READ FIRST TIME 03/05/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to educational data and data systems; amending RCW 28A.410.070; adding new sections to chapter 28A.300 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.41 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.320 RCW; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that:
     (1) Reliable data on student progress, characteristics of students and schools, and teacher qualifications and mobility is critical for accountability to the state and to the public;
     (2) Educational data should be made available as widely as possible while appropriately protecting the privacy of individuals as provided by law;
     (3) Having a single, comprehensive, and technically compatible student and school-level data system will streamline data collection for school districts, reduce inefficiencies caused by the lack of connectivity, and minimize or eliminate multiple data entry; and
     (4) Schools and districts should be supported in their management of educational data and should have access to user-friendly programs and reports that can be readily used by classroom teachers and building principals to improve instruction.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction is authorized to establish a longitudinal student data system for and on behalf of school districts in the state. The primary purpose of the data system is to better aid research into programs and interventions that are most effective in improving student performance, better understand the state's public educator workforce, and provide information on areas within the educational system that need improvement.
     (2) The confidentiality of personally identifiable student data shall be safeguarded consistent with the requirements of the federal family educational rights privacy act and applicable state laws. Consistent with the provisions of these federal and state laws, data may be disclosed for educational purposes and studies, including but not limited to:
     (a) Educational studies authorized or mandated by the state legislature;
     (b) Studies initiated by other state educational authorities and authorized by the office of the superintendent of public instruction, including analysis conducted by the education data center established under section 3 of this act; and
     (c) Studies initiated by other public or private agencies and organizations and authorized by the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
     (3) Any agency or organization that is authorized by the office of the superintendent of public instruction to access student-level data shall adhere to all federal and state laws protecting student data and safeguarding the confidentiality and privacy of student records.
     (4) Nothing in this section precludes the office of the superintendent of public instruction from collecting and distributing aggregate data about students or student-level data without personally identifiable information.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 43.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) An education data center shall be established in the office of financial management. The education data center shall jointly, with the legislative education and accountability program committee, conduct collaborative analyses of early learning, K-12, and higher education programs and education issues across the P-20 system, which includes the department of early learning, the superintendent of public instruction, the professional educator standards board, the state board of education, the state board for community and technical colleges, the workforce training and education coordinating board, the higher education coordinating board, public and private nonprofit four-year institutions of higher education, and the employment security department. The education data center shall conduct collaborative analyses under this section with the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee and provide data electronically to the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee, to the extent permitted by state and federal confidentiality requirements. The education data center shall be considered an authorized representative of the state educational agencies in this section under applicable federal and state statutes for purposes of accessing and compiling student record data for research purposes.
     (2) The education data center shall:
     (a) Coordinate with other state education agencies to compile and analyze education data, including data on student demographics that is disaggregated by distinct ethnic categories within racial subgroups, and complete P-20 research projects;
     (b) Collaborate with the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee and the education and fiscal committees of the legislature in identifying the data to be compiled and analyzed to ensure that legislative interests are served;
     (c) Track enrollment and outcomes through the public centralized higher education enrollment system;
     (d) Assist other state educational agencies' collaborative efforts to develop a long-range enrollment plan for higher education including estimates to meet demographic and workforce needs; and
     (e) Provide research that focuses on student transitions within and among the early learning, K-12, and higher education sectors in the P-20 system.
     (3) The department of early learning, superintendent of public instruction, professional educator standards board, state board of education, state board for community and technical colleges, workforce training and education coordinating board, higher education coordinating board, public four-year institutions of higher education, and employment security department shall work with the education data center to develop data-sharing and research agreements, consistent with applicable security and confidentiality requirements, to facilitate the work of the center. Private, nonprofit institutions of higher education that provide programs of education beyond the high school level leading at least to the baccalaureate degree and are accredited by the Northwest association of schools and colleges or their peer accreditation bodies may also develop data-sharing and research agreements with the education data center, consistent with applicable security and confidentiality requirements. The education data center shall make data from collaborative analyses available to the education agencies and institutions that contribute data to the education data center to the extent allowed by federal and state security and confidentiality requirements applicable to the data of each contributing agency or institution.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 28A.320 RCW to read as follows:
     No later than the beginning of the 2008-09 school year and thereafter, each school district shall collect and electronically submit to the office of the superintendent of public instruction, in a format and according to a schedule prescribed by the office, the following data for each class or course offered in each school:
     (1) The certification number or other unique identifier associated with the teacher's certificate for each teacher assigned to teach the class or course, including reassignments that may occur during the school year; and
     (2) The statewide student identifier for each student enrolled in or being provided services through the class or course.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop standards for school data systems that focus on validation and verification of data entered into the systems to ensure accuracy and compatibility of data. The standards shall address but are not limited to the following topics:
     (a) Date validation;
     (b) Code validation, which includes gender, race or ethnicity, and other code elements;
     (c) Decimal and integer validation; and
     (d) Required field validation as defined by state and federal requirements.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop a reporting format and instructions for school districts to collect and submit data on student demographics that is disaggregated by distinct ethnic categories within racial subgroups so that analyses may be conducted on student achievement using the disaggregated data.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   (1) To the extent funds are appropriated for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall conduct a feasibility study on expanding the longitudinal student data system beyond the elements currently collected and those required under section 4 of this act.
     (2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the work group established under subsection (5) of this section, shall identify a preliminary set of additional data elements whose collection shall be field tested on a pilot basis in at least two school districts, with at least one with over twenty thousand in full-time equivalent enrollment and at least one with less than two thousand in full-time equivalent enrollment. Among the data elements to be field tested shall be course codes for a limited set of core high school mathematics courses, based on the classification of secondary school courses by the national center for education statistics.
     (3) Additional topics addressed by the feasibility study shall include, but are not limited to:
     (a) Detailed estimates on the cost of the development and implementation of the expanded data system;
     (b) A final list of specific data elements that are necessary to allow effective and efficient research on an individual school, district, and statewide basis, and of those data elements, identification of what data is currently reported by schools and school districts and what is not reported;
     (c) An implementation plan for consistent coding of secondary courses in subjects other than mathematics that is based on a national classification system;
     (d) A phased-in implementation of a comprehensive data system with school-level financial, student, teacher, and community variables consistent with recommendations of the joint legislative audit and review committee; and
     (e) The staffing and related impacts on schools and school districts from the collection of the recommended data elements and consideration of ways to reduce duplicate reporting of data.
     (4) By November 1, 2008, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall provide a final report on the results of the feasibility study, including the results from the field tests, to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature.
     (5) To assist in conducting the feasibility study and field tests and in carrying out the responsibilities assigned under section 5 of this act, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall convene a work group comprised of representatives of the following agencies and organizations: The education data center established under section 3 of this act, the Washington state institute for public policy, the professional educator standards board, the state board of education, the joint legislative audit and review committee, the center for analysis of longitudinal data in education research, other research organizations as appropriate, school districts of varying sizes and geographic locations, educational service districts, the Washington school information processing cooperative, at least one additional school information system vendor, the association of Washington school principals, the Washington association of school administrators, the Washington education association, the Washington association of school business officials, the Washington association of colleges for teacher education, and the Washington state school directors' association.

Sec. 7   RCW 28A.410.070 and 1983 c 56 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) All certificates issued by the superintendent of public instruction shall be valid and entitle the holder thereof to employment in any school district of the state upon being registered by the school district if designated to do so by the school district, which fact shall be evidenced on the certificate in the words, "Registered for use in . . . . . . district," together with the date of registry, and an official signature of the person registering the same: PROVIDED, That a copy of the original certificate duly certified by the superintendent of public instruction may be used for the purpose of registry and endorsement in lieu of the original.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction may accept applications for educator certification that are submitted using an electronic signature from the applicant.