Education officials have started assigning special ten-digit numbers to every elementary and secondary student in the state. Deputy Education Commissioner Bert Schulte says it’s an effort to track student performance, no matter where the student lives. The ID numbers will also be used for research into education and learning. Schulte says it’s an entirely internal system. Students will not be issued any identification cards and will not have to know their number. He says it’s just an administrative procedure. All 900,000 Missouri students should have their special numbers before achievement test-time next Spring. Schulte assures that the public student information will not be made available outside the public school record-keeping process. He says that information is protected by confidentiality agreements. Schulte says the system is part of the department’s efforts to be more accountable.