AN ACT Relating to a pilot program allowing the use of a nationally recognized college readiness assessment to earn a certificate of academic achievement for high school graduation purposes and for federal and state accountability purposes; amending RCW 28A.305.130, 28A.655.061, 28A.655.068, 28A.655.070, and 28A.657.020; adding a new section to chapter 28A.655 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.655 RCW to read as follows:

(1) To the extent permitted by the elementary and secondary education act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq., as reauthorized by the every student succeeds act of 2015, the superintendent of public instruction shall implement a pilot program for school districts to pilot the administration of a nationally recognized college readiness assessment for high school students to use to earn a certificate of academic achievement for high school graduation purposes and to meet the federal and state school accountability requirements.

(2) By August 1, 2016, the superintendent of public instruction shall enter into an agreement with a provider or providers of nationally recognized college readiness assessments for the provision and administration of the assessment for the purposes of the pilot program in subsection (1) of this section.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction shall solicit and select up to seven school districts to participate in the pilot program. The selected school districts must include districts from urban and rural areas, and districts both east and west of the crest of the Cascade mountains. Two of the districts selected must be the largest districts from each side of the crest of the Cascade mountains that apply to participate in the pilot program.

(4) Four school years after the first administration of the nationally recognized college assessment by the pilot school districts, the joint legislative audit and review committee shall conduct a review to determine the effects of using the assessment. Based on the review, the joint legislative audit and review committee shall make recommendations to the governor and legislature on whether the pilot program should be continued, expanded statewide, or eliminated.

Sec. 3.  RCW 28A.305.130 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 22 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

The purpose of the state board of education is to provide advocacy and strategic oversight of public education; implement a standards-based accountability framework that creates a unified system of increasing levels of support for schools in order to improve student academic achievement; provide leadership in the creation of a system that personalizes education for each student and respects diverse cultures, abilities, and learning styles; and promote achievement of the goals of RCW 28A.150.210. In addition to any other powers and duties as provided by law, the state board of education shall:

(1) Hold regularly scheduled meetings at such time and place within the state as the board shall determine and may hold such special meetings as may be deemed necessary for the transaction of public business;

(2) Form committees as necessary to effectively and efficiently conduct the work of the board;

(3) Seek advice from the public and interested parties regarding the work of the board;

(4) For purposes of statewide accountability:

(a) Adopt and revise performance improvement goals in reading, writing, science, and mathematics, by subject and grade level, once assessments in these subjects are required statewide; academic and technical skills, as appropriate, in secondary career and technical education programs; and student attendance, as the board deems appropriate to improve student learning. The goals shall be consistent with student privacy protection provisions of RCW 28A.655.090(7) and shall not conflict with requirements contained in Title I of the federal elementary and secondary education act of 1965, or the requirements of the Carl D. Perkins vocational education act of 1998, each as amended. The goals may be established for all students, economically disadvantaged students, limited English proficient students, students with disabilities, and students from disproportionately academically underachieving racial and ethnic backgrounds. The board may establish school and school district goals addressing high school graduation rates and dropout reduction goals for students in grades seven through twelve. The board shall adopt the goals by rule. However, before each goal is implemented, the board shall present the goal to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate for the committees' review and comment in a time frame that will permit the legislature to take statutory action on the goal if such action is deemed warranted by the legislature;

(b)(i) Identify the scores students must achieve in order to meet the standard on the statewide student assessment and, for high school students, to obtain a certificate of academic achievement, including the assessment used in the pilot program created under section 2 of this act. The board shall also determine student scores that identify levels of student performance below and beyond the standard. The board shall consider the incorporation of the standard error of measurement into the decision regarding the award of the certificates. The board shall set such performance standards and levels in consultation with the superintendent of public instruction and after consideration of any recommendations that may be developed by any advisory committees that may be established for this purpose.

(ii) By the end of the 2014-15 school year, establish the scores students must achieve to meet the standard and earn a certificate of academic achievement on the tenth grade English language arts assessment and the end-of-course mathematics assessments developed in accordance with RCW 28A.655.070 to be used as the state transitions to high school assessments developed with a multistate consortium.

(iii) By the end of the 2014-15 school year, establish the scores students must achieve to meet the standard and earn a certificate of academic achievement on the high school English language arts assessment and the comprehensive mathematics assessment developed with a multistate consortium in accordance with RCW 28A.655.070. To determine the appropriate score, the state board shall review the transition experience of Washington students to the consortium-developed assessments, examine the student scores used in other states that are administering the consortium-developed assessments, and review the scores in other states that require passage of an eleventh grade assessment as a high school graduation requirement. The scores established by the state board of education for the purposes of earning a certificate of academic achievement and graduation from high school may be different from the scores used for the purpose of determining a student's career and college readiness.

(iv) The legislature shall be advised of the initial performance standards for the high school statewide student assessment. Any changes recommended by the board in the performance standards for the high school assessment shall be presented to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate by November 30th of the school year in which the changes will take place to permit the legislature to take statutory action before the changes are implemented if such action is deemed warranted by the legislature. The legislature shall be advised of the initial performance standards and any changes made to the elementary level performance standards and the middle school level performance standards. The board must provide an explanation of and rationale for all initial performance standards and any changes, for all grade levels of the statewide student assessment. If the board changes the performance standards for any grade level or subject, the superintendent of public instruction must recalculate the results from the previous ten years of administering that assessment regarding students below, meeting, and beyond the state standard, to the extent that this data is available, and post a comparison of the original and recalculated results on the superintendent's web site;

(c) Annually review the assessment reporting system to ensure fairness, accuracy, timeliness, and equity of opportunity, especially with regard to schools with special circumstances and unique populations of students, and a recommendation to the superintendent of public instruction of any improvements needed to the system; and

(d) Include in the biennial report required under RCW 28A.305.035, information on the progress that has been made in achieving goals adopted by the board;

(5) Accredit, subject to such accreditation standards and procedures as may be established by the state board of education, all private schools that apply for accreditation, and approve, subject to the provisions of RCW 28A.195.010, private schools carrying out a program for any or all of the grades kindergarten through twelve. However, no private school may be approved that operates a kindergarten program only and no private school shall be placed upon the list of accredited schools so long as secret societies are knowingly allowed to exist among its students by school officials;

(6) Articulate with the institutions of higher education, workforce representatives, and early learning policymakers and providers to coordinate and unify the work of the public school system;

(7) Hire an executive director and an administrative assistant to reside in the office of the superintendent of public instruction for administrative purposes. Any other personnel of the board shall be appointed as provided by RCW 28A.300.020. The board may delegate to the executive director by resolution such duties as deemed necessary to efficiently carry on the business of the board including, but not limited to, the authority to employ necessary personnel and the authority to enter into, amend, and terminate contracts on behalf of the board. The executive director, administrative assistant, and all but one of the other personnel of the board are exempt from civil service, together with other staff as now or hereafter designated as exempt in accordance with chapter 41.06 RCW; and

(8) Adopt a seal that shall be kept in the office of the superintendent of public instruction.

Sec. 4.  RCW 28A.655.061 and 2015 3rd sp.s. c 42 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The high school assessment system shall include but need not be limited to the statewide student assessment, the assessment administered in the pilot program under section 2 of this act, opportunities for a student to retake the content areas of the assessment in which the student was not successful, and, if approved by the legislature pursuant to subsection (10) of this section, one or more objective alternative assessments for a student to demonstrate achievement of state academic standards. The objective alternative assessments for each content area shall be comparable in rigor to the skills and knowledge that the student must demonstrate on the statewide student assessment for each content area.

(2) Subject to the conditions in this section, a certificate of academic achievement shall be obtained and is evidence that the students have successfully met the state standard in the content areas included in the certificate. With the exception of students satisfying the provisions of RCW 28A.155.045 or 28A.655.0611, acquisition of the certificate is required for graduation from a public high school but is not the only requirement for graduation.

(3)(a) Beginning with the graduating class of 2008 through the graduating class of 2015, with the exception of students satisfying the provisions of RCW 28A.155.045, a student who meets the state standards on the reading, writing, and mathematics high school statewide student assessment shall earn a certificate of academic achievement. The mathematics assessment shall be the end-of-course assessment for the first year of high school mathematics that assesses the standards common to algebra I and integrated mathematics I or the end-of-course assessment for the second year of high school mathematics that assesses standards common to geometry and integrated mathematics II.

(b) As the state transitions from reading and writing assessments to an English language arts assessment and from end-of-course assessments to a comprehensive assessment for high school mathematics, a student in a graduating class of 2016 through 2018 shall earn a certificate of academic achievement if the student meets the state standard as follows:

(i) Students in the graduating class of 2016 may use the results from:

(A) The reading and writing assessment or the English language arts assessment developed with the multistate consortium; and

(B) The end-of-course assessment for the first year of high school mathematics, the end-of-course assessment for the second year of high school mathematics, or the comprehensive mathematics assessment developed with the multistate consortium.

(ii) Students in the graduating classes of 2017 and 2018 may use the results from:

(A) The tenth grade English language arts assessment developed by the superintendent of public instruction using resources from the multistate consortium or the English language arts assessment developed with the multistate consortium; and

(B) The end-of-course assessment for the first year of high school mathematics, the end-of-course assessment for the second year of high school mathematics, or the comprehensive mathematics assessment developed with the multistate consortium.

(c) Beginning with the graduating class of 2019, a student who meets the state standards on the high school English language arts assessment developed with the multistate consortium and the comprehensive mathematics assessment developed with the multistate consortium shall earn a certificate of academic achievement.

(d) If a student does not successfully meet the state standards in one or more content areas required for the certificate of academic achievement, then the student may retake the assessment in the content area at least twice a year at no cost to the student. If the student successfully meets the state standards on a retake of the assessment then the student shall earn a certificate of academic achievement. Once objective alternative assessments are authorized pursuant to subsection (10) of this section, a student may use the objective alternative assessments to demonstrate that the student successfully meets the state standards for that content area if the student has taken the statewide student assessment at least once. If the student successfully meets the state standards on the objective alternative assessments then the student shall earn a certificate of academic achievement.

(4) Beginning with the graduating class of 2017, a student must meet the state standards in science in addition to the other content areas required under subsection (3) of this section on the statewide student assessment, a retake, or the objective alternative assessments in order to earn a certificate of academic achievement.

(5) The state board of education may not require the acquisition of the certificate of academic achievement for students in home-based instruction under chapter 28A.200 RCW, for students enrolled in private schools under chapter 28A.195 RCW, or for students satisfying the provisions of RCW 28A.155.045.

(6) A student may retain and use the highest result from each successfully completed content area of the high school assessment.

(7) School districts must make available to students the following options:

(a) To retake the statewide student assessment at least twice a year in the content areas in which the student did not meet the state standards if the student is enrolled in a public school; or

(b) To retake the statewide student assessment at least twice a year in the content areas in which the student did not meet the state standards if the student is enrolled in a high school completion program at a community or technical college. The superintendent of public instruction and the state board for community and technical colleges shall jointly identify means by which students in these programs can be assessed.

(8) Students who achieve the standard in a content area of the high school assessment but who wish to improve their results shall pay for retaking the assessment, using a uniform cost determined by the superintendent of public instruction.

(9) Opportunities to retake the assessment at least twice a year shall be available to each school district.

(10)(a) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop options for implementing objective alternative assessments, which may include an appeals process for students' scores, for students to demonstrate achievement of the state academic standards. The objective alternative assessments shall be comparable in rigor to the skills and knowledge that the student must demonstrate on the statewide student assessment and be objective in its determination of student achievement of the state standards. Before any objective alternative assessments in addition to those authorized in RCW 28A.655.065 or (b) of this subsection are used by a student to demonstrate that the student has met the state standards in a content area required to obtain a certificate, the legislature shall formally approve the use of any objective alternative assessments through the omnibus appropriations act or by statute or concurrent resolution.

(b)(i) A student's score on the mathematics, reading or English, or writing portion of the SAT or the ACT may be used as an objective alternative assessment under this section for demonstrating that a student has met or exceeded the state standards for the certificate of academic achievement. The state board of education shall identify the scores students must achieve on the relevant portion of the SAT or ACT to meet or exceed the state standard in the relevant content area on the statewide student assessment. A student's score on the science portion of the ACT or the science subject area tests of the SAT may be used as an objective alternative assessment under this section as soon as the state board of education determines that sufficient data is available to identify reliable equivalent scores for the science content area of the statewide student assessment. After the first scores are established, the state board may increase but not decrease the scores required for students to meet or exceed the state standards.

(ii) A student who scores at least a three on the grading scale of one to five for selected AP examinations may use the score as an objective alternative assessment under this section for demonstrating that a student has met or exceeded state standards for the certificate of academic achievement. A score of three on the AP examinations in calculus or statistics may be used as an alternative assessment for the mathematics portion of the statewide student assessment. A score of three on the AP examinations in English language and composition may be used as an alternative assessment for the writing portion of the statewide student assessment; and for the English language arts portion of the assessment developed with the multistate consortium, once established in the 2014-15 school year. A score of three on the AP examinations in English literature and composition, macroeconomics, microeconomics, psychology, United States history, world history, United States government and politics, or comparative government and politics may be used as an alternative assessment for the reading portion of the statewide student assessment; and for the English language arts portion of the assessment developed with the multistate consortium, once established in the 2014-15 school year. A score of three on the AP examination in biology, physics, chemistry, or environmental science may be used as an alternative assessment for the science portion of the statewide student assessment.

(iii) A student who scores at least a four on selected externally administered international baccalaureate (IB) examinations may use the score as an objective alternative assessment under this section for demonstrating that the student has met or exceeded state standards for the certificate of academic achievement. A score of four on the higher level IB examinations for any of the IB English language and literature courses or for any of the IB individuals and societies courses may be used as an alternative assessment for the reading, writing, or English language arts portions of the statewide student assessment. A score of four on the higher level IB examinations for any of the IB mathematics courses may be used as an alternative assessment for the mathematics portion of the statewide student assessment. A score of four on the higher level IB examinations for IB biology, chemistry, or physics may be used as an alternative assessment for the science portion of the statewide student assessment.

(11) To help assure continued progress in academic achievement as a foundation for high school graduation and to assure that students are on track for high school graduation, each school district shall prepare plans for and notify students and their parents or legal guardians as provided in this subsection. Student learning plans are required for eighth grade students who were not successful on any or all of the content areas of the state assessment during the previous school year or who may not be on track to graduate due to credit deficiencies or absences. The parent or legal guardian shall be notified about the information in the student learning plan, preferably through a parent conference and at least annually. To the extent feasible, schools serving English language learner students and their parents shall translate the plan into the primary language of the family. The plan shall include the following information as applicable:

(a) The student's results on the state assessment;

(b) If the student is in the transitional bilingual program, the score on his or her Washington language proficiency test II;

(c) Any credit deficiencies;

(d) The student's attendance rates over the previous two years;

(e) The student's progress toward meeting state and local graduation requirements;

(f) The courses, competencies, and other steps needed to be taken by the student to meet state academic standards and stay on track for graduation;

(g) Remediation strategies and alternative education options available to students, including informing students of the option to continue to receive instructional services after grade twelve or until the age of twenty-one;

(h) The alternative assessment options available to students under this section and RCW 28A.655.065;

(i) School district programs, high school courses, and career and technical education options available for students to meet graduation requirements; and

(j) Available programs offered through skill centers or community and technical colleges, including the college high school diploma options under RCW 28B.50.535.

Sec. 5.  RCW 28A.655.068 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 22 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Beginning in the 2011-12 school year, the statewide high school assessment in science shall be an end-of-course assessment for biology that measures the state standards for life sciences, in addition to systems, inquiry, and application as they pertain to life sciences.

(2)(a) The superintendent of public instruction may develop or adopt science end-of-course assessments or a comprehensive science assessment that includes subjects in addition to biology for purposes of RCW 28A.655.061, when so directed by the legislature. The legislature intends to transition from a biology end-of-course assessment to a more comprehensive science assessment in a manner consistent with the way in which the state transitioned to an English language arts assessment and a comprehensive mathematics assessment. The legislature further intends that the transition will include at least two years of using the student assessment results from either the biology end-of-course assessment or the more comprehensive assessment in order to provide students with reasonable opportunities to demonstrate high school competencies while being mindful of the increasing rigor of the new assessment.

(b) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop or adopt a science assessment in accordance with RCW 28A.655.070(10) that is not biased toward persons with different learning styles, racial or ethnic backgrounds, or on the basis of gender.

(c) Before the next subsequent school year after the legislature directs the superintendent to develop or adopt a new science assessment, the superintendent of public instruction shall review the objective alternative assessments for the science assessment and make recommendations to the legislature regarding additional objective alternatives, if any.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction may participate with consortia of multiple states as common student learning standards and assessments in science are developed. The superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the state board of education, may modify the essential academic learning requirements and statewide student assessments in science, including the high school assessment, according to the multistate common student learning standards and assessments as long as the education committees of the legislature have opportunities for review before the modifications are adopted, as provided under RCW 28A.655.070.

(4) The statewide high school assessment under this section or the assessment used in the pilot program under section 2 of this act shall be used to demonstrate that a student meets the state standards in the science content area of the statewide student assessment for purposes of RCW 28A.655.061.

Sec. 6.  RCW 28A.655.070 and 2015 c 211 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop essential academic learning requirements that identify the knowledge and skills all public school students need to know and be able to do based on the student learning goals in RCW 28A.150.210, develop student assessments, and implement the accountability recommendations and requests regarding assistance, rewards, and recognition of the state board of education.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall:

(a) Periodically revise the essential academic learning requirements, as needed, based on the student learning goals in RCW 28A.150.210. Goals one and two shall be considered primary. To the maximum extent possible, the superintendent shall integrate goal four and the knowledge and skill areas in the other goals in the essential academic learning requirements; and

(b) Review and prioritize the essential academic learning requirements and identify, with clear and concise descriptions, the grade level content expectations to be assessed on the statewide student assessment and used for state or federal accountability purposes. The review, prioritization, and identification shall result in more focus and targeting with an emphasis on depth over breadth in the number of grade level content expectations assessed at each grade level. Grade level content expectations shall be articulated over the grades as a sequence of expectations and performances that are logical, build with increasing depth after foundational knowledge and skills are acquired, and reflect, where appropriate, the sequential nature of the discipline. The office of the superintendent of public instruction, within seven working days, shall post on its web site any grade level content expectations provided to an assessment vendor for use in constructing the statewide student assessment.

(3)(a) In consultation with the state board of education, the superintendent of public instruction shall maintain and continue to develop and revise a statewide academic assessment system in the content areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and science for use in the elementary, middle, and high school years designed to determine if each student has mastered the essential academic learning requirements identified in subsection (1) of this section. School districts shall administer the assessments under guidelines adopted by the superintendent of public instruction. The academic assessment system may include a variety of assessment methods, including criterion-referenced and performance-based measures, and if approved, a nationally recognized college readiness assessment at the high school level.

(b) Effective with the 2009 administration of the Washington assessment of student learning and continuing with the statewide student assessment, the superintendent shall redesign the assessment in the content areas of reading, mathematics, and science in all grades except high school by shortening test administration and reducing the number of short answer and extended response questions.

(c) By the 2014-15 school year, the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the state board of education, shall modify the statewide student assessment system to transition to assessments developed with a multistate consortium, as provided in this subsection:

(i) The assessments developed with a multistate consortium to assess student proficiency in English language arts and mathematics shall be administered beginning in the 2014-15 school year. The reading and writing assessments shall not be administered by the superintendent of public instruction or schools after the 2013-14 school year.

(ii) The high school assessments in English language arts and mathematics in (c)(i) of this subsection shall be used for the purposes of earning a certificate of academic achievement for high school graduation under the timeline established in RCW 28A.655.061 and for assessing student career and college readiness.

(iii) During the transition period specified in RCW 28A.655.061, the superintendent of public instruction shall use test items and other resources from the consortium assessment to develop and administer a tenth grade high school English language arts assessment, an end-of-course mathematics assessment to assess the standards common to algebra I and integrated mathematics I, and an end-of-course mathematics assessment to assess the standards common to geometry and integrated mathematics II.

(4) If the superintendent proposes any modification to the essential academic learning requirements or the statewide assessments, then the superintendent shall, upon request, provide opportunities for the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate to review the assessments and proposed modifications to the essential academic learning requirements before the modifications are adopted.

(5) The assessment system shall be designed so that the results under the assessment system are used by educators as tools to evaluate instructional practices, and to initiate appropriate educational support for students who have not mastered the essential academic learning requirements at the appropriate periods in the student's educational development.

(6) By September 2007, the results for reading and mathematics shall be reported in a format that will allow parents and teachers to determine the academic gain a student has acquired in those content areas from one school year to the next.

(7) To assist parents and teachers in their efforts to provide educational support to individual students, the superintendent of public instruction shall provide as much individual student performance information as possible within the constraints of the assessment system's item bank. The superintendent shall also provide to school districts:

(a) Information on classroom-based and other assessments that may provide additional achievement information for individual students; and

(b) A collection of diagnostic tools that educators may use to evaluate the academic status of individual students. The tools shall be designed to be inexpensive, easily administered, and quickly and easily scored, with results provided in a format that may be easily shared with parents and students.

(8) To the maximum extent possible, the superintendent shall integrate knowledge and skill areas in development of the assessments.

(9) Assessments for goals three and four of RCW 28A.150.210 shall be integrated in the essential academic learning requirements and assessments for goals one and two.

(10) The superintendent shall develop assessments that are directly related to the essential academic learning requirements, and are not biased toward persons with different learning styles, racial or ethnic backgrounds, or on the basis of gender.

(11) The superintendent shall consider methods to address the unique needs of special education students when developing the assessments under this section.

(12) The superintendent shall consider methods to address the unique needs of highly capable students when developing the assessments under this section.

(13) The superintendent shall post on the superintendent's web site lists of resources and model assessments in social studies, the arts, and health and fitness.

(14) The superintendent shall integrate financial education skills and content knowledge into the state learning standards pursuant to RCW 28A.300.460(2)(d).

Sec. 7.  RCW 28A.657.020 and 2014 c 191 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Beginning in 2010, and each year thereafter through December 1, 2012, the superintendent of public instruction shall annually identify schools as one of the state's persistently lowest-achieving schools if the school is a Title I school, or a school that is eligible for but does not receive Title I funds, that is among the lowest-achieving five percent of Title I or Title I eligible schools in the state.

(2) The criteria for determining whether a school is among the persistently lowest-achieving five percent of Title I schools, or Title I eligible schools, under subsection (1) of this section shall be established by the superintendent of public instruction. The criteria must meet all applicable requirements for the receipt of a federal school improvement grant under the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009 and Title I of the elementary and secondary education act of 1965, and take into account both:

(a) The academic achievement of the "all students" group in a school in terms of proficiency on the state's assessment, and any alternative assessments or the assessment used in the pilot program created under section 2 of this act, in reading and mathematics combined; and

(b) The school's lack of progress on the mathematics and reading assessments over a number of years in the "all students" group.

(3)(a) Beginning February 1, 2014, and each February thereafter, the superintendent of public instruction shall annually identify challenged schools in need of improvement and a subset of such schools that are the persistently lowest-achieving schools in the state.

(b) The criteria for determining whether a school is a challenged school in need of improvement shall be adopted by the superintendent of public instruction in rule. The criteria must meet all applicable federal requirements under Title I of the elementary and secondary education act of 1965 and other federal rules or guidance, including applicable requirements for the receipt of federal school improvement funds if available, but shall apply equally to Title I, Title I-eligible, and non-Title I schools in the state. The criteria must take into account the academic achievement of the "all students" group and subgroups of students in a school in terms of proficiency on the state assessments in reading or English language arts and mathematics and a high school's graduation rate for all students and subgroups of students. The superintendent may establish tiered categories of challenged schools based on the relative performance of all students, subgroups of students, and other factors.

(c) The superintendent of public instruction shall also adopt criteria in rule for determining whether a challenged school in need of improvement is also a persistently lowest-achieving school for purposes of the required action district process under this chapter, which shall include the school's lack of progress for all students and subgroups of students over a number of years. The criteria for identifying persistently lowest-achieving schools shall also take into account the level of state or federal resources available to implement a required action plan.

(d) If the Washington achievement index is approved by the United States department of education for use in identifying schools for federal purposes, the superintendent of public instruction shall use the approved index to identify schools under (b) and (c) of this subsection.

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