Stephen Black wrote:
> Someone else mentioned getting individual permission. That's what I
> do for posting by student number. On the answer sheet for their first
> quiz, I ask them to sign if they would like to give permission to have
> their grades posted by student number. I tell them they are under no
> obligation to sign, that they can revoke permission at any time, and
> that student numbers are not entirely secure. Virtually everyone
> signs.
>
> That seems to satisfy our Registrar's office. But is it possible that
> it could still be illegal even with individual written permission?
It's still illegal, Stephen. There's a federal statute prohibiting their
use in that manner. In addition, if any of your students are under age
(i.e., 17), they don't have the legal right to grant that permission, and
their parents could still sue the school for damages.
The easiest method is simply to generate a series of random numbers when
you create your grade register and assign one to each student. Write the
number inside the back page (assuming they are multipage) of each
student's first submission to your class and note in the syllabus that if
they lose the number they won't be able to check their scores or determine
their grades until the official reports come out at the end of the term.
If you don't have any written submissions (don't we all?), then hand out a
folded paper with their name on the outside and the number inside.
Since I give my classes a number of written assignments, I inform the
class that if they lose the number, they need to include a note with their
next assignment and I'll provide it to them when it's returned. So far, in
the seven years I've been using this system, I've had no more than 6-8
such requests--apparently they either keep track of the numbers or don't
care what their scores are (I'd like to believe the former, but this _is_
the nineties).
Just a suggestion, but it will insure you aren't doing anything that
could result in a lawsuit for the school or problems for yourself--as well
as protecting your student's privacy, of course.
Rick
