READ FIRST TIME 01/18/06.   

     AN ACT Relating to improving student performance through student-centered planning; amending RCW 28A.655.200; adding a new section to chapter 28A.600 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature recognizes that there are specific skills and a body of knowledge that each student needs to chart a course through middle school, high school, and post-high school options. Each student needs active involvement from parents and at least one supportive adult in the school who knows the student well and cares about the student's progress and future. Students, parents, and teachers also need the benefit of immediate feedback and accurate diagnosis of students' academic strengths and weaknesses to inform the students' short-term and long-term plans. To empower and motivate all students and parents to take a greater role in charting the students' own educational experiences, the legislature intends to strengthen schools' guidance and planning programs.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.600 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature encourages each middle school, junior high school, and high school to implement a comprehensive guidance and planning program for all students. The purpose of the program is to support students as they navigate their education and plan their future; encourage an ongoing and personal relationship between each student and an adult in the school; and involve parents in students' educational decisions and plans.
     (2) A comprehensive guidance and planning program is a program that contains at least the following components:
     (a) A curriculum intended to provide the skills and knowledge students need to select courses, explore options, plan for their future, and take steps to implement their plans. The curriculum may include such topics as analysis of students' test results; diagnostic assessments of students' academic strengths and weaknesses; use of assessment results in developing students' short-term and long-term plans; assessments of student interests and aptitude; goal-setting skills; planning for high school course selection; independent living skills; and postsecondary options and how to access them;
     (b) Regular meetings between each student and a teacher who serves as an advisor throughout the student's enrollment at the school;
     (c) Student-led conferences with the student's parents, guardians, or family members and the student's advisor for the purpose of demonstrating the student's accomplishments; identifying weaknesses; planning and selecting courses; and setting long-term goals; and
     (d) Data collection that allows schools to monitor students' progress.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for this purpose, the superintendent of public instruction shall:
     (a) Develop and disseminate the curriculum for the comprehensive guidance and planning program under section 2 of this act to all school districts no later than the beginning of the 2006-07 school year;
     (b) Develop and disseminate electronic student planning tools and a software package to analyze the impact of the implementation of the program on student performance;
     (c) Develop and disseminate information about options for diagnostic assessments to improve student learning and student planning as provided under RCW 28A.655.200;
     (d) Develop and conduct regional training seminars for teachers on the curriculum and on guidance and mentoring skills;
     (e) Monitor and evaluate implementation of the program during the fall of 2006 in order to revise and improve the curriculum by the spring of 2007; and
     (f) Allocate grants to selected schools for the purpose of implementing the program. The superintendent shall develop and publish the grant selection criteria, number of awards, and award amounts. The first round of at least twenty-five grant recipients shall be selected and notified by September 2006. The second round of at least seventy-five grant recipients shall be selected and notified by January 2007. The purpose of the grants is to provide time for school staff to plan and integrate the comprehensive program into their schools. To the extent possible, the superintendent shall include representation from school districts of varying sizes and from different geographic regions of the state in the grant allocation.
     (2) By January 1, 2009, the superintendent of public instruction shall report to the education committees of the legislature regarding the impact of comprehensive guidance and planning programs on student performance.

Sec. 4   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 to enhance guidance and planning for students and to provide 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 for administration of diagnostic assessments in grade nine for the purpose of identifying academic weaknesses, enhancing student planning and guidance, 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. 5   If specific funding for the purposes of this act and section 4 of this act, referencing this act and section 4 of this act by bill or chapter number and section number, is not provided by June 30, 2006, in the omnibus appropriations act, section 4 of this act is null and void.