By: Eissler H.B. No. 2365
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain responsibilities of education research centers
  and to a joint advisory board for education research centers.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 1.005, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (e), (g), and (k) and adding Subsections
  (g-1), (l), and (m) to read as follows:
         (e)  A center shall conduct research for the benefit of
  education in this state, including research relating to the impact
  of state and federal education 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.  A center shall support policy and academic
  research, including support of graduate student research in this
  state.
         (g)  In conducting research under this section, a center:
               (1)  may use data on student performance, 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; and
               (2)  shall comply with rules adopted by the
  commissioner of education and the coordinating board to protect the
  confidentiality of [student] information used or stored at the
  center, including rules establishing procedures to ensure that
  confidential [student] information is not duplicated or removed
  from a center in an unauthorized manner.
         (g-1)  Confidential information provided to a center by the
  Texas Education Agency or the coordinating board must be protected
  by procedures to ensure that any unique identifying number is not
  traceable to any individual.  
  The procedures must be maintained as
  confidential by the Texas Education Agency and the coordinating
  board. The procedures may not be shared with a center or used for
  any purpose other than for purposes of this section. Social
  security numbers, names, and birth dates may not be accessed for the
  purpose of research at a center.
         (k)  In implementing this section, the 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 cost of complying with this section and Section
  1.006, including necessary personnel costs at the Texas Education
  Agency and the coordinating board and the costs of operation of each
  center, must be funded by gifts and grants accepted under
  Subsection (h)(1) and fees imposed under Subsection (h)(2).  Fees
  adopted under Subsection (h)(2) must be set in an amount sufficient
  to provide for the continued operation of the center.
         (l)  Each center shall administer the process for reviewing
  research proposals developed under Section 1.006(e)(4) and shall
  forward to the joint advisory board only proposals of high quality
  as determined using criteria developed under Section 1.006(e)(4).
         (m)  On behalf of a center, the commissioner of education and
  the coordinating board may pursue and enter data agreements with:
               (1)  another agency of this state; and
               (2)  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.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 1, Education Code, is amended by adding
  Section 1.006 to read as follows:
         Sec. 1.006.  JOINT ADVISORY BOARD FOR EDUCATION RESEARCH
  CENTERS. (a) In this section, "center" means a center for education
  research authorized by Section 1.005.
         (b)  The commissioner of education and the commissioner of
  higher education shall co-chair a joint advisory board to adopt
  policies governing the operations of the centers, including a
  process for review and approval of center research involving
  confidential information. The commissioner of education and the
  commissioner of higher education each may delegate duties as
  co-chair, including voting, to an employee of the Texas Education
  Agency or the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, as
  appropriate.
         (c)  The commissioner of education and the commissioner of
  higher education shall jointly appoint not more than three
  additional members to the joint advisory board to serve one-year
  terms. The chief executive officer of each public institution of
  higher education of which a center is a part shall appoint not more
  than two additional members to the joint advisory board to serve
  one-year terms.  A member of the joint advisory board serves at the
  pleasure of the appropriate appointing authority.  A member may be
  reappointed each year to an additional term.
         (d)  The joint advisory board shall meet at the call of the
  co-chairs at least twice each year.
         (e)  The joint advisory board shall:
               (1)  establish a schedule of fees to fund the cost of
  data processing by the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
  Education Coordinating Board;
               (2)  develop a plan for establishing access at public
  institutions of higher education to data;
               (3)  develop policies to give state agencies acting for
  a governmental purpose and public entities performing studies
  authorized by the legislature priority in access to and use of
  center research;
               (4)  develop, in consultation with each center, a
  process for reviewing center research proposals and criteria for
  evaluating proposal quality that emphasize the benefits to
  education in this state and use of accepted social science research
  methods;
               (5)  identify, in consultation with each center, the
  type of data that the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
  Education Coordinating Board send annually to each center without
  the necessity of a request for that data by a center and a schedule
  on which the data is sent; and
               (6)  perform other duties as necessary to advise each
  center.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a 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, 2011.