HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 1252
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent. |
As Reported by House Committee On:
Education
Title: An act relating to K-12 professional development for teachers and principals.
Brief Description: Establishing the Washington K-12 online professional development project.
Sponsors: Representatives Stonier, Carlyle, Sullivan, Lytton, Hunt, Maxwell, Harris, Takko, Fitzgibbon, Morrell, Tarleton, Jinkins, Hawkins, Haigh, Bergquist, Dahlquist, Tharinger, Freeman and Roberts.
Brief History:
Committee Activity:
Education: 1/31/13, 2/8/13, 2/14/13, 2/15/13 [DP].
Brief Summary of Bill |
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION |
Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 13 members: Representatives Santos, Chair; Stonier, Vice Chair; Bergquist, Haigh, Hawkins, Hunt, Klippert, Lytton, Maxwell, McCoy, Orwall, Pollet and Seaquist.
Minority Report: Do not pass. Signed by 8 members: Representatives Dahlquist, Ranking Minority Member; Magendanz, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Fagan, Hargrove, Hayes, Parker, Pike and Warnick.
Staff: Barbara McLain (786-7383).
Background:
Professional development for K-12 educators comes in many forms. Some is delivered in-person through a course or seminar using a traditional lecture format. Workshops sometimes use a more interactive format where participants break into small groups for discussion or development of materials. Other professional development is embedded in the educators' work week through in-service days, shared planning time, or creation of professional learning communities where groups of educators gather to work together on selected topics, such as how to use data to inform instruction or curriculum alignment.
Technology provides additional opportunities for educator professional development, including through video teleconferencing, webinars, blogs on specific topics, videos of classroom instruction, and immediate access to research and collections of curriculum, lesson plans, classroom activities, classroom-based assessments, and other materials.
Due to the wide array of forms and delivery methods, little is known about how much professional development current educators receive or on what topics, or how it is funded.
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Summary of Bill:
Subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, the K-12 Online Professional Development Project (Project) is established. The purpose of the Project is to make online professional development modules available on-demand and at no cost to teachers and principals.
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) must develop a request for proposals and select, through a competitive process, a facilitator and administrator for the Project. The duties of the facilitator include:
appointing and convening a Steering Committee of K-12 educators who are responsible for the overall design and structure of the Project, including selection of the content;
overseeing and providing support for creation of the professional development modules by K-12 educators;
providing technical support and infrastructure; and
actively seeking public-private partnerships to support the Project.
The professional development modules under the Project must incorporate a variety of media, including hybrid learning modules that combine online with face-to-face collaboration, and provide for data collection on usage and customer feedback. The modules must cover a range of topics including academic content aligned with the Common Core State Standards, closing the educational opportunity gap, and topics of particular interest to principals.
The Steering Committee must submit a status report by December 1, 2015, including data on usage, costs to refresh the modules, expanding and improving the Project, and recommendations for how teachers might use the modules to earn in-service credit on the state salary schedule.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee must conduct an analysis that examines the level of resources and sources of funds expended on professional development for teachers and principals, the type and content of professional development, and the basis for selection of the content. The analysis must include traditional and nontraditional, job-embedded forms of professional development. A report is due by December 1, 2014.
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Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.
Staff Summary of Public Testimony:
(In support) Professional development is critical for addressing the challenges in education. The costs of professional development are high; this is a way to make resources and tools readily available online. Current online tools are difficult to navigate. Additional resources are needed to support the Common Core State Standards and teacher evaluation. Online tools could be used regionally or within a district for early release time or planning time. This presents an opportunity for the state to provide tools, infrastructure, and a system to provide world class professional development across the state, with content prepared by educators and controlled by educators. The estimated costs are modest compared to the vast amounts currently spent on professional development.
Washington is lacking a system for quality, quantity, and access to professional development. Washington has one of the most advanced licensure systems in the country, as well as new evaluation systems that provide additional tools within the arc of professional development that spans an educator's career. However, ongoing professional development is among the missing pieces. It is important to stress that educators highly value personal interaction with colleagues. Online resources do not replace that. This bill sparks excitement among educators. Those who have gone through national certification found the videos of classroom instruction very valuable.
(Opposed) None.
Persons Testifying: Representative Stonier, prime sponsor; Representative Carlyle; Jennifer Wallace, Professional Educator Standards Board; Lucinda Young, Washington Education Association; and Frank Ordway, League of Education Voters.
Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.