(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 that must include:

(a) Data on student demographics that is disaggregated as required by RCW 28A.300.042; and

(b) Starting no later than the 2016-17 school year, data on students from military families. The K-12 data governance group established in RCW 28A.300.507 must develop best practice guidelines for the collection and regular updating of this data on students from military families. Collection and updating of this data must use the United States department of education 2007 race and ethnicity reporting guidelines, including the subracial and subethnic categories within those guidelines, with the following modifications:

(i) Further disaggregation of the Black category to differentiate students of African origin and students native to the United States with African ancestors;

(ii) Further disaggregation of countries of origin for Asian students;

(iii) Further disaggregation of the White category to include subethnic categories for Eastern European nationalities that have significant populations in Washington; and

(iv) For students who report as multiracial, collection of their racial and ethnic combination of categories.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "students from military families" means the following categories of students, with data to be collected and submitted separately for each category:

(a) Students with a parent or guardian who is a member of the active duty United States armed forces; and

(b) 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.

Finding—Intent—2016 c 72: See note following RCW 28A.600.015.

Findings—2015 c 210: "(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." [ 2015 c 210 § 1.]

Findings—2007 c 401: See note following RCW 28A.300.500.