AN ACT Relating to students; amending RCW 28A.02.201, 28A.03.360, and 28A.04.155; and making an appropriation.

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

Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 98, Laws of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess. as amended by section 8, chapter 278, Laws of 1984 and RCW 28A.03.360 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Every school district is encouraged to test pupils in grade two by an assessment device designed or selected by the local school districts. This test shall be used to help teachers in identifying those pupils in need of assistance in the skills of reading, writing, mathematics, and language arts. The test results are not to be compiled by the superintendent of public instruction, but are only to be used by the local school district.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall prepare and conduct, with the assistance of local school districts, a standardized achievement test to be given annually to all pupils in grade four. The test shall assess students' skill in reading, mathematics, and language arts and shall focus upon appropriate input variables. Results of such tests shall be compiled by the superintendent of public instruction, who shall make those results available annually to the legislature, to all local school districts and subsequently to parents of those children tested. The results shall allow parents to ascertain the achievement levels and input variables of their children as compared with the other students within the district, the state and, if applicable, the nation. In addition to a compilation of individual test results, the test results for each district shall be adjusted for demographic variables.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction shall prepare and conduct, with the assistance of local school districts, an assessment to be administered annually to all grade eight students. The purposes of the assessment are to assist students, parents, and teachers in the planning and selection of appropriate high school programs and courses for the students and to provide comparisons within the district, the state and, if applicable, the nation. The assessment shall include but not be limited to tests in reading, mathematics, and language arts and a student interest inventory. The superintendent of public instruction shall make the results available to all local school districts which shall in turn make them available to students, parents, and teachers in a timely fashion. In addition to a compilation of individual test results, the test results for each district shall be adjusted for demographic variables.

(4) The superintendent of public instruction shall prepare and conduct, with the assistance of local school districts, an assessment to be administered annually to all grade ten students. The purposes of the assessment are to assist students, parents, and teachers in the planning and selection of appropriate high school courses and in making future career and education plans for the students and to provide comparisons within the district, the state, and if applicable, the nation. The assessment shall include but not be limited to tests in reading, mathematics, and language arts and a student interest inventory. The superintendent of public instruction shall make the results available to all local school districts which shall in turn make them available to students, parents, and teachers in a timely fashion. In addition to a compilation of individual test results, the test results for each district shall be adjusted for demographic variables. Each student's test results shall be included on the student's high school transcript under RCW 28A.04.155.

(5) The superintendent of public instruction shall test approximately two thousand students distributed throughout the state in the eleventh grade once every two years. Choice of students shall be based on a statistical random sample of students from this grade level sufficient to generalize about all of the students at the grade level from the state's school districts. The purpose of the test is to allow the public, the legislature, and school district personnel to evaluate how Washington students in this grade compare to students in the same grade tested in other comparable national achievement surveys.

((~~(5)~~)) (6) The superintendent of public instruction shall report annually to the legislature on the achievement levels of students in grades four ((~~and~~)), eight, and ten and shall report biennially to the legislature on the achievement levels of students in grade eleven.

Sec. 2. Section 2, chapter 92, Laws of 1974 ex. sess. as last amended by section 1, chapter 56, Laws of 1983 and RCW 28A.02.201 are each amended to read as follows:

The legislature hereby recognizes that private schools should be subject only to those minimum state controls necessary to insure the health and safety of all the students in the state and to insure a sufficient basic education to meet usual graduation requirements. The state, any agency or official thereof, shall not restrict or dictate any specific educational or other programs for private schools except as hereinafter in this section provided.

Principals of private schools or superintendents of private school districts shall file each year with the state superintendent of public instruction a statement certifying that the minimum requirements hereinafter set forth are being met, noting any deviations. After review of the statement, the state superintendent will notify schools or school districts of those deviations which must be corrected. In case of major deviations, the school or school district may request and the state board of education may grant provisional status for one year in order that the school or school district may take action to meet the requirements. Minimum requirements shall be as follows:

(1) The minimum school year shall be the same as that required of public schools in RCW 28A.01.025 as now or hereafter amended.

(2) The length of the school day shall be the same as that required of public schools in RCW 28A.01.010 and 28A.58.754, each as now or hereafter amended, except that the percentages of total program hour offerings as prescribed in RCW 28A.58.754 for basic skills, work skills, and optional subjects and activities shall not apply to private schools or private sectarian schools.

(3) All classroom teachers shall hold appropriate Washington state certification except as follows:

(a) Teachers for religious courses or courses for which no counterpart exists in public schools shall not be required to obtain a state certificate to teach those courses.

(b) In exceptional cases, people of unusual competence but without certification may teach students so long as a certified person exercises general supervision. Annual written statements shall be submitted to the office of the superintendent of public instruction reporting and explaining such circumstances.

(4) Appropriate measures shall be taken to safeguard all permanent records against loss or damage.

(5) The physical facilities of the school or district shall be adequate to meet the program offered by the school or district: PROVIDED, That each school building shall meet reasonable health and fire safety requirements.

(6) Private school curriculum shall include instruction of the basic skills of occupational education, science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, and the development of appreciation of art and music, all in sufficient units for meeting state board of education graduation requirements.

(7) Each school or school district shall be required to maintain up-to-date policy statements related to the administration and operation of the school or school district.

(8) To cause each applicable student to take the fourth, eighth, and tenth grade assessment tests under RCW 28A.03.360 as administered through the public school system under rules adopted by the superintendent of public instruction.

All decisions of policy, philosophy, selection of books, teaching material, curriculum, except as in subsection (6) above provided, school rules and administration, or other matters not specifically referred to in this section, shall be the responsibility of the administration and administrators of the particular private school involved.

Sec. 3. Section 1, chapter 178, Laws of 1984 and RCW 28A.04.155 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The state board of education shall develop for use by all public school districts a standardized high school transcript. The state board of education shall establish clear definitions for the terms "credits" and "hours" so that school programs operating on the quarter, semester, or trimester system can be compared. The state board of education shall provide for the results of the tenth grade achievement test under RCW 28A.03.360 to be included in the high school transcript.

(2) Transcripts are important documents to students who will apply for admission to postsecondary institutions of higher education. Transcripts are also important to students who will seek employment upon or prior to graduation from high school. It is recognized that student transcripts may be the only record available to employers in their decision-making processes regarding prospective employees. The superintendent of public instruction shall require school districts to inform annually all high school students that prospective employers may request to see transcripts and that the prospective employee's decision to release transcripts can be an important part of the process of applying for employment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The sum of two hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction to implement the tenth grade assessment test and demographic adjustments of the fourth, eighth and tenth grade tests beginning with the 1986-87 school year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.