Records Transfer for Mobile Students

SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education

requests comments on (1) current methods for transferring educational

and health records and enrolling highly mobile students, especially

migrant students, at the appropriate grade level and documenting their

course completion; and (2) how the Federal Government can best work

with State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies

(LEAs) to improve existing systems and technologies for transferring

records between school districts. The Department will review and

analyze information obtained through this notice and will use it to

consider what, if any, Federal actions might be useful to those who

provide direct services to children.

DATES: Comments are requested by February 27, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Lori__Ahmady, U.S.

Department of Education, 600 Independence Ave., SW, Room 4100 Portals,

Washington, DC 20202-6135. Comments sent by courier should be addressed

to Lori Ahmady, 1250 Maryland Ave., SW, Suite 4100, Washington, DC

20024. Comments may also be sent via the Internet to

Lori__A[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lori Ahmady, at the above addresses or

by telephone at 202-260-1391. Individuals who use a telecommunications

device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay

Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern

time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For purposes of this discussion, ``highly

mobile students'' includes specific groups targeted by programs the

Department administers, i.e., children of migrant agricultural or

fishing workers, homeless children, and military dependents, as well as

other children whose education is adversely affected by frequent moves

(children from poor urban families and children of other itinerant

workers). Also, for purposes of this discussion, a ``student record''

consists of a body of information transferred from one school to

another, electronically, by telephone, or in hard copy, to assist in

the enrollment and appropriate placement of the student in the new

school. These records may include official transcripts, report cards,

cumulative files, health records, and other related information. The

content of a student record may differ substantially between elementary

and secondary schools, between public and private schools, and among

States and localities.

The Department's current interest in records transfer is prompted

by a number of factors, including the high rate of mobility within our

society as a whole, and the effects of that mobility on educating

school-age children. A recent report by the General Accounting Office

(GAO), stated that ``The United States has one of the highest mobility

rates of all developed countries. * * * One in six of the Nation's

children who are third-graders--over a half million--have changed

school frequently, attending at least three different schools since the

beginning of first grade. Unless policymakers focus greater attention

on the needs of children who have changed schools frequently--often

low-income, inner city, migrant, and limited English proficient (LEP)--

these children may continue to be low achieving. * * *'' Studies such

as this one have focused public attention on the need to provide timely

and comparable records to help mobile children, who are less likely to

receive federally funded services than their more stable peers, get the

help they need. This study also questioned the utility and adequacy of

current records transfer efforts on behalf of children who move

frequently from one district (or even one school) to another. The GAO

study reports that ``* * * the most commonly used mode of transferring

student records--by mail--can be cumbersome and time-consuming. In one

State, local officials reported it often takes 2 to 6 weeks before a

new child's records arrive. In a school with a high mobility rate,

teachers rarely used records to place children * * * because these

records usually arrived days or weeks after the children transferred or

not at all. * * *'' These delays may prove particularly limiting for

those subpopulations of students who are highly mobile, such as the

children of migrant agricultural workers, children of other itinerant

workers, homeless children, children from poor urban families, and

military dependents.

In response to recommendations from several groups that the

Department explore the potential of new technologies (e.g., FAX

technology and electronic data interchange (EDI)) to improve records

transfer for all children and particularly for highly mobile student

subpopulations, Department staff have, over the past year, initiated

conversations with the Council of Chief State School Officers about its

SPEEDE/ExPRESS data transfer protocols, commissioned a report of

available data on alternatives to the current Migrant Student Record

Transfer System and convened a Departmental workgroup to study records

transfer issues. The Department has also discussed issues related to

records transfer for mobile students with some SEA and LEA

representatives. These initial efforts have indicated, in part, that

even with new technologies for linking all State educational records

systems and new momentum to expand the automation of SEA and LEA

student data systems, the costs of applying technology to records

transfer, while unknown, are likely to be considerable.

Request for Comments

The Assistant Secretary, in particular, requests comments from

knowledgeable education personnel in LEAs and SEAs, especially from

those teachers, counselors, school administrators, and other school

personnel who are responsible for placement and credit acceptance

decisions in schools and LEAs that have a high mobility rate among

students. Parents of mobile children are also requested to comment.

In order to determine whether and how the Federal Government might

assist States and localities in developing strategies for transferring

records for highly mobile students, the Department is seeking public

comment about current practices and barriers to the transfer of student

records. In addition, information obtained through this notice will

contribute to the preparation of a report of findings and

recommendations on records transfer to be submitted to the Committee on

Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Education

and Labor of the House of Representatives as required in section

1308(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by

Pub. L. 103-382. The Department will consider all timely comments

received and does not require commenters to identify themselves. The

information requested in this notice regarding characteristics of the

commenter is needed for analysis only.

Commenter Characteristics

1. Indicate either the type of organization you represent or your

occupation, e.g., parent, teacher, counselor, local program or school

administrator, State educational agency management information systems

specialist, advocacy organization, State [[Page 3049]] or local

educational agency staff, or other.

2. Indicate the nature of the mobility you deal with most

frequently, (e.g., within district, across districts within your State,

or across States), the kind of mobile students you or your organization

deals with the most (e.g., migrant children, homeless children,

military dependents), and the amount of mobility you deal with (e.g.,

the approximate percentage of students in your school, district or

State who move each year).

Questions for Commenters

1. How, in your experience, are students' educational and health

records currently transferred across schools, districts and States

(e.g., by mail, FAX, telephone, electronic transfer)?

2. For newly arriving students, what information do school

personnel and classroom teachers use to enroll students, assign them to

a grade level or class, and grant credit for coursework completed at

previous schools? Where does this information come from (e.g., teacher

observations, the student's cumulative files, migrant student records,

formal or informal needs assessments, or other information obtained

from the student, the student's family, or the students' previous

schools)?

3. To what extent do schools and teachers rely upon records

transferred from other schools to make or confirm enrollment,

placement, programming and other educational or support service

decisions including the transfer of credits for high school graduation?

(Commenters are asked to characterize how much they rely on student

records in making or confirming these decisions, and how comfortable

they are in doing so, as compared to other information sources like

those listed in Question #2.)

4. Are existing methods of transferring student records from school

to school adequate? If not, what problems or barriers exist and what

are their ensuing consequences for highly mobile students, including

migrant students? How prevalent are these problems and their subsequent

effects on mobile students? Are there particular situations in which

problems occur most frequently?

5. What can States, school districts, and individual schools do to

improve the transfer of student records? What can parents do to ensure

that their children's records move from school to school?

6. Should the Federal Government work to advance the development of

more effective State and local methods of transferring student records?

How?

Invitation to Comment

All comments submitted in response to this notice will be available

during and after the comment period in room 4100, Portals Building,

1250 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C., between the hours of 8:30

a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday, through Friday of each week except Federal

holidays.

Dated: January 6, 1995.

Thomas W. Payzant,

Assistant Secretary, Elementary and Secondary Education.

[FR Doc. 95-810 Filed 1-11-95; 8:45 am]

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