Teachers do not violate a federal law controlling the privacy ofeducational records when they ask students to grade one another’swork, read grades off in class or post grades, the U.S. Supreme Courtruled last month.
The case was brought to the court by an Oklahoma mother namedKrisja Falvo who was upset that her learning-disabled son was calleda “dummy” by his sixth grade classmates after his poor grades wereread aloud in class.
She said the action violates the Family Educational Rights andPrivacy Act, which specifies that educational records cannot bereleased without consent.
Though the controversy surrounding peer grading is seen more oftenin elementary schools and even into high school, Falvo told TheChronicle of Higher Education that she has friends in college whodon’t want their grades posted on professors’ doors or read aloud inclass.
Dean Popp, associate vice president for Faculty Affairs, said SanDiego State’s policy permits professors to post grades on doors oroutside of classrooms as long as it is done anonymously, by givingstudents random numbers or fictitious names.
Using a student’s entire Social Security number is not sufficient.Teachers can use the last four digits, but are discouraged from doingso, he said.
Geography professor Diane Douglas-Dalziel said she distributes thenumbers randomly on a page so students cannot recognize otherstudents’ numbers or grades.
“A lot of students are offended if somebody else knows theirgrade, particularly if they didn’t do well,” Douglas-Dalziel said.
Many students on campus feel that posting grades by SocialSecurity numbers is an ineffective way in keeping gradesconfidential.
“You should be entitled to your privacy, because some people justdon’t want others to see their grades,” business administrationfreshman Marva Laramie said. “Personally, I don’t care, but somepeople may be bothered by it.”
Math professor Karen Douglas said she would feel fine letting herstudents grade each other’s papers, but feels as though some studentsmight have privacy issues. She said she doesn’t want to make anyonefeel uncomfortable.
“Students are entitled to privacy, but some people act a lot morestrongly than others,” Douglas said.
“It is about people’s emotional response. Everyone has gotten atest back and wanted to cry or cried. It is a private thing.”
When passing back tests, Douglas covers papers to keep studentsfrom seeing other classmates’ grades.
“When teachers hand back tests, you know everybody looks at yourscore to compare it to how good they did,” computer science seniorJustin Rubin said. “It feels like they are invading my privacy.”
