On December 2, 2011, the United States Department of Education (USDE) issued new and revised Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations. The changes come in response to requests by educational institutions to be able to using testing data to assess their programs without running afoul of FERPA regulations

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Along with the regulations, the USDE has issued both parent and school district guides to the new regulations.

Directory information: In the past, parents had the right to opt their children out of school directory information. By not giving directory permission, schools were not allowed to included children in yearbooks and other type publications. Under the new regs, schools can not adopt limited director information policies and implementation methods. The intent is to open up for school uses which are considered non-dangerous, such as yearbooks, but still giving parents the right to restrict publication for uses which are more potentially dangerous. Keep in mind, these regulations do not require district to lighten their restrictions; they only give them the opportunity to do so should they wish to do so.

Testing information: Essentially, the new regulations allow district and state agencies to look at longitudinal data regarding testing data. The new regulations seek to help facilitate effective research and evaluation of federal and state supported education programs through the use of such data systems.

For more information about FERPA, click here. In order to access the final regulations, click here.

Gregory Branch is an educational attorney and teacher. His solo practice focuses on educational issues. He is also the Santa Ana Special Education reporter for Examiner.com. You can see his Examiner articles here.

Thanks to Jim Gerl at the Special Education Law Blog for bringing these regs to my attention.