H-1229.1
HOUSE BILL 1644
State of Washington
65th Legislature
2017 Regular Session
By Representatives Ortiz-Self, Senn, Lovick, Fey, Bergquist, and Pollet
Read first time 01/25/17. Referred to Committee on Education.
AN ACT Relating to providing responsive, needs-based training opportunities for addressing the teacher shortage through improved teacher recruitment, teacher selection, and teacher onboarding and induction; adding a new section to chapter 28A.410 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  (1) The legislature finds that:
(a) Public schools and school districts have difficulty hiring and retaining teachers, which is partially due to the state and national teacher shortage;
(b) School districts that excel in teacher hiring have common human resource practices, including centralized hiring, standardized hiring and onboarding practices, comprehensive new-teacher orientation and induction, and strong leadership; and
(c) A 2016 review of the scientific literature on human resource practices in public education identified evidence-based best practices in the areas of teacher recruitment, teacher selection, and teacher induction.
(2) The legislature intends to provide responsive, needs-based training opportunities for addressing the teacher shortage in Washington through improved teacher recruitment, teacher selection, and teacher onboarding and induction practices. The training program is intended to help staff who are responsible for recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new teachers to select high-quality teachers who will stay in the profession and serve the needs of their students and communities.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The professional educator standards board shall design, administer, and deliver, or contract for the delivery of, a training program that will develop the capabilities of public school and school district staff who are responsible for recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new teachers. Once trained, these staff should be able to confirm that new hires:
(a) Are competent in the professional knowledge and practice needed for the work that they do;
(b) Have a foundation of skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to help students with diverse needs, abilities, cultural experiences, and learning styles to meet or exceed the state's essential academic learning requirements; and
(c) Are committed to research-based practice and career-long professional development.
(2) The program developed under this section must provide training in the following areas:
(a) Teacher recruitment;
(b) Teacher selection; and
(c) Teacher onboarding and induction.
(3) The training program developed under this section must:
(a) Include evidence-based best practices;
(b) Be responsive to the needs of a diverse range of school districts; and
(c) Help public schools and school districts meet human resource standards of practice, as defined by the professional educator standards board.
(4) The professional educator standards board, and the contractors providing the training program developed under this section, must:
(a) Help public schools and school districts evaluate their current teacher recruitment, selection, and induction practices;
(b) Deliver training to public schools and school districts that is tailored to their individual needs; and
(c) Support trainees as they implement the human resources practices described in the training program.
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