Resources

This section houses all guidance documents, training materials, policy letters and other resources dedicated to protecting student privacy. To narrow the list of documents below, use the drop down menus to select the type of resource, the topic and/or the audience and click the ‘apply’ button. An updated list of resources will then be displayed below.

Guidance

Guía general de la Enmienda de Protección de los Derechos del Alumno (PPRA)

Este documento de orientación revisa los derechos de los padres según la PPRA y las obligaciones de los funcionarios de educación al implementar la PPRA. La PPRA se aplica a los programas y actividades de una agencia educativa estatal (SEA), una agencia educativa local (LEA) u otro beneficiario de fondos bajo cualquier programa financiado por el Departamento de Educación de EE.UU. (20 U.S.C. § 1232h, 34 CFR Parte 98).

Best Practices

Know Your Rights: FERPA Protections for Student Health Records

This one-page document provides a brief overview of parents’ and eligible students’ rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), with a particular focus on student health records.

Best Practices

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: Guidance for School Officials on Student Health Records

This guidance document provides school officials with general information about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), with a particular focus on student health records maintained by educational agencies and institutions and by third parties acting on their behalf.

Guidance

An Eligible Student Guide to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPA provides certain rights for parents regarding their children’s education records. When a student reaches 18 years of age or attends an institution of postsecondary education at any age, the student becomes an “eligible student,” and all rights under FERPA transfer from the parent to the student. This guide provides general information on an eligible student’s rights under FERPA.

Best Practices

LEA Website Privacy Transparency Review Final Report

The Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) at the U.S. Department of Education (Department) performed a four-year review of a nationally representative sample of the websites of 1,504 local education agencies (LEAs) to identify whether and how these websites include information about student privacy.

Best Practices

FERPA/IDEA Crosswalk

This document is a side-by-side comparison of the legal provisions and definitions in IDEA Part B, IDEA Part C and FERPA. It is intended to help differentiate these statutes and provide a comparisons for the shared definitions.

Letters

Letter to Postsecondary Institutions about the American Community Survey (ACS)

Letter to institutions of postsecondary education regarding the applicability of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to the disclosure of certain personally identifiable information from student education records to representatives of the U. S. Census Bureau (Bureau) who are conducting Group Quarters (GQ) or group housing data collection for the American Community Survey (ACS). Unlike the decennial census, the ACS is an on-going monthly survey of a sample of housing units and GQs, but the guidance is consistent with census collections.

Guidance

LEA Website Student Privacy Transparency Reviews - Combined Three-Year Report Summary

The Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) is performing a four-year review of a sample of the websites of 1,504 local education agencies (LEAs) to identify whether and how these websites include information about student privacy.

Best Practices

A Parent’s Guide for Understanding K-12 School Data Breaches

This resource aims to provide parents of K-12 students information to help understand what it means when your school has a data breach, as well as provide tools and best practices to help navigate the sometimes confusing process of protecting your children’s data in the event of a breach.

SPPO-21-03

Best Practices

Flyer - Before You Share that Student Record

A flyer that indicates; "Before you share that student record, stop, think! Remember it's up to you to keep student data safe."

Mobile complaint link