CITI Program Questions

A student who is 18 years of age or enrolled in a postsecondary institution

An eligible student is a student who is 18 years of age or enrolled in a postsecondary institution. An eligible student does not always have to be older than 18. For example, a 17-year-old enrolled in college is also considered an eligible student. Although accepting federal loans requires a college or university to comply with FERPA, it has no effect on whether a student is an eligible student or not. An individual's living situation also has no effect on FERPA. Lastly, parents do not give consent for their college student. It is actually the other way around - the eligible student has to consent to parents reviewing their records, though there are some exceptions to this rule.

The educational records are necessary for the educational official in question to perform his/her role as defined in the job description

Individuals must require access to the information to complete a task related to their work. This will change on a case-to-case basis. Educational administrators are not assumed to have legitimate educational interest in student data, unless their request meets other criteria. The relevance or importance of a research study does not give researchers legitimate educational interest to get access to educational records. Criteria for legitimate educational interest does not include accessibility of records. The turnaround time of 45 days is required for requests to see a record.

FERPA prevents the school from providing the data because the researcher does not have prior consent of the parents

The school cannot release data unless the researcher does have prior consent of the parents/guardians. Because the school did not commission the research (and it is not for a government program) the researchers will need to get parental permission. Regardless of the importance of the research, the researcher cannot receive a waiver if the school district has not commissioned it. The age of the data does not influence the level of protection offered to it. Students cannot agree to the use of their record at 13. They must be 18 years old or in a postsecondary institution to be an eligible student.

Suppressing, blurring, and masking

Suppressing, blurring, and masking are three methods used at various times to prevent the disclosure of FERPA protected information. These methods are often used in reporting research results.

Student educational records in paper and electronic form

Educational records are the data about students that institutions keep on file. Administrative datasets are often sought by researchers to conduct analyses. Such datasets include all information on a student's educational record, not just discipline. Operations is not part of a student's educational record, so it would not be on a student administrative dataset. Student administrative data are found in all educational institutions.

The Higher Education Act of 2008 requires Title IV postsecondary institutions to report aggregate information on graduates

The Higher Education Act of 2008 requires Title IV postsecondary institutions to report on graduates in the aggregate. Educational institutions are never required to identify students publicly. They may do so if the information falls within the definition of directory information. Information about use of online tools is not required by schools or school districts. Researchers can get access to this information, and if it is not attached to PII, they can get it without a parental consent. Some metadata is protected because it can identify the student (making it part of the student's educational record).

The risk of disclosure of students' information reported in that cell

Small cell sizes present the risk of disclosing student information, as people familiar with the group may be able to infer aggregate group results to individual results. Small cell size does not refer to the issues of statistical power. The identification of students from underrepresented groups may be one issue with small cell sizes, but it is not the only one. Other indicators can also reduce the size of the cell. The interpretation of the data in the cells is not relevant, except in so far that it helps identify the student.

Convened Review

This study would qualify for convened review because the IRB must conduct a careful analysis. The study involves an interview where the data collected could have an impact on the principals' careers and it contains subject identifiers.

All foreseeable risks and discomforts.

Per the federal regulations, the informed consent form must describe all foreseeable risks and discomforts.

Nuremberg Code

Prior to the Nuremberg Code in 1949, the U.S. did not have a set of ethical regulations in human subjects research. The Nuremberg Code paved the way in creating the human subjects research guidelines and regulations we follow today.

Studies collecting data about living individuals.

If a study intends to collect data or information about a living individual, you must obtain IRB review and approval.

Exempt

Exempt research is human subjects research that is "exempt" from the Common Rule provisions. Per federal guidance, the recommendation is that researchers should not be able to self-determine whether a study qualifies for exemption. Therefore, an IRB, or its designee, generally reviews and determines whether a study is exempt. Expedited and convened reviews both require IRB approval.

Presenting data with a code that can be matched to other data

Using a code to de-identify data allows researchers to match the data to other data with the same code, without disclosing the individual's PII. Masking or coding data is intended to allow data to be displayed without disclosing PII, not to circumvent FERPA. Student names identify a student and should never be used in a data set that is not intended to disclose PII. The code does not mask a name. It is usually based on an existing code (like an ID), but by using an algorithm it is scrambled and unidentifiable.