Hello:
This is my first email of the year and I appreciate the fact that it is purposefully driven. Thanks for writing.
I assume the advice you got was guided by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records and applies to schools receiving federal funds. So your concerns are well founded. FERPA also grants students the right to inspect and review their education; provides guidelines for the correction of inaccurate and misleading data through formal and informal hearings. State laws are aligned with FERPA. I checked your state's (Missouri) policy and it is aligned with FERPA.
As someone who is conversant with the law, writes charter school applications, of which legal compliance is a section, and as an advocate for parents and students, I can assure you that information on scholastic excellence and awards are shared except otherwise restricted: FERPA makes the exception:
Schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a PTA bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school.
Given the above, the parents and honor roll students were certainly informed. We would continue to work with schools, African parents, schools and community to promote and highlight the scholastic excellence of students with African immigrant background. They can match the touted Asian Model. Last October, your state organized a two-day conference on closing Academic Achievement Gap at the Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Congressman William Clay (D-MO) and Senator Claire McCaskill, (D-MO) were presenters.
On the census, we are organizing on multiple fronts and yes, it is a long way to go as expected. But can you clarify what you mean by students of African descent?
We are focused on students with African immigrant background, not blacks. That is how we got the office of African Affairs in the District of Columbia and the formal recognition of Continental Africans as a demographic group in Montgomery County, Maryland. When I became the first to chair the NAACP's African Affairs committee in Montgomery County, that was a big step toward recognizing the distinctions. Below is a capsule of our first victory, compete with experiences with twists, turns and bingos!. You can cut and paste on your browser if the link does not open.:
http://continentalafricancommunity.org/DatingHistoryRiseofanErawithAfricansinDC.aspxs
Other research can be downloaded from the home page.
Regards,
MsJoe
In a message dated 1/2/2011 3:29:35 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, JamaineAbidogun@MissouriState.edu writes:
This study is interesting, but it seems that state and federal laws regarding student privacy may be breached here. Your research group may have access to names under it design and implementation, but student information is not normally publicly displayed. As a teacher educator, I am advised to never have my students use PK-12 students' real names in their work even for classroom activities. As a parent I find it unsettling to see this list of students' names available to all.
I hope you are working with political groups to make self-identification of African descent included in the school census forms. It may take time, as you demonstrated it did for Hispanic students, but gains can be made with persistent effort.
Sincerely,
Dr Jamaine Abidogun
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