BILL REQ. #:  H-3572.1 

Prefiled 1/6/2006. Read first time 01/09/2006.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to providing assistance to students who are not on track to graduate from high school on time; amending RCW 28A.225.010, 28A.230.195, 28A.320.500, and 28A.655.070; adding a new section to chapter 28A.230 RCW; adding a new section 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.230 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) 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:
     (a) Before the end of the school year in which the assessment was taken, the school district shall identify the student as one of the following using the criteria in this section:
     (i) High risk of not graduating on time;
     (ii) Moderate risk of not graduating on time; or
     (iii) Low risk of not graduating on time but needing short-term assistance.
     (b) For the purposes of this section:
     (i) "High risk" means a student who scored at the below basic level in two or more content areas on the high school assessment or did not take the assessment;
     (ii) "Moderate risk" means a student who scored at the basic level in two or more content areas or at the below basic level in one content area on the high school assessment; and
     (iii) "Low risk but needing short-term assistance" means a student who scored at but not below the basic level in one content area on the high school assessment.      
     (c) The school district shall make summer school programs available at no charge to the student. The programs may be provided directly by the district or through online courses; interdistrict cooperative agreements; contracts with private educational service providers, community service organizations, or community or technical colleges; or other service delivery options.
     (d) The district shall also make one or more of the following assistance strategies available:
     (i) After school or Saturday programs;
     (ii) Intensive programs offered during other student vacation periods;
     (iii) Tutoring, which may include online tutorials and courses;
     (iv) Specialized courses offered during the regular school day;
     (v) Remediation integrated into career technical courses or offered through skills centers; or
     (vi) Other assistance, counseling, or programs designed to enable the student to gain proficiency in the specific skill areas in which the student needs improvement.
     (2) Each high school student identified under this section as at high risk of not graduating on time must attend a summer school program made available through the school district under this section. A student identified as at high risk of not graduating on time shall retain sophomore status until the student either attends summer school or scores at the basic level or above in each required content area on the assessment.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.225.010 and 1998 c 244 s 14 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) All parents in this state of any child eight years of age and under eighteen years of age shall cause such child to attend the public school of the district in which the child resides and such child shall have the responsibility to and therefore shall attend for the full time when such school may be in session unless:
     (a) The child is attending an approved private school for the same time or is enrolled in an extension program as provided in RCW 28A.195.010(4);
     (b) The child is receiving home-based instruction as provided in subsection (4) of this section;
     (c) The child is attending an education center as provided in chapter 28A.205 RCW;
     (d) The school district superintendent of the district in which the child resides shall have excused such child from attendance because the child is physically or mentally unable to attend school, is attending a residential school operated by the department of social and health services, is incarcerated in an adult correctional facility, or has been temporarily excused upon the request of his or her parents for purposes agreed upon by the school authorities and the parent: PROVIDED, That such excused absences shall not be permitted if deemed to cause a serious adverse effect upon the student's educational progress: PROVIDED FURTHER, That students excused for such temporary absences may be claimed as full time equivalent students to the extent they would otherwise have been so claimed for the purposes of RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260 and shall not affect school district compliance with the provisions of RCW 28A.150.220; or
     (e) The child is sixteen years of age or older and:
     (i) The child is regularly and lawfully employed and either the parent agrees that the child should not be required to attend school or the child is emancipated in accordance with chapter 13.64 RCW;
     (ii) The child has already met graduation requirements in accordance with state board of education rules and regulations; or
     (iii) The child has received a certificate of educational competence under rules and regulations established by the state board of education under RCW 28A.305.190.
     (2) A parent for the purpose of this chapter means a parent, guardian, or person having legal custody of a child.
     (3) An approved private school for the purposes of this chapter and chapter 28A.200 RCW shall be one approved under regulations established by the state board of education pursuant to RCW 28A.305.130.
     (4) For the purposes of this chapter and chapter 28A.200 RCW, instruction shall be home-based if it consists of planned and supervised instructional and related educational activities, including a curriculum and instruction in the basic skills of occupational education, science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, and the development of an appreciation of art and music, provided for a number of hours equivalent to the total annual program hours per grade level established for approved private schools under RCW 28A.195.010 and 28A.195.040 and if such activities are:
     (a) Provided by a parent who is instructing his or her child only and are supervised by a certificated person. A certificated person for purposes of this chapter and chapter 28A.200 RCW shall be a person certified under chapter 28A.410 RCW. For purposes of this section, "supervised by a certificated person" means: The planning by the certificated person and the parent of objectives consistent with this subsection; a minimum each month of an average of one contact hour per week with the child being supervised by the certificated person; and evaluation of such child's progress by the certificated person. The number of children supervised by the certificated person shall not exceed thirty for purposes of this subsection; or
     (b) Provided by a parent who is instructing his or her child only and who has either earned forty-five college level quarter credit hours or its equivalent in semester hours or has completed a course in home-based instruction at a postsecondary institution or a vocational-technical institute; or
     (c) Provided by a parent who is deemed sufficiently qualified to provide home-based instruction by the superintendent of the local school district in which the child resides.
     (5) The legislature recognizes that home-based instruction is less structured and more experiential than the instruction normally provided in a classroom setting. Therefore, the provisions of subsection (4) of this section relating to the nature and quantity of instructional and related educational activities shall be liberally construed.
     (6) Compulsory school attendance under this section applies to students identified under section 1 of this act as at high risk for not graduating on time who are required to attend summer school.

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 of each student of their child's performance on the test and assessments conducted under this chapter.
     (3) Notification to the parent or guardian 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, as determined under section 1 of this act;
     (c) The availability or mandate of summer school, as applicable, and other assistance strategies 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; and
     (e) Contact information for an individual at the student's school who can assist and answer the parent's questions.

Sec. 4   RCW 28A.320.500 and 1990 c 33 s 339 are each amended to read as follows:
     Every school district board of directors is authorized to establish and operate summer and/or other student vacation period programs and to assess such tuition and special fees as it deems necessary to offset the maintenance and operation costs of such programs in whole or part, except that summer or other vacation period programs shall be made available at no charge to students identified under section 1 of this act. A summer and/or other student vacation period program may consist of such courses and activities as the school district board shall determine to be appropriate: PROVIDED, That such courses and activities shall not conflict with the provisions of RCW 28A.305.130. Except for students identified under section 1 of this act as at high risk for not graduating on time, attendance shall be voluntary.

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. 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.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   RCW 28A.230.195 is recodified as a new section in chapter 28A.655 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   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.