S-1676

AN ACT Relating to reading accountability; amending RCW 28A.230.190; adding a new chapter to Title 28A RCW; and making appropriations.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that it is essential for children in the public schools to read well early in elementary school. The legislature further finds that a clear and visible goal, assessments to determine the reading level at each building, measurements of annual building improvement, and creating accountability in each level of the educational system will result in a significant increase in the number of children reading at or above grade level.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. This act may be known and cited as the third grade reading accountability act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Actual percentage" means the head count enrollment of third grade students reading at or above third grade level divided by the head count enrollment of third grade students in the building on the date the state-wide third grade reading assessment is administered.

(2) "Adjusted percentage" means the actual percentage minus those students who were not in the district at least one-half of each of the student's second and third grade years, and minus those students who have been enrolled in a bilingual program for two or fewer years from both the numerator and denominator.

(3) "At or above third grade level" means at or above the grade level equivalent for the month that the third grade reading assessment defined in subsection (8) of this section is administered.

(4) "Building baseline" means the building's actual percentage in the spring of l998.

(5) "Equal annual incremental improvement" is one-fourth of the improvement necessary to progress from the building baseline to the reading goal by the spring of 2002 and is calculated by taking the state goal of ninety percent less the building baseline divided by four.

(6) "Factored equal annual incremental improvement" means the state goal of ninety percent less the building's adjusted percentage in the spring of l998 divided by four.

(7) "Reading goal" means ninety percent of a public elementary school building's annual head count enrollment of third grade students reading at or above grade level as measured by the state-wide third grade reading assessment.

(8) "Third grade reading assessment" means the reading portion of the third grade California test of basic skills or the reading subtest of such other standardized achievement test given annually to all students in grade three under RCW 28A.230.190.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The reading goal of chapter . . ., Laws of 1997 (this act) is: By the year 2002, and each year thereafter, ninety percent or more of all Washington public school third graders reading at or above grade level, as defined by the commission on student learning, by the end of their third grade.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. To achieve the state reading goal:

(1) Each school district shall use classroom-based assessments to evaluate the reading level of its kindergarten, first, and second graders annually for purposes of intervention and remediation commencing in the spring of 1998. Each school district shall assess the reading level of its third graders in the spring of l998 and each year thereafter using the third grade reading assessment for the primary purpose of system accountability and not primarily for the purpose of remediation commencing at grade four;

(2) Each elementary school shall determine its building baseline, which shall be its actual percentage of students reading at or above third grade level as determined by the third grade reading assessment administered in the spring of l998; and

(3) Each public elementary school building is expected to make equal annual incremental improvement from its baseline. Equal annual incremental improvement is one-fourth of the reading improvement necessary to progress from the building baseline in the spring of l998 to the state reading goal of ninety percent in the spring of 2002 and shall be calculated and measured on a building-by-building basis. The percentage of required improvement will be different for different public schools since it is based on the individual building baselines. For financial accountability purposes only, the required improvement shall not exceed twelve percent annually.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The seven levels of system accountability necessary to achieve the reading goal shall be the parents, the state, the professional associations, the principals, the teachers, the public school buildings, and the school district.

(1) Parents are a child's first and most influential teacher. Public school districts shall encourage and support parents to read with their children at least twenty minutes a day from birth through third grade.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction or the superintendent's designee shall:

(a) Report annually to the senate and the house of representatives education committees on the state-wide progress toward the reading goal;

(b) Provide progress reports on the state-wide third grade reading assessment scores to the public in clear, understandable terms on a building, district, and state-wide basis, and by reference to fixed standards at each grade level;

(c) Encourage buildings to develop a repertoire of instructional approaches tailored to different student learning styles;

(d) Provide information to public schools and school districts regarding organizational and instructional practices of representative buildings that are making or exceeding the equal annual incremental improvement toward the reading goal;

(e) Evaluate and make available a variety of suitable classroom-based assessments required in section 5 of this act that school districts may use to assess the reading level of their kindergarten, first, second, and third graders annually; and

(f) Not adopt a specific instructional approach. The standard for instruction in this area shall be what works.

(3) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall coordinate the activities of relevant professional associations. It shall:

(a) Meet and confer with each relevant professional association regarding voluntary alignment of association resources to support the achievement of the reading goal;

(b) Report annually to the senate and the house of representatives education committees on the efforts of professional associations to support the achievement of the reading goal; and

(4) Each public elementary school principal has the primary responsibility within the building for providing leadership in reaching the reading goal. An increasing portion of each public elementary school principal's annual evaluation should result from each school district's professional appraisal of effective leadership in this area.

(5) Each third grade teacher shall annually report to the parent or guardian the reading level of the parent's child as measured by the reading assessment commencing June l998 and each year thereafter. The report shall reference grade level and monthly increments.

(6) Each public elementary school shall annually report to its community the number, the actual percentage, and the adjusted percentage of third grade students reading at or above third grade level and the distribution and range of all reading scores by grade and monthly increments on the third grade reading assessment required under section 5 of this act.

(7) Each district shall report to the superintendent of public instruction annually beginning October 1998 the number, the actual percentage, and the adjusted percentage of third grade students reading at or above third grade level on the third grade reading assessment required under section 5 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Consistent with chapter 28A.630 RCW, districts shall receive rewards for achievement and assistance for deficiency of factored equal annual incremental improvement. Financial rewards under this section are intended to engage the districts and shall not be linked to either the principal or the elementary school building.

(1) Beginning in the 1999-2000 school year, each school district shall annually receive an additional four thousand dollars for each elementary building achieving the lesser of factored equal annual incremental improvement or twelve percent per year.

(2) Beginning in the 1999-2000 school year, each school district shall annually receive an additional two thousand dollars for each elementary building achieving the lesser of one-half of factored equal annual incremental improvement or six percent per year.

(3) Payments under subsection (1) or (2) of this section are due if a building qualifies either on an annual basis or on a cumulative year basis. Payment under subsection (1) of this section shall continue to school districts with buildings that achieve and continue to maintain the reading goal.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules to prorate the amount paid under section 7 of this act for elementary buildings with a third grade full-time equivalent enrollment of fewer than seventy-five students.

Sec. 9. RCW 28A.230.190 and 1990 c 101 s 6 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 school district. 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 school districts, a standardized achievement test to be given annually to all students in grade three. The test shall only assess students' skills in reading. Results of the test shall be available before May 15th of each year to all local school districts and to parents of the students tested.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction shall prepare and conduct, with the assistance of 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.

((~~(3)~~)) (4) The superintendent of public instruction shall report annually to the legislature on the achievement levels of students in grade four.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This chapter does not provide a cause of legal action for damages or specific performance.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 1 through 8 and 10 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 28A RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. (1) The sum of five hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1998, from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.

(2) The sum of five hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1999, from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. 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.