Teacher Certification Requirements.  Under state law, the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) is tasked with establishing rules for teacher certification, including requirements for teacher preparation programs.  Under rules set by PESB and state law, there are several pathways to becoming a certificated teacher, with the traditional route being enrollment in a teacher preparation program as part of a bachelor or master's degree program.  All individuals hoping to become certified teachers in Washington must meet assessment requirements.
 
Minimum Assessment Requirements.  Before receiving their initial—residency—teaching certificate, teacher certification candidates must achieve a minimum score on a uniform and externally administered professional-level certification assessment based on demonstrated teaching skill.  This assessment, more commonly known as the edTPA, is a national assessment that analyzes teaching candidates' planning, instruction, and knowledge through a submitted portfolio which is then graded by educators.
 
All teaching candidates completing PESB-approved teacher preparation programs have been required to successfully pass the edTPA since January 2014.  Candidates must also meet a minimum score on an assessment of subject knowledge to obtain an endorsement in that area.

Teacher Certification Standards.  The PESB is required by state law to adopt a set of articulated teacher knowledge, skill, and performance standards that are evidence-based, measurable, meaningful, and documented in high-quality research as being associated with improved student learning.  The learning standards must be calibrated for each level along the entire career continuum.  The PESB must, to the extent possible, incorporate social-emotional learning standards and cultural competency standards into these standards.

A PESB rule requires that PESB-approved teacher preparation programs ensure candidates demonstrate the most recently published model teaching standards by the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC).  The ten InTASC standards, published in 2013, relate to the learner, content, instructional practice, and professional responsibility.

Recommendation for Residency Teacher Certification.  PESB-approved teacher preparation programs must recommend for residency teacher certification each person who, during the 2019-20, 2020-21, or 2021-22 academic years, met all statutory and program requirements except for the completion of the edTPA.  Programs must attempt to notify each person who meets these requirements.
 
PESB-approved teacher preparation programs may, upon request, recommend for residency teacher certification any person who was required to pass the edTPA as a prerequisite to residency teacher certification, provided the person met all other requirements in effect at the time of enrollment.
 
Repeal of Performance Assessment.  Requirements related to the edTPA, including the requirement that candidates for residency teacher certification pass the edTPA, are repealed.
 
The PESB may not adopt rules requiring candidates for residency teacher certification take or pass a uniform, statewide performance assessment of teaching effectiveness.
 
Teacher Certification Standards and Program Requirements.  For candidates recommended for residency teacher certification, PESB must adopt the most recent teaching standards published by a consortium of state and national education organizations dedicated to the reform of the preparation, licensing, and ongoing professional development of teachers since 1987.
 
The description of the measures all PESB-approved teacher preparation programs use to demonstrate how the program produces effective teachers is revised from "measures established in statute" to "multiple measures of the knowledge, skills, performance, and competencies."  Candidates for residency teacher certification meet or exceed competency standards prior to recommendation.
 
Each PESB-approved teacher preparation program must publish, and provide to candidates prior to admission, a list of program completion requirements.

PRO:  Teachers are putting in a disproportionate amount of hours for a test that does not have proven effectiveness.  The randomness of edTPA results makes the assessment an inaccurate measure of teaching effectiveness.  Preparation programs are the best evaluators of our teaching talent.  The time and emotional energy spent on preparing for the edTPA could be better spent on assisting students.  Candidates of color receive lower scores than their white counterparts.  The edTPA requirement undermines multicultural instruction in Washington State.  The edTPA is not focused on areas that impact positive educational outcomes.  There is a magic in teaching that cannot be boiled down to a few short videos and written responses.  Current results are based in part on candidates' proximity to whiteness.  The edTPA is not an authentic measure of what teaching looks like.  A separate portfolio is not necessary when a thorough review already exists.
 
CON:  Teacher emergency licensures are important, but repealing the edTPA is not a necessary step.  More data and information is forthcoming as a result of work being done currently.  The edTPA provides vouchers for eligible candidates.  The Legislature should wait for upcoming results and data from current pilot projects.

OTHER:  You are not allowed to drive a car or perform many duties without passing a performance assessment.  Passing this bill would eliminate the one uniform quality control that exists for the state.  A candidate could be certified without passing a basic skills exam or a uniform skill assessment.