Z-0549.2 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5537
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 54th Legislature 1995 Regular Session
By Senators McAuliffe, Pelz, Rasmussen, Kohl and Wojahn; by request of Board of Education
Read first time 01/26/95. Referred to Committee on Education.
AN ACT Relating to teacher preparation; amending RCW 28A.410.030 and 28A.305.130; and repealing RCW 28A.305.230, 28A.305.240, 28A.305.245, 28A.305.250, 28A.410.020, 28A.415.290, and 28B.40.380.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 28A.410.030 and 1993 c 336 s 801 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) ((Effective May
1, 1996, the state board of education shall require teacher certification
candidates applying for initial certification to pass an individual assessment
before being granted an initial certificate. The assessment shall include but
not be limited to essay questions. The requirement shall be waived for
out-of-state applicants with more than three years of teaching experience. The
assessment shall test knowledge and competence in subjects including, but not
limited to, instructional skills, classroom management, student behavior and
development, oral and written language skills, student performance-based
assessment skills, and other knowledge, skills, and attributes needed to be
successful in assisting all students, including students with diverse and
unique needs, in achieving mastery of the essential academic learning
requirements established pursuant to RCW 28A.630.885. In administering the
assessment, the state board shall address the needs of certification candidates
who have specific learning disabilities or physical conditions that may require
special consideration in taking the assessment.
(2))) The state board of education may require
teacher certification candidates to pass an individual assessment before being
granted an initial or residency certificate.
(2) Before establishing an assessment authorized under subsection (1) of this section, and not later than January 1, 1997, the state board shall study and report to the legislature on the following issues:
(a) How an individual assessment would be linked to state board-adopted performance-based program approval standards;
(b) How an individual assessment would be linked to the performance-based public education system under RCW 28A.630.885; and
(c) Whether, in lieu of requiring the assessment for initial or residency certification, the assessment should be required as a diagnostic tool and the results used for professional growth purposes while the teacher holds the residency certificate.
(3) In conducting the study under subsection (2) of this section the state board shall take into consideration any recommendations from the board's professional education advisory committee and the Washington advisory council for professional teaching standards.
(4) The state
board of education shall adopt such rules as may be necessary to implement this
section, including, but not limited to, rules establishing ((the)) any
fees as may be assessed persons who apply to take the assessment and the
circumstances, if any, under which such fees may be refunded in whole or part.
((Fees shall be set at a level not higher than the costs for administering
the tests. Fees shall not include costs of developing the test.)) Fee
revenues received under this section shall be deposited in the teacher
assessment revolving fund hereby established in the custody of the state
treasurer. The fund is subject to the allotment procedures provided under
chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for disbursement. The ((superintendent
of public instruction)) state board of education shall ((be
responsible for administering)) administer the assessment program ((consistent
with state board of education rules)). The ((superintendent of public
instruction)) state board of education shall expend moneys from the
teacher assessment revolving fund exclusively for the direct and indirect costs
of establishing, equipping, maintaining, and operating the assessment program.
(((3) The state
board of education shall only require the assessment in subsection (1) of this
section when the legislature appropriates funds to develop the assessment under
this section.))
Sec. 2. RCW 28A.305.130 and 1991 c 116 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
In addition to any other powers and duties as provided by law, the state board of education shall:
(1) Require that no person may be admitted to a professional teacher preparation program within Washington state without first demonstrating that he or she is competent in the basic skills required for oral and written communication and computation. The board shall adopt rules to implement this requirement, including criteria for providing waivers as necessary.
(2) Approve or disapprove the program of courses leading to teacher, school administrator, and school specialized personnel certification offered by all institutions of higher education within the state which may be accredited and whose graduates may become entitled to receive such certification.
(((2))) (3)
Conduct every five years a review of the program approval standards, including
the minimum standards for teachers, administrators, and educational staff
associates, to reflect research findings and assure continued improvement of
preparation programs for teachers, administrators, and educational staff
associates.
(((3))) (4)
Investigate the character of the work required to be performed as a condition
of entrance to and graduation from any institution of higher education in this
state relative to such certification as provided for in subsection (((1)
above)) (2) of this section, and prepare a list of accredited
institutions of higher education of this and other states whose graduates may
be awarded such certificates.
(((4))) (5)(a)
The state board of education shall adopt rules to allow a teacher certification
candidate to fulfill, in part, teacher preparation program requirements through
work experience as a noncertificated teacher's aide in a public school or
private school meeting the requirements of RCW 28A.195.010. The rules shall
include, but are not limited to, limitations based upon the recency of the
teacher preparation candidate's teacher aide work experience, and limitations
based on the amount of work experience that may apply toward teacher
preparation program requirements under this chapter.
(b) The state board of education shall require that at the time of the individual's enrollment in a teacher preparation program, the supervising teacher and the building principal shall jointly provide to the teacher preparation program of the higher education institution at which the teacher candidate is enrolled, a written assessment of the performance of the teacher candidate. The assessment shall contain such information as determined by the state board of education and shall include: Evidence that at least fifty percent of the candidate's work as a noncertificated teacher's aide was involved in instructional activities with children under the supervision of a certificated teacher and that the candidate worked a minimum of six hundred thirty hours for one school year; the type of work performed by the candidate; and a recommendation of whether the candidate's work experience as a noncertificated teacher's aide should be substituted for teacher preparation program requirements. In compliance with such rules as may be established by the state board of education under this section, the teacher preparation programs of the higher education institution where the candidate is enrolled shall make the final determination as to what teacher preparation program requirements may be fulfilled by teacher aide work experience.
(((5))) (6)
Supervise the issuance of such certificates as provided for in subsection (((1)
above)) (2) of this section and specify the types and kinds of
certificates necessary for the several departments of the common schools by
rule or regulation in accordance with RCW 28A.410.010.
(((6))) (7)
Accredit, subject to such accreditation standards and procedures as may be
established by the state board of education, all schools that apply for
accreditation, and approve, subject to the provisions of RCW 28A.195.010,
private schools carrying out a program for any or all of the grades one through
twelve: PROVIDED, That no public or private schools shall be placed upon the
list of accredited schools so long as secret societies are knowingly allowed to
exist among its students by school officials: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the state
board may elect to require all or certain classifications of the public schools
to conduct and participate in such pre-accreditation examination and evaluation
processes as may now or hereafter be established by the board.
(((7))) (8)
Make rules ((and regulations)) governing the establishment in any
existing nonhigh school district of any secondary program or any new grades in
grades nine through twelve. Before any such program or any new grades are
established the district must obtain prior approval of the state board.
(((8))) (9)
Prepare such outline of study for the common schools as the board shall deem
necessary, and prescribe such rules for the general government of the common
schools, as shall seek to secure regularity of attendance, prevent truancy,
secure efficiency, and promote the true interest of the common schools.
(((9))) (10)
Continuously reevaluate courses and adopt and enforce regulations within the
common schools so as to meet the educational needs of students and articulate
with the institutions of higher education and unify the work of the public
school system.
(((10))) (11)
Carry out board powers and duties relating to the organization and
reorganization of school districts under RCW 28A.315.010 through 28A.315.680
and 28A.315.900.
(((11))) (12)
By rule ((or regulation promulgated)) adopted upon the advice of
the director of community, trade, and economic development, through the
director of fire protection, provide for instruction of pupils in the public
and private schools carrying out a K through 12 program, or any part thereof,
so that in case of sudden emergency they shall be able to leave their particular
school building in the shortest possible time or take such other steps as the
particular emergency demands, and without confusion or panic; such rules ((and
regulations)) shall be published and distributed to certificated personnel
throughout the state whose duties shall include a familiarization therewith as
well as the means of implementation thereof at their particular school.
(((12))) (13)
Hear and decide appeals as otherwise provided by law.
The state board of education is given the authority to promulgate information and rules dealing with the prevention of child abuse for purposes of curriculum use in the common schools.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:
(1) RCW 28A.305.230 and 1985 c 419 s 1;
(2) RCW 28A.305.240 and 1990 c 33 s 268 & 1987 c 525 s 217;
(3) RCW 28A.305.245 and 1991 c 259 s 3;
(4) RCW 28A.305.250 and 1990 c 33 s 269, 1989 c 11 s 4, & 1987 c 525 s 226;
(5) RCW 28A.410.020 and 1991 c 116 s 20, 1988 c 251 s 4, & 1987 c 525 s 202;
(6) RCW 28A.415.290 and 1993 c 336 s 406; and
(7) RCW 28B.40.380 and 1977 ex.s. c 169 s 80, 1975 1st ex.s. c 275 s 147, 1969 ex.s. c 176 s 155, & 1969 ex.s. c 223 s 28B.40.380.
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