AN ACT Relating to teacher training; and
creating new sections.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.
The legislature, through ongoing efforts and looking to the future, recognizes
the need to encourage and sponsor innovative and creative means to recruit,
train, and retain highly qualified teachers as a priority for Washington's
public education system.
Recognizing that the continued need for
well-trained teachers is heightened by the evolving transformation of
Washington's schools to performance-based learning and assessment with new,
higher expectations for teachers and students, the legislature believes the
need exists for an authentic partnership with direct, collaborative links
between higher education and the public schools with regard to the training of
teachers.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.
The superintendent of public instruction shall:
(1) Award grants to selected educational
service districts, school districts, or public higher education institutions
for the 1993-95 biennium for not more than six but no fewer than four pilot
regional collaborative professional development school projects. The pilot
projects shall be operated through existing professional development centers in
the selected educational service districts that are under the jurisdiction of
the office of the superintendent of public instruction or through collaborative
agreements between the participating school district and the participating
higher education institution.
(2) The selected pilot projects shall be an
authentic, collaborative partnership comprised of at least the school of
education of an institution or institutions of higher education and one or more
school districts.
(3) The superintendent of public instruction
shall ensure that the participating educational service districts or school
districts, through the collaborative partnership, provide:
(a) Management and coordination of pilot
project teachers;
(b) Management and coordination of the student
teacher, mentor teacher, and paraprofessional training programs at each site;
(c) At least fifty percent of the in-service
training for site staff for the project, recognizing the need to emphasize the
educational goals established by the legislature relative to the development of
performance-based education; and
(d) Continuing education clock hour credit for
in-service activities.
(4) The superintendent of public instruction
and the higher education coordinating board shall ensure that the participating
higher education institutions provide:
(a) Coordination of master's degree and
master's in teaching intern programs as well as undergraduate and graduate
level classes that lead to teaching certificate endorsements or degrees for
staff;
(b) Coordination with the participating
educational service districts and school districts of research projects on
critical issues relative to the education goals established by the legislature
relative to the development of performance-based education;
(c) Facilitation of regional teacher
recruitment programs with special emphasis on the diversity of Washington's
public school enrollment through the recruitment of minorities into the
teaching profession;
(d) Facilitation of the recruitment of
professionals changing careers to become teachers through the existing
internship program;
(e) At least fifty percent of the in-service
training for site staff for the project, recognizing the need to emphasize the
educational goals established by the legislature relative to the development of
performance-based education; and
(f) Coordination of pilot project evaluation
and the development of recommendations regarding the replication or broader
implementation of the regional collaborative professional development school
model.
(5) The superintendent of public instruction
shall ensure that the school districts represented in the pilot program reflect
the diversity of Washington's schools and include large, small, rural, and
urban school districts in both eastern and western Washington.
(6) The superintendent of public instruction
shall report to the senate and house of representatives education and higher
education committees no later than January 10, 1994, and January 10, 1995, on
the activities of the pilot programs, including: Pilot site locations,
partnerships at each location, number and ethnic origin of student teachers
involved at each site, curricular activities, in-service offerings and, if
applicable, placement of student teachers. The superintendent of public
instruction, in the superintendent's final report, shall also recommend to the
legislature the feasibility of continuing and expanding the program.
(7) Pilot project site partners, including the
applicable professional education advisory board, annually shall jointly report
to the state board of education on the program status and make recommendations
regarding professional development requirements.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. If
specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill
number, is not provided by June 30, 1993, in the omnibus appropriations act,
this act shall be null and void.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. If
any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is
held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to
other persons or circumstances is not affected.
