Supreme Court decision in peer grading case should benefit student journalists
Justices clarify privacy law, determine students are not agents of schools
© 2002 Student Press Law Center
February 19, 2002
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday
unanimously upheld the right of schools to engage in the common
practice of having students grade one another's work in the classroom,
which the Court ruled does not violate federal privacy statutes.
In a 9-0 ruling, the Court in Owasso Independent School
District v. Falvo held
that students do not act as agents of the school when they grade
their peers' work, a clarification that could be helpful to student
journalists in the future.
The Court ruled that classroom peer grading does not constitute
an "education record," and does not violate the federal
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) — at least not
until after the grades are recorded in a teacher's grade book.
The 1974 act, also known as the Buckley Amendment, penalizes schools
for releasing student "education records" without parental
consent.
"Just as it does not accord with our usual understanding
to say students are 'acting for' an educational institution when
they follow their teacher's direction to take a quiz, it is equally
awkward to say students are 'acting for' an educational institution
when they follow their teacher's direction to score it,"
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote in the Court's opinion.
Furthermore, the Court said that when quiz grades are read aloud
by students in class, they are not "maintained" by the
school district, a stipulation required for records that are protected
under FERPA.
Kristja J. Falvo sued her son's Oklahoma school district in
1998, claiming the disclosure of his quiz grades when students
swapped and graded work during class was a violation of FERPA.
Falvo challenged the policy because she said her learning-disabled
son was ridiculed when his poor grades were read aloud in class.
A federal appeals court sided with Falvo in October 2000. The
Owasso school district then appealed to the Supreme Court, making
it the first time the nation's highest court heard a case involving
FERPA.
The Court chose not to address the broader question of whether
student assignment grades are protected under FERPA once they
are turned in to teachers.
The Court said it assumed — without deciding — that FERPA provides
private parties with a cause of action.
The Court will take up that question in April when it hears
arguments in Gonzaga Univ. v. Doe, another FERPA-related
case on its docket this term.
Cite: Owasso Independent School
District v. Falvo, 534 U.S. 426 (2002)
