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  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.