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ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2785
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State of Washington59th Legislature2006 Regular Session

By House Committee on Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Quall, Tom, P. Sullivan, Hunter, Morrell, Nixon, Rodne, Roberts, Schual-Berke, Simpson, Springer, Sells, Lantz, Linville, Dunshee and Kagi; by request of Superintendent of Public Instruction)

READ FIRST TIME 02/08/06.   



     AN ACT Relating to authorizing alternative methods of assessment and appeal processes for the certificate of academic achievement; amending RCW 28A.655.061; adding new sections to chapter 28A.655 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28C.04 RCW; and creating new sections.

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:
     (1) The legislature has made a commitment to rigorous academic standards for receipt of a high school diploma. The primary way that students will demonstrate that they meet the standards in reading, writing, mathematics, and science is through the Washington assessment of student learning. Only objective assessments that are comparable in rigor to the state assessment are authorized as an alternative assessment. Before seeking an alternative assessment, the legislature expects students to make a genuine effort to meet state standards, through retaking the Washington assessment of student learning; regular and consistent attendance at school; and participation in extended learning and other assistance programs.
(2) Under RCW 28A.655.061, beginning in the 2006-07 school year, the superintendent of public instruction shall implement three objective alternative assessment methods as provided in this section for students to demonstrate achievement of the state standards in content areas in which the student has not yet met the standard on the high school Washington assessment of student learning. A student may access an alternative if the student meets applicable eligibility criteria in RCW 28A.655.061 and other eligibility criteria established by the superintendent of public instruction, including but not limited to a ninety-five percent minimum attendance criterion and required participation in remediation programs or instruction.
     (3) For the purposes of this section, "applicant" means a student seeking to use one of the alternative assessment methods in this section.
     (4) The primary alternative assessment method shall be a combination of the applicant's grades in applicable courses and the applicant's highest score on the high school Washington assessment of student learning, as provided in this subsection.
     (a) Using guidelines prepared by the superintendent of public instruction, a school district shall identify the group of students in the same school as the applicant who took the same high school courses as the applicant in the applicable content area. From the group of students identified in this manner, the district shall select the comparison cohort that shall be those students who met or slightly exceeded the state standard on the Washington assessment of student learning.
     (b) The district shall compare the applicant's grades in high school courses in the applicable content area to the grades of students in the comparison cohort for the same high school courses. If the applicant's grades are above the median grades of the comparison cohort, the applicant shall be deemed to have met the state standard on the alternative assessment.
     (c) An applicant may not use the alternative assessment under this subsection (4) if there are fewer than six students in the comparison cohort.
     (5) The superintendent of public instruction shall also develop an alternative assessment method that shall be an evaluation of a collection of work samples prepared and submitted by the applicant, as provided in this subsection and, for career and technical applicants, subsection (6) of this section. The collection of work samples may be implemented as an alternative assessment if there are fewer than six students in the applicant's comparison cohort under subsection (4) of this section or if the applicant is enrolled in a career and technical program approved under section 2 of this act. The collection of work samples may be implemented as an alternative assessment for other applicants only if formally approved by the legislature through the omnibus appropriations act, statute, or concurrent resolution.
     (a) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop guidelines for the types and number of work samples in each content area that may be submitted as a collection of evidence that the applicant has met the state standard in that content area. Work samples may be collected from academic, career and technical, or remedial courses and may include performance tasks as well as written products.
     (b) The superintendent shall develop protocols for submission of the collection of work samples that include affidavits from the applicant's teachers and school district that the samples are the work of the applicant and a requirement that a portion of the samples be prepared under the direct supervision of a classroom teacher.
     (c) The superintendent shall develop uniform scoring criteria for evaluating the collection of work samples. Collections shall be scored at the state level or regionally by a panel of educators selected and trained by the superintendent to ensure objectivity, reliability, and rigor in the evaluation. An educator may not score work samples submitted by applicants from the educator's school district. If the panel awards an applicant's collection of work samples the minimum required score, the applicant shall be deemed to have met the state standard on the alternative assessment.
     (6)(a) For students enrolled in a career and technical education program approved under section 2 of this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall develop a collection of work samples that:
     (i) Is relevant to the student's particular career and technical program;
     (ii) Focuses on the application of academic knowledge and skills within the program;
     (iii) Includes completed activities or projects where demonstration of academic knowledge is inferred; and
     (iv) Is related to the essential academic learning requirements and state standards that students must meet to earn a certificate of academic achievement or certificate of individual achievement, but also represents the knowledge and skills that successful individuals in the career and technical field of the approved program are expected to possess.
     (b) To meet the state standard on the alternative assessment under this subsection (6), an applicant must also attain the state or nationally recognized certificate or credential associated with the approved career and technical program.
     (c) The superintendent shall consult with community and technical colleges, employers, the work force training and education coordinating board, apprenticeship programs, and other regional and national experts in career and technical education to create the most appropriate collection of work samples and other evidence of a career and technical student's knowledge and skills on the state academic standards.
     (7) The superintendent of public instruction shall implement:
     (a) By June 1, 2006, a process for students to appeal the score they received on the high school assessment; and
     (b) By January 1, 2007, guidelines and appeal processes for waiving specific requirements in RCW 28A.655.061 pertaining to the certificate of academic achievement and to the certificate of individual achievement for students who: (i) Transfer to a Washington public school in their junior or senior year with the intent of obtaining a public high school diploma, or (ii) have special, unavoidable circumstances.
     (8) The superintendent of public instruction may adopt rules to implement this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28C.04 RCW to read as follows:
     The superintendent of public instruction shall develop a list of approved career and technical education programs that qualify for the objective alternative assessment for career and technical students developed under section 1 of this act. Programs on the list must meet the following minimum criteria:
     (1) Lead to a certificate or credential that is state or nationally recognized by trades, industries, or other professional associations as necessary for employment or advancement in that field;
     (2) Require a sequenced progression of multiple courses, both exploratory and preparatory, that are vocationally intensive and rigorous; and
     (3) Have a high potential for providing the program completer with gainful employment or entry into a postsecondary work force training program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   By September 2006, the superintendent of public instruction shall report the following, in detail, to the education committees of the legislature:
     (1) Results of the pilot testing of the alternative assessments authorized under section 1 of this act;
     (2) The proposed guidelines, protocols, and procedures to be used by the superintendent in implementing the alternative assessments, particularly the collection of evidence;
     (3) A description of the training to be provided for school districts, educators serving on scoring panels, and teachers assisting students with collections of evidence; and
     (4) Updated estimates of the number of students likely to be eligible or apply for either alternative assessment method.

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)(a) 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 in addition to those authorized in (b) of this subsection 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.
     (b) After formal approval by the legislature of the score required for this purpose, a student's score on the mathematics portion of the preliminary scholastic assessment test (PSAT), the scholastic assessment test (SAT), or the American college test (ACT) may be used as an objective alternative assessment under this section for demonstrating that a student has met the mathematics standards for the certificate of academic achievement. The state board of education shall identify the scores students must achieve on the mathematics portion of the PSAT, SAT, or ACT to meet the state standard for mathematics and shall submit the proposed scores, along with any subsequent revisions, to the legislature for formal approval through the appropriations act or by statute or concurrent resolution. The state board of education shall submit the first proposed scores to the legislature by December 1, 2006.
     (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).
     (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.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 28A.655 RCW to read as follows:
     Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for this purpose, school districts shall reimburse students for the cost of taking the tests in RCW 28A.655.061(11)(b) when the students take the tests for the purpose of using the mathematics results as an objective alternative assessment.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   If specific funding for the purposes of section 5 of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number is not provided by June 30, 2006, in the omnibus appropriations act, section 5 of this act is null and void.

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