What is the primary purpose of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)?

The primary purpose of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is to protect the privacy of students' education records. This federal law provides parents and eligible students (those who are 18 years old or older) the right to access their education records, seek to amend them, and control the disclosure of personally identifiable information from those records. The intent behind FERPA is to safeguard sensitive information and ensure that educational institutions handle student data responsibly.

Options related to promoting student testing, regulating classroom behavior, or ensuring teacher job security do not align with the core focus of FERPA. Instead, the law centers around privacy rights and access to education records, making it a crucial aspect of educational policy that directly impacts students and their families.