BILL REQ. #:  H-2152.2 

READ FIRST TIME 02/23/09.   

     AN ACT Relating to closing the achievement gap in order to provide all students an excellent and equitable education; adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The 2008 legislature commissioned five studies of the differences in academic achievement and educational outcomes among various subgroups of students. These persistent and troubling differences are commonly referred to as the achievement gap. The commissioned studies drew from research, best practices, and the personal, professional, and cultural experiences of the many individuals who participated in them. The study recommendations are numerous and varied, encompassing short-term and long-term strategies for systemic change. In order to continue the work of the studies, maintain a sense of urgency, and monitor progress toward the goal of equitable educational opportunities and outcomes for all children, the legislature intends to establish an ongoing achievement gap oversight and accountability committee within the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
     (2) The legislature further finds that there is a critical and urgent need for a new model of innovation in public education that confronts and solves the staggering problem of persistent inequity in educational outcomes for students from different demographic groups. The model will offer intensive, rigorous, and supportive learning that is extremely culturally competent and that prepares these students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.
     (3) This model, to be called innovation academies, will provide a new kind of educational opportunity for students in demographic groups that are currently overrepresented in measures such as school disciplinary sanctions, failure to meet state academic standards, failure to graduate, enrolled in special education, enrolled in underperforming schools, and who are underrepresented in advanced placement courses, honors programs, college preparatory classes, and college enrollment and completion.
     (4) Innovation academies will be located in communities where there are the largest concentrations of students who face the economic and cultural barriers that place them in these underachieving demographic groups.
     (5) They will integrate the full array of evidence-based practices that have been shown to reduce demographic disparities in achievement, and to increase graduation rates, participation in advanced placement, and college enrollment and completion.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) The achievement gap oversight and accountability committee is established within the office of the superintendent of public instruction, composed of at least eighteen members each appointed for two-year terms as follows:
     (i) Three members appointed by the commission on African-American affairs;
     (ii) Three members representing African immigrants appointed by the commission on African-American affairs;
     (iii) Three members appointed by the commission on Hispanic affairs;
     (iv) Three representatives of federally recognized tribes whose traditional lands and territories lie within the borders of Washington state, appointed by the federally recognized tribes;
     (v) Three members representing Asian Americans appointed by the commission on Asian Pacific American affairs; and
     (vi) Three members representing Pacific Islander Americans appointed by the commission on Asian Pacific American affairs.
     (b) The superintendent of public instruction may appoint up to five additional members, also for two-year terms, one of whom shall represent an institution of higher education. The members of the committee shall select the chair of the committee for a one-year term. There is no limitation on the number of terms a member may serve if reappointed.
     (c) The committee may create temporary subcommittees to examine particular topics in greater depth.
     (d) Members of the committee shall serve without compensation but must be reimbursed as provided in RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
     (e) The center for the improvement of student learning shall provide staff support for the committee within existing resources.
     (2) The purpose of the achievement gap oversight and accountability committee is to oversee and assure timely and complete implementation of the recommendations from the achievement gap reports commissioned by the legislature in 2008. To that end, the committee shall advise the superintendent of public instruction, the professional educator standards board, and the state board of education on effective measures to close the achievement gap, to foster public accountability for achieving excellence and equity in public education, and to promote a greater sense of urgency and priority for doing so. The committee has the following responsibilities:
     (a) Establish or adopt key indicators and benchmarks to measure progress in closing the achievement gap, in collaboration with the education research and data center and expanding on the indicators and benchmarks identified in the achievement gap reports, and advise the office of the superintendent of public instruction on the data collection and analysis necessary to track the indicators;
     (b) Recommend current programs and resources that should be redirected to narrow the gap;
     (c) Provide strategies on how to improve communication and coordination among programs aimed at narrowing the achievement gap;
     (d) Recommend to the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the professional educator standards board effective professional development programs and practices that increase cultural competence, family and community engagement, and instruction for struggling students, including English language learners;
     (e) Advise the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the professional educator standards board, and the state board of education on effective methods of recruiting and retaining diverse teachers and school administrators;
     (f) Collaborate with the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the state board of education on making closing the achievement gap a central goal of all school improvement programs and plans;
     (g) Continuously review available research and evaluations of programs to identify practices and initiatives that are making a difference in closing the achievement gap;
     (h) Explore and recommend exemplary school models that have shown success in closing the achievement gap, such as innovation academies focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and
     (i) Submit an annual update and progress report to the education committees of the legislature.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Within existing resources, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall design and create a phased-in implementation plan for up to three innovation academies intended to be implemented beginning in the 2011-12 school year, in areas with high concentrations of students who statistically lag behind in achievement.
     (2) An innovation academy is a school that provides all of the following programs or activities:
     (a) Preparation of students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math;
     (b) Early outreach to parents to help them provide birth-to-three stimulation and early learning for infants and toddlers as well as early learning programs for children that begin at age three, in coordination with existing birth-to-three programs;
     (c) Parent involvement and training to build high expectations and planning for postsecondary education;
     (d) Rigorous curriculum for grades K-12 that includes advanced placement programs and dual enrollment options to encourage and allow students to earn college credits while still enrolled in high school;
     (e) Instructional strategies that address multiple learning styles and cultural contexts;
     (f) Highly qualified teachers, which means teachers who have a mastery of content knowledge and pedagogy and who participate in professional learning communities to improve their practice and cultural competence;
     (g) Technology to assist in learning, data, and analysis as well as effective school management;
     (h) Transition assistance to ensure that all students leave high school prepared for college-level work without remediation;
     (i) Partnerships with local businesses that will provide career exploration, mentoring, technology, and other support as well as professional development for teachers; and
     (j) Integration of best practices and exemplary programs, including MESA, AVID, navigation 101, the building bridges dropout prevention and intervention program, the act six leadership and scholarship program, and the college success foundation, that are designed to increase postsecondary opportunities in science and math as well as knowledge of emerging industries.
     (3) The superintendent of public instruction shall submit a plan for implementation and funding of the initial innovation academies to the governor and the legislature by September 1, 2009.