FERPAed

The Virginia Tech shootings report again points out the rampant misunderstandings that abound about what federal privacy laws do and do not require. This is an extreme case, but in work with state policymakers I encounter this a lot around teacher and student data and there is a real chilling effect caused by misunderstandings. This primer from the Data Quality Campaign (pdf) is a good start to clearing some of that up, but I think there is room for a lot more in the way of explainer pieces laying out what the law does and does not require.