The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), in partnership with the Texas Association of School Administrators and CoSN’s Texas state affiliate chapter, the Texas Educational Technology Leaders (formerly The Texas K-12 CTO Council), is honored to support the work of current and aspiring superintendents and district leadership teams in leading all aspects of digital learning transformations.
CoSN K-12 Community Vendor Assessment Tool (K-12CVAT)
The CoSN K-12 Community Vendor Assessment Tool provides education leaders in K-12 schools and districts, and also broader education service districts, with a tool to measure vendor risk. School leaders are encouraged to include — as part of their process for purchasing a third-party solution — a request that their solution providers complete a K-12CVAT assessment prior to finalizing the purchase agreement. When a vendor completes the K-12CVAT assessment they are able to confirm that the information, data, and cybersecurity policies that are included within their product will protect a school system’s sensitive information as well as any Personal Identifiable Information (PII) belonging to constituents. CoSN recommends that school systems use the K-12CVAT as a regular step in their procurement processes, including having potential solution providers complete the K-12CVAT questionnaire as part of RFP processes and purchase evaluations. To learn more about the CoSN K-12 Community Vendor Assessment Tool and access the link to download the tool, visit the CoSN K-12CVAT webpage at https://www.cosn.org/tools-and-resources/resource/k-12cvat/.
EmpowerED Superintendent edLeader Panel Series
CoSN, AASA, and edWeb.net co-host a monthly online edLeader Panel broadcast series, sponsored by ClassLink, to help superintendents connect and collaborate. Registration is free and registered participants can join the live event and/or view recordings and podcast versions starting a day or two after the live broadcast.
The most recent monthly edLeader Panel broadcast, “Leading Effective Data Privacy Processes Within a School District Setting,” took place on Monday, March 11. Superintendents Bill Burr, Wrangell Public Schools, AK, Scott Elder, Albuquerque Public Schools, NM, and Dr. Mary Templeton, Washougal School District, WA, shared the strategies they have implemented to assess their school districts’ privacy and compliance policies and also assure that data privacy is integrated into all aspects of technology use within their school districts. Five critical guidelines for making data privacy an essential commitment within any school system were reviewed. The superintendents were joined by Linnette Attai, CoSN Project Director for Data Privacy, who explained how and why a school district can earn the CoSN Trusted Learning Environment Seal. You are welcome to register to view the recording and/or podcast version of this and other previous edLeader Panel broadcasts at https://home.edweb.net/supers/.
CoSN 2024 Annual Conference, “Leading for Innovation: At Warp Speed”
Registration is now open for the CoSN 2024 Annual Conference, scheduled for April 8-10, 2024, in Miami, Florida. For conference and hotel information and registration links, see https://www.cosn.org/cosn2024/.
CoSN & Texas Educational Technology Leaders (TETL) Membership
If your school or district would like more information about joining CoSN or getting more involved with CoSN, please contact membership@cosn.org. For information about Texas Education Technology Leaders, please contact Dianne Borreson, Executive Director, Texas Education Technology Leaders at exdir@tetl.org or call 855.458.9286.
