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From: ok@quintus.uucp (Richard A. O'Keefe)
Newsgroups: comp.edu,sci.math,sci.physics
Subject: Re: Posting grades (Was Re: Student and Course Integrity)
Message-ID: <852@quintus.UUCP>
Date: 13 Dec 88 04:43:54 GMT
References: <1140@tank.uchicago.edu>
Sender: news@quintus.UUCP
Reply-To: ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe)
Organization: Quintus Computer Systems, Inc.
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In article <1140@tank.uchicago.edu> thisted@galton.UUCP (Ronald A. Thisted) writes:
>It may not be unethical, but it is both unprofessional and *illegal*.
>The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits
>disclosure of such information as grades without the written consent of
>the student (with a few exceptions which do not apply to posting or
>publishing grades).

I'm curious about this.  I come from NZ, and as I recall it, quite a lot
of the classes I attended had marks published.  We were told from
primary school onwards that all our marks would be available to an
employer.  (I don't know if it's true, but that's what the teachers told
us about our "brown cards".  I don't know what the current state of
affairs is.)  The results of the scholarship exams at the end of high
school were published in the national newspapers.  I never met anyone
who said they disliked this practice.  Your _final_ grade is surely a
matter of public record:  you either have your M.Phil.  or whatever or
you haven't, so why should any other mark be different?  What's the reason
for making it illegal to disclose class marks?