Deloitte wins Education Dept.'s migrant data contract

Deloitte Consulting LLP of Reston, Va., has been awarded a $14 million contract from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a migrant student information exchange, which will link state migrant education programs and improve data collection, accuracy and timeliness of the information exchanged.

The goal is to support comprehensive educational programs for migrant children helping to reduce the educational disruption and other problems that result from repeated moves.

The contract has a one-year base period and four one-year options for a total of five years, Education said in its posting earlier this week on FedBizOpps.

Education plans to have the system operational at least for high-school level migrant students by next October, said Education Department spokesman Jim Bradshaw.

"The ideas is to work from the secondary level on down," he said.

Education wants to let the Office of Migrant Education use existing technology in the states and applications to securely exchange student records nationwide, protect the student's personal information and provide standard reports.

The No Child Left Behind Act directed Education to assist states in developing methods to electronically transfer student records and determining the number of migratory children in each state. School records frequently are transferred as hard copy through the mail or by fax, which can delay services to the student or assessment of their achievements.

Mary Mosquera is a staff writer for Washington Technology's sister publication, Government Computer News.