S-4801

AN ACT Relating to training in reading instruction; amending RCW 28A.305.130; adding a new section to chapter 28A.405 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.150 RCW; creating a new section; repealing RCW 28A.300.310, 28A.300.320, 28A.300.330, and 28A.300.340; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. It is the intent of the legislature to establish a grant program to provide training in successful reading instruction methods to certificated employees who provide direct reading instructional services to students enrolled in grades one and two. This grant program shall provide additional training to certificated reading instructional staff so they will possess the knowledge and skills to effectively teach students to read.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.405 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish a grant program to provide training in reading instruction. Grants shall be provided to school districts for reading instruction training for certificated employees who provide direct instructional services to students enrolled in grades one and two. Grants shall be awarded no later than June 1, 1998.

(2) The training in reading instruction shall be provided by private, nonsectarian contractors that provide training consisting of systematically explicit phonics instruction, phonemic awareness, sound-symbol relationship, decoding instruction, word-attack skills, spelling and vocabulary instruction, and explicit instruction of comprehension skills.

(3) Teachers shall receive a stipend from the grant.

(4) Grants received for the purpose of this section shall be spent only for training programs that take place during the summer of 1998.

(5) The criteria for awarding the grants shall be based on the order in which the grant requests are received by the superintendent of public instruction.

(6) By April 15, 1998, the superintendent of public instruction shall notify all school districts that the reading grant created under this section is available.

(7) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(a) "Phoneme awareness instruction" means teaching awareness of words, syllables, and phonemes along a developmental progression, and includes rhyming, recognition and production, blending and matching of phonemes, segmentation, and substitution.

(b) "Systematic explicit phonics instruction" means an organized, sequential program in which letter‑sound correspondence for letters and letter clusters are directly taught and blended, practiced in words, word lists, and word families, and practiced in decodable text. Systematic explicit phonics instruction builds from basic elements to complex patterns and teachers provide prompt and explicit feedback. Systematic explicit phonics instruction does not mean embedded phonics instruction, which is ad hoc instruction in phonics based on a random selection of sound and word elements.

(d) "Decoding instruction" means teaching how to read printed words fluently and automatically, from simple letter combinations to more complex, multisyllabic combinations through the use of connected or practice text.

(e) "Diagnosis of a pupil's ability to decode" means regularly assessing the pupil's mastery of word recognition, fluency and automaticity, and word analysis in order to plan future instructional activities.

(f) "Explicit instruction" means systematic teaching of skills.

(g) "Spelling instruction" means teaching a logical scope and sequence of word knowledge, orthographic patterns, and frequently used words connected to the phonics sequence used in reading and writing instruction.

(h) "Word‑attack skills instruction" means direct instruction of decoding skills and of structural elements, including prefixes, suffixes, and roots.

(i) "Vocabulary instruction" means teaching word meanings.

(j) "Instruction of comprehension skills" means systematic teaching of vocabulary development, text organization, and syntactic patterns, including, but not limited to, strategies for interpretation, summarization, prediction, clarification, and question generation.

(8) A school district participating in the grant program shall certify and provide documentation to the superintendent of public instruction that funds received were expended for training in reading instruction that addresses systematic explicit phonics instruction, phoneme awareness instruction, decodable text, decoding instruction, diagnosis of a pupil's ability to decode, explicit instruction, spelling instruction, word-attack skills instruction, vocabulary instruction, and instruction of comprehension skills.

(9) This section expires July 1, 1999.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.150 RCW to read as follows:

Starting in the 1998-99 school year, school districts must administer a standardized, nationally norm-referenced test to measure second grade reading skills of second grade students. The state-wide second grade reading test, in addition to reporting in other formats, shall report student reading levels in terms of grade level and monthly increments. The purpose of the second grade reading test is to provide information to parents, teachers, and school administrators on the level of acquisition of reading skills of each student at the beginning of second grade.

Each school must have the test results available by the winter parent-teacher conference. Schools must notify parents about the second grade reading test during the conferences, inform the parents of their students' performance on the test, identify actions the school intends to take to improve the child's reading skills, and provide parents with strategies to help the parents improve their child's score.

Each school shall annually report to its community the number and the actual percentage of second grade students reading at or above second grade level and the distribution and range of all reading scores by grade and monthly increments on the state-wide second grade reading assessment required under this section.

Each district shall report to the superintendent of public instruction annually beginning March 1999 the number and the actual percentage of second grade students reading at or above second grade level on the state-wide second grade reading assessment required under this section.

Sec. 4. RCW 28A.305.130 and 1997 c 13 s 5 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) 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. For students entering an approved teacher preparation program after June 30, 1996, an approved teacher preparation program for candidates who will be eligible for certification to teach kindergarten to second grade shall include coursework, either separate or a combination of courses, that provides training in systematically explicit phonics instruction, phonemic awareness, sound-symbol relationship, decoding instruction, word-attack skills, spelling and vocabulary instruction, and explicit instruction of comprehensive skills.

(2) 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) 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, and prepare a list of accredited institutions of higher education of this and other states whose graduates may be awarded such certificates.

(4)(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 classified 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 classified 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 classified 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) Supervise the issuance of such certificates as provided for in subsection (1) above 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) 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 kindergarten through twelve: PROVIDED, That no private school may be approved that operates a kindergarten program only: PROVIDED FURTHER, 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 preaccreditation examination and evaluation processes as may now or hereafter be established by the board.

(7) 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) 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) 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) 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) By rule or regulation promulgated upon the advice of the chief of the Washington state patrol, 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) 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. 5. The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:

(1) RCW 28A.300.310 and 1997 c 262 s 1;

(2) RCW 28A.300.320 and 1997 c 262 s 3;

(3) RCW 28A.300.330 and 1997 c 262 s 4; and

(4) RCW 28A.300.340 and 1997 c 262 s 7.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.