[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to high-quality alternative routes to teacher certification; adding a new chapter to Title 28A RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds and declares:

(1) Teacher qualifications and effectiveness are the most important influences on student learning in schools.

(2) Preparation of individuals to become well-qualified, effective teachers must be high quality.

(3) Teachers who complete high-quality alternative route programs with intensive field-based experience, adequate coursework, and strong mentorship do as well or better than teachers who complete traditional preparation programs.

(4) High-quality alternative route programs can provide more flexibility and expedience for individuals to transition from their current career to teaching.

(5) High-quality alternative route programs can help school districts fill subject matter shortage areas and areas with shortages due to geographic location.

(6) Regardless of route, all candidates for residency teacher certification must meet the high standards required by the state.

The legislature recognizes widespread concerns about the potential for teacher shortages and finds that classified instructional staff in public schools represent a great untapped resource for recruiting the teachers of the future.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. There is hereby created a statewide partnership grant program to provide new high-quality alternative routes to residency teacher certification. To the extent funds are appropriated, funds provided under this partnership grant program shall be used solely for school districts, or consortia of school districts, to partner with state-approved higher education teacher preparation programs to provide one or more of three alternative route programs in section 5 of this act, aimed at recruiting candidates to teaching in subject matter shortage areas and areas with shortages due to geographic location. Districts, or consortia of districts, may also include their educational service districts in their partnership grant program. Partnership programs receiving grants may enroll candidates as early as January 2002.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Each district or consortia of school districts applying for state funds through this program shall submit a proposal to the Washington professional educator standards board specifying:

(a) The route or routes the partnership program intends to offer and a detailed description of how the routes will be structured and operated by the partnership;

(b) The number of candidates that will be enrolled per route;

(c) An identification, indication of commitment, and description of the role of approved teacher preparation programs that are partnering with the district or consortia of districts;

(d) An assurance of district provision of adequate training for mentor teachers either through participation in a state mentor training academy or district-provided training that meets state-established mentor-training standards specific to the mentoring of alternative route candidates;

(e) An assurance that significant time will be provided for mentor teachers to spend with the alternative route teacher candidates throughout the internship. Partnerships must provide each candidate with intensive classroom mentoring until such time as the candidate demonstrates the competency necessary to manage the classroom with less intensive supervision and guidance from a mentor;

(f) A description of the rigorous screening process for applicants to alternative route programs, including entry requirements specific to each route, as provided in section 5 of this act; and

(g) The design and use of a teacher development plan for each candidate. The plan shall specify the alternative route coursework and training required of each candidate and shall be developed by comparing the candidate's prior experience and coursework with the state's new performance-based standards for residency certification and adjusting any requirements accordingly. The plan shall include the following components:

(i) A minimum of one-half of a school year, and an additional significant amount of time if necessary, of intensive mentorship, starting with full-time mentoring and progressing to increasingly less intensive monitoring and assistance as the intern demonstrates the skills necessary to take over the classroom with less intensive support;

(ii) Identification of performance indicators based on the knowledge and skills standards required for residency certification by the state board of education;

(iii) Identification of benchmarks that will indicate when the standard is met for all performance indicators;

(iv) A description of strategies for assessing candidate performance on the benchmarks;

(v) Identification of one or more tools to be used to assess a candidate's performance once the candidate has been in the classroom for about one-half of a school year; and

(vi) A description of the criteria that would result in residency certification after about one-half of a school year but before the end of the program.

(2) Districts may apply for program funds to pay stipends to both mentor teachers and interns during their mentored internship. For both intern stipends and accompanying mentor stipends, the per intern district request for funds may not exceed the amount designated by the BA+0 cell on the statewide teacher salary allocation schedule. Interns in the program shall be provided a stipend of at least eighty percent of the amount generated by the BA+0 cell on the statewide teacher salary allocation schedule.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The professional educator standards board, with support from the office of the superintendent of public instruction, shall select school districts and consortia of school districts to receive partnership grants from funds appropriated by the legislature for this purpose. Factors to be considered in selecting proposals include:

(a) The degree to which the district, or consortia of districts in partnership, are currently experiencing teacher shortages;

(b) The degree to which the proposal addresses criteria specified in section 3 of this act and is in keeping with specifications of program routes in section 5 of this act;

(d) Any demonstrated district and in-kind contributions to the program.

(2) Selection of proposals shall also take into consideration the need to ensure an adequate number of candidates for each type of route in order to evaluate their success.

(3) Funds appropriated for the partnership grant program in this chapter shall be administered by the office of the superintendent of public instruction.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Partnership grants funded under this chapter shall operate one to three specific route programs. Successful completion of the program shall make a candidate eligible for residency teacher certification.

(1) Partnership grant programs seeking funds to operate route one programs shall enroll currently employed classified instructional employees with transferable associate degrees seeking residency teacher certification with endorsements in special education or English as a second language. It is anticipated that candidates enrolled in this route will complete both their baccalaureate degree and requirements for residency certification in two years or less, including a mentored internship to be completed in the final year. In addition, partnership programs shall uphold entry requirements for candidates that include:

(a) District or building validation of qualifications, including three years of successful student interaction and leadership as a classified instructional employee;

(b) Successful passage of the statewide basic skills exam, when available; and

(2) Partnership grant programs seeking funds to operate route two programs shall enroll currently employed classified staff with baccalaureate degrees seeking residency teacher certification in subject matter shortage areas and areas with shortages due to geographic location. Candidates enrolled in this route must complete a mentored internship complemented by flexibly scheduled training and coursework offered at a local site, such as a school or educational service district, or online or via video-conference over the K-20 network, in collaboration with the partnership program's higher education partner. In addition, partnership grant programs shall uphold entry requirements for candidates that include:

(a) District or building validation of qualifications, including three years of successful student interaction and leadership as classified staff;

(b) A baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education. The individual's college or university grade point average may be considered as a selection factor;

(d) Meeting the age, good moral character, and personal fitness requirements adopted by rule for teachers; and

(e) Successful passage of the statewide basic skills exam, when available.

(3) Partnership grant programs seeking funds to operate route three programs shall enroll individuals with baccalaureate degrees, who are not employed in the district at the time of application, or who hold emergency substitute certificates. When selecting candidates for certification through route three, districts shall give priority to individuals who are seeking residency teacher certification in subject matter shortage areas or shortages due to geographic locations. For route three only, the districts may include additional candidates in nonshortage subject areas if the candidates are seeking endorsements with a secondary grade level designation as defined by rule by the state board of education. The districts shall disclose to candidates in nonshortage subject areas available information on the demand in those subject areas. Cohorts of candidates for this route shall attend an intensive summer teaching academy, followed by a full year employed by a district in a mentored internship, followed, if necessary, by a second summer teaching academy. In addition, partnership programs shall uphold entry requirements for candidates that include:

(a) Five years' experience in the work force;

(b) A baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education. The individual's grade point average may be considered as a selection factor;

(d) External validation of qualifications, including demonstrated successful experience with students or children, such as references letters and letters of support from previous employers;

(e) Meeting the age, good moral character, and personal fitness requirements adopted by rule for teachers; and

(f) Successful passage of statewide basic skills exams, when available.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The alternative route conditional scholarship program is created under the following guidelines:

(1) The program shall be administered by the higher education coordinating board. In administering the program, the higher education coordinating board has the following powers and duties:

(a) To adopt necessary rules and develop guidelines to administer the program;

(b) To collect and manage repayments from participants who do not meet their service obligations; and

(2) The Washington professional educator standards board shall select interns who are eligible to receive conditional scholarships.

(3) In order to receive conditional scholarship awards, recipients shall be accepted and maintain enrollment in alternative certification routes through the partnership grant program, as provided in section 5 of this act. Recipients must continue to make satisfactory progress towards completion of the alternative route certification program and receipt of a residency teaching certificate.

(4) For the purpose of this chapter, a conditional scholarship is a loan that is forgiven in whole or in part in exchange for service as a certificated teacher employed in a Washington state K-12 public school. The state shall forgive one year of loan obligation for every two years a recipient teaches in a public school. Recipients that fail to continue a course of study leading to residency teacher certification or cease to teach in a public school in the state of Washington in their endorsement area are required to repay the remaining loan principal with interest.

(5) Recipients who fail to fulfill the required teaching obligation are required to repay the remaining loan principal with interest and any other applicable fees. The higher education coordinating board shall adopt rules to define the terms for repayment, including applicable interest rates, fees, and deferments.

(6) To the extent funds are appropriated, the annual amount of the scholarship is the annual cost of tuition for the alternative route certification program in which the recipient is enrolled, not to exceed four thousand dollars. The board may adjust the annual award by the average rate of resident undergraduate tuition and fee increases at the state universities as defined in RCW 28B.10.016.

(7) The higher education coordinating board may deposit all appropriations, collections, and any other funds received for the program in this chapter in the student loan account authorized in RCW 28B.102.060.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. This chapter expires June 30, 2005.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The Washington state institute for public policy shall submit to the education and fiscal committees of the legislature, the governor, the state board of education, and the Washington professional educator standards board, an interim evaluation of partnership grant programs funded under this chapter by December 1, 2002, and a final evaluation by December 1, 2004.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 1 through 8 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 28A RCW.