By: Eissler H.B. No. 2365
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain responsibilities of education research centers
and to a joint advisory board for education research centers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1.005, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (e), (g), and (k) and adding Subsections
(g-1), (l), and (m) to read as follows:
(e) A center shall conduct research for the benefit of
education in this state, including research relating to the impact
of state and federal education programs, the performance of
educator preparation programs, public school finance, and the best
practices of school districts with regard to classroom instruction,
bilingual education programs, special language programs, and
business practices. A center shall support policy and academic
research, including support of graduate student research in this
state.
(g) In conducting research under this section, a center:
(1) may use data on student performance, including
data that is confidential under the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g), the center has
collected from the Texas Education Agency, the coordinating board,
any public or private institution of higher education, and any
school district; and
(2) shall comply with rules adopted by the
commissioner of education and the coordinating board to protect the
confidentiality of [student] information used or stored at the
center, including rules establishing procedures to ensure that
confidential [student] information is not duplicated or removed
from a center in an unauthorized manner.
(g-1) Confidential information provided to a center by the
Texas Education Agency or the coordinating board must be protected
by procedures to ensure that any unique identifying number is not
traceable to any individual.
The procedures must be maintained as
confidential by the Texas Education Agency and the coordinating
board. The procedures may not be shared with a center or used for
any purpose other than for purposes of this section. Social
security numbers, names, and birth dates may not be accessed for the
purpose of research at a center.
(k) In implementing this section, the commissioner of
education may use funds appropriated to the agency and available
for the purpose of establishing the centers. After a center is
established, the cost of complying with this section and Section
1.006, including necessary personnel costs at the Texas Education
Agency and the coordinating board and the costs of operation of each
center, must be funded by gifts and grants accepted under
Subsection (h)(1) and fees imposed under Subsection (h)(2). Fees
adopted under Subsection (h)(2) must be set in an amount sufficient
to provide for the continued operation of the center.
(l) Each center shall administer the process for reviewing
research proposals developed under Section 1.006(e)(4) and shall
forward to the joint advisory board only proposals of high quality
as determined using criteria developed under Section 1.006(e)(4).
(m) On behalf of a center, the commissioner of education and
the coordinating board may pursue and enter data agreements with:
(1) another agency of this state; and
(2) the state education agency of another state,
giving priority to the agencies of those states that send the
highest number of students to this state or that receive the highest
number of students from this state.
SECTION 2. Chapter 1, Education Code, is amended by adding
Section 1.006 to read as follows:
Sec. 1.006. JOINT ADVISORY BOARD FOR EDUCATION RESEARCH
CENTERS. (a) In this section, "center" means a center for education
research authorized by Section 1.005.
(b) The commissioner of education and the commissioner of
higher education shall co-chair a joint advisory board to adopt
policies governing the operations of the centers, including a
process for review and approval of center research involving
confidential information. The commissioner of education and the
commissioner of higher education each may delegate duties as
co-chair, including voting, to an employee of the Texas Education
Agency or the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, as
appropriate.
(c) The commissioner of education and the commissioner of
higher education shall jointly appoint not more than three
additional members to the joint advisory board to serve one-year
terms. The chief executive officer of each public institution of
higher education of which a center is a part shall appoint not more
than two additional members to the joint advisory board to serve
one-year terms. A member of the joint advisory board serves at the
pleasure of the appropriate appointing authority. A member may be
reappointed each year to an additional term.
(d) The joint advisory board shall meet at the call of the
co-chairs at least twice each year.
(e) The joint advisory board shall:
(1) establish a schedule of fees to fund the cost of
data processing by the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board;
(2) develop a plan for establishing access at public
institutions of higher education to data;
(3) develop policies to give state agencies acting for
a governmental purpose and public entities performing studies
authorized by the legislature priority in access to and use of
center research;
(4) develop, in consultation with each center, a
process for reviewing center research proposals and criteria for
evaluating proposal quality that emphasize the benefits to
education in this state and use of accepted social science research
methods;
(5) identify, in consultation with each center, the
type of data that the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board send annually to each center without
the necessity of a request for that data by a center and a schedule
on which the data is sent; and
(6) perform other duties as necessary to advise each
center.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.