1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; providing for a digital student achievement backpack;
1.3 	proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 127A.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. [127A.058] STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT BACKPACK.
1.6 		Subdivision 1.Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms 
1.7 	have the meanings given them:
1.8 	(1) "authorized local education agency user" means a teacher or other person who is:
1.9 	(i) employed by a school that provides instruction to a student; and
1.10 	(ii) authorized to access data in a student achievement backpack;
1.11 	(2) "local education agency" means:
1.12 	(i) a school district;
1.13 	(ii) a charter school;
1.14 	(iii) a charter school authorizer;
1.15 	(iv) an educational cooperative;
1.16 	(v) an intermediate school district; or
1.17 	(vi) an education district;
1.18 	(3) "student achievement backpack" means, for a student from kindergarten through 
1.19 	grade 12, a complete learner profile that:
1.20 	(i) is in electronic format;
1.21 	(ii) follows the student from grade-to-grade and school-to-school;
1.22 	(iii) is accessible by the student's parent or guardian; and
1.23 	(iv) is accessible by an authorized local education agency user upon parental 
1.24 	authorization; and
2.1 	(4) "Minnesota Student Record Center" means a repository of student data collected 
2.2 	from local education agencies as part of the state's longitudinal data system that is:
2.3 	(i) comanaged by the Department of Education;
2.4 	(ii) cloud-based; and
2.5 	(iii) accessible via a Web browser to authorized local education agency users.
2.6 		Subd. 2.Student achievement backpack. (a) The commissioner of education 
2.7 	must use the comprehensive data collection system coordinated by the Office of Higher 
2.8 	Education, Department of Education, and the Department of Employment and Economic 
2.9 	Development, that collects longitudinal student transcript data from schools and the 
2.10 	unique student identifiers, to allow the following to access a student's student achievement 
2.11 	backpack:
2.12 	(1) the student's parent or guardian;
2.13 	(2) each local education agency that provides instruction to the student;
2.14 	(3) each course provider that is currently providing instruction to the student and has 
2.15 	been authorized by the student's parent or guardian; and
2.16 	(4) each education service provider that is currently providing content or educational 
2.17 	services to the student and has been authorized by the student's parent or guardian.
2.18 	(b) The commissioner must ensure that a student achievement backpack:
2.19 	(1) provides a uniform, transparent reporting mechanism for individual student's 
2.20 	progress;
2.21 	(2) provides a complete learner history for postsecondary planning;
2.22 	(3) provides a teacher with visibility into a student's complete learner profile to better 
2.23 	inform instruction and personalize education;
2.24 	(4) assists a teacher or administrator in diagnosing a student's learning needs through 
2.25 	data already collected by the department;
2.26 	(5) facilitates a student's parent or guardian taking an active role in the student's 
2.27 	education by simplifying access to the student's complete learner profile; and
2.28 	(6) serves as additional disaster mitigation for local education agencies by using a 
2.29 	cloud-based data storage and collection system that complies with all state and federal 
2.30 	privacy laws.
2.31 		Subd. 3.Minnesota Student Record Center. (a) The commissioner must establish 
2.32 	a Minnesota Student Record Center using existing information collected and used by the 
2.33 	Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System.
2.34 	(b) The Student Record Center may, upon parental authorization, allow an authorized 
2.35 	local education agency user to:
2.36 	(1) access data in a student achievement backpack relevant to the user's school; or
3.1 	(2) request student records be transferred from one school to another.
3.2 	(c) The commissioner must implement security measures to ensure that student data 
3.3 	stored or transmitted to or from the record center is secure and confidential pursuant to 
3.4 	state and federal requirements, and that an authorized local education agency user may 
3.5 	only access student data that is relevant to the user's local education agency or school.
3.6 	(d) A student's parent or guardian may request the student's student achievement 
3.7 	backpack from the local education agency or school in which the student is enrolled. 
3.8 	School districts must provide a parent or guardian with an electronic copy of the parent's 
3.9 	or guardian's child's educational record upon request.
3.10 	(e) The commissioner must develop policies for school districts that:
3.11 	(1) ensure student data is provided only to the authorized individuals;
3.12 	(2) ensure that school districts have a plan to allow parents and guardians to securely 
3.13 	view online, download, and transmit data specific to their child's educational record;
3.14 	(3) annually notify parents and guardians of their right to request their child's 
3.15 	student records;
3.16 	(4) ensure student records are securely shared with parents and guardians;
3.17 	(5) detail the time frame within which student record requests must be provided; and
3.18 	(6) the information provided in this section will be available via a secure online 
3.19 	portal and via hard copy upon request.
3.20 		Subd. 4.Data accessibility. (a) No later than June 30, 2016, an authorized local 
3.21 	education agency  user shall be able to access student data in a student achievement 
3.22 	backpack, which shall include the following data or request the data be transferred from 
3.23 	one local education agency to another:
3.24 	(1) student demographics;
3.25 	(2) course grades;
3.26 	(3) course history; and
3.27 	(4) results for state-mandated assessments.
3.28 	(b) No later than June 30, 2017, an authorized local education agency user shall be 
3.29 	able to access student data in a student achievement backpack, which shall include the 
3.30 	data listed in paragraph (a), clauses (1) to (4), and the following data, or request the data 
3.31 	be transferred from one local education agency to another:
3.32 	(1) attendance records;
3.33 	(2) the name of a student's teacher for classes or courses the student takes and the 
3.34 	teacher's qualifications, including years of experience, degree, license, and endorsement;
3.35 	(3) results of formative, interim, and summative computer adaptive assessments;
3.36 	(4) detailed data demonstrating a student's mastery of state academic standards;
4.1 	(5) for students in grade 8 or higher, results from career and college readiness 
4.2 	assessments;
4.3 	(6) for students in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2, reading proficiency level 
4.4 	according to section 120B.12; and
4.5 	(7) federal free or reduced-price lunch program eligibility.
4.6 	(c) No later than June 30, 2018, the commissioner must ensure that data collected in 
4.7 	the Minnesota Student Record Center for a student achievement backpack are integrated 
4.8 	into each local education agency student information system and shall be made available 
4.9 	to a student's parent or guardian and an authorized local education agency user in an 
4.10 	easily accessible viewing format. The commissioner must engage stakeholders, including 
4.11 	parents and principals, to ensure that the information meets their needs, is easy to find on 
4.12 	the state Web site, and easy to read for a parent without a high school degree.