Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Education Committee

HB 2166

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Summary of Bill

Recognizes the nearly 2,000,000 students from military families in the nation and the approximate 136,000 living in Washington state.
Recognizes that an identifier of students from military families is needed to allow educators and policymakers to monitor the critical elements of academic success.
Recognizes that reliable information about student performance will assist educators in more effectively transitioning students to a new school and enable school districts to discover and implement best practices.
Adds "students from military families" to the list of subgroups that must be disaggregated in the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's student data-reports.
Requires school districts to begin identifying students from military families in the statewide student data system by the 2015-2016 school year.
Requires the K-12 Data Governance Group to develop best practice guidelines for the collection and regular updating of the information.

Background:

The United States (U.S.) Department of Education's (DoE) Impact Aid Program compensates school districts with a high number of military dependent students. In 2010 the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) began reviewing the use of these funds by conducting a web-based survey of all 154 school districts receiving funds under the program and of officials from the Department of Defense and DoE. The GAO concluded "there are no data available on these students that could be used to assess their academic achievement or educational outcomes, or determine where funding needs are greatest."

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is required to create student data-reports for various reasons. These reports must be disaggregated by certain student subgroups, including race, income, and special education, but not military family.

The K-12 Data Governance Group is a workgroup within the OSPI that oversees the development and implementation of a K-12 education data system for financial, student, and educator data.

Summary of Bill:

The Legislature finds that:

there are nearly 2,000,000 students from military families in the nation and approximately 136,000 in Washington state.
a 2011 GAO study identified that it is not possible to monitor educational outcomes for students from military families due to the lack of a student identifier in state educational data systems.
such an identifier is needed to allow educators and policymakers to monitor the critical elements of academic success.
reliable information about student performance will assist educators in more effectively transitioning students to a new school, and enable school districts to discover and implement best practices.

The subgroup "students from military families" is added to the list of subgroups that must be disaggregated in the OSPI student data-reports. The term "students from military families" is defined so that separate data is collected and reported for: (1) students with a parent or guardian on active duty; and (2) students with a parent or guardian in the reserves or in the national guard.

School districts must begin identifying students from military families in the statewide student data system by the 2015-2016 school year. The K-12 Data Governance Group must develop best practice guidelines for the collection and regular updating of the information.