ENROLLED
H. B. 3340
(By
Delegates M. Poling and Paxton
)
[Passed April 10, 2009; in effect from passage.]
AN ACT to
amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §18B-1D-10, relating
to entry into a data state compact among the Higher Education
Policy Commission, Council for Community and Technical College
Education and State Board of Education; authorizing
disclosures of information among the parties; requiring that
personal privacy laws be obeyed and security measures and
procedures be developed; and setting forth requirements for
data sharing arrangements with research organizations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §18B-1D-10, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1D. HIGHER EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY.
§18B-1D-10. State data sharing compact; legislative intent; findings; definitions.
(a) The intent of the Legislature in enacting this section is
to direct the commission, council and State Board of Education to
enter into a state compact, consistent with the provisions of
section six of this article, on or before July 1, 2009, to develop
and maintain a longitudinal education data system and to share
educational information.
(b) The Legislature makes the following findings:
(1) Sound data collection, reporting and analysis are critical
to building an education system capable of ensuring that all West
Virginia students are adequately prepared for college and the
global workforce. Elementary schools, middle schools, secondary
schools and higher education institutions can improve instructional
and educational decision-making using data that are collected and
made available to them.
(2) State education policymaking benefits from partnerships
between state education agencies and entities with expertise in
education research. It is beneficial for West Virginia to
establish systems and processes that permit qualified researchers
to assist with state evaluation and research functions in a manner
that is consistent with privacy protection laws.
(3) West Virginia is committed to establishing and maintaining
a longitudinal student unit record data system that educators and
policymakers can use to analyze and assess student progress beginning with early learning programs and continuing through post-
secondary education and into employment. The commission, council
and State Board of Education have designed, built and deployed some
of the fundamental components of a longitudinal data system and
have engaged in extensive efforts to link and use available
education data effectively. Now, it is necessary to integrate and
manage the various education data components in a cooperative
manner to establish a data-driven, decision-making environment for
this state's education system.
(4) Students will achieve improved learning outcomes because
of the longitudinal data system established through the state
compact mandated by this section.
(6) State use and management of education data shall be in
accordance with all legal requirements protecting student privacy
and shall protect personal information from intentional or
accidental release to unauthorized persons and from intentional or
accidental use for unauthorized purposes.
(c) Definitions:
(1) "Longitudinal data system" means a student unit record
data system that links student records beginning with early
learning programs and continuing through post-secondary education,
entry into the workforce and beyond. The system may consist of
separate student unit record systems integrated through agreement
and data transfer mechanisms.
(2) "Privacy protection laws" means the federal Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. 1232g) and
any other state or federal laws relating to the confidentiality and
protection of personally identifiable information.
(3) "Research organization" means a governmental entity,
institution of higher education, public policy organization or
other person or entity conducting educational research that meets
the following conditions:
(i) Qualified to perform educational research and protect the
privacy of student data;
(ii) Seeks to perform research for a non-commercial purpose
authorized by privacy protection laws; and
(iii) Agrees to perform the research pursuant to a written
agreement meeting the requirements of privacy protection laws and
best research practices.
(d) The state data-sharing compact entered into by the
commission, council and State Board of Education shall contain the
following:
(1) A plan to establish and maintain a longitudinal data
system that links early learning, elementary, middle and secondary
school student unit records with higher education institution
student unit records;
(2) A plan to establish a data warehouse that integrates data
from multiple student unit record systems and supports all of the uses and functions of the longitudinal data system;
(3) A list of areas for collaborative research and a
preliminary plan for conducting that research;
(4) A system for entering into data sharing arrangements with
each other and with research organizations consistent with
subsection (f) of this section; and
(5) A provision that allows another party to the compact to
review any draft report or study generated using that party's data
at least ten days before the report or study is released publicly.
During that ten day period, each party shall be given the
opportunity to submit comments regarding the accuracy, conclusions
and recommendations of the report or study.
(e) To facilitate implementation of the requirements of this
section:
(1) The commission, council and State Board of Education are
authorized to disclose data to the longitudinal data system and to
each other consistent with the purposes of this section;
(2) With the assistance of the State Board of Education, the
commission, council and state institutions of higher education
shall collect the State Board of Education's unique identifier for
all students who have attended public schools in West Virginia to
facilitate better matching of student unit record data.
(3) The commission, council and State Board of Education shall
collect, use, maintain, disclose and share data in accordance with personal privacy laws and shall develop security measures and
procedures that protect personal information from intentional or
accidental release to unauthorized persons and from intentional or
accidental use for unauthorized purposes.
(f) A data sharing arrangement entered into with a research
organization pursuant to this section shall meet the following
criteria:
(1) Permitted by and undertaken in accordance with privacy
protection laws;
(2) Receives prior approval from the State Superintendent of
Schools or designee, the Chancellor for Higher Education or
designee, and the Chancellor for Community and Technical College
Education or designee, as appropriate, if data from that entity are
being utilized in the research;
(3) Prohibits the personal identification of any person by
individuals other than authorized representatives of the research
organization who have legitimate interests in the information;
(4) Ensures the destruction or return of the data when no
longer needed for the authorized purposes under the data sharing
arrangement;
(5) Performed pursuant to a written agreement with the
research organization that does the following:
(A) Specifies the purpose, scope and duration of the data
sharing arrangement;
(B) Requires the recipient of the data to use personally
identifiable information from education records only to meet the
purpose or purposes of the data sharing arrangement stated in the
written agreement;
(C) Describes specific data access, use and security
restrictions that the recipient will undertake; and
(D) Contains such other terms and provisions as the
commission, council and State Board of Education, as appropriate,
consider necessary or appropriate.
(g) As a condition of participating in state-level financial
aid programs provided for in chapter eighteen-c of this code, the
commission may require non-public institutions of higher education
to provide data for the longitudinal data system and data
warehouse.
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