BILL REQ. #:  H-4763.1 

Read first time 04/09/12.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to providing additional information, opportunities, and protections for parents and students regarding state and federal assessments of student learning; amending RCW 28A.655.070; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.655 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 28A.655 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) School districts must notify parents or guardians of enrolled students each year with the following information about each assessment that is required by the state or by the federal government before the assessment is administered during the school year:
     (a) The subject areas covered by the assessment;
     (b) When the assessment will be administered;
     (c) When the assessment results will be released to parents or guardians;
     (d) How the assessment or assessment results will advance student learning;
     (e) The amount of instructional time lost in administering the assessment;
     (f) The cost to the school district of administering the assessment;
     (g) The cost to the state of administering the assessment; and
     (h) Whether the assessment is required by the state, by the federal government, or by both.
     (2) School districts must also notify parents and guardians of elementary and middle school students of their opportunity to excuse their children from participation in any assessment required by the state or by the federal government.
     (3) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall provide to school districts the information necessary for the district to notify parents of the information under subsection (1)(g) of this section.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.655.070 and 2008 c 163 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop essential academic learning requirements that identify the knowledge and skills all public school students need to know and be able to do based on the student learning goals in RCW 28A.150.210, develop student assessments, and implement the accountability recommendations and requests regarding assistance, rewards, and recognition of the state board of education.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction shall:
     (a) Periodically revise the essential academic learning requirements, as needed, based on the student learning goals in RCW 28A.150.210. Goals one and two shall be considered primary. To the maximum extent possible, the superintendent shall integrate goal four and the knowledge and skill areas in the other goals in the essential academic learning requirements; and
     (b) Review and prioritize the essential academic learning requirements and identify, with clear and concise descriptions, the grade level content expectations to be assessed on the ((Washington assessment of student learning)) statewide student assessment and used for state or federal accountability purposes. The review, prioritization, and identification shall result in more focus and targeting with an emphasis on depth over breadth in the number of grade level content expectations assessed at each grade level. Grade level content expectations shall be articulated over the grades as a sequence of expectations and performances that are logical, build with increasing depth after foundational knowledge and skills are acquired, and reflect, where appropriate, the sequential nature of the discipline. The office of the superintendent of public instruction, within seven working days, shall post on its web site any grade level content expectations provided to an assessment vendor for use in constructing the ((Washington assessment of student learning)) statewide student assessment.
     (3)(a) In consultation with the state board of education, the superintendent of public instruction shall maintain and continue to develop and revise a statewide academic assessment system in the content areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and science for use in the elementary, middle, and high school years designed to determine if each student has mastered the essential academic learning requirements identified in subsection (1) of this section. School districts shall administer the assessments under guidelines adopted by the superintendent of public instruction. School districts shall provide an opportunity for parents and guardians of elementary and middle school students to excuse their children from participation in any assessment required by the state or by the federal government. School districts, including individual schools and teachers, may not impose any penalties, loss of privileges, or other adverse actions on parents or students as a consequence of excusing a student from participation in a required assessment. The academic assessment system may include a variety of assessment methods, including criterion-referenced and performance-based measures.
     (b) Effective with the 2009 administration of the ((Washington assessment of student learning)) statewide student assessment, the superintendent shall redesign the assessment in the content areas of reading, mathematics, and science in all grades except high school by shortening test administration and reducing the number of short answer and extended response questions.
     (4) If the superintendent proposes any modification to the essential academic learning requirements or the statewide assessments, then the superintendent shall, upon request, provide opportunities for the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate to review the assessments and proposed modifications to the essential academic learning requirements before the modifications are adopted.
     (5) The assessment system shall be designed so that the results under the assessment system are used by educators as tools to evaluate instructional practices, and to initiate appropriate educational support for students who have not mastered the essential academic learning requirements at the appropriate periods in the student's educational development.
     (6) By September 2007, the results for reading and mathematics shall be reported in a format that will allow parents and teachers to determine the academic gain a student has acquired in those content areas from one school year to the next.
     (7) To assist parents and teachers in their efforts to provide educational support to individual students, the superintendent of public instruction shall provide as much individual student performance information as possible within the constraints of the assessment system's item bank. The superintendent shall also provide to school districts:
     (a) Information on classroom-based and other assessments that may provide additional achievement information for individual students; and
     (b) A collection of diagnostic tools that educators may use to evaluate the academic status of individual students. The tools shall be designed to be inexpensive, easily administered, and quickly and easily scored, with results provided in a format that may be easily shared with parents and students.
     (8) To the maximum extent possible, the superintendent shall integrate knowledge and skill areas in development of the assessments.
     (9) Assessments for goals three and four of RCW 28A.150.210 shall be integrated in the essential academic learning requirements and assessments for goals one and two.
     (10) The superintendent shall develop assessments that are directly related to the essential academic learning requirements, and are not biased toward persons with different learning styles, racial or ethnic backgrounds, or on the basis of gender.
     (11) The superintendent shall consider methods to address the unique needs of special education students when developing the assessments under this section.
     (12) The superintendent shall consider methods to address the unique needs of highly capable students when developing the assessments under this section.
     (13) The superintendent shall post on the superintendent's web site lists of resources and model assessments in social studies, the arts, and health and fitness.