The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that provides two basic rights to parents in regards to student records:

1. The right to inspect and review their child’s educational records

2. The right to prevent unauthorized persons from seeing the same records

Massachusetts student record regulations are designed to ensure parents' and students' rights of confidentiality, inspection, amendment, and destruction of student records, and to assist school authorities in carrying out their responsibilities under state and federal law.