H-2158              _______________________________________________

                                           SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 372

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By House Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Grimm, Betrozoff, P. King, Jacobsen, Tilly, Miller, Locke, Crane, Winsley, Schoon, Isaacson, Silver, Hine, Todd and Brough; by Temporary Committee on Educational Policies, Structure and Management request)

Read first time 3/4/85 and referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

AN ACT Relating to early childhood education; adding new sections to chapter 28A.03 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

          The superintendent of public instruction, when requested, shall provide technical assistance to school districts which operate a program for assessment of students' readiness to attend school.  The superintendent of public instruction shall maintain a list of the assessment programs throughout the state and distribute the list to school districts without programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) The office of early childhood education is established in the office of the superintendent of public instruction.  The superintendent shall select a director of early childhood education possessing appropriate qualifications.

          (2) The office of early childhood education shall:

          (a) Collect information on both public and private early childhood programs in the state;

          (b) Publish and make available documents and handbooks about early childhood education for distribution to school districts, parents, and teachers;

          (c) Assist local school districts in the development or implementation of prekindergarten assessment programs;

          (d) Develop rules in conjunction with the state board of education for school or school district pilot projects combining kindergarten through grade three into a primary block;

          (e) Establish a formal communication structure between the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the department of social and health services about monitoring education programs for three and four year old children and child care programs provided by private persons and agencies;

          (f) Establish a formal communication structure between the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the department of community development regarding the operation of federal, private, or state programs for disadvantaged "at-risk" children not yet eligible for kindergarten;

          (g) Make recommendations to the state board of education regarding the requirement of an early childhood endorsement on the certificates of teachers in kindergarten through grade three; and

          (h) Perform such additional duties as may be deemed necessary by the superintendent of public instruction.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

          The superintendent of public instruction shall create a preschool advisory committee consisting of the director of early childhood education, representatives from professional associations, direct service providers including large and small private for profit and nonprofit programs, school districts, state and local governments, community colleges, four-year institutions of higher education, parents, the department of social and health services, and other agencies with a direct interest in preschool programs.  The advisory committee shall review policy issues relating to providing quality preschool programs in the state including, but not limited to the following:  Types of students to be served at public expense, structures for the provision of services for such children, the need for definition and regulation of the preschool programs, and coordination of standards.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     The superintendent of public instruction shall design and conduct a pilot program in ten half-day kindergarten classes and ten first grade classes to assess the impact of using instructional assistants to aid certificated personnel in the instruction in these grades and thereby reduce the student to adult ratio as follows:

          (1) The pilot program shall commence in the 1985-86 school year and terminate at the end of the 1986-87 school year.

          (2) The pilot program shall consist of:

          (a) Five half-day kindergarten classes and five first grade classes with an actual class size of not less than twenty students to one classroom teacher which are assigned an instructional assistant for the duration of the pilot program.  These classes shall be identified as benefit classrooms.

          (b) Five half-day kindergarten classes and five first grade classes with an actual class size of not less than twenty students to one classroom teacher which are not assigned an assistant for the duration of the pilot program.  These classes shall be identified as control classrooms.

          (3) The superintendent of public instruction shall report to the house education committee and senate education committee on the cost of the pilot program, achievements of students on pre and post tests, and projected costs of the state-wide application of the student to adult ratio used in the pilot program.

          (4) This section shall expire June 30, 1987.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     Implementation of sections 2 and 4 of this act are subject to funds being appropriated or made available for such purposes.