The Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, also known as the Buckley Amendment, is a Federal law that governs the confidentiality of student records. This law requires that educational institutions maintain the confidentiality and privacy of student records, ensures that each student has access to his or her education records, and provides students with a limited opportunity to correct erroneous education records.

To maintain privacy and confidentiality of student records all personally identifiable information must be protected. Any information which makes a student's identity easily traceable is considered private and confidential. A student's Social Security Number, for example, is personally identifiable information. Personally identifiable information cannot be released to third parties.

Data at this site may be summarized or masked to protect the confidentiality of student records. Data may be masked by using categories such as "Other" or by displaying a star "*" or dash "-" in place of data that may reveal the identity of a student. The general rule of thumb is to mask all counts between 1 and 4.

When necessary, data are not reported to protect student anonymity. When the number of students represented by a final status is not reported, the class size is presented in intervals to provide an approximate or general idea of the number of students in the class while maintaining student anonymity. In a class of <150, for example, the number of students is between 100 and 149.

Copyright (c) Texas Education Agency, 2011