AN ACT Relating to implementing strategies to close the educational opportunity gap; amending RCW 28A.300.042, 28A.300.505, 28A.600.490, 28A.600.015, 28A.600.020, 28A.300.507, 28A.405.106, 28A.405.120, 28A.180.040, and 28A.180.090; adding new sections to chapter 28A.235 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.320 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 28A.345 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.415 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 28A.657 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

PART I

STUDENT DATA

Sec. 101.  RCW 28A.300.042 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 18 s 307 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Beginning with the 2018-19 school year, and using the phase-in provided in subsection (2) of this section, the superintendent of public instruction must collect and school districts must submit all student-level data using the United States department of education 2007 race and ethnicity reporting guidelines, including the subracial and subethnic categories within those guidelines, with the following modifications:

(3) All student data-related reports required of the superintendent of public instruction in this title must be disaggregated by at least the following subgroups of students: White, Black, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Pacific Islander/Hawaiian Native, low income, transitional bilingual, migrant, special education, and students covered by section 504 of the federal rehabilitation act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794).

(((2))) (4) All student data-related reports ((required of)) prepared by the superintendent of public instruction regarding student suspensions and expulsions as required ((in RCW 28A.300.046)) under this title are subject to disaggregation by subgroups including:

(a) Gender;

(b) Foster care;

(c) Homeless, if known;

(d) School district;

(e) School;

(f) Grade level;

(g) Behavior infraction code, including:

(i) Bullying;

(ii) Tobacco;

(iii) Alcohol;

(iv) Illicit drug;

(v) Fighting without major injury;

(vi) Violence without major injury;

(vii) Violence with major injury;

(viii) Possession of a weapon; and

(ix) Other behavior resulting from a short-term or long-term suspension, expulsion, or interim alternative education setting intervention;

(h) Intervention applied, including:

(i) Short-term suspension;

(ii) Long-term suspension;

(iii) Emergency expulsion;

(iv) Expulsion;

(v) Interim alternative education settings;

(vi) No intervention applied; and

(vii) Other intervention applied that is not described in this subsection (((2))) (4)(h);

(i) Number of days a student is suspended or expelled, to be counted in half or full days; and

(j) Any other categories added at a future date by the data governance group.

(((3))) (5) All student data-related reports required of the superintendent of public instruction regarding student suspensions and expulsions as required in RCW 28A.300.046 are subject to cross-tabulation at a minimum by the following:

(a) School and district;

(b) Race, low income, special education, transitional bilingual, migrant, foster care, homeless, students covered by section 504 of the federal rehabilitation act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794), and categories to be added in the future;

(c) Behavior infraction code; and

(d) Intervention applied.

(2) This section expires August 1, 2018.

Sec. 103.  RCW 28A.300.505 and 2015 c 210 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop standards for school data systems that focus on validation and verification of data entered into the systems to ensure accuracy and compatibility of data. The standards shall address but are not limited to the following topics:

(a) Date validation;

(b) Code validation, which includes gender, race or ethnicity, and other code elements;

(c) Decimal and integer validation; and

(d) Required field validation as defined by state and federal requirements.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop a reporting format and instructions for school districts to collect and submit data that must include:

(a) Data on student demographics that is disaggregated ((by distinct ethnic categories within racial subgroups so that analyses may be conducted on student achievement using the disaggregated data)) as required under RCW 28A.300.042; ((and))

(b) Starting no later than the 2016-17 school year, data on students from military families. The K-12 data governance group established in RCW 28A.300.507 must develop best practice guidelines for the collection and regular updating of this data on students from military families. Collection and updating of this data must use the United States department of education 2007 race and ethnicity reporting guidelines, including the subracial and subethnic categories within those guidelines, with the following modifications:

(i) Further disaggregation of the Black category to differentiate students of African origin and students native to the United States with African ancestors;

(ii) Further disaggregation of countries of origin for Asian students;

(iii) Further disaggregation of the White category to include subethnic categories for Eastern European nationalities that have significant populations in Washington; and

(iv) For students who report as multiracial, collection of their racial and ethnic combination of categories; and

(c) Starting no later than the 2017-18 school year, data on the certificate of academic achievement established in RCW 28A.655.061 and the certificate of individual achievement established in RCW 28A.155.045. This data must be disaggregated as required under RCW 28A.300.042 and by disability categories in the smallest units allowable by law that do not identify an individual student.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "students from military families" means the following categories of students, with data to be collected and submitted separately for each category:

(a) Students with a parent or guardian who is a member of the active duty United States armed forces; and

(b) Students with a parent or guardian who is a member of the reserves of the United States armed forces or a member of the Washington national guard.

PART II

EXPANDING NUTRITION OPPORTUNITIES

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 201.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.235 RCW to read as follows:

The definitions in this section apply throughout sections 202 and 203 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "High-needs school" means any public school that: (a) Has enrollment of seventy percent or more students eligible for free or reduced-price meals in the prior school year; or (b) is using provision two of the national school lunch act or the community eligibility provision under section 104(a) of the federal healthy, hunger-free kids act of 2010 to provide universal meals and that has a claiming percentage for free or reduced-price meals of seventy percent or more.

(2) "Public school" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 28A.150.010.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 202.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.235 RCW to read as follows:

(1)(a) No more than five hundred thousand dollars may be appropriated to the superintendent of public instruction to administer one-time start-up allocation grants of up to six thousand dollars to high-needs schools that want to expand nutrition opportunities on a first-come, first-served basis. The grant must be used for the costs associated with launching a program that provides nutrition during the school day including, but not limited to, equipment purchases, training, additional staff costs, and janitorial services.

(b) Beginning in the school year that the high-needs school receives the grant, the school must offer nutrition during the school day to each student and provide adequate time for students to eat.

(c) All public schools are encouraged to expand nutrition opportunities.

(2)(a) Each high-needs school receiving a grant may determine the nutrition service model that best suits its students. Service models include, but are not limited to:

(i) "Grab and go," where easy-to-eat foods are available for students to take at the start of the school day or in between morning classes;

(ii) "Second chance nutrition," where foods are available during recess, a break, or later in the morning, for students who are not hungry first thing in the morning, or who arrive late to school; and

(iii) "Nutrition in the classroom," where food is served in the classroom, often during homeroom or first period.

(b) If all students in a high-needs school are provided the opportunity to engage in educational activity planned by and under the direction of school district staff concurrently with the consumption of food, the period of time designated for the consumption of food may be provided during instructional hours under RCW 28A.150.205.

(3) Any rules adopted by the state board of education must permit student participation in nutrition opportunities during instructional hours.

(4) All programs with nutrition during the school day must comply with federal meal patterns and nutrition standards for the program under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1773 and any federal regulations implementing that program.

(5) The legislature does not intend to include the funding for programs under this section within the state's obligation for basic education funding under Article IX of the state Constitution.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 203.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.235 RCW to read as follows:

The superintendent of public instruction subject to funds appropriated specifically for this purpose shall:

(1) Before January 2, 2017, develop and distribute procedures and guidelines for the implementation of section 202 of this act, which must be in compliance with federal regulations governing the program under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1773. These guidelines must include ways schools and districts can solicit and consider the input of families regarding implementation and continued operation of programs providing nutrition during the school day.

(2) Dedicate staff within the office to offer training and technical and marketing assistance to all public schools and school districts related to providing nutrition during the school day, including assistance with various funding options available to high-needs schools, including the community eligibility provision under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1759a(a)(1), programs under provision two of the national school lunch act, and claims for reimbursement under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1773.

(3) In fulfilling its responsibilities under this section, collaborate with nonprofit organizations knowledgeable about equity, the opportunity gap, hunger and food security issues, and best practices for improving student access to nutrition during the school day. The office shall maintain a list of opportunities for philanthropic support of school meal programs and make the list available to schools interested in expanding nutrition opportunities.

(4) Incorporate the annual collection of information about nutrition delivery models into existing data systems and make the information publicly available.

PART III

STUDENT DISCIPLINE

Sec. 301.  RCW 28A.600.490 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 18 s 301 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall convene a discipline task force to develop standard definitions for causes of student disciplinary actions taken at the discretion of the school district. The task force must also develop data collection standards for disciplinary actions that are discretionary and for disciplinary actions that result in the exclusion of a student from school. The data collection standards must include data about education services provided while a student is subject to a disciplinary action, the status of petitions for readmission to the school district when a student has been excluded from school, credit retrieval during a period of exclusion, and school dropout as a result of disciplinary action.

(2) The discipline task force shall include representatives from the K-12 data governance group, the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee, the state ethnic commissions, the governor's office of Indian affairs, the office of the education ((ombudsman [ombuds])) ombuds, school districts, tribal representatives, and other education and advocacy organizations.

(3) The office of the superintendent of public instruction and the K-12 data governance group shall revise the statewide student data system to incorporate the student discipline data collection standards recommended by the discipline task force, and begin collecting data based on the revised standards in the 2015-16 school year.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 302.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.320 RCW to read as follows:

(1) School districts shall annually disseminate discipline policies and procedures to students, families, and the community.

(2) School districts shall use disaggregated data collected pursuant to RCW 28A.300.042 to monitor the impact of the school district's discipline policies and procedures.

(3) School districts, in consultation with school district staff, students, families, and the community, shall periodically review and update their discipline rules, policies, and procedures.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 303.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.345 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The Washington state school directors' association shall create model school district discipline policies and procedures and post these models publicly by December 1, 2016. In developing these model policies and procedures, the association shall request technical assistance and guidance from the equity and civil rights office within the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the Washington state human rights commission. The model policies and procedures shall be updated as necessary.

(2) School districts shall adopt discipline policies and procedures consistent with the model policy by April 1, 2017.

Sec. 304.  RCW 28A.600.015 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 18 s 302 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt and distribute to all school districts lawful and reasonable rules prescribing the substantive and procedural due process guarantees of pupils in the common schools. Such rules shall authorize a school district to use informal due process procedures in connection with the short-term suspension of students to the extent constitutionally permissible: PROVIDED, That the superintendent of public instruction deems the interest of students to be adequately protected. When a student suspension or expulsion is appealed, the rules shall authorize a school district to impose the suspension or expulsion temporarily after an initial hearing for no more than ten consecutive school days or until the appeal is decided, whichever is earlier. Any days that the student is temporarily suspended or expelled before the appeal is decided shall be applied to the term of the student suspension or expulsion and shall not limit or extend the term of the student suspension or expulsion. An expulsion or suspension of a student may not be for an indefinite period of time.

(2) Short-term suspension procedures may be used for suspensions of students up to and including, ten consecutive school days.

(3) Emergency expulsions must end or be converted to another form of corrective action within ten school days from the date of the emergency removal from school. Notice and due process rights must be provided when an emergency expulsion is converted to another form of corrective action.

Sec. 305.  RCW 28A.600.020 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 18 s 303 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The rules adopted pursuant to RCW 28A.600.010 shall be interpreted to ensure that the optimum learning atmosphere of the classroom is maintained, and that the highest consideration is given to the judgment of qualified certificated educators regarding conditions necessary to maintain the optimum learning atmosphere.

(2) Any student who creates a disruption of the educational process in violation of the building disciplinary standards while under a teacher's immediate supervision may be excluded by the teacher from his or her individual classroom and instructional or activity area for all or any portion of the balance of the school day, or up to the following two days, or until the principal or designee and teacher have conferred, whichever occurs first. Except in emergency circumstances, the teacher first must attempt one or more alternative forms of corrective action. In no event without the consent of the teacher may an excluded student return to the class during the balance of that class or activity period or up to the following two days, or until the principal or his or her designee and the teacher have conferred.

(3) In order to preserve a beneficial learning environment for all students and to maintain good order and discipline in each classroom, every school district board of directors shall provide that written procedures are developed for administering discipline at each school within the district. Such procedures shall be developed with the participation of parents and the community, and shall provide that the teacher, principal or designee, and other authorities designated by the board of directors, make every reasonable attempt to involve the parent or guardian and the student in the resolution of student discipline problems. Such procedures shall provide that students may be excluded from their individual classes or activities for periods of time in excess of that provided in subsection (2) of this section if such students have repeatedly disrupted the learning of other students. The procedures must be consistent with the rules of the superintendent of public instruction and must provide for early involvement of parents in attempts to improve the student's behavior.

(4) The procedures shall assure, pursuant to RCW 28A.400.110, that all staff work cooperatively toward consistent enforcement of proper student behavior throughout each school as well as within each classroom.

(5)(a) A principal shall consider imposing long-term suspension or expulsion as a sanction when deciding the appropriate disciplinary action for a student who, after July 27, 1997:

(i) Engages in two or more violations within a three-year period of RCW 9A.46.120, ((28A.320.135,)) 28A.600.455, ((28A.600.460,)) 28A.635.020, ((28A.600.020,)) 28A.635.060, or 9.41.280((, or 28A.320.140)); or

(ii) Engages in one or more of the offenses listed in RCW 13.04.155.

(b) The principal shall communicate the disciplinary action taken by the principal to the school personnel who referred the student to the principal for disciplinary action.

(6) Any corrective action involving a suspension or expulsion from school for more than ten days must have an end date of not more than one calendar year from the time of corrective action. Districts shall make reasonable efforts to assist students and parents in returning to an educational setting prior to and no later than the end date of the corrective action. Where warranted based on public health or safety, a school may petition the superintendent of the school district, pursuant to policies and procedures adopted by the office of the superintendent of public instruction, for authorization to exceed the one calendar year limitation provided in this subsection. The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules outlining the limited circumstances in which a school may petition to exceed the one calendar year limitation, including safeguards to ensure that the school district has made every effort to plan for the student's return to school. School districts shall report to the office of the superintendent of public instruction the number of petitions made to the school board and the number of petitions granted on an annual basis.

(7) Nothing in this section prevents a public school district, educational service district, the Washington state center for childhood deafness and hearing loss, or the state school for the blind if it has suspended or expelled a student from the student's regular school setting from providing educational services to the student in an alternative setting or modifying the suspension or expulsion on a case-by-case basis. An alternative setting should be comparable and appropriate to the regular education services a student would have received without the exclusionary discipline. Example alternative settings include alternative high schools, one-on-one tutoring, and online learning.

PART IV

RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF EDUCATORS

Sec. 401.  RCW 28A.300.507 and 2009 c 548 s 203 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A K-12 data governance group shall be established within the office of the superintendent of public instruction to assist in the design and implementation of a K-12 education data improvement system for financial, student, and educator data. It is the intent that the data system reporting specifically serve requirements for teachers, parents, superintendents, school boards, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the legislature, and the public.

(2) The K-12 data governance group shall include representatives of the education data center, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee, the professional educator standards board, the state board of education, and school district staff, including information technology staff. Additional entities with expertise in education data may be included in the K-12 data governance group.

(3) The K-12 data governance group shall:

(a) Identify the critical research and policy questions that need to be addressed by the K-12 education data improvement system;

(b) Identify reports and other information that should be made available on the internet in addition to the reports identified in subsection (5) of this section;

(c) Create a comprehensive needs requirement document detailing the specific information and technical capacity needed by school districts and the state to meet the legislature's expectations for a comprehensive K-12 education data improvement system as described under RCW 28A.655.210;

(d) Conduct a gap analysis of current and planned information compared to the needs requirement document, including an analysis of the strengths and limitations of an education data system and programs currently used by school districts and the state, and specifically the gap analysis must look at the extent to which the existing data can be transformed into canonical form and where existing software can be used to meet the needs requirement document;

(e) Focus on financial and cost data necessary to support the new K-12 financial models and funding formulas, including any necessary changes to school district budgeting and accounting, and on assuring the capacity to link data across financial, student, and educator systems; ((and))

(f) Define the operating rules and governance structure for K-12 data collections, ensuring that data systems are flexible and able to adapt to evolving needs for information, within an objective and orderly data governance process for determining when changes are needed and how to implement them. Strong consideration must be made to the current practice and cost of migration to new requirements. The operating rules should delineate the coordination, delegation, and escalation authority for data collection issues, business rules, and performance goals for each K-12 data collection system, including:

(i) Defining and maintaining standards for privacy and confidentiality;

(ii) Setting data collection priorities;

(iii) Defining and updating a standard data dictionary;

(iv) Ensuring data compliance with the data dictionary;

(v) Ensuring data accuracy; and

(vi) Establishing minimum standards for school, student, financial, and teacher data systems. Data elements may be specified "to the extent feasible" or "to the extent available" to collect more and better data sets from districts with more flexible software. Nothing in RCW 43.41.400, this section, or RCW 28A.655.210 should be construed to require that a data dictionary or reporting should be hobbled to the lowest common set. The work of the K-12 data governance group must specify which data are desirable. Districts that can meet these requirements shall report the desirable data. Funding from the legislature must establish which subset data are absolutely required; and

(g) Analyze the ability of data to move between school districts when a student with an individualized education program or a plan developed under section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 moves between districts and consider ways to improve the movement of this data.

(4)(a) The K-12 data governance group shall provide updates on its work as requested by the education data center and the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee.

(b) The work of the K-12 data governance group shall be periodically reviewed and monitored by the educational data center and the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee.

(5) To the extent data is available, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall make the following minimum reports available on the internet. The reports must either be run on demand against current data, or, if a static report, must have been run against the most recent data:

(a) The percentage of data compliance and data accuracy by school district;

(b) The magnitude of spending per student, by student estimated by the following algorithm and reported as the detailed summation of the following components:

(i) An approximate, prorated fraction of each teacher or human resource element that directly serves the student. Each human resource element must be listed or accessible through online tunneling in the report;

(ii) An approximate, prorated fraction of classroom or building costs used by the student;

(iii) An approximate, prorated fraction of transportation costs used by the student; and

(iv) An approximate, prorated fraction of all other resources within the district. District-wide components should be disaggregated to the extent that it is sensible and economical;

(c) The cost of K-12 basic education, per student, by student, by school district, estimated by the algorithm in (b) of this subsection, and reported in the same manner as required in (b) of this subsection;

(d) The cost of K-12 special education services per student, by student receiving those services, by school district, estimated by the algorithm in (b) of this subsection, and reported in the same manner as required in (b) of this subsection;

(e) Improvement on the statewide assessments computed as both a percentage change and absolute change on a scale score metric by district, by school, and by teacher that can also be filtered by a student's length of full-time enrollment within the school district;

(f) Number of K-12 students per classroom teacher on a per teacher basis;

(g) Number of K-12 classroom teachers per student on a per student basis;

(h) Percentage of a classroom teacher per student on a per student basis; ((and))

(i) Percentage of classroom teachers per school district and per school disaggregated as described in RCW 28A.300.042(1) for student-level data;

(k) The cost of K-12 education per student by school district sorted by federal, state, and local dollars.

(6) The superintendent of public instruction shall submit a preliminary report to the legislature by November 15, 2009, including the analyses by the K-12 data governance group under subsection (3) of this section and preliminary options for addressing identified gaps. A final report, including a proposed phase-in plan and preliminary cost estimates for implementation of a comprehensive data improvement system for financial, student, and educator data shall be submitted to the legislature by September 1, 2010.

(7) The superintendent of public instruction shall submit a report to the education committees of the legislature by September 1, 2017, with the analyses by the K-12 data governance group under subsection (3)(g) of this section.

(8) All reports and data referenced in this section and RCW 43.41.400 and 28A.655.210 shall be made available in a manner consistent with the technical requirements of the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee and the education data center so that selected data can be provided to the legislature, governor, school districts, and the public.

(((8))) (9) Reports shall contain data to the extent it is available. All reports must include documentation of which data are not available or are estimated. Reports must not be suppressed because of poor data accuracy or completeness. Reports may be accompanied with documentation to inform the reader of why some data are missing or inaccurate or estimated.

PART V

EDUCATOR CULTURAL COMPETENCE

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 501.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.345 RCW to read as follows:

The Washington state school directors' association, in consultation with the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the professional educator standards board, the steering committee established in RCW 28A.405.100, and the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee, must develop a plan for the creation and delivery of cultural competency training for school board directors and superintendents. The training program must also include the foundational elements of cultural competence, focusing on multicultural education and principles of English language acquisition, including information regarding best practices to implement the tribal history and culture curriculum. The content of the training must be aligned with the standards for cultural competence developed by the professional educator standards board under RCW 28A.410.270.

Sec. 502.  RCW 28A.405.106 and 2012 c 35 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must develop and make available a professional development program to support the implementation of the evaluation systems required by RCW 28A.405.100. The program components may be organized into professional development modules for principals, administrators, and teachers. The professional development program shall include a comprehensive online training package.

(2) The training program must include, but not be limited to, the following topics:

(a) Introduction of the evaluation criteria for teachers and principals and the four-level rating system;

(b) Orientation to and use of instructional frameworks;

(c) Orientation to and use of the leadership frameworks;

(d) Best practices in developing and using data in the evaluation systems, including multiple measures, student growth data, classroom observations, and other measures and evidence;

(e) Strategies for achieving maximum rater agreement;

(f) Evaluator feedback protocols in the evaluation systems;

(g) Examples of high quality teaching and leadership; and

(h) Methods to link the evaluation process to ongoing educator professional development.

(3) The training program must also include the foundational elements of cultural competence, focusing on multicultural education and principles of English language acquisition, including information regarding best practices to implement the tribal history and culture curriculum. The content of the training must be aligned with the standards for cultural competence developed by the professional educator standards board under RCW 28A.410.270. The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the professional educator standards board, the steering committee established in RCW 28A.405.100, and the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee, must integrate the content for cultural competence into the overall training for principals, administrators, and teachers to support the revised evaluation systems.

(4) To the maximum extent feasible, the professional development program must incorporate or adapt existing online training or curriculum, including securing materials or curriculum under contract or purchase agreements within available funds. Multiple modes of instruction should be incorporated including videos of classroom teaching, participatory exercises, and other engaging combinations of online audio, video, and print presentation.

(((4))) (5) The professional development program must be developed in modules that allow:

(a) Access to material over a reasonable number of training sessions;

(b) Delivery in person or online; and

(c) Use in a self-directed manner.

(((5))) (6) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must maintain a web site that includes the online professional development materials along with sample evaluation forms and templates, links to relevant research on evaluation and on high quality teaching and leadership, samples of contract and collective bargaining language on key topics, examples of multiple measures of teacher and principal performance, suggestions for data to measure student growth, and other tools that will assist school districts in implementing the revised evaluation systems.

(((6))) (7) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must identify the number of in-service training hours associated with each professional development module and develop a way for users to document their completion of the training. Documented completion of the training under this section is considered approved in-service training for the purposes of RCW 28A.415.020.

(((7))) (8) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall periodically update the modules to reflect new topics and research on performance evaluation so that the training serves as an ongoing source of continuing education and professional development.

(((8))) (9) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall work with the educational service districts to provide clearinghouse services for the identification and publication of professional development opportunities for teachers and principals that align with performance evaluation criteria.

Sec. 503.  RCW 28A.405.120 and 2012 c 35 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) School districts shall require each administrator, each principal, or other supervisory personnel who has responsibility for evaluating classroom teachers or principals to have training in evaluation procedures.

(2) Before school district implementation of the revised evaluation systems required under RCW 28A.405.100, principals and administrators who have evaluation responsibilities must engage in professional development designed to implement the revised systems and maximize rater agreement. The professional development to support the revised evaluation systems must also include foundational elements of cultural competence, focusing on multicultural education and principles of English language acquisition.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 504.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.415 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Subject to funds appropriated specifically for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, in collaboration with the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee, the professional educator standards board, colleges of education, and representatives from diverse communities and community-based organizations, must develop a content outline for professional development and training in cultural competence for school staff.

(2) The content of the cultural competence professional development and training must be aligned with the standards developed by the professional educator standards board under RCW 28A.410.270. The training program must also include the foundational elements of cultural competence, focusing on multicultural education and principles of English language acquisition, including information regarding best practices to implement the tribal history and culture curriculum.

(3) The cultural competence professional development and training must contain components that are appropriate for classified school staff and district administrators as well as certificated instructional staff and principals at the building level. The professional development and training must also contain components suitable for delivery by individuals from the local community or community-based organizations with appropriate expertise.

(4) The legislature encourages educational service districts and school districts to use the cultural competence professional development and training developed under this section and provide opportunities for all school and school district staff to gain knowledge and skills in cultural competence, including in partnership with their local communities.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 505.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.657 RCW to read as follows:

Required action districts as provided in RCW 28A.657.030, and districts with schools that receive the federal school improvement grant under the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009, and districts with schools identified by the superintendent of public instruction as priority or focus are strongly encouraged to provide the cultural competence professional development and training developed under RCW 28A.405.106, 28A.405.120, and section 504 of this act for classified, certificated instructional, and administrative staff of the school. The professional development and training may be delivered by an educational service district, through district in-service, or by another qualified provider, including in partnership with the local community.

PART VI

INSTRUCTING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Sec. 601.  RCW 28A.180.040 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 9 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Every school district board of directors shall:

(a) Make available to each eligible pupil transitional bilingual instruction to achieve competency in English, in accord with rules of the superintendent of public instruction;

(b) Wherever feasible, ensure that communications to parents emanating from the schools shall be appropriately bilingual for those parents of pupils in the bilingual instruction program;

(c) Determine, by administration of an English test approved by the superintendent of public instruction the number of eligible pupils enrolled in the school district at the beginning of a school year and thereafter during the year as necessary in individual cases;

(d) Ensure that a student who is a child of a military family in transition and who has been assessed as in need of, or enrolled in, a bilingual instruction program, the receiving school shall initially honor placement of the student into a like program.

(i) The receiving school shall determine whether the district's program is a like program when compared to the sending school's program; and

(ii) The receiving school may conduct subsequent assessments pursuant to RCW 28A.180.090 to determine appropriate placement and continued enrollment in the program;

(e) Before the conclusion of each school year, measure each eligible pupil's improvement in learning the English language by means of a test approved by the superintendent of public instruction;

(f) Provide in-service training for teachers, counselors, and other staff, who are involved in the district's transitional bilingual program. Such training shall include appropriate instructional strategies for children of culturally different backgrounds, use of curriculum materials, and program models; and

(g) Make available a program of instructional support for up to two years immediately after pupils exit from the program, for exited pupils who need assistance in reaching grade-level performance in academic subjects even though they have achieved English proficiency for purposes of the transitional bilingual instructional program.

(2) Beginning in the 2020-21 school year, all classroom teachers assigned using funds for the transitional bilingual instruction program to provide supplemental instruction for eligible pupils must hold an endorsement in bilingual education or English language learner, or both.

(3) The definitions in Article II of RCW 28A.705.010 apply to subsection (1)(d) of this section.

Sec. 602.  RCW 28A.180.090 and 2001 1st sp.s. c 6 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

The superintendent of public instruction shall develop an evaluation system designed to measure increases in the English and academic proficiency of eligible pupils. When developing the system, the superintendent shall:

(1) Require school districts to assess potentially eligible pupils within ten days of registration using an English proficiency assessment or assessments as specified by the superintendent of public instruction. Results of these assessments shall be made available to both the superintendent of public instruction and the school district;

(2) Require school districts to annually assess all eligible pupils at the end of the school year using an English proficiency assessment or assessments as specified by the superintendent of public instruction. Results of these assessments shall be made available to both the superintendent of public instruction and the school district;

(3) Develop a system to evaluate increases in the English and academic proficiency of students who are, or were, eligible pupils. This evaluation shall include students when they are in the program and after they exit the program until they finish their K-12 career or transfer from the school district. The purpose of the evaluation system is to inform schools, school districts, parents, and the state of the effectiveness of the transitional bilingual programs in school and school districts in teaching these students English and other content areas, such as mathematics and writing; and

(4) ((Report to the education and fiscal committees of the legislature by November 1, 2002, regarding the development of the systems described in this section and a timeline for the full implementation of those systems. The legislature shall approve and provide funding for the evaluation system in subsection (3) of this section before any implementation of the system developed under subsection (3) of this section may occur.)) Subject to funds appropriated specifically for this purpose, provide school districts with technical assistance and support in selecting research-based program models, instructional materials, and professional development for program staff, including disseminating information about best practices and innovative programs. The information must include research about the differences between conversational language proficiency, academic language proficiency, and subject-specific language proficiency and the implications this research has on instructional practices and evaluation of program effectiveness.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 603.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.657 RCW to read as follows:

At the beginning of each school year, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall identify schools in the top five percent of schools with the highest percent growth during the previous two school years in enrollment of English language learner students as compared to previous enrollment trends. The office shall notify the identified schools, and the school districts in which the schools are located are strongly encouraged to provide the cultural competence professional development and training developed under RCW 28A.405.106, 28A.405.120, and section 504 of this act for classified, certificated instructional, and administrative staff of the schools. The professional development and training may be delivered by an educational service district, through district in-service, or by another qualified provider, including in partnership with the local community.

PART VII

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