Outschool wants to support its instructors in assisting their learners inside and outside the classroom. Instructors may, at times, be asked to provide educational credentials or write letters of recommendation for their learner families.
To help with these educational purposes, teachers can now provide limited personal information directly to parents, as documented in conversations in Outschool communications. Outside of those parameters, instructors should request a one-time exception from support.
Instructors must follow mandated guidelines for Keeping All Communication on Outschool and transparently minimize the sharing of “Personal Information” as outlined in our Community Standards, Golden Rules, Privacy Policy, and Safety Standards for Teachers.
Suppose a teacher is asked – and then chooses to provide credentials, recommendations, or other materials for outside educational purposes, how can an educator help a family this way while still adhering to Outschool’s safety policies? First, it is important to understand that fulfilling such requests is always at an instructor’s discretion. In those cases where educational assistance is warranted and a teacher agrees to help, the instructor needs to adhere to Outschool’s safety standards, which protect professional boundaries while still fostering good customer service, resulting in building positive classroom relationships and a secure classroom.
1. Credentials or Diplomas: (no sharing of unknown Personal Information needed):
Teachers can provide their public teaching certificates, credentials, or diplomas without notice to Outschool. These may include limited personal information such as full names, localities, and references to families. In doing so, teachers must upload the information directly to another adult through the Parent/Teacher Conversations tab and avoid sending any information to learners.
2. General Letters of Recommendation: (no sharing of unknown Personal information needed):
In cases where families request a letter of recommendation for their learner, teachers may write a letter that includes their own full name, the learner's full name (as provided by a parent in their initial request to an instructor), and any needed credentials. Such a letter should be uploaded directly to the adult through their Parent/Teacher Conversations tab.
Similar recommendations or reference letters may also be sent directly to third parties. No permission is needed. Outschool will allow teachers to share that information using their private teaching email or by following direct links to the general admissions office, reference organizations, scholarship committees, etc.
As a best practice, letters can include a link to an Outschool teacher profile on the platform along with links to pertinent classes to serve as a verification of your professional involvement on the platform.
3. Letters of Recommendation, Student Evaluations, and Serving as a Reference (requiring new or detailed contact information or more Personal Information):
If a family asks an instructor to write a formal letter of recommendation, fill out a student evaluation, or serve as a reference in ways that require more complex personal or contact information (such as, but not limited to: email addresses, home addresses, business links, etc.), an instructor may seek an exception from Outschool by reaching out to Support.
Instructors will be asked by Support to provide the following information in requesting permission to share contact information:
Direct link to class section, including any associated conversations with a parent
Learner Family Link, including the name of both the parent/guardian and learner
Type of sharing and educational purpose
Description of Personal Information. that needs to be shared or exchanged and why
A reminder that all communications, including the initial family requests and follow-up, should transparently be kept on Outschool through the parent conversations tab (except when an exception is made, but all communications before and after should be visible to Outschool)
Furthermore, when asking for a one-time exception to sharing personal information, teachers must agree that when providing their personal contact information for educational purposes, no other information will be shared; all future interactions with that family will remain solely on the Outschool platform.
If a Trust & Safety one-time exception is granted, a note documenting that permission will be included on a teaching account. Future requests by the same family (or similar requests by other families) should follow the same permission process.
Outschool wants to protect its instructors' privacy and professional boundaries and will support teachers in their personal decisions about whether to share this information. Teachers, at their discretion, may decide to help their students in this way so long as they are mindful of the safety policies and protocols needed to keep the Outschool platform secure.
4. Requests from Parents or Adults to Teach Learners Over 19 Outside the Platform:
While teachers should not be actively advertising outside businesses on Outschool, if an adult requests instruction for subjects/ages that are not supported on the Outschool platform, educators may respond to such inquiries. No permissions are needed from Trust & Safety; instead, an educator, at their discretion and in “good faith,” may now share limited personal information (including their name, private business information, or email) with that particular adult in response to such specific questions. Teachers will not be penalized for catering to these types of non-competing adult learner requests; while this information may be shared with the possible adult customer, educators may not move any current or eligible Outschool learners off the Outschool platform, and such activity can result in disciplinary actions. For everyone's safety, teachers should never share personal information with minor learners under any circumstances. As a reminder, Outschool will not intervene when problems arise from any off-platform interactions and activities, so we continue to remind our users that for Outschool-related business issues, all communications should be kept on Outschool.
Keep in mind that Outschool enforces its safety policies. Violations of those terms could result in a “Strike,” which could lead to restrictions or removal of a teaching account. Anyone not adhering to Outschool’s protocols may be warned or even removed from the site.