HB 2739 states that the answer to improving educational success for the approximately 42 percent of Washington students who experience significant amounts of toxic stress is to develop a broad and trauma-sensitive public policy agenda in which schools, communities, and families play key roles. In order to do this, there must be more known about community variation in the prevalence of childhood toxic stress, as well as the factors that predict resilience and prevention.
The bill requires the education data center to contract with a certain nonprofit organization to conduct a geographic analysis using existing data to identify areas where the cumulative effect of family factors such as employment, health status, safety, and stability correlate with academic and behavioral indicators of student success. The education data center must submit this analysis in the form of a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by January 31, 2015. This report must include maps that illustrate community variation in family factors as they relate to K-12 and postsecondary education outcomes and keeping all children on track for success.
At a minimum, the report must include the prevalence of family and community health, safety, and stability factors relevant to student success, resilience factors that are statistically correlated with improved population outcomes even in populations with family, health, safety, and stability challenges, correlation with factors in the bill with a community variation in academic, behavior, and graduation outcomes, and implications for policy targeted at improving K-12 or postsecondary outcomes.
