Could you please find me the somewhat recent (3-5 yrs ago) case
(supreme court?) reguarding the announcement of a students grade in
class
thanks.

Hello.

I believe that you're referring to the case of OWASSO  INDEPENDENT 
SCHOOL  DISTRICT No. I?011 v. KRISTJA J. FALVO.

In that case, a parent (Falvo) sued the Owasso school district
claiming that a teacher's practice of having students "peer grade"
each other's assignment and having the students orally announce their
grades violated the privacy of the students' educational records 
guaranteed under Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
(FERPA).

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected the parent's claim and
ruled that the "peer grading" practice did not violate FERPA.

See Findlaw.com: Owasso v. Falvo, 534 US 426.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=534&invol=426

Or Legal Information Institute: 
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-1073.ZS.html
Opinion of the Court by Justice Kennedy:
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-1073.ZO.html
Concurring opinion by Justice Scalia:
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-1073.ZC.html


More information on the case: 

PBS Newshour: " Courting Student Rights"
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec01/sc_cases.html

"An "A+" for Supreme Court Decision in Peer Grading Case"
http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/legal_issues/legal_updates/us_supreme_court/peer_grading_case.htm
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search strategy:
"supreme court" "grading policy"
owasso falvo

I hope this helps.

This seems to be a method enjoyed by teachers too lazy to do their
jobs.  They foist their work on the students and make a term to cover
it.

I'm a fan of this grading method (despite the laziness it allows in
the teacher).  Learning from your own mistakes is good, learning from
both your own mistakes and the mistakes of a peer even better.  I
think this method has a better chance of engraining information in
those heads than simply taking their test and returning it with purple
(not red anymore) X's and a number at the top.

Although announcing the grades to the class is a bit obtrusive and can
lead to embarrassment which can easily lead to self doubt, lack of
confidence, and losing the desire to even try.  So perhaps after the
peer grading the teacher would do a better service to the students by
collecting the tests to record the grades or simply walking around the
room and jotting down the grades on the way.