AN ACT Relating to standards for educator quality; adding new sections to chapter 28A.410 RCW; creating new sections; and repealing RCW 28A.410.020.

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

PART 1

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR STANDARDS BOARD

NEW SECTION. Sec. 101. INTENT. The legislature finds and declares:

(1) Creation of a public body whose focus is educator quality would be likely to bring greater focus and attention to the profession;

(2) Professional educator standards boards are consumer protection boards, establishing assessment policies to ensure the public that its new practitioners have the knowledge to be competent;

(3) The highest possible standards for all educators are essential in ensuring attainment of high academic standards by all students;

(4) Teacher assessment for certification can guard against admission to the teaching profession of persons who have not demonstrated that they are knowledgeable in the subjects they will be assigned to teach; and

(5) Teacher assessment for certification should be implemented as an additional element to the system of teacher preparation and certification.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 102. A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:

WASHINGTON PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR STANDARDS BOARD. (1) The Washington professional educator standards board is created, consisting of nineteen members to be appointed by the governor to four-year terms and the superintendent of public instruction, who shall be an ex officio, nonvoting member. No person may serve as a member of the board for more than two consecutive full terms. The governor shall annually appoint the chair of the board from among the teachers and principals on the board. No board member may serve as chair for more than two consecutive years.

(2) Seven of the members shall be public school teachers, one shall be a private school teacher, three shall represent higher education educator preparation programs, four shall be school administrators, two shall be educational staff associates, one shall be a parent, and one shall be a member of the public.

(3) Public school teachers appointed to the board must:

(a) Have at least three years of teaching experience in a Washington public school;

(b) Be currently certificated and actively employed in a teaching position; and

(c) Include one teacher currently teaching at the elementary school level, one at the middle school level, one at the high school level, and one vocationally certificated.

(4) Private school teachers appointed to the board must:

(a) Have at least three years of teaching experience in a Washington approved private school; and

(b) Be currently certificated and actively employed in a teaching position in an approved private school.

(5) Appointees from higher education educator preparation programs must include two representatives from institutions of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016 and one representative from an institution of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.07.020(4).

(6) School administrators appointed to the board must:

(a) Have at least three years of administrative experience in a Washington public school district;

(b) Be currently certificated and actively employed in a school administrator position; and

(7) Educational staff associates appointed to the board must:

(a) Have at least three years of educational staff associate experience in a Washington public school district; and

(b) Be currently certificated and actively employed in an educational staff associate position.

(8) Each major caucus of the house of representatives and the senate shall submit a list of at least one public school teacher. In making the public school teacher appointments, the governor shall select one nominee from each list provided by each caucus. The governor shall appoint the remaining members of the board from a list of qualified nominees submitted to the governor by organizations representative of the constituencies of the board, from applications from other qualified individuals, or from both nominees and applicants.

(9) All appointments to the board made by the governor shall be subject to confirmation by the senate.

(10) The governor shall appoint the members of the initial board no later than June 1, 2000.

(11) In appointing board members, the governor shall consider the diversity of the population of the state.

(12) Each member of the board shall be compensated in accordance with RCW 43.03.240 and shall be reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in carrying out the duties of the board in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

(13) The governor may remove a member of the board for neglect of duty, misconduct, malfeasance or misfeasance in office, or for incompetency or unprofessional conduct as defined in chapter 18.130 RCW. In such a case, the governor shall file with the secretary of state a statement of the causes for and the order of removal from office, and the secretary of state shall send a certified copy of the statement of causes and order of removal to the last known post office address of the member.

(14) If a vacancy occurs on the board, the governor shall appoint a replacement member from the nominees as specified in subsection (8) of this section to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. When filling a vacancy of a member nominated by a major caucus of the legislature, the governor shall select the new member from a list of at least one name submitted by the same caucus that provided the list from which the retiring member was appointed.

(15) Members of the board shall hire an executive director and an administrative assistant to reside in the office of the superintendent of public instruction for administrative purposes only.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 103. A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD. The Washington professional educator standards board shall:

(1) Serve as an advisory body to the superintendent of public instruction and as the sole advisory body to the state board of education on issues related to educator recruitment, hiring, preparation, certification including high quality alternative routes to certification, mentoring and support, professional growth, retention, governance, prospective teacher pedagogy assessment, prospective principal assessment, educator evaluation including but not limited to peer evaluation, and revocation and suspension of licensure;

(2) Submit annual reports and recommendations, beginning December 1, 2000, to the governor, the education and fiscal committees of the legislature, the state board of education, and the superintendent of public instruction concerning duties and activities within the board's advisory capacity. The Washington professional educator standards board shall submit a separate report by December 1, 2000, to the governor, the education and fiscal committees of the legislature, the state board of education, and the superintendent of public instruction providing recommendations for at least two high quality alternative routes to teacher certification. In its deliberations, the board shall consider at least one route that permits persons with substantial subject matter expertise to achieve residency certification through an on-the-job training program provided by a school district; and

(3) Establish the prospective teacher assessment system for basic skills and subject knowledge that shall be required to obtain residency certification pursuant to sections 201 through 203 of this act.

PART 2

TEACHER ASSESSMENT

NEW SECTION. Sec. 201. A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:

(1)(a) Beginning not later than September 1, 2001, the Washington professional educator standards board shall make available and pilot a means of assessing an applicant's knowledge in the basic skills. For the purposes of this section, "basic skills" means the subjects of at least reading, writing, and mathematics. Beginning September 1, 2002, except as provided in (c) of this subsection and subsection (3) of this section, passing this assessment shall be required for admission to approved teacher preparation programs and for persons from out-of-state applying for a Washington state residency teaching certificate.

(b) On an individual student basis, approved teacher preparation programs may admit into their programs a candidate who has not achieved the minimum basic skills assessment score established by the Washington professional educator standards board. Individuals so admitted may not receive residency certification without passing the basic skills assessment under this section.

(c) The Washington professional educator standards board may establish criteria to ensure that persons from out-of-state who are applying for residency certification and persons applying to master's degree level teacher preparation programs can demonstrate to the board's satisfaction that they have the requisite basic skills based upon having completed another basic skills assessment acceptable to the Washington professional educator standards board or by some other alternative approved by the Washington professional educator standards board.

(2) Beginning not later than September 1, 2002, the Washington professional educator standards board shall provide for the initial piloting and implementation of a means of assessing an applicant's knowledge in the subjects for which the applicant has applied for an endorsement to his or her residency or professional teaching certificate. The assessment of subject knowledge shall not include instructional methodology. Beginning September 1, 2003, passing this assessment shall be required to receive an endorsement for certification purposes.

(3) The Washington professional educator standards board may permit exceptions from the assessment requirements under subsections (1) and (2) of this section on a case-by-case basis.

(4) The Washington professional educator standards board shall provide for reasonable accommodations for individuals who are required to take the assessments in subsection (1) or (2) of this section if the individuals have learning or other disabilities.

(5) With the exception of applicants exempt from the requirements of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, an applicant must achieve a minimum assessment score or scores established by the Washington professional educator standards board on each of the assessments under subsections (1) and (2) of this section.

(6) The Washington professional educator standards board and superintendent of public instruction, as determined by the Washington professional educator standards board, may contract with one or more third parties for:

(a) The development, purchase, administration, scoring, and reporting of scores of the assessments established by the Washington professional educator standards board under subsections (1) and (2) of this section;

(b) Related clerical and administrative activities; or

(7) Applicants for admission to a Washington teacher preparation program and applicants for residency and professional certificates who are required to successfully complete one or more of the assessments under subsections (1) and (2) of this section, and who are charged a fee for the assessment by a third party contracted with under subsection (6) of this section, shall pay the fee charged by the contractor directly to the contractor. Such fees shall be reasonably related to the actual costs of the contractor in providing the assessment.

(8) The superintendent of public instruction is responsible for supervision and providing support services to administer this section.

(9) The Washington professional educator standards board shall collaboratively select or develop and implement the assessments and minimum assessment scores required under this section with the superintendent of public instruction and shall provide opportunities for representatives of other interested educational organizations to participate in the selection or development and implementation of such assessments in a manner deemed appropriate by the Washington professional educator standards board.

(10) The Washington professional educator standards board shall adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW that are reasonably necessary for the effective and efficient implementation of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 202. A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:

The Washington professional educator standards board shall report the proposed assessments to the legislative education committees for review and comment prior to implementing the assessments by contractual agreement with the selected vendor or vendors.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 203. A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:

(1) By December 1, 2003, and annually thereafter, the Washington professional educator standards board shall prepare a report that includes the following information:

(a) The range of scores on the basic skills assessment under section 201(1) of this act for persons who passed the assessment and were admitted to a Washington preparation program; and

(b) The range of scores on the subject assessments under section 201(2) of this act for persons who passed the assessments and earned an endorsement.

(2) The information under subsection (1) of this section shall be reported for the individual public and private colleges and universities in Washington, as well as reported on an aggregate basis. The report shall also include results disaggregated demographically. The report shall include information on the number and percentage of candidates exempted from assessments, demographic information on candidates exempted, institutions attended and endorsements sought by exempted candidates, and reasons for exclusion from the required assessments. The report shall be made available through the state library, on the website of the office of superintendent of public instruction, and placed on the legislative alert list.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 204. By January 1, 2001, the Washington state institute for public policy shall report to the governor, the education and fiscal committees of the legislature, the state board of education, and the superintendent of public instruction on its findings and recommendations concerning the governance of educator certification, licensure, and preparation issues and the scope of authority of the Washington professional educator standards board for the issues listed in section 103(1) of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 205. RCW 28A.410.020 (Requirements for admission to teacher preparation programs--Rules) and 1996 c 309 s 1, 1991 c 116 s 20, 1988 c 251 s 4, & 1987 c 525 s 202, as now or hereafter amended, are each repealed, effective September 1, 2002.

PART 3

MISCELLANEOUS

NEW SECTION. Sec. 301. PART HEADINGS AND SECTION CAPTIONS NOT LAW. Part headings and section captions used in this act are not any part of the law.