Owasso Independent School District No. I-011 v. Falvo Ex Rel. Pletan

Background

A parent of three children in an Oklahoma school district sued after teachers used a common practice called peer grading, where students score each other’s work and sometimes call out scores in class. The parent asked the district to stop peer grading. The federal district court sided with the school, but the Court of Appeals held peer-graded papers were protected "education records" under FERPA and that the practice violated the law.

Reasoning

The central question was whether work graded by classmates counts as an "education record" that schools must protect under FERPA. The Court said no for papers while they remain in a peer grader’s hands. The justices explained that "maintained" records normally means materials kept by the school or an official custodian, not papers briefly handled by students. The Court added that students are not acting for the school in the way teachers or administrators do. It also said that even if a teacher’s grade book is an education record, a grade on a student-graded paper is not protected until the teacher collects and records it.

Real world impact

The ruling means common classroom techniques such as peer grading, calling out scores, and group correction may continue without automatically triggering FERPA penalties while peers hold the papers. The decision avoids imposing heavy recordkeeping duties on every teacher and classroom. The Court limited its conclusion to the narrow point about possession by peer graders and did not decide whether grades are protected once recorded by teachers.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Scalia agreed with the outcome but disagreed with part of the Court’s language suggesting records must be kept in a central school repository, calling that idea unnecessary and confusing.