Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA)

The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) applies to the programs and activities of a state education agency (SEA), local education agency (LEA), or other recipient of funds under any program funded by the U.S. Department of Education. It governs the administration of a survey, analysis, or evaluation of students that concerns one or more of the following eight protected areas:

• political affiliation or beliefs of the student or the student’s parent;
• mental or psychological problems of the student or the student’s family;
• sex behavior or attitudes;
• illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or 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 the 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 a program).

Additionally, PPRA also addresses the marketing of surveys and other areas of student privacy, parental access to information, and the administration of certain physical examinations to minors.