The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. Specifically, it prohibits a school from disclosing personally identifiable information from students' education records without the consent of a parent or eligible student, unless an exception to FERPA's general consent rule applies. Often, questions arise as to FERPA's requirements and how they affect the sharing of educational information about children and youth experiencing homelessness. Common challenges include protecting survivors of domestic violence, appropriate handling of directory information, and how to access the education records of unaccompanied youth. This document seeks to explain FERPA's basic provisions and how schools can protect children and youth who are homeless while appropriately sharing educational information. (Contains 5 footnotes.)