Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (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 reveals information concerning:
o Political affiliations;
o Mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student and his/her family;
o Sex behavior and attitudes;
o Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior;
o Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close
family relationships;
o Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of
lawyers, physicians, and ministers; or
o Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for
participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such
program).
Parents or students who believe their rights under PPRA may have been violated may file a complaint with ED by writing the Family Policy Compliance Office. Complaints must contain specific allegations of fact giving reasonable cause to believe that a violation of PPRA occurred.
For additional information or technical assistance, you may call (202) 260-3887 (voice). Individuals who use TDD may call the Federal Information Relay Service at
1-800-877-8339. Or you may contact us at the following address:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20202-5901
- Annual Notice to Parents and Students of Rights Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act