Owasso Independent School District No. 1011 v. Falvo

In Owasso Independent School District No. 1011 v. Falvo (2002), the Supreme Court considered whether peer-graded materials are education records under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The Supreme Court held that peer-graded materials are not considered education records under FERPA and thus peer grading does not violate the act.

It is unusual for the Supreme Court to accept a case such as Owasso, which questioned the legality of a teaching strategy, especially a commonplace practice such as peer grading, which has been prevalent in schools for years. However, Owasso is known today as one of the few Supreme Court cases providing schools with practical guidance about how the language of FERPA should be interpreted.