Reply to Has Anyone Been Able to See Their Child's Mid-Term Exams?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I live in Montgomery County and I am flabbergasted at how impossible it has been to schedule meetings to actually see my child's unit tests as well as her mid-term exams.  My child took several 2 hour exams (2 of which she did quite poorly on) and I think it would be beneficial for her to know what she got wrong so she can prepare better in the future.  The exams were not reviewed in class and I get conflicting information of whether or not the exams are even at the school anymore.  All I get is that they are held "in a secure location" but some staff members say they are now offsite and some staff members say they are on site for the next 2 weeks, then they go somewhere else.  Where?  That's a big secret.

I have been trying for 2 weeks to schedule a meeting and I keep getting passed from Principal, to Assistant Principal, to Resource Teachers, to Counselors, and still no meeting scheduled.  Totally dysfunctional.  I am trying to be a caring, responsible parent but I do have my limits and I cannot take off multiple days at work to have individual meetings just to see the exams one at a time.  I also should not have to email and coordinate with 14 staff members to get a time period lined up to see these records.

Why doesn't MCPS give children an opportunity to learn from their mistakes?  Provide kids an opportunity to see what they did well on but also see what they can improve on.  Why can't kids and parents have these documents?  The mid-term exams would be great review documents for the finals in June because the finals are cumulative.[/quote]

The Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Rights Act (FERPA) protects you in this situation.  Under FERPA, parents have the right to inspect and review students educational records.  Basically anything with your child's name on it is an "educational record".  The scantron or other paper your child used to record answers is an educational record.  Furthermore, the school has to respond to "reasonable requests for explanations and interpretations of the record".  This has generally been interpreted to mean that even if your child took a test from a test booklet that wasn't personally identifiable as the student's (and thus not considered an "educational record"), the school would still have to show you the test booklet, so that you could reasonably understand the recorded test answers (i.e. a scantron or other multiple choice answer list).

The school district may require you to come to school or another reasonable location to view the test.  They may also require you to sign a form agree not to disclose the contents of the test.  Technically, under the law, schools have to disclose the requested educational record within 45 days of the request.  Of course, a school should do this more quickly than that.

Write a letter to the principal and fax it to the school so that you have proof of delivery.  Restate the date of your original request and the materials you are seeking.  Say that you are getting in touch again because none of the staff seem to know how to accomplish the test/answer sheet viewing, and reiterate that you have a right to see these documents under FERPA.  In your letter, make sure you reference the date of your original request, so that the 45 days runs from the first request.  (Although, don't mention the 45 day timeline in your letter -- this is the maximum allowed by law.  It should take far less than that.)  See here for more http://www.fetaweb.com/04/ferpa.rooker.ltr.protocols.htm.  Also, provide 2 specific dates when you can be available to view all the tests at once.  Close by saying that you look forward to hearing from the principal by email about when you can come in to see these materials.

I have had to request records this way.  I have had teachers, and even principals tell me that they couldn't show me something.  I have always politely referenced FERPA, reiterated that I am quite sure that the test material must be disclosed, expressed a willingness to sign a non-disclosure form, and suggested politely that perhaps they should check with a superior.  (A teacher checks with a principal, a principal checks with a community superintendent or the central MCPS testing office.)

I agree that MCPS' refusal to provide students with review of tests is a failure in one of the most important phases of the teaching loop -- feedback, so that a child can adjust performance.  It's ridiculous.  Don't let the school put you off.  It can be very helpful for you and your student to review this together and do an error analysis.  [/quote]

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