The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires local education agencies to include parents as equal team members in the cultivation of their child's individual education plan (IEP). Despite law, studies have shown that parents experience barriers to being included in the process. Barriers such as a lack of information, lack of…

The Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) has received an increasing number of questions from postsecondary educational institutions (institutions) on the conditions under which federal student financial aid information may be used for program evaluation and research purposes. Numerous federal laws govern access to, disclosure of, and use of…

Students with disabilities and their parents face additional challenges in any educational environment, but little previous research maps these challenges in a online schools. The purpose of this study was to understand parent perceptions of IDEA implementation for children with disabilities during the transition to fully online schooling.…

This document records testimony from a hearing before the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education that was held to discuss exploring opportunities to strengthen education research while protecting student privacy. Member statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Jared Polis, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Early…

The foundational federal law on student privacy, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), establishes student privacy rights by restricting with whom and under what circumstances schools may share students' personally identifiable information. This tool summarizes some of the main provisions of FERPA, and identifies when students'…

In early August 2020, as educators prepared for an uncertain school year, there was a worrying theme from school district homeless liaisons: numbers of identified homeless students were down--in some cases, significantly down--despite evidence of increased need. In September and October of 2020, a survey was conducted of local educational agency…

Unsurprisingly, schools, companies, and others that have amassed student information have been unable to adequately safeguard it. They simply cannot keep up with all the data they have collected and have routinely experienced data breaches. These breaches have compromised grades, student financial information, Social Security numbers, and even…

Analysis of student-level data to inform policy and promote student success is a core function of executive higher education agencies. Postsecondary data systems have expanded their collection of data elements for use by policymakers, institutional staff, and the general public. State coordinating and governing boards use these data systems for…

Education, Big Data, and student privacy are a combustible mix. The improvement of education and the protection of student privacy are key societal values. Big Data and Learning Analytics offer the promise of unlocking insights to improving education through large-scale empirical analysis of data generated from student information and student…

This is the 44th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2022. Section 664(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as reauthorized in 2004, requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress made toward the provision of a free appropriate…

As Washington prepares to welcome a new Congress in January 2023, incoming policymakers who want to improve education for every student and give parents more control over where and how their children are educated have many policy options at their disposal. New Members of Congress who want to protect taxpayers and rein in college costs also have…

Drawing on data collected during a 31-month critical qualitative study in the MX-US borderlands, the authors elucidate a positive and complex form of parentocracy unique to "transfronterizo" families. They demonstrate how parents bear their children in the US, move close to the border so that their children can more easily attend US…

The use of electronic case notes carries legal and ethical implications related to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Data from a national survey of over 1,200 school counselors was used in this study to examine their beliefs and behaviors regarding the use of electronic case notes. Strategies for the appropriate use of the…

Background: The aim was to investigate the role of measured intellectual function in framing parents as 'unfit' in child custody deprivation cases. Method: Grounded theory was used to analyse a national sample of custody deprivation cases in Iceland 2002-2014. Results: The terminology used to evaluate and describe the intellectual and…

Why should we respect the rights of parents to control the education of their children? The author probes this question through a thorough philosophical examination of the nature of the parent-child relationship. The labor of parenting, which is performed for the sake of the intimate relationships, the author says, creates a specific right: the…