.
After I spent two days trying to opt out via The Source and then writing a letter to the school board sharing my experience, this mysterious “technical glitch” was finally solved.
Hmm.
If you have to write the school board to exercise a basic parental right something is very wrong.
Why am I writing about this now?
The second window for parents to opt their students out from Naviance is September 4-12, 2018. This option is available for students in grades 8-12.
This time I expect no mysterious technical errors. Seriously, I find it baffling that in one of the tech hubs of the United States, no one thought to test to see if the opt-out option was functional before going live for the first opt-out window.
More Helpful Hints for Administrators Who Want to Do the Right Thing.
If the district is serious about empowering parents I would also expect other, less tech specific and rigid routes for parents to exercise their rights.
In a community centered district, the option to meet with a counselor instead of leaving this work up to a software program would also be a option.
Why would a parent want to opt their kids out? Please read Naviance Not so Transparent & Cooking Up Data Starting in Kindergarten? and then make up your own mind.
Was the Bungled Naviance Opt-Out a Nudge?
My summer reading list included two books: Inside the Nudge Unit by David Halpern and Why Nudge? The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism by Cass Sunstein.
Both books describe how behavioral economics was incorporated into policy making decisions in the U.K. under the Blair and Brown Administrations and in the United States during the Obama Administration.
Nudges are used by choice architects to encourage people to make some choices while avoiding others. For instance, choosing healthy food, getting your steps in, or insulating your attic.
One of the key elements of the nudge is making the preferred behavior easy. According to Inside the Nudge Unit (page 65), Richard Thaler, Chicago Economist, Nobel Prize Winner, and Choice Architect is credited as saying, “If you want to encourage something, make it easy.”
Choice architects use the concept of easy by eliminating friction or hassle in choosing the preferred behavior. This can be done by setting the default to the preferred choice (opt-in instead of opting-out) and elimination unnecessary steps.
Was opting out of Naviance easy?
No.
Could it have been?
Absolutely.
In my opinion, the requirement for a Source account, then finding an obscure choice box – buried at the bottom of the page – when it was available at all – sure felt like a nudge.
Here Comes the Hard Sell
Another disturbing development is once parents started expressing interest in opting out, the district suddenly decided to have community meetings during the second opt out window to help parents make an “informed choice” about opting out of Naviance.
Here’s my question: Why weren’t these meeting held for parents BEFORE the district purchased Naviance?
In a district that has trouble covering the basics and even paying its teachers and support staff enough to live in the city they work in, why would the district be so gosh darn over enthusiastic about investing $600,000 in something parents may not even want?
It makes me wonder.
-Carolyn Leith
Seattle Education 