Which act violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)?

Which act violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)?

A. A K-12 assessment vendor obtains a student’s signed essay about her hometown from her school to use as an exemplar for public release

B. A university posts a public student directory that includes names, hometowns, e-mail addresses,

and majors

C. A newspaper prints the names, grade levels, and hometowns of students who made the quarterly honor roll

D. University police provide an arrest report to a student’s hometown police, who suspect him of a similar crime

View Answer

Answer: A

Explanation:

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. FERPA grants parents or eligible students the right to access, amend, and control the disclosure of their education records, with some exceptions. Schools must obtain written consent from the parent or eligible student before disclosing any personally identifiable information from the education records, unless an exception applies123

Option A violates FERPA because it involves the disclosure of a student’s personally identifiable information (PII) from the education records without consent. A student’s signed essay about her hometown is considered an education record under FERPA, as it is directly related to the student and maintained by the school12 A K-12 assessment vendor is not a school official with a legitimate educational interest, nor does it fall under any of the exceptions that allow disclosure without consent12 Therefore, the school must obtain the student’s (or the parent’s, if the student is a minor) written consent before providing the essay to the vendor for public release.

Option B does not violate FERPA because it involves the disclosure of directory information, which is not considered PII under FERPA. Directory information is information that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed, such as name, address, phone number, e-mail address, major, etc12 Schools may disclose directory information without consent, unless the parent or eligible student has opted out of such disclosure12 However, schools must notify parents and eligible students of the types of directory information they designate and their right to opt out annually12

Option C does not violate FERPA because it involves the disclosure of information that is not part of the education records. FERPA only applies to education records that are directly related to a student and maintained by the school or a party acting for the school12 A newspaper’s publication of the names, grade levels, and hometowns of students who made the quarterly honor roll is not based on the education records, but on the newspaper’s own sources and reporting. Therefore, FERPA does not prohibit such disclosure.

Option D does not violate FERPA because it involves the disclosure of information under an exception that allows disclosure without consent. FERPA permits schools to disclose education records, or PII from education records, without consent to comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena, or to appropriate officials in connection with a health or safety emergency123 If the university police provide an arrest report to the student’s hometown police in response to a subpoena or to prevent a serious threat to the student or others, they are not violating FERPA.

Reference: 1: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act – Wikipedia 2: Family Educational Rights and

Privacy Act (FERPA) | CDC 3: What is FERPA? | Protecting Student Privacy – ed