Requires required action plans for persistently low-achieving schools and their districts to target funds and assistance to turn around the identified low-achieving schools.

Requires the superintendent of public instruction to: (1) Identify persistently lowest-achieving schools;

(2) Annually recommend school districts with at least one persistently lowest-achieving school to the state board of education for designation as required action districts; and

(3) Revise the essential academic learning requirements.

Requires an academic performance audit of and required action plans for required action districts.

Requires the state board of education to, in cooperation with the office of the superintendent of public instruction, annually recognize schools for exemplary student performance.

Requires schools to invite parents and community members to provide feedback on their experiences with the school.

Requires new criteria and a new rating system for evaluating principals and certificated classroom teachers.

Requires performance criteria and an evaluation process for school district superintendents and classified staff.

Requires information to be provided to the public regarding the district's hiring, assigning, terminating, and staff evaluation criteria.

Provides for a two-year pilot, in selected districts, of the new teacher and principal evaluation systems.

Increases the time period for provisional status of certificated employees and authorizes the school district superintendent to remove an employee from provisional status in the second year of employment based on evaluation ratings.

Adds to the reasons allowing certificated instructional staff salaries and benefits to exceed the district's average certificated instructional staff salary.

Requires approved teacher preparation programs to: (1) Administer an evidence-based assessment of teaching effectiveness; and

(2) Offer at least one of the alternative route programs.

Requires the professional educator standards board to: (1) Revise teacher and administrator preparation program standards and proposal review procedures; and

(2) Accept proposals for new program providers.

Requires the alternative route partnership grant program to transition to a preparation program model.

Requires a review of regional educator workforce data, a projection of certificate staffing needs, and an identification of how recruitment and enrollment plans in educator preparation programs reflect projected need.

Requires the higher education coordinating board to establish service boundaries for institutions of higher education and to then determine whether there is reasonable access to teacher preparation programs in each region.