Outschool wants to support its instructors in assisting their learners inside and outside the classroom. Instructors may sometimes 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 sharing “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 essential to understand that fulfilling such requests is always at an instructor’s discretion. In cases where educational assistance is warranted and a teacher agrees to help, the instructor must adhere to Outschool’s safety standards, which protect professional boundaries while still fostering good customer service, 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 family references. 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 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. You don't need permission. 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 links to an Outschool teacher profile on the platform and relevant classes to verify your professional involvement.
3. Letters of Recommendation, Student Evaluations, and Serving as a Reference (requiring new or detailed contact information or more Personal Information like emails or phone numbers):
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.
It is essential that the request can easily be seen in a conversation with the parent or learner in the Conversations Tab. Please provide a link with that context to support this.
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.
The teacher must share this information with the parent through the Conversations tab (never with a minor learner), who can then use it or forward information to any third party or their child as necessary.
Outschool wants to protect its instructors' privacy and professional boundaries and will support teachers in sharing this information. At their discretion, teachers may decide to help their students in this way as 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 refrain from actively advertising outside businesses on Outschool, educators may respond to such inquiries if an adult requests instruction for subjects/ages not supported on the Outschool platform. No permissions are needed from Trust & Safety; 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 non-competing adult learner requests but should remind adults that they cannot remain on the platform. At the same time, 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.
5. Parent/Teacher Conference Policy:
To help teachers foster relationships and meet a family’s educational needs, Outschool now allows educators to address parents during live private tutoring classes. For these 1-on-1 classes only, parents/guardians, with a teacher's permission, may reasonably interact on camera so the adults can converse to ask questions, share information, plan, or receive updates involving the learner. Discussions must be child-centered and are always at a teacher’s discretion. Teachers should be mindful of Outschool’s Teacher Safety Policies and commit to maintaining our standards about sharing Personal Information for Educational Purposes and Keeping All Communications on Outschool, as any violations of those standards will be enforced.
No other types of off-platform video, phone, or in-person meetups (other than at officially sanctioned Outschool activities) are allowed.
6. Mailing Addresses and Websites for Kits & Class Project Materials
Materials and exchanging mailing addresses or websites may sometimes be necessary for a class.
If you want the learners to use a resource that cannot be purchased from other vendors, you should include the information and build the price of this resource in the class cost. If you require a kit to run your class or send out a final project, you must include the price and the exact list of materials included in the kit or project when submitting your class for approval. In those cases, you may privately message parents with links to your website for kit purchases because you only direct parents to your external website for that sole purpose; you agree not to collect their data or contact them for any other reason.
In all cases, if a website or mailing address is needed to send out materials to a family, be transparent in always directing any inquiries and correspondences only to the adult through the "Parent Communications Tab" (never to a minor child). All conversations about sharing that information must be conducted on the platform and easily identified in the context of the educational need as outlined in the class description. As a teacher, you agree not to use an external website or the "snail-mail" address except to send the family the materials as outlined in your class descriptions.
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 removed from the site.