BILL REQ. #:  H-2867.1 

Prefiled 01/07/14. Read first time 01/13/14.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to providing for educational data on students from military families; amending RCW 28A.300.042; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that, nationally, nearly two million students are from military families, where one or more parent or guardian serves in the United States armed forces, reserves, or national guard. There are approximately one hundred thirty-six thousand military families in Washington state.
     (2) The legislature further finds that a United States government accountability office study in 2011 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 critical elements of education success, including academic progress and proficiency, special and advanced program participation, mobility and dropout rates, and patterns over time across states and school districts. 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.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.300.042 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 18 s 307 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) All student data-related reports required of the superintendent of public instruction in this title must be disaggregated by at least the following subgroups of students: White, Black, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Pacific Islander/Hawaiian Native, low income, transitional bilingual, migrant, special education, students from military families, and students covered by section 504 of the federal rehabilitation act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794).
     (2)(a) For the purposes of this section "students from military families" means the following categories of students, with data to be collected and reported separately for each category:
     (i) Students with a parent or guardian who is a member of the active duty United States armed forces; and
     (ii) Students with a parent or guardian who is a member of the reserves of the United States armed forces or a member of the Washington national guard.
     (b) School districts shall identify students from military families in the statewide student data system beginning no later than the 2015-16 school year. The K-12 data governance group under RCW 28A.300.507 shall develop best practice guidelines for the collection and regular updating of the information.
     (3) All student data-related reports required of the superintendent of public instruction regarding student suspensions and expulsions as required in RCW 28A.300.046 are subject to disaggregation by subgroups including:
     (a) Gender;
     (b) Foster care;
     (c) Homeless, if known;
     (d) School district;
     (e) School;
     (f) Grade level;
     (g) Behavior infraction code, including:
     (i) Bullying;
     (ii) Tobacco;
     (iii) Alcohol;
     (iv) Illicit drug;
     (v) Fighting without major injury;
     (vi) Violence without major injury;
     (vii) Violence with major injury;
     (viii) Possession of a weapon; and
     (ix) Other behavior resulting from a short-term or long-term suspension, expulsion, or interim alternative education setting intervention;
     (h) Intervention applied, including:
     (i) Short-term suspension;
     (ii) Long-term suspension;
     (iii) Emergency expulsion;
     (iv) Expulsion;
     (v) Interim alternative education settings;
     (vi) No intervention applied; and
     (vii) Other intervention applied that is not described in this subsection (((2))) (3)(h);
     (i) Number of days a student is suspended or expelled, to be counted in half or full days; and
     (j) Any other categories added at a future date by the data governance group.
     (((3))) (4) All student data-related reports required of the superintendent of public instruction regarding student suspensions and expulsions as required in RCW 28A.300.046 are subject to cross-tabulation at a minimum by the following:     
     (a) School and district;
     (b) Race, low income, special education, transitional bilingual, migrant, foster care, homeless, students covered by section 504 of the federal rehabilitation act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794), and categories to be added in the future;
     (c) Behavior infraction code; and
     (d) Intervention applied.