IRB C Member Presentation

1. School Based Research: The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) & The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) IRB C Member Presentation

2. The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99)

3. What is FERPA? • The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. • FERPA 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. Students to whom the rights have transferred are "eligible students.“ • http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

4. What is FERPA? • Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31): • School officials with legitimate educational interest; • Other schools to which a student is transferring; • Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes; • Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student; • Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school; • Accrediting organizations; • To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena; • Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and • State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.

5. How is FERPA Interpreted? • FERPA is a federal law that is locally interpreted and applied. In the UC system, we interpret FERPA as adopted by the UC Regents. • Definitions per the UC Regent’s 130.00 Policies Applying to the Disclosure of Information from Student Records: http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/coordrev/ucpolicies/aos/toc130.html 130.220 - "Record" means any information recorded in any way, including, but not limited to, handwriting, print, computer media, video or audio tape, film, microfilm, and microfiche.130.231 - "Student records" are those records that contain information directly related to a student and that are maintained by a University of California campus, the University of California Office of the President, or by any organization authorized to act on behalf of the University.130.232 - Student records include, but are not limited to, academic evaluations, including student examination papers, transcripts, test scores and other academic records; general counseling and advising records; disciplinary records; and financial aid records, including student loan collection records.

6. How is FERPA Interpreted? The UCI Registrar is the FERPA campus coordinator. They provide a matrix to help navigate what student information can be accessed at UCI per the UC Regents adoption of FERPA. http://www.reg.uci.edu/facnet/matrix.pdf

7. How does FERPA effect the IRB Review of protocols? • To maintain consistency across protocols, all UCI protocols are reviewed as if they were federally funded. Therefore, when a researcher is accessing official student records for research purposes, the protocol must adhere FERPA regulations. • The IRB does not have the authority to determine if waivers of written permission can be granted when a researcher is accessing official student records. As each institution interprets FERPA differently, the participating school district and/or local school will make the determination regarding whether the researcher must obtain written permission. • Prior to granting IRB approval, the IRB must receive written letters of permission from each participating school district and/or local school. The letter of permission must confirm the study’s adherence to FERPA and provide the determination regarding whether written permission is necessary.

8. How does FERPA effect the IRB Review of protocols? • When the researcher is accessing UCI student records, they must submit a copy their IRB application to the UCI FERPA Analyst for review. • The UCI FERPA Analyst will issue a written letter to the researcher and to the IRB. This letter will specify any revisions that are required in order for the protocol to be FERPA compliant and it will provide the determination regarding whether written permission must be obtained. • The UCI Registrar’s current FERPA Analyst is: Mark Fonseca Registrar/SAIS ifonseca@uci.edu (949) 824-9672

9. The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232h; 34 CFR Part 98)

10. What is the PPRA? • The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232h; 34 CFR Part 98) applies to programs that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). PPRA is intended to protect the rights of parents and students in two ways: • It seeks to ensure that schools and contractors make instructional materials available for inspection by parents if those materials will be used in connection with an ED-funded survey, analysis, or evaluation in which their children participate; and • It seeks to ensure that schools and contractors obtain written parental consent before minor students are required to participate in any ED-funded survey, analysis, or evaluation that ask questions falling in the protected information categories. • PPRA gives parents the right to: • Inspect instructional materials and surveys • Consent before their children participate in protected information surveys

11. Protected Information Categories • Political affiliations; • Mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student and his/her family; • Sex behavior and attitudes; • Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and 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; or • Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program).

12. How does PPRA effect the IRB Review of protocols? • To maintain consistency across protocols, all UCI protocols are reviewed as if they were federally funded. Therefore, PPRA regulations should be applied to all protocols falling under its purview. • The PPRA applies specifically to students who are minors. • The IRB does not have the authority to waive written parental consent when a researcher is conducting research that falls under PPRA regulations. • When a protocol falls under PPRA, the IRB must ensure that researcher allows parents to inspect the materials and that written parental permission is obtained.

13. Additional Information Please visit the following U.S. Department of Education websites for additional information regarding these regulations: • FERPA: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html • PPRA: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ppra/index.html

14. Questions? Please feel free to contact the IRB C HRP staff: Jessica Sheldon IRB C Administrator jessica.sheldon@uci.edu 949-824-4779 Alicia Tieman (Asgari) IRB C Analyst alicia.tieman@uci.edu 949-824-7114 Matthew Alcala IRB C Assistant matthew.alcala@uci.edu 949-824-6662