BILL REQ. #:  Z-1091.2 

Prefiled 01/08/10. Read first time 01/11/10.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to accountability and support for vulnerable students and dropouts, including prevention, intervention, and reengagement; amending RCW 28A.175.075, 28A.290.010, and 28A.655.210; adding new sections to chapter 28A.175 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that by preventing one high school student from dropping out the annual savings is approximately ten thousand five hundred dollars, including lost state and local taxes and savings to the temporary assistance to needy families program, food stamps, housing assistance, the criminal justice system, and the health care system.
     (2) The legislature further finds that school districts need both accountability and technical assistance to improve high school graduation rates.
     (3) The legislature further finds that many vulnerable students fail to graduate from high school without adequate dropout prevention, intervention, and reengagement systems at the school district level.
     (4) The legislature further finds that school districts need the support of families, agencies, and organizations in the local community to prevent dropouts. In order to significantly improve statewide high school graduation rates, it is the intent of the legislature to facilitate the development of a collaborative infrastructure at the local, regional, and state level between systems that serve vulnerable youth.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.175 RCW to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout sections 3 through 7 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Critical community members" means representatives in the local community from among the following agencies and organizations:
Student/parent organizations, local government, law enforcement, juvenile corrections, any tribal organization in the local school district, the local health district, nonprofit and social service organizations serving youth, and faith organizations.
     (2) "Dropout early warning and intervention data system" means a student information system that provides the data needed to conduct a universal screening to identify students at risk of dropping out, catalog student interventions, and monitor student progress towards graduation.
     (3) "K-12 dropout prevention, intervention, and reengagement system" means a system that provides all of the following functions:
     (a) Engaging in school improvement planning specifically focused on improving high school graduation rates, including goal-setting and action planning, based on a comprehensive assessment of strengths and challenges;
     (b) Providing prevention activities, including, but not limited to, emotionally and physically safe school environments, implementation of a comprehensive guidance and counseling model, core academic instruction, and career and technical education exploratory and preparatory programs;
     (c) Identifying vulnerable students based on a dropout early warning and intervention data system;
     (d) Timely academic and nonacademic group and individual interventions for vulnerable students based on a response to intervention model, including planning and sharing of information at critical academic transitions;
     (e) Providing graduation coaches, mentors, and/or case managers for vulnerable students identified as needing a more intensive one-on-one adult relationship;
     (f) Establishing and providing staff to coordinate a school/family/community partnership that assists in building a K-12 dropout prevention, intervention, and reengagement system;
     (g) Providing retrieval or reentry activities; and
     (h) Providing alternative educational programming, including, but not limited to, credit retrieval and online learning opportunities.
     (4) "School/family/community partnership" means a partnership between a school or schools, families, and the community, that engages critical community members in a formal, structured partnership with local school districts in a coordinated effort to provide comprehensive support services and improve outcomes for vulnerable youth.
     (5) "Vulnerable students" means students who are in foster care, involved in the juvenile justice system, receiving special education services under chapter 28A.155 RCW, recent immigrants, homeless, emotionally traumatized, or are facing behavioral health issues, and students deemed at-risk of school failure as identified by a dropout early warning data system or other assessment.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.175 RCW to read as follows:
     The state board of education shall include a student graduation and completion planning component in the rules on school improvement planning beginning in the 2011-12 school year. The rule shall include proposed criteria to determine which school districts need improvement and assistance regarding high school graduation rates. The state board of education shall develop the rule in collaboration with the building bridges work group and present the proposed rule to the quality education council and the legislature by September 15, 2010. The student graduation and completion planning component shall include a requirement that school districts needing improvement and assistance regarding high school graduation rates must plan and implement a K-12 dropout prevention, intervention, and reengagement system.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   By September 15, 2010, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, in collaboration with the work group established in RCW 28A.175.075, shall develop and report recommendations to the quality education council and the legislature for expanding the current school improvement planning program to include state-funded, dropout-focused school improvement technical assistance that provides a cadre of state-level facilitators to work with school districts in significant need of improvement related to high school graduation. The program recommended shall include technical assistance in planning and implementing a dropout prevention, intervention, and reengagement system.

Sec. 5   RCW 28A.175.075 and 2007 c 408 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall establish a state-level building bridges work group that includes K-12 and state agencies that work with youth who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out of school. The following agencies shall appoint representatives to the work group: The office of the superintendent of public instruction, the workforce training and education coordinating board, the department of early learning, the employment security department, the state board for community and technical colleges, the department of health, the community mobilization office, and the following divisions and offices of the department of social and health services: Children's services, juvenile rehabilitation, behavioral health and recovery, and the office of juvenile justice. The ((state-level leadership)) work group ((shall)) should also consist of one representative from each of the following agencies and organizations: ((The workforce training and education coordinating board;)) A statewide organization representing career and technical education programs including skill centers; ((relevant divisions of the department of social and health services;)) the juvenile courts; the Washington association of prosecuting attorneys; the Washington state office of public defense; ((the employment security department;)) accredited institutions of higher education; the educational service districts; the area workforce development councils; parent and educator associations; ((the department of health;)) local school districts; agencies or organizations that provide services to special education students; community organizations serving youth; federally recognized tribes and urban tribal centers; each of the major political caucuses of the senate and house of representatives; and the minority commissions.
     (2) To assist and enhance the work of the building bridges programs established in RCW ((28A.175.055)) 28A.175.025, the state-level work group shall:
     (a) Identify and make recommendations to the legislature for the reduction of fiscal, legal, and regulatory barriers that prevent coordination of program resources across agencies at the state and local level;
     (b) Develop and track performance measures and benchmarks for each partner agency or organization across the state including performance measures and benchmarks based on student characteristics and outcomes specified in RCW 28A.175.035(1)(e); and
     (c) Identify research-based and emerging best practices regarding prevention, intervention, and retrieval programs.
     (3)(a) The work group shall report to the quality education council, the legislature and the governor on an annual basis beginning December 1, 2007, with proposed strategies for building K-12 dropout prevention, intervention, and reengagement systems in local communities throughout the state, including, but not limited to, recommendations for implementing emerging best practices, needed additional resources, and eliminating barriers.
     (b) By September 15, 2010, the work group shall report on:
     (i) A recommended state goal and annual state targets for the percentage of students graduating from high school;
     (ii) A recommended state goal and annual state targets for the percentage of youth who have dropped out of school who should be reengaged in education and be college and work ready;
     (iii) Recommended funding formulas for supporting career guidance and the planning and implementation of K-12 dropout prevention and intervention systems in school districts and a plan for phasing the formulas into the program of basic education, beginning in the 2011-2013 biennium; and
     (iv) A plan for phasing in, beginning in the 2011-2013 biennium, the expansion of the current school improvement planning program to include state-funded, dropout-focused school improvement technical assistance for school districts in significant need of improvement regarding high school graduation rates.
     (4) State agencies in the building bridges work group shall work together on the following activities to support school/family/community partnerships engaged in building K-12 dropout prevention, intervention, and reengagement systems:
     (a) Providing opportunities for coordination and flexibility of program eligibility and funding criteria;
     (b) Providing joint funding, where feasible;
     (c) Developing protocols and templates for model agreements on sharing records and data;
     (d) Providing joint professional development opportunities that provide knowledge and training on:
     (i) Research-based and promising practices;
     (ii) The availability of programs and services for vulnerable youth; and
     (iii) Cultural competence.
     (5) The building bridges work group shall make recommendations to the governor and the legislature by December 1, 2010, on a state-level and regional infrastructure for coordinating services for vulnerable youth. Recommendations must address the following issues:
     (a) Whether and how to engage high-level, cross-agency state leadership in a formal, consolidated structure designed to develop the infrastructure for a coordinated, statewide system of comprehensive support services and improved outcomes for vulnerable youth with links to any infrastructure developed to support early learning programs;
     (b) Whether to adopt an official conceptual approach or framework for all entities working with vulnerable youth that can support coordinated planning and evaluation;
     (c) The creation of a performance-based management system, including outcomes, indicators, and performance measures relating to vulnerable youth and programs serving them, including accountability for the dropout issue;
     (d) The development of regional and/or county-level multipartner youth consortia with a specific charge to assist school districts and local communities in building K-12 comprehensive dropout prevention, intervention, and reengagement systems;
     (e) The development of integrated or school-based one-stop shopping for services that would:
     (i) Provide individualized attention to the neediest youth and prioritized access to services for students identified by a dropout early warning and intervention data system;
     (ii) Establish protocols for coordinating data and services, including getting data release at time of intake and common assessment and referral processes; and
     (iii) Build a system of single case managers across agencies;
     (f) Launching a statewide media campaign on increasing the high school graduation rate; and
     (g) Developing a statewide database of available services for vulnerable youth.

Sec. 6   RCW 28A.290.010 and 2009 c 548 s 114 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The quality education council is created to recommend and inform the ongoing implementation by the legislature of an evolving program of basic education and the financing necessary to support such program. The council shall develop strategic recommendations on the program of basic education for the common schools. The council shall take into consideration the capacity report produced under RCW 28A.300.172 and the availability of data and progress of implementing the data systems required under RCW 28A.655.210. Any recommendations for modifications to the program of basic education shall be based on evidence that the programs effectively support student learning. The council shall update the statewide strategic recommendations every four years. The recommendations of the council are intended to:
     (a) Inform future educational policy and funding decisions of the legislature and governor;
     (b) Identify measurable goals and priorities for the educational system in Washington state for a ten-year time period, including the goals of basic education and ongoing strategies for coordinating statewide efforts to eliminate the achievement gap and reduce student dropout rates; and
     (c) Enable the state of Washington to continue to implement an evolving program of basic education.
     (2) The council may request updates and progress reports from the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the state board of education, the professional educator standards board, and the department of early learning on the work of the agencies as well as educational working groups established by the legislature.
     (3) The chair of the council shall be selected from the councilmembers. The council shall be composed of the following members:
     (a) Four members of the house of representatives, with two members representing each of the major caucuses and appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;
     (b) Four members of the senate, with two members representing each of the major caucuses and appointed by the president of the senate; and
     (c) One representative each from the office of the governor, office of the superintendent of public instruction, state board of education, professional educator standards board, and department of early learning.
     (4) In the 2009 fiscal year, the council shall meet as often as necessary as determined by the chair. In subsequent years, the council shall meet no more than four times a year.      
     (5)(a) The council shall submit an initial report to the governor and the legislature by January 1, 2010, detailing its recommendations, including recommendations for resolving issues or decisions requiring legislative action during the 2010 legislative session, and recommendations for any funding necessary to continue development and implementation of chapter 548, Laws of 2009.
     (b) The initial report shall, at a minimum, include:
     (i) Consideration of how to establish a statewide beginning teacher mentoring and support system;
     (ii) Recommendations for a program of early learning for at-risk children;
     (iii) A recommended schedule for the concurrent phase-in of the changes to the instructional program of basic education and the implementation of the funding formulas and allocations to support the new instructional program of basic education as established under chapter 548, Laws of 2009. The phase-in schedule shall have full implementation completed by September 1, 2018; and
     (iv) A recommended schedule for phased-in implementation of the new distribution formula for allocating state funds to school districts for the transportation of students to and from school, with phase-in beginning no later than September 1, 2013.
     (c) By January 1, 2011, the council shall make a recommendation to the legislature on:
     (i) The establishment of statewide graduation and reengagement goals;
     (ii) Establishing funding formulas to support career guidance and the planning and implementation of school district dropout prevention, intervention, and reengagement systems, including a recommended phase-in schedule; and
     (iii) Providing an expansion of the current school improvement planning program to include state-funded, dropout-focused school improvement technical assistance for school districts in significant need of improvement regarding high school graduation rates.
     (6) The council shall be staffed by the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the office of financial management. Additional staff support shall be provided by the state entities with representatives on the committee. Senate committee services and the house of representatives office of program research may provide additional staff support.      
     (7) Legislative members of the council shall serve without additional compensation but may be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120 while attending sessions of the council or on official business authorized by the council. Nonlegislative members of the council may be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

Sec. 7   RCW 28A.655.210 and 2009 c 548 s 202 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) It is the legislature's intent to establish a comprehensive K-12 education data improvement system for financial, student, and educator data. The objective of the system is to monitor student progress, have information on the quality of the educator workforce, monitor and analyze the costs of programs, provide for financial integrity and accountability, and have the capability to link across these various data components by student, by class, by teacher, by school, by district, and statewide. Education data systems must be flexible and able to adapt to evolving needs for information, but there must be an objective and orderly data governance process for determining when changes are needed and how to implement them. It is the further intent of the legislature to provide independent review and evaluation of a comprehensive K-12 education data improvement system by assigning the review and monitoring responsibilities to the education data center and the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee.
     (2) It is the intent that the data system specifically service reporting requirements for teachers, parents, superintendents, school boards, the legislature, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, and the public.
     (3) It is the legislature's intent that the K-12 education data improvement system used by school districts and the state include but not be limited to the following information and functionality:
     (a) Comprehensive educator information, including grade level and courses taught, building or location, program, job assignment, years of experience, the institution of higher education from which the educator obtained his or her degree, compensation, class size, mobility of class population, socioeconomic data of class, number of languages and which languages are spoken by students, general resources available for curriculum and other classroom needs, and number and type of instructional support staff in the building;
     (b) The capacity to link educator assignment information with educator certification information such as certification number, type of certification, route to certification, certification program, and certification assessment or evaluation scores;
     (c) Common coding of secondary courses and major areas of study at the elementary level or standard coding of course content;
     (d) Robust student information, including but not limited to student characteristics, course and program enrollment, performance on statewide and district summative and formative assessments to the extent district assessments are used, and performance on college readiness tests;
     (e) A subset of student information elements to ((serve as)) support a dropout early warning and intervention data system. The information elements must provide local school districts with the data needed to conduct a universal screening to identify students at risk of dropping out, catalog student interventions, and monitor student progress towards graduation;
     (f) The capacity to link educator information with student information;
     (g) A common, standardized structure for reporting the costs of programs at the school and district level with a focus on the cost of services delivered to students;
     (h) Separate accounting of state, federal, and local revenues and costs;
     (i) Information linking state funding formulas to school district budgeting and accounting, including procedures:
     (i) To support the accuracy and auditing of financial data; and
     (ii) Using the prototypical school model for school district financial accounting reporting;
     (j) The capacity to link program cost information with student performance information to gauge the cost-effectiveness of programs;
     (k) Information that is centrally accessible and updated regularly; and
     (l) An anonymous, nonidentifiable replicated copy of data that is updated at least quarterly, and made available to the public by the state.
     (4) It is the legislature's goal that all school districts have the capability to collect state-identified common data and export it in a standard format to support a statewide K-12 education data improvement system under this section.
     (5) It is the legislature's intent that the K-12 education data improvement system be developed to provide the capability to make reports as required under RCW 28A.300.507 available.
     (6) It is the legislature's intent that school districts collect and report new data elements to satisfy the requirements of RCW 43.41.400, this section, and RCW 28A.300.507, only to the extent funds are available for this purpose.