The 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 are required to participate in any U.S. Department of Education funded survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals information concerning the following areas:

• Political affiliations;

• Mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student and his/her family;

• Sex behavior and attitudes;

• Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior;

• Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships;

• Legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians, and ministers;

• Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or student’s parent*; or

• Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for receiving financial assistance under such program.