By Audience: Early Childhood Educators

The resources on this page are intended for staff and educators of Early Childhood programs or institutions. Resources found here address the unique challenge of applying FERPA to the early childhood setting.

Best Practices

FERPA Exceptions Summary (Apr 2014) - 2-page Standard Size

The various exceptions to FERPA can be confusing and difficult to keep track of. The FERPA Exceptions Summary is intended to be a handy visual aid to help identify, at a glance, what FERPA exception applies to the data sharing work you are trying to do.

Guidance

Frequently Asked Questions - Disclosure Avoidance

This document is intended to provide general guidance to State and local educational agencies and institutions about the best practice strategies for protecting personally identifiable information from education records in aggregate reports. The paper provides suggestions on how to ensure that necessary confidentiality requirements are met, including compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The information is presented in the form of responses to frequently asked questions (FAQs), followed by a list of additional resources at the end.

Guidance

Data De-identification: An Overview of Basic Terms

This document is intended to assist educational agencies and institutions with maintaining compliance with privacy and confidentiality requirements under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) by reviewing basic terminology used to describe data de-identification as well as related concepts and approaches.

Guidance

Data Breach Response Checklist

This publication provides educational agencies and institutions with a checklist of critical breach response components and steps to assist stakeholder organizations in building a comprehensive data breach response capability. The checklist is meant to be used as a general example illustrating some current industry best practices in data breach response and mitigation applicable to education community.

Guidance

Recorded Webinars

Intersection of FERPA and IDEA Confidentiality Provisions - March 2012

This webinar discusses how the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) interacts with IDEA Part B Confidentiality provisions.

Guidance

Tech Brief #3: Statistical Methods for Protecting Personally Identifiable Information in Aggregate Reporting

This Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) Technical Brief examines what protecting student privacy means in a reporting context.

Letters

Letter to School District re: SES Providers Contacting Parents

Letter to a school district providing assurance that Approved Supplemental Educational Providers are not prohibited by FERPA from contacting parents and guardians of students served in SES programs in previous years.

Guidance

Letters

Letter to Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning Regarding CAPTA - November 2006

Letter regarding the applicability of FERPA to Minnesota's alleged child abuse reporting and investigation laws pursuant to the Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA),

Guidance

Letters

Letter to Special Education Provider Regarding Accrediting Organizations - January 2006

Letter addressing the applicability of FERPA to the disclosure of special education records to an accrediting organization by an entity that provides special education programs for students referred by local school districts.

Letters

Letter to Tazewell County (VA) School Board re: Unauthorized Access to Education Record Systems

Reponse to the Tazewell County, Virginia School Board regarding a plan for a shared computer network which would potentially allow electronic student educational records to be accessed by persons or entities not employed by the school system.

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