Background: In 2007 Washington State introduced a new performance incentive policy for community colleges called the Student Achievement Initiative (SAI). The purpose of the SAI is to use data to motivate colleges to institute systemic changes that lead to improved student outcomes. The SAI has been successful in improving college student outcomes and there is interest in developing a similar system for the K-12 education system.

The time and cost of college is extended to those students taking pre-college courses because students pay for tuition and books; these non-college-level credits do not count towards a degree. The vast majority of the cost of remedial education is in the community and technical colleges sector. For that sector, the total cost of remedial education – for all students, not just those right out of high school – amount to approximately $72 million each year. Of that amount, about $51 million is state funds. The greatest area of need in pre-college courses is math for students entering the community college and higher education system. Of the 2008-09 public high school graduates who enrolled in community and technical colleges in 2009-10, 51 percent enrolled in a pre-college math class.

Summary of Bill: It is the intent of the Legislature to implement a program within secondary education that includes performance indicators designed to measure improvement beyond which is minimally required to graduate from high school. Additionally, the Legislature intends for this program to improve outcomes in mathematics and result in a reduced need for postsecondary remedial mathematics education.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is directed to create a math performance incentive program by August 31, 2012, with assistance from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and the institutions of higher education. No later than August 31, 2012, OSPI is required to submit a report of the completed design of the math performance incentive program to the Quality Education Council and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature. Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for the math performance incentive program (Math PIP), OSPI will provide monetary awards to school districts that demonstrate improvement in student performance in mathematics in accordance with a scoring system. The minimum award provided to a school may be no less that $5000 and the funds must be used to implement innovative courses to improve and expand mathematical learning opportunities for students, including access to high-level mathematics that match student career goals and needs. If the total funds appropriated to OSPI for MPIP are insufficient to provide an award to all school districts that demonstrate improvement in student performance in mathematics according to the scoring system, OSPI will prioritize the distribution of funding so that the school districts that demonstrate the largest improvements receive an award. This funding is not part of the state's basic program of education obligation.

Student improvement in mathematics from the previous year is measured through the use of a scoring system applied to performance indicators. The indicators must measure student performance beyond what is minimally required to successfully graduate from high school and must include but are not limited to:

the percentage of students successfully completing algebra or its equivalent with a grade of C plus or higher in or before grade 9;

the percentage of students successfully completing geometry with a grade of C plus or higher in or before grade 10;
the percentage of students far exceeding the standard on the state’s algebra end-of-course assessment and geometry end-of-course assessment;
the percentage of students scoring a three or higher on an advanced placement math exam or a five or higher on an international baccalaureate math exam;
the percentage of students successfully completing algebra 2 or its equivalent with a grade of C plus or higher;
the percentage of students successfully completing one credit of mathematics in the academic year of graduation from high school that exceeds geometry with a grade of C plus or higher; and
The percentage of students successfully completing a higher level mathematics course above algebra 2 or its equivalent.

OSPI is required to collect appropriate baseline data for the 2011-12 academic year from the school districts no later than January 31, 2013. School districts must report performance data annually to OSPI using existing reporting systems and processes whenever feasible. OSPI is directed to regularly inform school districts of their improvements using the scoring system and will post the results on the Washington state report card administered by OSPI.

In the 2016-17 academic year, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) must, with assistance from the education data center, SBCTC, and the institutions of higher education, review collected data to determine if Math PIP has produced an improvement in student mathematics performance in secondary and postsecondary education and training. The review should also determine whether Math PIP has produced a reduction in the percentage of students who are within three years of graduating from high school and enroll in postsecondary remedial mathematics education. WSIPP must submit a report of the outcomes of Math PIP to the OSPI and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature no later than August 31, 2017. In addition to the report, WSIPP must submit any recommendations including whether the program should be expanded to encompass other subject areas or should terminate on June 30, 2018.