BILL REQ. #:  H-5078.1 

READ FIRST TIME 2/7/06.   

     AN ACT Relating to providing assistance to students who are not on track to graduate from high school on time; amending RCW 28A.230.195, 28A.655.061, 28A.655.070, and 28A.655.200; adding new sections to chapter 28A.655 RCW; recodifying RCW 28A.230.195; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 28A.655 RCW to read as follows:
     For each high school student who was not successful on any or all of the content areas of the high school Washington assessment of student learning, either initially or after subsequent retakes of the assessment:
     (1) The school district shall prepare the student learning plan required under RCW 28A.655.061 before the end of the school year in which the assessment scores are returned;
     (2) The school district shall arrange a student-led conference for the student's parent or guardian to discuss the remedial extended learning activities the district will provide under section 2 of this act and explain the student's level of risk of not graduating on time if the student does not participate in remediation assistance. To the maximum extent possible, student-led conferences shall be facilitated by a teacher or counselor who has been assigned as the student's mentor for the duration of the student's enrollment in the school;
     (3) If the student is in out-of-home care as defined by RCW 13.34.030, the school district shall include the student's social worker assigned from the department of social and health services in the student-led conference.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.655 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Moneys appropriated for the purpose of providing remediation for students who were not successful on any or all of the content areas of the high school Washington assessment of student learning shall be allocated to school districts by the superintendent of public instruction in accordance with the biennial appropriations act. School districts shall expend the funds on remedial extended learning activities as provided in this section.
     (a) Remedial extended learning activities may include summer school, before and after school programs, Saturday classes, skill seminars, assessment preparation, intensive courses during the school year, and in-school or out-of-school tutoring.
     (b) Remedial extended learning activities may occur on the school campus, via the internet using the digital learning commons or other providers of online courses and materials, or at other locations and times that meet student needs.
     (c) Within available funds, any student who was not successful on any or all of the content areas of the high school Washington assessment of student learning may participate in remedial extended learning activities.
     (d) Funding shall be provided based on students served in remedial extended learning activities. Expenditures for planning and preparatory time are permitted only in accordance with the omnibus appropriations act.
     (e) The superintendent of public instruction shall distribute school year allocations of funds appropriated for the purposes of this section according to the monthly apportionment schedule in RCW 28A.510.250.
     (2) School districts shall administer preremediation and postremediation assessments to students served in remedial extended learning activities under this section. Districts shall collect student-level data on preremediation and postremediation assessment results, the student's subsequent results on the Washington assessment of student learning or alternative assessment, and relevant student characteristics to permit analysis of the effectiveness of remedial extended learning activities. The office of the superintendent shall issue data collection guidelines to assist school districts.

Sec. 3   RCW 28A.230.195 and 2005 c 217 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) If students' scores on the test or assessments under RCW 28A.655.070 indicate that students need help in identified areas, the school district shall evaluate its instructional practices and make appropriate adjustments.
     (2) Each school district shall notify the parents or guardians of each student of their child's performance on the test and assessments conducted under this chapter. If a student is in out-of-home care as defined by RCW 13.34.030, the district shall also notify the assigned social worker from the department of social and health services.
     (3) Notification to the parent, guardian, or assigned social worker of the assessment results for a student who was not successful on any or all of the content areas of the high school Washington assessment of student learning shall include the following additional information:
     (a) A description of the specific skill areas in which the student needs improvement;
     (b) The student's level of risk of not graduating on time;
     (c) The availability and importance of remedial extended learning activities and how to access these programs;
     (d) Information about the next available opportunity for the student to retake the assessment, possible alternative assessments, and other options for high school completion;
     (e) Information about how the parent or guardian can view a copy of the assessment and compare it to the student's results; and
     (f) Contact information for an individual at the student's school who can provide assistance and answer questions.
     (4) Beginning with the 2009 assessment, the notice to parents of the results of the high school Washington assessment of student learning shall include the student's responses compared to the correct responses to test questions and information about how the parent can obtain a copy of the assessment. A school district shall provide an electronic or paper copy of the assessment on request. However, if specific funding for the purpose of this subsection (4) is not provided in the omnibus appropriations act, by June 30, 2006, a school district is not obligated to comply with this subsection (4).

Sec. 4   RCW 28A.655.061 and 2004 c 19 s 101 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The high school assessment system shall include but need not be limited to the Washington assessment of student learning, opportunities for a student to retake the content areas of the assessment in which the student was not successful, and if approved by the legislature pursuant to subsection (11) of this section, one or more objective alternative assessments for a student to demonstrate achievement of state academic standards. The objective alternative assessments for each content area shall be comparable in rigor to the skills and knowledge that the student must demonstrate on the Washington assessment of student learning for each content area.
     (2) Subject to the conditions in this section, a certificate of academic achievement shall be obtained by most students at about the age of sixteen, and is evidence that the students have successfully met the state standard in the content areas included in the certificate. With the exception of students satisfying the provisions of RCW 28A.155.045, acquisition of the certificate is required for graduation from a public high school but is not the only requirement for graduation.
     (3) Beginning with the graduating class of 2008, with the exception of students satisfying the provisions of RCW 28A.155.045, a student who meets the state standards on the reading, writing, and mathematics content areas of the high school Washington assessment of student learning shall earn a certificate of academic achievement. If a student does not successfully meet the state standards in one or more content areas required for the certificate of academic achievement, then the student may retake the assessment in the content area up to four times at no cost to the student. If the student successfully meets the state standards on a retake of the assessment then the student shall earn a certificate of academic achievement. Once objective alternative assessments are authorized pursuant to subsection (11) of this section, a student may use the objective alternative assessments to demonstrate that the student successfully meets the state standards for that content area if the student has retaken the Washington assessment of student learning at least once. If the student successfully meets the state standards on the objective alternative assessments then the student shall earn a certificate of academic achievement. The student's transcript shall note whether the certificate of academic achievement was acquired by means of the Washington assessment of student learning or by an alternative assessment.
     (4) Beginning with the graduating class of 2010, a student must meet the state standards in science in addition to the other content areas required under subsection (3) of this section on the Washington assessment of student learning or the objective alternative assessments in order to earn a certificate of academic achievement.
     (5) The state board of education may not require the acquisition of the certificate of academic achievement for students in home-based instruction under chapter 28A.200 RCW, for students enrolled in private schools under chapter 28A.195 RCW, or for students satisfying the provisions of RCW 28A.155.045.
     (6) A student may retain and use the highest result from each successfully completed content area of the high school assessment.
     (7) Beginning with the graduating class of 2006, the highest scale score and level achieved in each content area on the high school Washington assessment of student learning shall be displayed on a student's transcript. In addition, beginning with the graduating class of 2008, each student shall receive a scholar's designation on his or her transcript for each content area in which the student achieves level four the first time the student takes that content area assessment.
     (8) Beginning in 2006, school districts must make available to students the following options:
     (a) To retake the Washington assessment of student learning up to four times in the content areas in which the student did not meet the state standards if the student is enrolled in a public school; or
     (b) To retake the Washington assessment of student learning up to four times in the content areas in which the student did not meet the state standards if the student is enrolled in a high school completion program at a community or technical college. The superintendent of public instruction and the state board for community and technical colleges shall jointly identify means by which students in these programs can be assessed.
     (9) Students who achieve the standard in a content area of the high school assessment but who wish to improve their results shall pay for retaking the assessment, using a uniform cost determined by the superintendent of public instruction.
     (10) Subject to available funding, the superintendent shall pilot opportunities for retaking the high school assessment beginning in the 2004-05 school year. Beginning no later than September 2006, opportunities to retake the assessment at least twice a year shall be available to each school district.
     (11) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop options for implementing objective alternative assessments, which may include an appeals process, for students to demonstrate achievement of the state academic standards. The objective alternative assessments shall be comparable in rigor to the skills and knowledge that the student must demonstrate on the Washington assessment of student learning and be objective in its determination of student achievement of the state standards. Before any objective alternative assessments are used by a student to demonstrate that the student has met the state standards in a content area required to obtain a certificate, the legislature shall formally approve the use of any objective alternative assessments through the omnibus appropriations act or by statute or concurrent resolution.
     (12) By December 15, 2004, the house of representatives and senate education committees shall obtain information and conclusions from recognized, independent, national assessment experts regarding the validity and reliability of the high school Washington assessment of student learning for making individual student high school graduation determinations.
     (13) To help assure continued progress in academic achievement as a foundation for high school graduation and to assure that students are on track for high school graduation, each school district shall prepare plans for students as provided in this subsection (13) and section 1 of this act.
     (a) Student learning plans are required for eighth through twelfth grade students who were not successful on any or all of the content areas of the Washington assessment for student learning during the previous school year. The plan shall include the courses, competencies, and other steps needed to be taken by the student to meet state academic standards and stay on track for graduation. This requirement shall be phased in as follows:
     (i) Beginning no later than the 2004-05 school year ninth grade students as described in this subsection (13)(a) shall have a plan.
     (ii) Beginning no later than the 2005-06 school year and every year thereafter eighth grade students as described in this subsection (13)(a) shall have a plan.
     (iii) The parent or guardian shall be notified, preferably through a parent conference, of the student's results on the Washington assessment of student learning, actions the school intends to take to improve the student's skills in any content area in which the student was unsuccessful, strategies to help them improve their student's skills, and the content of the student's plan.
     (iv) Progress made on the student plan shall be reported to the student's parents or guardian at least annually and adjustments to the plan made as necessary.
     (b) Beginning with the 2005-06 school year and every year thereafter, all fifth grade students who were not successful in one or more of the content areas of the fourth grade Washington assessment of student learning shall have a student learning plan.
     (i) The parent or guardian of a student described in this subsection (13)(b) shall be notified, preferably through a parent conference, of the student's results on the Washington assessment of student learning, actions the school intends to take to improve the student's skills in any content area in which the student was unsuccessful, and provide strategies to help them improve their student's skills.
     (ii) Progress made on the student plan shall be reported to the student's parents or guardian at least annually and adjustments to the plan made as necessary.

Sec. 5   RCW 28A.655.070 and 2005 c 497 s 106 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop essential academic learning requirements that identify the knowledge and skills all public school students need to know and be able to do based on the student learning goals in RCW 28A.150.210, develop student assessments, and implement the accountability recommendations and requests regarding assistance, rewards, and recognition of the state board of education.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction shall:
     (a) Periodically revise the essential academic learning requirements, as needed, based on the student learning goals in RCW 28A.150.210. Goals one and two shall be considered primary. To the maximum extent possible, the superintendent shall integrate goal four and the knowledge and skill areas in the other goals in the essential academic learning requirements; and
     (b) Review and prioritize the essential academic learning requirements and identify, with clear and concise descriptions, the grade level content expectations to be assessed on the Washington assessment of student learning and used for state or federal accountability purposes. The review, prioritization, and identification shall result in more focus and targeting with an emphasis on depth over breadth in the number of grade level content expectations assessed at each grade level. Grade level content expectations shall be articulated over the grades as a sequence of expectations and performances that are logical, build with increasing depth after foundational knowledge and skills are acquired, and reflect, where appropriate, the sequential nature of the discipline. The office of the superintendent of public instruction, within seven working days, shall post on its web site any grade level content expectations provided to an assessment vendor for use in constructing the Washington assessment of student learning.
     (3) In consultation with the state board of education, the superintendent of public instruction shall maintain and continue to develop and revise a statewide academic assessment system in the content areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and science for use in the elementary, middle, and high school years designed to determine if each student has mastered the essential academic learning requirements identified in subsection (1) of this section. School districts shall administer the assessments under guidelines adopted by the superintendent of public instruction. The academic assessment system shall include a variety of assessment methods, including criterion-referenced and performance-based measures.
     (4) If the superintendent proposes any modification to the essential academic learning requirements or the statewide assessments, then the superintendent shall, upon request, provide opportunities for the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate to review the assessments and proposed modifications to the essential academic learning requirements before the modifications are adopted.
     (5)(a) The assessment system shall be designed so that the results under the assessment system are used by educators as tools to evaluate instructional practices, and to initiate appropriate educational support for students who have not mastered the essential academic learning requirements at the appropriate periods in the student's educational development.
     (b) Assessments measuring the essential academic learning requirements in the content area of science shall be available for mandatory use in middle schools and high schools by the 2003-04 school year and for mandatory use in elementary schools by the 2004-05 school year unless the legislature takes action to delay or prevent implementation of the assessment.
     (6) By September 2007, the results for reading and mathematics shall be reported in a format that will allow parents and teachers to determine the academic gain a student has acquired in those content areas from one school year to the next.
     (7) To assist parents and teachers in their efforts to provide educational support to individual students, the superintendent of public instruction shall provide as much individual student performance information as possible within the constraints of the assessment system's item bank. Beginning with the 2009 assessment, the superintendent shall release the complete high school assessment, including the correct responses, concurrently with the release of the assessment results and shall post the assessment and responses on the superintendent's internet web site. However, the superintendent is not obligated to release the complete high school assessment if specific funding for the release is not provided in the omnibus appropriations act by June 30, 2006. The superintendent shall also provide to school districts:
     (a) Information on classroom-based and other assessments that may provide additional achievement information for individual students; and
     (b) A collection of diagnostic tools that educators may use to evaluate the academic status of individual students particularly students who were not successful on one or more of the content areas of the high school Washington assessment of student learning. The tools shall be designed to be inexpensive, easily administered, and quickly and easily scored, with results provided in a format that may be easily shared with parents and students.
     (8) To the maximum extent possible, the superintendent shall integrate knowledge and skill areas in development of the assessments.
     (9) Assessments for goals three and four of RCW 28A.150.210 shall be integrated in the essential academic learning requirements and assessments for goals one and two.
     (10) The superintendent shall develop assessments that are directly related to the essential academic learning requirements, and are not biased toward persons with different learning styles, racial or ethnic backgrounds, or on the basis of gender.
     (11) The superintendent shall consider methods to address the unique needs of special education students when developing the assessments under this section.
     (12) The superintendent shall consider methods to address the unique needs of highly capable students when developing the assessments under this section.
     (13) The superintendent shall post on the superintendent's web site lists of resources and model assessments in social studies, the arts, and health and fitness.

Sec. 6   RCW 28A.655.200 and 2005 c 217 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) ((The legislature finds that the mandatory norm-referenced student assessments eliminated under chapter 217, Laws of 2005 provide information that teachers and parents use to improve student learning.)) In the absence of mandatory, statewide, norm-referenced assessments, the legislature intends to permit school districts to offer norm-referenced assessments ((at the districts' own expense and)), make diagnostic tools available ((that provide information that is at least as valuable as the information eliminated under chapter 217, Laws of 2005)), and provide funding for diagnostic assessments for early intervention before the high school Washington assessment of student learning.
     (2) In addition to the diagnostic assessments provided under subsection (5) of this section, school districts may, at their own expense, administer norm-referenced assessments to students.
     (3) By September 1, 2005, subject to available funds, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall post on its web site for voluntary use by school districts, a guide of diagnostic assessments. The assessments in the guide, to the extent possible, shall include the characteristics listed in subsection (4)(((a) through (e))) of this section.
     (4) ((By September 1, 2006, subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose)) Beginning September 1, 2007, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall make available to school districts diagnostic assessments that help improve student learning. To the greatest extent possible, the assessments shall be:
     (a) Aligned to the state's grade level expectations;
     (b) Individualized to each student's performance level;
     (c) Administered efficiently to provide results either immediately or within two weeks;
     (d) Capable of measuring individual student growth over time and allowing student progress to be compared to other students across the country; ((and))
     (e) Readily available to parents; and
     (f) Cost-effective.
     (5) Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, the superintendent of public instruction shall reimburse school districts, from funds appropriated for this purpose, for administration of diagnostic assessments in grades nine and ten for the purpose of identifying academic weaknesses and developing targeted instructional strategies to assist students before the high school Washington assessment of student learning.
     (6) The office of the superintendent of public instruction is encouraged to offer at ((their)) statewide and regional staff development activities training opportunities that would assist practitioners in:
     (a) The interpretation of diagnostic assessments; and
     (b) Application of instructional strategies that will increase student learning based on diagnostic assessment data.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   RCW 28A.230.195 is recodified as a new section in chapter 28A.655 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   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.