By: Villarreal H.B. No. 2103
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to education research centers and data sharing among
cooperating state agencies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1.005, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 1.005. EDUCATION RESEARCH CENTERS; DATA SHARING
[STUDENT INFORMATION]. (a) In this section:
(1) "Center" means a center for education research
authorized by this section.
(2) "Coordinating board" means the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
(3) "Cooperating agencies" means the Texas Education
Agency, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and the
Texas Workforce Commission.
(4) "Education program" includes an education
program, intervention, or service at any level of education from
preschool to postsecondary education.
(b) The commissioner of education, [and] the coordinating
board, and the Texas Workforce Commission shall execute agreements
for the sharing of data for the purpose of facilitating the studies
described by this section at education research centers. In
accordance with the agreement, each cooperating agency shall make
available all appropriate data, including to the extent possible
data going back longitudinally for at least 20 years. A cooperating
agency shall update the data as it becomes available on a timely
basis, but at least annually if the agency has collected additional
data during the interim.
(c) In accordance with the agreements, the coordinating
board shall maintain the data contributed by the cooperating
agencies in a repository to be known as the "P-20/Workforce Data
Repository." The repository shall be located at and operated by the
coordinating board. As provided by the agreements, the
coordinating board shall also include other data in the repository,
such as data from college admission tests and the National Student
Clearinghouse. The coordinating board shall conduct a data matching
process by using a protocol approved by the cooperating agencies in
which a common replacement identifier is generated for a matched
individual in each agency's data set and certain direct identifiers
are removed.
(d) The coordinating board shall [may] establish at least
one, but not more than three centers through which the studies using
the data [for education research for conducting research] described
by this section are conducted [Subsections (c) and (f)].
[(c)] Each [A] center must [may] be established as part of
[: (1) the Texas Education Agency; (2) the coordinating board; or
(3)] a public junior college, public senior college or university,
or public state college, or a consortium of such institutions as
those terms are defined by Section 61.003. The coordinating board
shall solicit requests for qualifications from eligible colleges
and universities, and shall select applicants based on criteria
adopted by the coordinating board, to include:
(A) potential of the proposed research to benefit
education in this state;
(B) the use of social science research methods
accepted as valid and reliable; and
(C) the data required to complete the proposed
study are not readily available from other data sources.
The coordinating board and each selected center shall execute
an agreement with a term of 10 years for the operations of the
center, so long as that center meets contractual and legal
requirements for operation.
(e) The commissioner of higher education shall create,
chair, and maintain an advisory board for the purpose of reviewing
study proposals and ensuring appropriate data use, including
compliance with applicable state and federal laws governing use of
and access to the data. The advisory board is not a governmental
body for purposes of Chapter 551 or 552, Government Code. The
majority of the joint advisory board must consist of educational
researchers experienced in working with secure data. The advisory
board must include:
(1) a representative of the coordinating board named
by the commissioner of higher education;
(2) a representative of the Texas Education Agency,
designated by the commissioner of education;
(3) a representative of the Texas Workforce
Commission, designated by that commission;
(4) the director of each education research center, or
the director's designee; and
(5) a representative of preschool, elementary, or
secondary education.
[[(d) A center may be operated under a memorandum of
understanding between the commissioner of education, the
coordinating board, and the governing board of an educational
institution described by Subsection (c)(3). The memorandum of
understanding must require the commissioner of education, or a
person designated by the commissioner, and the coordinating board,
or a person designated by the coordinating board, to provide
direct, joint supervision of the center under this section].
(f) Each study conducted at a center must be approved in
advance by majority vote of the advisory board. A center may submit
to the advisory board a proposal developed by any qualified
researcher, including a researcher from another university, a
graduate student, a P-16 Council representative, or other
researcher proposing research to benefit education in this state.
(g) The advisory board shall meet at least quarterly. Any
meeting may be conducted by electronic means, including a meeting
by telephone conference call, videoconference call, or over the
Internet, or by any combination of those means. The advisory board
may create committees and subcommittees that the board determines
are convenient or necessary.
(h) [(c)] A center shall conduct education and workforce
studies [research] for the benefit of [education in] this state,
including studies or evaluations [research] relating to the impact
of local, regional, state, and federal [education] policy and
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.
(i) A center shall comply with rules adopted by the advisory
board that address applicable state and federal laws to protect the
confidentiality of information used or stored at the center,
including rules establishing procedures to ensure that
confidential information is not duplicated or removed from a center
in an unauthorized manner.
(j) [(f)] Any of the cooperating agencies [The commissioner
of education and the coordinating board:
(1) under the memorandum of understanding described by
Subsection (d),] may request[require] a center to conduct certain
studies [research projects] considered of particular importance to
the state, as determined by the cooperating agency, if the agency
provides to the center [commissioner and the coordinating board;
(2) not later than the 45th day before the date a research project
required to be conducted under this subsection is scheduled to
begin, shall notify the governor, the Legislative Budget Board, and
the governing body of the educational institution in which the
center is established that the research project is required; and
(3) shall provide sufficient funds to finance the project.
(k) [(g)] In conducting studies [research] under this
section, a center:
(1) may use data, 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, any other
agency, and any entity any provider of services to public or private
institutions of higher education or to school districts, and any
entity explicitly named in an approved research project of a
center; [and]
(2) shall comply with federal and state law governing
[rules adopted by the commissioner of education and the
coordinating board to protect] the confidentiality of student
information and shall provide for the review of all study results
for compliance with those laws and with any authoritative
guidelines issued under those laws; [, including rules establishing
procedures to ensure that confidential student information is not
duplicated or removed from a center in an unauthorized manner]
(3) provide researchers access to the shared data only
through secure methods and require each lead researcher to execute
an agreement regarding compliance with the Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g) and
regulations adopted under that act; and
(4) conduct regular security audits and report the
audit results to the coordinating board and the advisory board.
(l)[(h)] The cooperating agencies and the college or
university operating the center, individually or collectively,
[commissioner of education and the coordinating board] may [:]
[(1)] accept gifts and grants to be used for the
purposes of this section. The college or university operating the
center may[in operating one or more center; and
(2) by rule impose reasonable charges [fees], as
appropriate, for the use of a center's research, resources, or
facilities.
(m) The coordinating board may enter into data agreements
for data required for approved studies with 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. An
agreement with such an agency must be reviewed by the United States
Department of Education and must require the agency to comply with
all data security measures required of a center. The coordinating
board may also enter data agreements with local agencies or
organizations that provide educational services to students in
Texas or that collect data that is relevant to current or former
students of Texas public schools and is useful to the conduct of
research that may benefit education in this state.
(n) [(i)] This section does not authorize the disclosure of
student information that may not be disclosed under the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section
1232g).
[(j) The commissioner of education and the coordinating
board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.
(o) [(k)] In implementing this section, the cooperating
agencies [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 center must be funded
by gifts and grants accepted under this section or by charges
Subsection (h)(1) and fees imposed under this section [Subsection
(h)(2)]. Charges imposed [Fees adopted] under this section
[Subsection (h)(2)] must be set in an amount sufficient to provide
for the continued operation of the center.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
the 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, 2013.