WSR 15-17-031 EMERGENCY RULES SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION [Filed August 11, 2015, 11:47 a.m., effective August 11, 2015, 11:47 a.m.] Effective Date of Rule: Immediately upon filing.
Purpose: Under WAC 392-502-030, online providers - including public schools providing online courses and programs - must assure the office of superintendent of public instruction (OSPI) that their online programs are accredited through a designated accrediting organization. Requiring third party accreditation of online school programs imposes costs on public school districts, can be redundant, and is not consistent with OSPI's adoption of new online provider performance targets. The purpose of this amendment is for OSPI to exempt online school programs, single-district providers, and affiliate providers from the rule's accreditation requirement.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 392-502-030.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 34.05.220, 28A.150.290, 28A.250.020.
Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest; and that state or federal law or federal rule or a federal deadline for state receipt of federal funds requires immediate adoption of a rule.
Reasons for this Finding: In preparing for the upcoming 2015-16 school year, school districts are developing bell schedules, implementing online school programs, and procuring online coursework from accredited multidistrict online course providers. Some districts are not offering online coursework to students solely because of the financial and administrative costs imposed by WAC 392-502-030 accreditation mandate. It is therefore necessary to immediately amend WAC 392-502-030 to ensure that districts can provide online courses and programs to students starting in September without incurring these costs. Observing the time requirements of notice and comment would delay the adoption of the rule, denying students access to high quality online programs.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: August 11, 2015.
Randy Dorn
State Superintendent
of Public Instruction
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 15-14-126, filed 7/1/15, effective 8/1/15)
WAC 392-502-030 Approval assurances, criteria, and performance targets.
(1) This section sets forth the assurances, criteria, and performance targets that online providers must meet to be approved under this chapter.
(a) To be approved, online providers must provide the following assurances to the superintendent of public instruction:
(i) The online provider is accredited through an accrediting body as defined in WAC 392-502-010 and agrees to maintain accredited status for the duration of the approval period. Online providers may be candidates for accreditation at the time of application for approval provided that the provider earns full accreditation on the standard timeline. Online school programs, single-district providers, and affiliate providers are exempt from (a)(i) of this subsection.
(ii) Each course and program the online provider offers is aligned with at least eighty percent of the current applicable grade/subject area of Washington state standards. For courses with content that is not included in state standards, the online provider's courses are aligned with at least eighty percent of nationally accepted content standards set for the relevant subjects. Online providers must submit information to the superintendent regarding the standards alignment and the standards aligned.
(iii) All instruction delivered to Washington state students is delivered by Washington state certificated teachers who:
(A) Are assigned to instruct courses in a manner which meets the "highly qualified" definition under the No Child Left Behind Act and in a manner which meets the requirements set forth in chapter 181-82 WAC; and
(B) Are evaluated annually using the revised evaluative criteria and four-level rating system established in RCW 28A.405.100.
(iv) For online providers that offer high school courses, the courses offered by the online provider must be eligible for high school credit pursuant to WAC 180-51-050.
(v) All of the online provider's current and future courses in the applicable areas meet the credit/content requirements in chapter 392-410 WAC.
(vi) All advanced placement courses offered by the online provider have been approved in accordance with the college board advanced placement course audit. For advanced placement courses not yet offered at the time of application, the online provider must assure that those courses will be approved by the college board prior to offering those courses to students.
(vii) The online provider's data management systems ensure all student information remains confidential, as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended.
(viii) The online provider's web systems and content meet accessibility conformance levels specified in the list of approved provider assurances on the office of superintendent of public instruction's web site.
(ix) The online provider provides all information as directed or as requested by the office of superintendent of public instruction, the secretary for the department of education, and other federal officials for audit, program evaluation compliance, monitoring, and other purposes and to maintain all records for the current year and three previous years.
(x) The online provider informs the office of superintendent of public instruction in writing of any significant changes to the program including, but not limited to, changes in assurances, program description, fiscal status, or ownership.
(xi) The online provider upholds any pertinent federal or state laws, rules or regulations, in the delivery of the online courses or programs.
(xii) The online provider retains responsibility for the quality of courses, web systems, and content offered, regardless of any third-party contractual arrangements, partnerships or consortia, contributing to the content or delivery of the online courses or programs.
(xiii) The online school program complies with the state assessment requirements including, but not limited to, the requirements of chapter 28A.655 RCW and WAC 392-121-182, as applicable.
(xiv) All of the provider's current and future career and technical education (CTE) courses are aligned to Washington state CTE program standards and have been approved by the office of superintendent of public instruction's CTE office. CTE courses must be taught by a Washington certificated teacher who is also CTE-certificated in the subject area of the course.
(xv) The online provider agrees to abide by any additional assurances required by the superintendent of public instruction.
(xvi) The online school program agrees that all programs delivered as alternative learning experiences comply with the requirements of WAC 392-121-182. The online course provider agrees to disclose to OSPI the manner in which it supports the requirements of WAC 392-121-182 for online courses delivered outside of an online school program.
(xvii) Instructional materials used by online school programs in online courses or course work must be approved pursuant to school board policies adopted in accordance with RCW 28A.320.230.
(b) Multidistrict online providers must meet the following initial approval criteria by a preponderance of evidence submitted with the online provider's application:
(i) Course content and instructional design incorporating course goals and outcomes, materials and content organization, and student engagement.
(ii) Classroom management incorporating grading and privacy policies, internet etiquette, and expectations for communications.
(iii) Student assessment incorporating various types, frequent feedback, and appropriateness for the online learning environment.
(iv) Course evaluation and management incorporating strategies for obtaining feedback about the courses/programs and processes for quality assurance and updating content.
(v) Student support incorporating policies and systems to enhance the students' learning experience and their success.
(vi) School-based support incorporating strategies and systems to allow school-based staff to support student success.
(vii) Technology elements, requirements and support including descriptions and ease of navigation.
(viii) Staff development and support including training and online instructor performance reviews conducted on a planned and regularly scheduled basis.
(ix) Program management including timeliness and quality of teachers' responses to students, handling of fees, prompt distribution of materials and processing of enrollments, and handling fees and payments.
(x) The superintendent may require additional approval criteria pursuant to WAC 392-502-080.
(c) Beginning September 1, 2015, the online school program's course success rate must be greater than seventy percent. Programs with fewer than twenty online enrollments are not subject to this performance target.
(d) Beginning September 1, 2016, online school programs must meet or exceed each of the following annual performance targets:
(i) The online school program's percentage of students taking online math courses who meet standard on the state math assessments must be greater than forty percent. A program is not subject to this performance target if it has fewer than twenty students who have both taken an online math course and taken the state math assessment.
(ii) The online school program's percentage of students taking online English language arts courses who meet standard on the state English language arts assessments must be greater than fifty percent. A program is not subject to this performance target if it has fewer than twenty students who have both taken an online English language arts course and taken the state English language arts assessment.
(iii) The online school program's median math student growth percentile for students taking an online math course must be greater than the thirtieth percentile. A program is not subject to this performance target if it has fewer than twenty students who have both taken an online math course and have a math student growth percentile.
(iv) The online school program's median English language arts student growth percentile for students taking an online English language arts course must be greater than the fortieth percentile. A program is not subject to this performance target if it has fewer than twenty students who have both taken an online English language arts course and have an English language arts student growth percentile.
(e) Beginning September 1, 2015, online course providers' course success rate must be greater than seventy percent. Online providers must supply OSPI with student-level enrollment and performance information. Online course providers must also supply OSPI with a list of each district in the state that they served. An online course provider is not subject to this performance target if they have fewer than twenty online course enrollments.
(2) After review by the online learning advisory committee, the approval criteria with explanations and suggested supporting evidence will be posted on the superintendent of public instruction web site on or before the date the application is made available.
(3) Online provider's application will be reviewed by reviewers selected by the superintendent of public instruction for their experience and expertise. The reviewers will be provided orientations and training to review and score the online provider applications using the approval criteria and scoring protocols.
(4) Single-district provider online programs must incorporate the approval criteria developed by the superintendent of public instruction into the program design.
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