BILL REQ. #:  H-3817.1 

Read first time 01/10/2006.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to requiring adoption of the mathematics syllabus used by the Singapore ministry of education; amending RCW 28A.655.070; adding a new section to chapter 28A.655 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 in 2003, the United States ranked below at least ten other countries in the mathematics scores of elementary and middle school students on the trends in international mathematics and science study (TIMSS) assessment. Since 1995, there has been little or no change in the performance of our nation's students in mathematics. Conversely, students from the nation of Singapore continually score at the very top of students in other countries on the TIMSS assessment, and their scores are well above the international average. The legislature further finds that a key reason for the high level of performance of Singapore students is a coherent, sequenced mathematics curriculum that focuses on the core skills of mathematical problem solving. Therefore, the legislature intends to adopt, on a statewide basis, the syllabus and curriculum framework used by primary and secondary schools in Singapore.

Sec. 2   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. The essential academic learning requirements and grade level content expectations in the content area of mathematics shall comply with section 3 of this act.
     (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. By the 2008-09 school year, the statewide academic assessment system in the content area of mathematics shall be designed to assess student mastery of the essential academic learning requirements under section 3 of this act.
     (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. 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. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.655 RCW to read as follows:
     The essential academic learning requirements and grade level content expectations in mathematics shall focus on mathematical problem solving. Through a planned and sequenced curriculum framework, students shall learn the basic mathematical concepts and knowledge needed for solving problems; develop and perform a range of manipulative skills when solving problems; gain thinking and problem solving skills and apply them to mathematical problems; and develop confidence in using mathematics. In developing the essential academic learning requirements and grade level content expectations in mathematics, the superintendent of public instruction shall incorporate the content, syllabus, sequence, and curriculum framework implemented by the ministry of education in Singapore for use in primary and secondary grades. The essential academic learning requirements and grade level content expectations under this section shall be fully implemented in all public schools by the 2008-09 school year.