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Friends is my favorite so a GIF of Ross is a must!

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I am in my fourth year as a teacher and I have been in Education for six years. The topic of this guide is student confidentiality. This topic is very important to anybody that works with students at a school. The audience could be teachers, administrators, speech pathologists, etc. The reason student confidentiality has become such an issue is because social media is so prominent in the world we live in today. I have worked with teachers and in school districts that have had issues with breaking student confidentiality laws and that is why I would like to discuss it.

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The governing agency for student confidentiality is the U.S. Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO). The SPPO enforces the federal law, Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and aims to protect student's personal information. There is also the Federal Trade Commission and they are the governing agency for the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The state level will still follow FERPA, although there are added laws that are more specific. As a teacher, there are schools and teachers that get in trouble for violating FERPA regularly. If a teacher violates this law, then the teacher could possibly lose their job. The governing bodies of this topic at the federal level is the U.S. Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) and the state governing body for this topic is Texas Education Agency (TEA). TEA is where members of the community, teachers, and parents can file a complaint that FERPA was violated and TEA will investigate the issue and decide if it will need to be reported to the SPPO. I have learned how important it is that everyone who works with students understands the significance of student confidentiality.

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The federal constitutional laws that align with my topic are the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The source for FERPA is 34 CFR Part 99 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. The link for FERPA law is: https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/sites/default/files/resource_document/file/An%20Eligible%20Student%20Guide%20to%20FERPA_0.pdf. The purpose for the FERPA law is to protect student's personal information. The parents of the student can control the information that is disclosed until the child is 18 years old (U.S. Department of Education, 2024).

The source for COPPA is 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506 ( Pub. L. 105–277 (text) (PDF), 112 Stat. The link for COPPA law is: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-312. The governing agency for COPPA is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The purpose for the COPPA law is that parents get to say what information is put online about their children and it aims to provide protection for children (FTC, 2024).

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Student Privacy 101:  FERPA for Parents and Students

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The one main statute and administrative law over student confidentiality is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

The source for FERPA is 34 CFR Part 99 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. The link for FERPA law is: https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/sites/default/files/resource_document/file/An%20Eligible%20Student%20Guide%20to%20FERPA_0.pdf. The purpose for the FERPA law is to protect student's personal information. The parents of the student can control the information that is disclosed until the child is 18 years old (U.S. Department of Education, 2024).

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There are two court cases listed below that are over student confidentiality. In the U.S. v. Miami University case the school newspaper was releasing identifiable information about the university's students and that was a violation of the FERPA law. In the Jensen v. Reeves case the principal and teachers were violating FERPA because the school staff was releasing private information about the student with behavior problems to people that did not need to know.

Epic.org (2024) states "United States v. Miami Univ., 294 F. 3d 797 (6th Cir. 2002). In Miami, the Sixth Circuit held that a newspaper does not have unrestricted access to unredacted student disciplinary records because such records are “education records” within the meaning of FERPA.

Jensen v. Reeves, 3 Fed. Appx. 905 (10th Cir. 2001). In Jensen, the Tenth Circuit determined that limited disclosure to interested parties about a child’s misbehavior in school is legitimate under FERPA." (para. 4).

Link to United States v. Miami University case: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/91/1132/2510828/

Link to this case: https://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2001/02/99-4142.htm

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Educator’s Code of Ethics:  The Texas Administrative Code states that the educator shall not reveal confidential information concerning students unless disclosure serves lawful professional purposes or is required by law ( 19 Tex. Admin. Code §247.2). This professional code of ethics is in place so that teachers will not disclose information about any of their students unless necessary by law. There are times that teachers could be chit chatting with their colleagues at work about a student and violate this code of ethics very easily. This is connected to student confidentially because any information about a student is confidential unless necessary.

Link to Texas Admin. Code: https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=7&ch=247&rl=2

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The federal regulations that align with my topic are the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The source for FERPA is 34 CFR Part 99 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. The link for FERPA law is: https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/sites/default/files/resource_document/file/An%20Eligible%20Student%20Guide%20to%20FERPA_0.pdf. The purpose for the FERPA law is to protect student's personal information. The parents of the student can control the information that is disclosed until the child is 18 years old (U.S. Department of Education, 2024).

The source for COPPA is 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506 ( Pub. L. 105–277 (text) (PDF), 112 Stat. The link for COPPA law is: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-312. The governing agency for COPPA is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The purpose for the COPPA law is that parents get to say what information is put online about their children and it aims to provide protection for children (FTC, 2024).

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Identify & Create: The first risk management strategy would be to create a risk management team. The team would identify the risk and establish the protocols and procedures when there are risks.

Assess & Educate: The second risk management strategy would be to create a workshop over risk management and what that means. The team would be responsible for educating the staff on what to do in situations. The team would need to assess situations when there are risks and decide where to go from there.

Treat & Report: The third step is to evaluate the risk and document the actions and outcomes. The team will then need to discuss the procedures that occurred to the appropriate stakeholders.

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The Sonora ISD employee handbook (2024) states that the educator must “maintain confidentiality in all matters relating to students and coworkers” (p. 35). This policy means that teachers and others that work at Sonora ISD must keep student information confidential.

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#10 Personal Connection to the Legal and Ethical Standards

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#10 Personal Connection to the Legal and Ethical Standards

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I have a deep personal connection to the student confidentiality issue because it is something I am faced with everyday. The Tex. Admin. Code, FERPA, and COPPA all are in place to protect the privacy of our students, but sometimes as a teacher that can be put on the back burner. When a student is having a hard day and is disruptive in class, it is hard not to go and talk to your work colleagues about it. I love to chit chat with my friends and talk about everything, but now that I have been teaching for four years I have seen how important it is to keep information about our students private. I will graduate in May with my counseling degree and I want to keep going to get my principal certification. This course has open my eyes to all of the court cases, laws, and regulations that are out there over student confidentiality. If I want to be a principal one day, I have to be able to abide by these laws and fully understand them so that I can educate my staff about them as well.

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#11 Bulleted list of Recommendations /Best Practices for Compliance:

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#11 Bulleted list of Recommendations /Best Practices for Compliance:

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The recommendations I have for complying with the student confidentiality laws are:

Venting: If you have a bad day, you are allowed to talk about it. If you don't then you will not be mentally healthy. If you do talk about your day, talk to your spouse about it and do not disclose any identifiable information about the students.

Social Media: Do not ever post any identifiable information about your students on your social media. If you would like to post a picture of something that your students did in class, you have to make sure that there is no name on the paper, no pictures of the student anywhere, and no identifiable information about a student on anything.

Behavior Students: If there is a behavior student that is tough and has needs that need to be discussed then you will need to go to the principal or behavioral specialist and discuss the issues with them and them only.

Gossiping: Steer away from gossiping about your students in the hallway with the other teachers. If there is something you want to share, share it without mentioning the name of the student.

Questions: If you have questions about student confidentiality, go to your campus for more information on the topic. If the principal can't help you they will most likely point you in the direction of someone who can.

Do your research: I have learned so much in the last couple of months from my own research. I have read articles about teachers sharing student information on TikTok, court cases, etc. The more you know about student confidentiality, the better off you will be!

Continually educate staff: The school staff needs to be in the loop on all current student privacy laws. These laws include Family Education Rights and Protection Act (FERPA)and Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). School counselors, principals, and teachers need to be regularly reminded of student privacy laws and the importance of them.