AN ACT Relating to expanding statewide career and technical education course equivalency options; and amending RCW 28A.700.070.

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

Sec. 1.  RCW 28A.700.070 and 2014 c 217 s 101 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall support school district efforts under RCW 28A.230.097 to adopt course equivalencies for career and technical courses by:

(a) Recommending career and technical curriculum suitable for course equivalencies;

(b) Publicizing best practices for high schools and school districts in developing and adopting course equivalencies; and

(c) In consultation with the Washington association for career and technical education, providing professional development, technical assistance, and guidance for school districts seeking to expand their lists of equivalent courses.

(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall provide professional development, technical assistance, and guidance for school districts to develop career and technical course equivalencies that also qualify as advanced placement courses.

(3) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with one or more technical working groups convened for this purpose, shall develop curriculum frameworks for a selected list of career and technical courses that may be offered by high schools or skill centers whose academic standards content ((in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)) is considered equivalent in full or in part to ((science or mathematics)) the academic courses that meet high school graduation requirements. These courses may include equivalency to English language arts, mathematics, science, technology, engineering, social studies, arts, world languages, or health and physical education. The content of the courses must be aligned with ((state essential academic learning requirements in mathematics as adopted by the superintendent of public instruction in July 2011 and the essential academic learning requirements in science as adopted in October 2013, and)) the most current Washington K-12 learning standards in English language arts, mathematics, science, arts, world languages, health and physical education, social studies, and required industry standards. The office shall submit the list of equivalent career and technical courses and their curriculum frameworks to the state board of education for review, an opportunity for public comment, and approval. The first list of courses under this subsection must be developed and approved before the 2015-16 school year. Thereafter, the office may periodically update or revise the list of courses using the process in this subsection.

(4) Subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate grant funds to school districts to increase the integration and rigor of academic instruction in career and technical courses. Grant recipients are encouraged to use grant funds to support teams of academic and technical teachers ((using a research-based professional development model supported by the national research center for career and technical education)). The office of the superintendent of public instruction may require that grant recipients provide matching resources using federal Carl Perkins funds or other fund sources.

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