Falvo+V.+Owasso+School+District

Falvo V. Owasso School District

Kristja J. Falvo asked the Owasso Independent School District to ban peer grading, or the practice of allowing students to score each other's tests, papers, and assignments as the teachers explain the correct answers to the entire class, because it embarrassed her children. When the school district declined, Falvo filed an action against the school district, claming that such peer grading violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). FERPA authorizes federal funds to be withheld from school districts that permit students' "education records (or personally identifiable information contained therein)" to be released without their parents' written consent and defines education records as "records, files, documents, and other materials" containing information directly related to a student, which "are maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a person acting for such agency or institution." Disagreeing with Falvo, the District Court held that grades put on papers by another student are not "education records." In reversing, the Court of Appeals found that grades marked by students on each other's work are "education records," such that the very act of grading is an impermissible release of information to the student grader.
 * 1) Backround info
 * 1) Facts
 * Owasso School District let peers grade eachothers papers
 * Kristja J. Falvo wants them to stop because her child is a special ed student and doesn't want him to get embarresed.
 * 1) People Involved
 * Kristja J. Falvo
 * Owasso Independent School District
 * 1) Lower Courts Decisions
 * A federal trial judge in Oklahoma ruled in the school district's favor in 1999
 * Falvo appealed to the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
 * 1) Other Court Decisions
 * A three-judge panel of that court agreed with her view of the 1974 law, commonly known as the Buckley Amendment, which was brought in to address public concern over the effect students' permanent records could have on their futures if not handled carefully.
 * The school district petitioned to the Supreme Court. The justices agreed with the school district that the law did contain an implied difference between the files and documents kept in a steel cabinet down at the principal's office.
 * The Supreme Court did not agree with what Falvo was trying to say.
 * 1) Results of Decisions
 * From now on students will continue to grade papers on behalf of the teacher. Many people don’t agree with this decision, but it will be up to the teacher if they continue to let various students correct their papers.

By:Seth Olin