The U.S. Department of Education enacted new regulations enforcing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) that took effect January 3, 2012.   FERPA governs the use and release of educational and personal records in all public K-12 schools and virtually all post-secondary institutions.  The new regulations do not change the purposes for which this protected data can be used, but does change who can share such information, particularly with regard to children under six years old.

The new regulations can be found here at the U.S. Government Printing Office.  A brief summary of the relevant changes can also be found here.