What federal law governs how researchers can obtain information regarding students' disciplinary status from academic records?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) governs how researchers, educational institutions, and other entities handle students' educational records, including disciplinary status. This federal law was enacted to protect the privacy of student records and gives parents and eligible students certain rights with respect to those records. Under FERPA, schools are required to obtain written consent from parents or eligible students before disclosing personally identifiable information from a student's education records.

This is crucial for researchers to understand because obtaining sensitive information such as disciplinary records must adhere to the stipulations set forth by FERPA. Researchers must be aware that they cannot access or share this information without following the proper procedures to ensure compliance with the law, protecting student privacy and rights.

In contrast, while other laws listed may relate to education in specific contexts, such as workplace leave, student disabilities, or the rights of students regarding surveys and research, they do not specifically address access to student disciplinary records in the same way that FERPA does.