HB 3059

Brief Description: Expanding options for educator preparation.

Sponsors: Representatives Orwall, White, Dickerson, Kagi, Dammeier, Priest, Kenney, Conway, Maxwell, Sullivan and Rolfes.

Hearing Date: 1/27/10

Staff: Barbara McLain (786-7383).

Background:

The Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) is the state agency charged with establishing qualifications for educator certification, including approval of teacher and administrator preparation programs offered by colleges and universities.

Preservice Performance Assessment.

Candidates for a residency teaching certificate are evaluated during their student teaching using a performance-based assessment developed by the colleges of education. Since 2003, the PESB has required all colleges to use a common instrument and scoring rubric, but there are concerns about the lack of reliability and validity of the assessment.

In 2009, the Legislature directed the PESB to submit a proposal for a uniform, statewide, valid, and reliable means of assessing candidate performance before granting a teaching certificate. The assessment must be classroom-based, use multiple measures of teacher performance, and show evidence of impact on student learning.

In April 2009, the PESB joined a multi-state consortium to pilot a preservice performance assessment based on an instrument used in California. The Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) would be aligned with state standards but also yield results that allow comparisons to other states and state reciprocity in certification. According to a timeline proposed by the PESB, a statewide field test could be implemented in 2011-12. Much of the cost of developing the TPA is being provided by grant and foundation funds. The PESB estimates that administration costs might be $300-$500 per candidate.

Alternative Routes to Certification.

In 2001, the Legislature authorized a partnership grant program where one or more school districts and a college of education could develop and offer a teacher preparation program with certain characteristics:

• individualized teacher development plan;

• between one-half to one year of intensive mentored internship in the classroom; and

• coursework to provide knowledge and skills needed for certification (usually offered during the summer before the internship and/or on evenings and weekends during the school year).

Initially, grant funds were appropriated to partnerships to pay intern and mentor stipends as well as provide conditional scholarships for interns to cover tuition and fees for the program. In 2003, funding was shifted almost entirely to conditional scholarships for interns.

Additional routes have been created over the years to attract different possible candidates. Emphasis has been on recruiting candidates in shortage areas such as special education, English Language Learner instruction, mathematics, and science. The PESB currently oversees the following alternative route programs:

(1) Route One for classified school employees with an associate degree and three years of experience to earn both a bachelor's degree and teaching certification;

(2) Route Two for classified school employees with a bachelor's degree and three years of experience;

(3) Route Three for other individuals with a bachelor's degree and five years' work experience;

(4) Route Four for individuals with a bachelor's degree and five years' work experience who are employed by a school district on a conditional or emergency substitute teaching certificate; and

(5) Pipeline for Para-educators for non-degreed classified school employees with three years of experience to earn first an associate degree and then qualify for Route One to complete a bachelor's degree and certification.

The alternative route programs are still operated and authorized as a "partnership grant program" even though they do not receive grant funds. There are currently 10 approved programs, none of which are offered by a public four-year institution of higher education. In 2008-09, 125 candidates received a teaching certificate through one of the programs.

In 2007, a program called Retooling to Teach Math and Science was created to offer conditional scholarships for currently employed teachers or unemployed elementary teachers to earn a math or science endorsement.

Educator Workforce.

There are no coordinated efforts to project demand for teachers on a regional or statewide basis or for the higher education system to use this information in planning for degree programs. The needs assessment process used by the Higher Education Coordinating Board for additional degrees and programs does not specifically include educator workforce data.

Student Teaching Centers.

Legislation enacted in 1991 created networks of student teaching centers through the Educational Service Districts to coordinate student teaching placements in rural communities not served by higher education institutions. Funding for the centers was eliminated in the 2003-05 biennial budget.

Summary of Bill:

By September 1, 2010, the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) must review and revise its educator preparation program approval standards and, beginning September 30, 2010, accept proposals for new programs that could include non-higher education providers.

Preservice Performance Assessment.

Approved teacher preparation programs must administer the PESB's evidence-based assessment of teaching effectiveness to all preservice candidates beginning in the 2011-12 school year. Candidates admitted to programs in the 2012-13 school year and thereafter must pass the assessment for residency certification.

Alternative Routes to Certification.

The PESB is directed to transition the alternative route certification program from a separate competitive partnership grant program to a preparation program model that can be expended to additional approved providers. Various adjustments are made to the laws pertaining to these programs to reflect the shift in emphasis. In fiscal year 2011, priority in conditional scholarships is given to program participants in fiscal year 2010.

It is clarified that Route Four candidates can serve as the teacher of record while serving as an intern. Unemployed elementary teachers no longer qualify for the Retooling to Teach Math and Science scholarships.

All public institutions of higher education with residency certificate programs must submit to the PESB either:

• a proposal to offer one or more of the alternative route programs; or

• a summary of procedures that provide flexible completion opportunities for students to achieve a residency certificate.

Educator Workforce.

Educational Service Districts (ESDs) must annually convene school districts and educator preparation programs in their region to review educator workforce data, make projections of certificate needs, and identify how preparation program recruitment and enrollment plans reflect that need.

The needs assessment conducted by the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) for new degree programs must include data and input from the PESB. The HECB must also establish service regions for public institutions of higher education that offer teacher preparation programs. Based on data from the needs assessment, the HECB determines whether reasonable program access is available in each service region. If access is determined to be inadequate, the responsible higher education institution must submit a plan to the HECB for meeting the need.

Student Teaching Centers.

Laws establishing student teaching centers in the ESDs are repealed.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Requested January 21, 2010.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.