BILL REQ. #:  H-2534.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/07/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to educator certification; amending RCW 28A.410.210 and 28A.305.130; adding new sections to chapter 28A.410 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the professional certification process required of new teachers and experienced teachers from out of state is intended to provide candidates with a method for advancing their teaching skills and demonstrating their ability to improve student achievement. The legislature also finds that the implementation of the professional certification process has faced unresolved challenges that include wide variations in the quality, relevance, and cost of different certification programs. The legislature intends to direct state agencies to address issues of educator preparation.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The professional educator standards board shall biennially review preparation programs leading to professional certification. The review shall include but need not be limited to:
     (a) A review of program coursework requirements and their relationships to student learning;
     (b) Linkages of programs to individual teacher professional growth plans;
     (c) Linkages to school district and school improvement plans;
     (d) An evaluation of program costs to participants;
     (e) Surveys of current and past program participants and mentors; and
     (f) To the extent possible, linkages to school district professional enrichment and growth programs for teachers, where such programs are in place in school districts.
     (2) Beginning in 2008, to the extent possible, the review shall include the impact on student work and achievement of educators who have obtained professional certification.
     (3) The professional educator standards board shall report the results of the review to the education and higher education committees of the senate and house of representatives by December 1, 2005, and December 1st of each odd-numbered year thereafter. The report shall include: The board's findings by institution; a summary of each institution's improvement plan; a description of exemplary practices; and any specific plans for agency technical assistance and support to the individual programs.

Sec. 3   RCW 28A.410.210 and 2000 c 39 s 103 are each amended to read as follows:
     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) Adopt rules for the professional certification of educators who have already obtained initial or residency certification and for the approval of preparation programs leading to the professional certificate;
     (3) 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))) (4) Establish the prospective teacher assessment system for basic skills and subject knowledge that shall be required to obtain residency certification pursuant to RCW 28A.410.220 through 28A.410.240.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:
     The professional educator standards board shall adopt rules for the professional certification of educators and the programs that prepare educators for that certification. The rules shall:
     (1) Permit maximum program choice for applicants, promote portability among programs, and require program designs that promote the professional growth of candidates in ways that minimize paperwork and link requirements directly to student learning and achievement;
     (2) Require professional certification beginning no earlier than the 2006-07 school year;
     (3) Require professional certification no earlier than the fifth year following the receipt of a continuing employment contract and allow any teacher who began a professional certification program before June 30, 2005, to continue the program under the administrative rules in place when the teacher began the program;
     (4) Provide criteria for the approval of professional certification programs offered by accredited institutions of higher education;
     (5) Provide criteria for a liaison relationship between approved programs and school districts for teachers enrolled in the programs;
     (6) Identify a process for out-of-state certificated teachers not yet certificated in Washington who have graduated from regionally accredited institutions of higher education and who hold valid out-of-state certificates. The rules shall award professional certification to out-of-state teachers who have five years or more of successful teaching experience if the teachers have had that experience within the preceding three years and can show evidence of professional development during their teaching careers. The rules may require these teachers, within one year of the time they begin to teach in the state's public schools, to take a course in or show evidence that they can teach to the state's essential academic learning requirements;
     (7) Design and pilot a professional certification preparation program in which one or more educational service districts are lead partners in the program. In the program, educational service districts shall control the professional growth process and no core of coursework may be required. Institutions of higher education may be partners in the process, offering expertise as necessary and providing some or all of the coursework required by teachers' professional growth plans. By September 1, 2006, the board shall report the design of the pilot program to the legislative education committees. The board shall report to the legislative committees on education on the results of the pilot program no later than three years after the pilot program has commenced;
     (8) Explore ways to provide candidates with low or no-cost program options;
     (9) Require the board to notify school districts and teachers about six months before a certificate is due to expire;
     (10) Require the board to explore reasonable options to deal with lapsed certificates. Any options should include a graduated series of consequences that are lenient for teachers whose certificates have been lapsed fewer than six months and consists of a small fine for teachers whose certificates have been lapsed between six months and two years; and
     (11) Implement an annual evaluation process of approved programs that includes a review of the program coursework requirements, linkages of programs to individual teacher professional growth plans, linkages to school district and school improvement plans, and, to the extent possible, linkages to school district professional enrichment and growth programs for teachers, where such programs are in place in school districts.

Sec. 5   RCW 28A.305.130 and 2002 c 205 s 3 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 initial 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, except those programs leading to professional certification.
     (2) Conduct every five years a review of the program approval standards, except those programs leading to professional certification, 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) 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)(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, except professional certificates, as provided for in subsection (1) 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) 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)) rules 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 chapter 28A.315 RCW ((28A.315.010 through 28A.315.680 and 28A.315.900)).
     (11) 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.