An educator maintains the confidentiality of information about students and colleagues obtained in the course of the educator's professional services that is protected under state law or regulations, federal law or regulations, or the written policies of the educator's school district, unless disclosure serves a professional purpose as allowed or required by law or regulations.

Guidance (Rules Governing the Code of Ethics for Arkansas Educators, 2022): At times educators are entitled to and/or for professional reasons need access to certain student records, as well as other educators’ records. Much of this information is confidential and the educator should maintain that confidence unless the disclosure serves some legitimate educational purpose as allowed or required by law. The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) addresses the confidentiality of certain student records. Such federal and state laws permit disclosure of some student information and restrict the disclosure of other student information. Educators should respect and comply with these and other similar confidentiality laws. Confidential student information may include student academic and disciplinary records, health and medical information, family status and/or income, assessment/testing results, and Social Security information. Educators shall not knowingly or maliciously disclose confidential information about a student or colleague.

Simple steps for maintaining student privacy: https://www.wikihow.com/Maintain-Student-Confidentiality

Discuss: (The following is a scenario by the Connecticut Code of Professional Responsibility Training Guide.) Ms. D, a third year 7th grade math teacher, complains to her next door neighbor about a difficult student in her class, identifying the child by name and providing specific details about the student’s academic record. Ms. D says that the neighbor doesn’t know the student personally, so there should be no problem discussing the student and the situation.

Context for student confidentiality: Federal law requires educational agencies to guarantee each student basic privacy rights. To maintain these rights, schools are required to have guidelines for collecting, maintaining, disseminating, and verifying the accuracy of information that they collect. As a general rule, discussions about pupils should concern only their educational goals and appropriate instructional strategies and those conversations should be exclusive to the school personnel directly related to the student’s educational program.

What possible issues/concerns might this scenario raise?

How could this situation become a violation of the law, the Code of Ethics or other school /district policies?

In this situation, what are some potential negative consequences for the teacher, for the students and the school community?

What responses/actions will result in a more positive outcome and/or what proactive measures

Further Reading: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs97/p97527/Sec1_txt.asp