Students' Privacy Rights Regarding Standardized Tests

[jagman11]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Hi, in April of last year my son took the new standardized test in English & Math in California (CAASPP) for 11th graders. He did not perform as great as I would have liked, but he did alright. Anyway, our family received his scores in the mail over the summer, and the school received his scores on the electronic feedback system like all the other scores. I was in a meeting with the school administration regarding another matter, and during our conversation, they brought up his low scores. They played a phone call from someone who works at the state Department of Education in which the employee told them some of his responses. The admin said the employee said that she could not given them the actual text from the responses.

My question is whether an employee of the state can legally give the administration of my son's public school his responses on the CAASPP test over the phone?

Thank you to anyone who can help.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Hi, in April of last year my son took the new standardized test in English & Math in California (CAASPP) for 11th graders. He did not perform as great as I would have liked, but he did alright. Anyway, our family received his scores in the mail over the summer, and the school received his scores on the electronic feedback system like all the other scores. I was in a meeting with the school administration regarding another matter, and during our conversation, they brought up his low scores. They played a phone call from someone who works at the state Department of Education in which the employee told them some of his responses. The admin said the employee said that she could not given them the actual text from the responses.

My question is whether an employee of the state can legally give the administration of my son's public school his responses on the CAASPP test over the phone?

Thank you to anyone who can help.

For what reason did the Department of Education have contact with your child's school administrator?

What was the "other matter" that was discussed that led to the administrator playing the recorded message?

You received your child's scores this past summer? I thought the State said in August that there would be a delay in the release of the CAASPP scores.

 

[jagman11]

The administration wanted to double check his scores. They told me they routinely request confirmations from the CA Department of Ed. for scores at the proficient/slightly under border. That is where his scores were around, between a 2 & 3 on the scale.

And yes. I received his scores in a letter by mail. It was from my son's school district with his scores on the CAASPP from the state. It had scores in the math & English with explanations for each of the four categories: standard not met, nearly met, met, and exceeded. His were on the border of nearly met and met. I was in a meeting with the administrator to approve a request for a copy of my son's transcript for colleges. At my son's school, a parent-admin/counselor meeting is held the first time a student requests transcripts for college. After that, the student or parent can request them at any time. During my meeting with admin, they told me they had requested a confirmation from the state Education Department over my son's CAASPP scores. They played me a voice message from a lady working at the department; she talked about my son's responses. I thought this was odd, and I wanted to post to this forum to see if she can do that.

 

[quincy]

The administration wanted to double check his scores. They told me they routinely request confirmations from the CA Department of Ed. for scores at the proficient/slightly under border. That is where his scores were around, between a 2 & 3 on the scale.

And yes. I received his scores in a letter by mail. It was from my son's school district with his scores on the CAASPP from the state. It had scores in the math & English with explanations for each of the four categories: standard not met, nearly met, met, and exceeded. His were on the border of nearly met and met. I was in a meeting with the administrator to approve a request for a copy of my son's transcript for colleges. At my son's school, a parent-admin/counselor meeting is held the first time a student requests transcripts for college. After that, the student or parent can request them at any time. During my meeting with admin, they told me they had requested a confirmation from the state Education Department over my son's CAASPP scores. They played me a voice message from a lady working at the department; she talked about my son's responses. I thought this was odd, and I wanted to post to this forum to see if she can do that.

I do not see a problem with the communication between the Department of Education and the school administrator (depending, I suppose, on who from the Department of Education accessed your son's test results). The test result information was used to better inform you about your son's scores.

 

[stealth2]

Rereading, quincy, I am thinking that the problem may be that this was left via VM, vs a person-to-person discussion. *Personally*, I would be more concerned about my kid's responses (if they were oddly wrong) than who may have discussed them. But that's a moot issue...

 

[quincy]

Rereading, quincy, I am thinking that the problem may be that this was left via VM, vs a person-to-person discussion. *Personally*, I would be more concerned about my kid's responses (if they were oddly wrong) than who may have discussed them. But that's a moot issue...

Voice messages potentially could be an issue if the messages are not on a private line and others beside the school administrator have been given the password and can listen to the messages.

I am not sure how likely this would be, though.