Giving Compass' Take:

• In this story from Education Dive, author Roger Riddell discusses ways that preditive analytics could be used in schools and addresses fears that some may have of the technology.

• Riddell advises schools and districts to implement predictive analytics slowly. What potential consequences might there be if the technology is implemented too rapidly?

• To learn about how predictive analytics can be used in social services, click here.

[F]ears [of predicative analytics] have ... crept into education alongside the use of analytics in academic and behavioral intervention strategies, as well as partnerships like the one between Kansas City's public schools and the Ballmer Group, which aims to improve data sharing between schools' student information systems and case management software in use by local nonprofits. On the latter, Future of Privacy Forum education privacy lawyer Sara Collins told Education Week she would urge schools to refrain from installing the software until they better understand "who the information is being shared with, how much control the school will retain over the data, and what is being done to protect the data."

The biggest mistake a school or district can make when getting into the use of predictive analytics is trying to examine too many things at once. It's best to start small with defined goals and scale up from there, according to Robert Craven, director of educational services for Tustin Unified School District in California.

"I think picking something around achievement and embedding it within professional development goes a long way toward getting a district to kind of the first steps into analytics," Craven said. "That's where you see a lot of power initially and then it becomes a good spot, because people see we’re not out for that 'gotcha moment,' [and] we're not out for Big Brother."

When data and contextual information suggest the need for intervention, it's important that educators don't frame it in too punitive of a manner. Doing so can lead students to develop stigmas that they're not good enough to succeed.

Read the full article about predictive analytics by Roger Riddell at Education Dive