Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) |
Peer Grading is Not a Violation of FERPA Owasso Independent School District, No. I-011 v. Falvo, 534 U.S. 426 (2002) In a 9-0 decision the United States Supreme Court held that the classroom practice of allowing students to grade each other’s work is not a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The Court concluded that classroom work assignments are not education records as defined by the Act. “FERPA,” the Court said, “implies that education records are institutional records kept by a single central custodian, such as a registrar, not individual assignments handled by many student graders in their separate classrooms.” The Court did not address whether a teacher’s grade book is an education record. This reverses a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision. FERPA Not Enforceable Under § 1983 Gonzaga University v. Doe, 536 U.S. ____ (2002) The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits the federal funding of post-secondary, secondary and elementary schools that release education records without the consent of parents/eligible student. A Gonzaga University student sued for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when he learned that a university official shared personally identifiable information about him without his consent. The United States Supreme Court ruled that FERPA does not create a private right of action enforceable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Instead, the act directs the U.S. Department of Education to address violations of FERPA. The Court noted that the “the Secretary [of Education] created the Family Policy Compliance Office, [for purposes of] resolving student complaints about suspected FERPA violations.” Please visit the U.S. Department of Education Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) website for additional information and FERPA resources. |