SECTION 4.11. Tracking Participation of Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD)

(a) For the purpose of this rule, Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) will be defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder that must meet the following criteria:

(1) Deficits in intellectual functions, such as reasoning, problem solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgement, academic learning, and learning from experience.

(2) Deficits in adaptive functioning that result in failure to meet developmental and sociocultural standards for personal independence and social responsibility. Without ongoing support, the adaptive deficits limit functioning in one or more activities of daily life, such a communication, social participation, and independent living, across multiple environments, such as home, school, work and community.

(3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection may occur after the developmental period (such as in the case of a traumatic brain injury).

(4) Students with IDD may include those diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.

(b) For the purpose of this rule, "postsecondary transitional program or postsecondary program for students with IDD" will be defined as a degree, certificate or non-degree program for students with IDD that is offered by an institution of higher education. These programs are designed to support students with IDD who want to continue academic, career, and independent living instruction following completion of secondary education.

(c) The Coordinating Board may collect, as part of its ongoing regular data collection process, information about students with IDD for the purpose of analyzing factors affecting the college participation and outcomes of persons with IDD at public institutions of higher education. Institutions may only report students who have been identified through self-identification and/or documented receipt of special services. Students who do not self-identify will not be reflected in the data. Institutions may, but are not required to, collect consent forms regarding reporting of the data outlined in subsection (d) of this section from students who have self-identified with an IDD. In the case where a student has an appointed legal guardian, the guardian will act on behalf of the student for the purposes of this rule.

(d) All public institutions of higher education shall provide to the Coordinating Board data, as specified in subsection (e) of this section, regarding the enrollment of individuals with IDD in their undergraduate, graduate and technical continuing education programs. Data about these students' participation in postsecondary transitional programs or postsecondary programs for students with IDD will also be collected, but student-level data will not be collected for students enrolled in these programs unless they are also enrolled in credit-bearing college-level coursework or technical continuing education. Institutions of higher education and the Coordinating Board shall follow all federal privacy requirements under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) when collecting and reporting data for the purposes of this rule.

(e) Two additional items will be added to the CBM Student Reports (CBM001, CBM00A, and CBM0E1) for the purposes of this ongoing study. The definitions in subsection (a) and (b) of this section will apply to the data collection for these items.

(1) An item with three options in which the student is reported as:

(A) not identified as having an IDD;

(B) identified as having an IDD;

(C) identified as having an autism spectrum developmental disorder but not an intellectual disability.

(2) An item with three options indicating if:

(A) the student never participated in a postsecondary transitional program or postsecondary program for students with IDD;

(B) the student participated in a postsecondary transitional program or postsecondary program for students with IDD;

(C) it is unknown if the student ever participated in a postsecondary transitional program or postsecondary program for students with IDD.

(f) Access to the identifiers above in the CBM Student Report which indicate if an enrolled student has an IDD as defined will not be made available to the Education Research Centers, established under Texas Education Code §1.005, as part of regular data requests unless this information is specified and approved by the advisory board established under Texas Education Code §1.006 as relating to the research study proposed.

Source Note: The provisions of this §4.11 adopted to be effective May 22, 2019, 44 TexReg 2451