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FERPA
Resources Related to Online Teaching
FERPA is the federal law that protects the privacy of personally identifiable information
(PII) in students’ education records. “Education records” are those records that are:
(1) directly related to a student; and (2) maintained by an educational agency or
institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution. FERPA provides parents
and eligible students the right to access a student’s education records, the right
to seek to have the records amended, and the right to protect the PII in students’
education records. (An “eligible student” is a student who has turned 18 or is attending
college at any age.) Under FERPA, an educational agency or institution may not disclose
PII from students’ education records, without consent, unless the disclosure meets
an exception under FERPA. 20 U.S.C. 1232g; 34 C.F.R. Part 99.
Key Resources:
- —this resource identifies applicable exceptions under FERPA, including the school
official exception. This resource, while originally developed for online educational
services, is also applicable for virtual learning tools and includes best practices
for safeguarding student education records under FERPA.
- —this checklist is a helpful tool to evaluate online educational apps
- includes additional resources on safeguarding education records.
There are also additional resources on related topics under FERPA, including classroom
observations, use of emails, videos, and other virtual learning tools. Under FERPA,
the determination of who can observe a virtual classroom, similar to an in-person
classroom, is a local school decision as teachers generally do not disclose personally
identifiable information from a student’s education record during classroom instruction.
FERPA neither requires nor prohibits individuals from observing a classroom.
- on classroom observation is also applicable to virtual classrooms.
- identifies best practices for emails.
- With regard to videos and virtual classrooms, to the extent videos are recorded and
maintained as education records, the might be useful.
The US Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) is available
to assist with your student privacy questions under FERPA. Additional information
is avaiable at .
Click on for a pdf of this page.
