Educational Records and Research

Researchers are required to adhere to regulations when student records are involved. These regulations exist separately from IRB decisions. That is, PIs must adhere to The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) in addition to IRB decisions.

FERPA is a federal law that gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level.

Generally, schools must obtain written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. FERPA defines educational records as records containing information (in any medium - paper, electronic, microfilm, etc.) that are directly related to a student and are maintained by an educational institution or by a party acting for the institution.

This impacts the consent process in the IRB protocol.

1. FERPA requires written consent. A waiver of consent documentation would be unavailable for studies that use educational records covered by FERPA because consent would then be required outside the context of research.
2. FERPA has specific consent elements that must be included in the research consent form.

The written consent of adults or of parents on behalf of minors authorizing the release of records must specify the records that may be disclosed, state the purpose of the disclosure, and identify the party or class of parties to whom the disclosure may be made. If a parent or eligible student so requests, the educational agency or institution shall provide him or her with a copy of the records disclosed.

Signed and dated written consent may include a record and signature in electronic form that identifies and authenticates a particular person as the source and also indicates such person's approval of the information contained in the electronic consent.

FERPA allows schools to disclose educational records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):

• School officials with legitimate educational interests
• Other schools to which a student is transferring
• Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes
• Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies
• Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student
• Accrediting organizations
• Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school
• State and local authorities within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific state law
• Directory Information. FERPA permits the following as: the student's name, address, telephone listing, electronic mail address, photograph, date and place of birth, major fields of study, dates of attendance, grade level, enrollment status, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, degrees, honors and awards received, and the most recent educational institution attended. However, students should be given the opportunity to file a request to prevent disclosure of directory information.

Modified regulations will more easily permit schools to adapt to changing standards in the areas of electronic signatures and documents. FERPA does allow the signed and data written consent to be obtained in an electronic form provided that the method to obtain an electronic signature:

1. Identifies and authenticates a particular person as the source of the electronic signature; and

2. Indicates such person’s approval of the information contained in the electronic consent.

69 FR 21670 at 21671 (April 21, 2004)

• Know when FERPA applies to your research project.
• Decision Tree, Applicability of FERPA in Research (link: https://tamucc-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/rebecca_ballard_tamucc_edu/EdK82XJVRp5Eod5obtCI98YBjjBiuL7Kx_fqQdVlQ3c0JA?e=zOPBtt)
• Be very specific about what data you are requesting to the IRB and to the registrar (e.g., instead of a generic response such as ‘academic record’, list all items you will collect: GPAs and cumulative GPAs, students’ academic transcript, course and grade history, gender identity, ethnicity, etc.).
• If securing consent by electronic signature, include a description as to how you will authenticate the person signing the form and document their approval of the content.
• Make sure your consent forms comply with both IRB Policy and FERPA regulations.

PPRA specifies the right of parents and guardians to inspect any instrument used to collect information concerning:

• Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student's parent
• Mental and psychological problems of the student or the student's family
• Sex behavior or attitudes
• Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior
• Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships
• Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers
• Income

Parental/guardian consent is required before such instruments can be used to gather information from a minor.

Researchers conducting studies in a “local educational agency” that receives any funds from the U.S. Department of Education must ensure that their protocol complies with the PPRA. Parental consent is required for studies involving surveys, psychiatric examination, testing, or treatment, or psychological examination, testing, or treatment, in which the primary purpose is to reveal information concerning the topics above.

The IRB does not have the authority to issue a waiver of informed consent on any of the areas of inquiry set forth above, or to overrule school district policies for implementing PPRA.

Researchers whose studies are subject to PPRA should review the policies of the local educational agency early in the study design process and should consider multiple methods to provide information to parents about their planned study. Parents should be given the opportunity to review the study materials before making a decision to permit their child to participate in the research. When PPRA applies, the IRB must ensure the researcher allows parents to inspect research materials.

Additional Information:

Code of Federal Regulations, Student Rights in research, Experimental Programs and Testing at 34 CFR 98: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2009-title34-vol1/xml/CFR-2009-title34-vol1-part98.xml 

U.S.C. § 1232h, United States Code, Protection of Pupil Rights: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/1232h#:~:text=All%20instructional%20
materials%2C%20including%20teacher's,or%20guardians%20of%20the%20children