BILL REQ. #:  H-4337.1 

Read first time 01/16/08.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to improving teacher preparation programs; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The academic research is clear that effective teachers have a significant impact and are the most important school-related factor affecting student achievement. According to the Washington state institute for public policy, a student with five consecutive highly effective teachers could see an increase in thirty scale points on the Washington assessment of student learning. In theory, a significant, sustained, and systemwide increase in teacher effectiveness has the potential to boost the state's graduation rate by as much as thirteen percentage points.
     (2) What is less clear is how to obtain effective teachers. National reports reveal an ongoing debate about the best way to prepare future teachers and raise significant questions about the quality of both university-based and alternative programs.
     (a) More scrutiny is needed to determine if there is a disconnect between the core teaching competencies and subject area knowledge provided by preparation programs and those needed in today's schools and classrooms.
     (b) Washington's colleges of education produce five thousand four hundred newly certified teachers each year, but forty-three percent of them are endorsed in elementary education. Fewer than three hundred are endorsed in special education or one of the sciences, and fewer than two hundred are endorsed in mathematics or English as a second language. Strategies must be developed to increase program capacity and certificate production in critical high-demand subject areas.
     (c) Programs offered in Washington are subject to state approval through the professional educator standards board, but additional opportunities for accountability should be examined to ensure the desired outcome of the most effective teachers possible.
     (3) Therefore the legislature intends to examine more thoroughly the issues regarding preparation of effective teachers and develop strategies for improving the quality of the future teaching workforce.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The Washington state institute for public policy shall review and analyze teacher preparation in Washington state and identify possible strategies for improving the effectiveness of future teachers through:
     (a) Strengthening the essential competencies and knowledge that preparation programs are expected to provide for initial teacher certification and reducing unnecessary or lower priority requirements;
     (b) Increasing program capacity and degree production in high-demand subject areas; and
     (c) Enhancing the state's accountability system for teacher preparation programs.
     (2) In conducting the review and analysis, the institute shall at a minimum:
     (a) Review the research literature on teacher preparation, including any rigorous studies of the characteristics of teacher preparation programs that are associated with effective teachers or effective teaching;
     (b) If necessary, rely on multiple sources of information to compensate for limited outcomes-based research, including surveys, interviews with educators, case studies, data collection and analysis, and an examination of innovative programs in Washington or in other states; and
     (c) Develop an evaluation framework and conduct an in-depth review of a sample of teacher preparation programs, including alternative route programs, to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.
     (3) The institute shall also propose a rigorous study of the relationship between teacher effectiveness and teacher preparation programs, including the necessary data elements, research design, timelines, and costs.
     (4) The institute shall submit an interim report to the education committees of the legislature by December 1, 2008. The interim report may include a preliminary literature review, the proposed study under subsection (3) of this section, and an outline of the remaining review and analysis. A final report including the results of the program evaluation and possible strategies for improvement shall be submitted by December 1, 2009.