| State of Washington | 59th Legislature | 2006 Regular Session |
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.
(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.