Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) 

 

The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) ​is a federal law that affords certain 
rights to parents of minor students with regard to surveys that ask questions of a personal nature. 
Briefly, the law requires that schools obtain written consent from parents before minor students 
(or from the student if an adult or an emancipated minor) are required to participate in any U.S. 
Department of Education (USDE) funded survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals information 
concerning the following areas: 

● Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or student’s parent; 

● Mental or psychological problems of the student or student’s family; 
● Sex behavior or attitudes; 
● Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior; 
● Critical appraisals of others with whom respondents have close family relationships; 
● Legally recognized privileged relationships, such as with lawyers, doctors, or ministers; 
● Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or student’s parent; or 
● Income, other than as required by law to determine program eligibility. 

Under PPRA, schools and other recipients of USDE funds under a program administered by the 
USDE must obtain written parental consent (“active” consent) before students are required to 
participate in any survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals information concerning any of the 
eight protected areas noted above. For surveys that students are not required, as part of a 
program administered by the Department, to participate in but that are administered by a school 
or school district that is the recipient of Department funds, PPRA requires that the school 
“directly” notify, such as through U.S. Mail or email, parents of students who are scheduled to 
participate in a survey that asks questions about one or more of the eight protected areas listed 
above in order to provide them with an opportunity to opt their children out of participation 
(“passive” consent). Regarding those surveys that ask questions concerning one or more of the 
eight protected areas listed above but that do ​not r​ equire students to participate or are ​not p
​ art 
of a program administered by the Department, the school should utilize the “passive” consent 
requirement. 

In addition to written consent, schools and contractors must make instructional materials 
(includes teacher’s manuals, films, tapes, or other supplementary material) available for inspection 
by parents if those materials will be used in connection with an USDE-funded survey, analysis, or 
evaluation in which their children participate. 
For additional questions or concerns, please contact your school district's legal office or legal representative. ​ 1 
 
 
Policies 
PPRA requires school districts to work with parents to develop policies related to: 
● Providing notice regarding the right to inspect a survey created by a third party before the 
survey is administered or distributed to a student, and procedures for granting a request 
for reasonable access to such survey; 
● Arrangements to protect student privacy afforded in the event of administration or 
distribution of a survey containing one or more of the eight areas identified above; 
● Right to inspect instructional material used as part of educational curriculum, upon 
request; 
● Administration of physical examinations or screenings (excluding vision, hearing, or 
scoliosis) that the school may administer to a student; and 
● Collection, disclosure, or use of personal information collected from students for the 
purpose of marketing or for selling the information, and right to inspect any instrument 
used in the collection of such information. Examples of these activities include those 
related to college or other postsecondary education recruitment, military recruitment, 
book clubs, and programs for low-cost literacy products. 
 
Notice 
PPRA specifies that the policies adopted by a school district shall provide reasonable notice of the 
adoption or continued use of such policies. At a minimum, the school district is required to 
provide such notice at least annually, at the beginning of the school year, and also within a 
reasonable period of time if any substantive change is made to the policies.  
 
Further, school districts must offer an opportunity for parents to opt-out of (remove their child) 
from participation in the following activities: 
● Activities involving the collection, disclosure, or use of personal information collected from 
students for the purpose of marketing or for selling that information, or otherwise 
providing that information to others for that purpose; 
● The administration of any third party (non-USDE funded) survey containing one or more of 
the above described eight items of information; or 
● Any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening that is: required as a 
condition of attendance; administered by the school and scheduled by the school in 
advance; and not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of the student, or 
of other students.​ ​Note: This does not apply to any physical examination or screening that 
is permitted or required by State law, including hearing, vision, scoliosis, and such 
examinations or screenings permitted without parental notification 
 
If the school district intends to conduct any of the three above activities, the LEA shall directly 
notify parents at least annually at the beginning of the school year, the specific or approximate 
dates during the school year when these activities are scheduled or expected to be scheduled. 
 
 
 
 
For additional questions or concerns, please contact your school district's legal office or legal representative. ​ 2 
 
 
Exceptions 
The requirements of PPRA do not: 
● Apply to a survey administered to a student in accordance with the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); 
● Supersede any requirements of the Family Education Rights Privacy Act (FERPA); 
● Preempt applicable provisions of the state law requiring parental notification; or 
● Apply to any physical examination or screening that is permitted or required by applicable 
state law, including those permitted without parental notification. 
 
How does PPRA translate to surveys schools actually give? 
There are several types of surveys that schools commonly use that may touch on one or more of 
the eight protected topics. These include but are not limited to: 
● College admissions surveys (such as those given before the ACT or SAT), 
● Career interest surveys 
● Social-emotional learning (SEL) surveys 
● Mental health screenings 
● Threat assessment screenings 
● Community health screenings 
● Needs assessments and universal screeners 
○ Needs assessments and universal screeners that gather information by reviewing 
existing data or input f​ rom teachers and other educators​ do not require consent. 
○ Surveys or assessment tools (i.e. a depression screener) that include one question 
from one of the eight protected areas require consent. If students are required to 
complete the survey and the survey is funded by USDE, active consent is required. If 
the survey is voluntary, passive consent is permitted. 
● Climate Surveys 
○ As long as the climate survey does not address any of the protected topics, consent 
is not required. School officials may want to notify parents to include them in the 
process. 
 

Before giving any of these surveys or examinations, the school should review the questions to see 
if any of the eight protected categories are included. For example, if you are planning to use an 
SEL survey, walk through the questions one by one and see if any fall into one of the categories. 
There is a good chance that most of them are not covered by PPRA, but note any questions that 
look like they might touch on one of the eight topics. Then do the following: 
 

● Purpose specification:​ Ask yourself, what is this question trying to accomplish? If a state or 
federal law is requiring the survey, the text of the law can often provide some indication of 
the purpose. Once you understand the purpose, ask yourself if there is a way to rework the 
question to accomplish that same goal without requiring the student to give as much 
personal information. For example, there is a big difference between asking in a school 
climate survey if the student feels like there are adults they can talk to if they were victims 
of sexual assault and asking if they have been a victim of sexual assault. One is clearly tied 
to understanding the school climate, whereas the other is causing the student to reveal 
personal information. 
 
For additional questions or concerns, please contact your school district's legal office or legal representative. ​ 3 
  
 
● Data minimization:​ If there are only one or two questions in the survey that cover the eight 
protected categories and they do not seem relevant to accomplish the purpose of the 
survey, you may also decide to omit the questions. 
● Consent:​ If you think the question should stay as-is, you will need to prepare consent forms 
for parents. 
 

In addition, assuming parents have consented and you have collected the sensitive information 
from students, consider specifying in policy who will have access to the data in an identifiable 
format, who will have access to it in aggregate, and the permitted uses for the data (i.e., use 
limitation). Also, consider how long the data will be retained and how it will be destroyed. 
 
Model Notice 
School districts can use this m
​ odel general notice of rights​ to inform parents and students (as 
applicable) of their rights under PPRA. This m
​ odel notice and consent opt-out ​can be used for 
parents and students (as applicable) to opt-out of certain activities.    

For additional questions or concerns, please contact your school district's legal office or legal representative. ​ 4 
  
 
References 
 
Coleman, B., Rock, W., & Stone, C. (2020). Legal/ethical implications of the Hatch 
Amendment [webinar]. American School Counselor Association. 
https://videos.schoolcounselor.org/legal-ethical-implications-of-the-hatch-amendm
ent 
 
Student Privacy Compass. (2020).​ FAQs: The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment. 
https://studentprivacycompass.org/faqs-ppra/ 
 
U.S. Department of Education. (2020). P ​ rotection of Pupil Rights Amendment model 
notice. 
https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/sites/default/files/resource_document/file/20-0379.PP
RA_508_0.pdf 
 
U.S. Department of Education. (2014). P​ PRA for parents​. 
https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/resources/ferpa-general-guidance-parents 
 
U.S. Department of Education. (2020). P ​ PRA general guidance. 
https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/sites/default/files/resource_document/file/20-0379.PP
RA_508_0.pdf 
 
U.S. Department of Education. (2020). P ​ PRA annual notice to superintendents. 
https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/node/501 
 
U.S. Department of Education. (2020). P ​ PRA annual notices. 
https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/annual-notices 
 
 

For additional questions or concerns, please contact your school district's legal office or legal representative. ​ 5