An Act requiring the establishment of a Statewide longitudinal data system and supplementing chapter 3B of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. There is established in the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education the P-20 Longitudinal Data System Task Force. The purpose of the task force shall be to develop policies and recommendations regarding the development of the student-level longitudinal data system established pursuant to section 2 of this act. The task force shall develop policies and recommendations on the following matters:

(1) data elements to be maintained in the longitudinal data system;

(2) the process by which entities will submit information to the data system;

(3) measures to be taken to ensure that all data in the longitudinal data system are secure and that individuals' privacy is not compromised;

(4) analytic reports that will be created using information stored in the longitudinal data system; and

(5) the feasibility of collecting postsecondary education and employment data for inclusion in the longitudinal data system of individuals who graduated from a public secondary school in the State and subsequently moved out-of-State.

b. The task force shall consist of 17 members as follows:

(1) the Secretary of Higher Education, or a designee, who shall serve ex officio;

(2) the Commissioner of Education, or a designee, who shall serve ex officio;

(3) the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, or a designee, who shall serve ex officio;

(4) the chief technology officer of the Office of Information Technology, who shall serve ex officio; and

(5) 13 members to be appointed by the Governor, including three representatives of four-year public institutions of higher education in the State, three representatives of county colleges in the State, two representatives of independent four-year institutions of higher education in the State, and five public members who shall have expertise in the development and maintenance of large data systems and research in education and labor policy.

c. Members of the task force shall be appointed within 60 days of the effective date of this act. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made. Members of the task force shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for the necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the task force.

d. The Secretary of Higher Education, or the secretary's designee, shall serve as the chair of the task force.

e. The Office of the Secretary of Higher Education shall provide stenographic, clerical, and other administrative assistance, and such professional staff as the task force requires to carry out its work. The task force shall also be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes.

2. a. No later than of the beginning of the 2015-2016 academic year, the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, the Department of Education, and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to develop a longitudinal data system that will connect data records for individuals enrolled in State-funded preschool programs, public elementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher education located in the State, and employed in the State. The data system established pursuant to this section shall be capable of, at minimum, the following:

(1) reducing, to the maximum extent possible, the data collection burden on school districts and institutions of higher education by using data submitted to the longitudinal data system for multiple reporting and analysis functions;

(2) providing authorized officials with access to individual-level data, summary reports, and data that may be integrated with additional data maintained outside of the longitudinal data system to inform education decision-making;

(3) enhancing existing school-to-postsecondary reporting systems to inform school district officials, policymakers, and the public about public school students' performance in postsecondary institutions of higher education;

(4) improving student access to postsecondary educational opportunities by linking student data to college and career planning tools to facilitate the submission of transcript data and enabling the transfer of student records to officials of an institution of higher education to which a student seeks enrollment;

(5) establishing a publicly-available Internet website that provides reports of data that are not confidential; and

(6) providing research and reports on the effectiveness of specific programs and initiatives.

b. The longitudinal data system established pursuant this section shall contain, at minimum, the following data elements:

(1) a unique identifier, other than an individual's social security number or derived from an individual's social security number, that allows for the merging of an individual's data as the individual progresses through elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education and employment;

(2) individual-level enrollment, demographic, and program participation data;

(3) performance on each State assessment and reasons why an individual did not participate in a State assessment;

(4) individual-level transcript information;

(5) information regarding an individual's status as a graduate or a dropout of a secondary or postsecondary institution; and

(6) an individual's quarterly earnings when the individual is no longer enrolled in an educational institution.

c. The longitudinal data system shall be operational no later than the beginning of the 2016-2017 academic year.

3. Each public institution of higher education shall submit the required data elements to the longitudinal data system in a manner to be determined by the Secretary of Higher Education. The secretary shall allow an independent institution of higher education to submit data elements to the longitudinal data system, and independent institutions of higher education are encouraged to do so.

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the development of a Statewide longitudinal data system that is capable of retaining individual-level information. The data records would include information starting when an individual enrolls in a public school, and would continue as the individual enters the workforce.

The bill establishes the P-20 Longitudinal Data System Task Force in the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education. The task force would include the Secretary of Higher Education, the Commissioners of Education and Labor and Workforce Development, and the chief technology officer in the Office of Information Technology, all serving ex officio, and 13 members appointed by the Governor, including three representatives from four-year public institutions of higher education, three representatives from county colleges, two representatives from independent four-year institutions of higher education, and five public members with expertise in the development of large data systems and research in education and labor policy. The task force will develop policy and recommendations regarding the development of the longitudinal data system.

The bill requires that the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, the Department of Education, and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development enter into a memorandum of understanding no later than the beginning of the 2015-2016 academic year to develop the longitudinal data system. The system would be operational by the beginning of the 2016-2017 academic year.