83R9135 VOO-F
By: Branch H.B. No. 2754
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 (b), (c), (e), (g), and (k) and adding
Subsections (g-1), (g-2), (l), (m), (n), and (o) to read as follows:
(b) The commissioner of education and the coordinating
board shall [may] establish at least one but not more than three
centers for education research for conducting research described by
Subsections (e) and (f). Each center:
(1) shall store in only one location confidential data
used for research; and
(2) may provide access to the confidential data from
multiple secure locations in this state, each of which must be in a
college or university described by Subsection (c)(3).
(c) A center 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, as those terms are defined by
Section 61.003; or
(4) a consortium of colleges or universities described
by Subdivision (3).
(e) A center shall conduct research for the benefit of
education in this state, including research relating to the impact
of local, regional, 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
education evaluation and policy and academic research, including
graduate student research in this state.
(g) In conducting research under this section, a center:
(1) may use and store 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 other state agency, any public or private
institution of higher education, [and] any school district, 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 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.
(g-2) The Texas Education Agency and the coordinating board
shall provide and longitudinally link all data under Subsection
(g)(1) to the greatest extent practicable.
(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. A center
shall report annually to the commissioner of education and the
commissioner of higher education the total amount of fees collected
by the center for each purpose for which a fee is imposed under
Subsection (h)(2).
(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 shall pursue and enter into data agreements
with another state agency of this state, such as the Texas Workforce
Commission, or with a regional agency of this state for data
collected by that agency that is:
(1) required for approved research projects;
(2) relevant to current or former students of this
state's public schools; and
(3) useful to the conduct of research that may benefit
education in this state.
(n) Subject to Subsection (o), on behalf of a center, the
commissioner of education and the coordinating board may pursue and
enter into data agreements for data required for approved research
projects with:
(1) 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; and
(2) local agencies or organizations of this state
that:
(A) provide educational services to students in
this state; or
(B) collect data that:
(i) is relevant to current or former
students of this state's public schools; and
(ii) is useful to the conduct of research
that may benefit education in this state.
(o) The commissioner of education and the coordinating
board may, on behalf of a center, enter into a data agreement with
the state education agency of another state only if:
(1) the United States Department of Education reviews
the agreement; and
(2) the state education agency of the other state
agrees to comply with all data security measures required of a
center.
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 each shall appoint two additional members to the
joint advisory board to serve one-year terms. The centers
collectively shall appoint three additional members to the joint
advisory board to serve one-year terms. The majority of the joint
advisory board members must be educational researchers experienced
in working with secure data. 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 once each quarter.
(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, regional, or local
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 a set of
criteria for evaluating proposal quality that is composed of
measures that ensure:
(A) the 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 is not readily available from other data sources;
(5) identify, in consultation with each center, the
type of data that the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board must send annually to each center
without the necessity of a request for that data by a center and a
timely 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, 2013.