BP BHEAD INT H [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to foreign language instruction; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The world economy is rapidly integrating peoples and cultures from all over the globe. Washington's population is more diverse than ever, and getting more so all the time. As diversity increases in Washington, the most trade-dependent state, and as social and cultural ties around the world grow, strengthen, and deepen, what it will take for our children to successfully live, learn, and work in the future and to live productive and satisfying lives is changing.

Our children deserve every opportunity for success in school, at work, and throughout their lives. Having proficiency in a language in addition to English is necessary for our children to realize their fullest academic, economic, personal, and cultural potential.

Understanding and appreciation of other world cultures is an essential part of being a fully prepared and responsible citizen of the United States or any other country in the twenty-first century and beyond.

Children learn a second language much more readily before puberty and gain the strongest grasp of a second language through sustained study and use over a long period of time. Therefore, the legislature intends to determine the feasibility of developing and implementing high quality world language instruction opportunities in public elementary schools and of providing all students with access to high quality world language instruction within articulated sequences of courses and programs that extend from kindergarten through the twelfth grade.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The superintendent of public instruction shall conduct a study of the feasibility of implementing in every school district high quality foreign language instruction programs consisting of articulated sequences of courses extending from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The study shall also explore:

(1) The creation of high school graduation requirements related to attainment of proficiency in a language other than English;

(2) The integration of foreign language instruction programs with the state's education reforms, including but not limited to:

(a) The development of language-specific and nonlanguage-specific academic standards for foreign language study;

(b) Development and implementation of performance-based assessments for measuring foreign language proficiency attainment;

(c) The accountability system already in place and the additional elements of the accountability system being developed by the academic achievement and accountability commission and others; and

(d) Strategies for including local control for school districts to allow for local selection of the language or languages in which instruction may be offered;

(3) The potential for linking bilingual and English-as-a-second-language programs with programs providing instruction in a language other than English for native-English speaking students;

(4) Strategies for providing qualified foreign language teachers in numbers sufficient to enable all school districts to give all students access to high quality articulated sequences of courses and programs of foreign language instruction extending from kindergarten through grade twelve, including but not limited to:

(a) The potential role of heritage schools in helping provide qualified teachers;

(b) The challenges facing teacher preparation programs in providing greater capacity for training enough qualified foreign language teachers, especially at the elementary grade levels, and how those challenges may be overcome; and

(c) The potential for temporary, limited, or alternative certification to provide increased numbers of individuals prepared to teach foreign languages;

(5) The costs and benefits of implementing programs of foreign language instruction of the kind described in section 1 of this act and of creating foreign language high school graduation requirements; and

(6) Other issues the superintendent or the advisory committee deem relevant to determining the feasibility of implementing foreign language programs as described in this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The superintendent shall appoint an advisory committee and shall work closely with members of such committee through the entire conduct of the study and development of the report required under this act. The committee shall include, but not be limited to, foreign language teachers and representatives of school districts, institutions of higher education, the business community, and parents. The superintendent shall strive to appoint an advisory committee that is reflective of the diversity of Washington's population and includes all regions of the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The superintendent shall report the findings of the study to the governor, the state board of education, and the education and higher education committees of the house of representatives and senate by December 15, 2001.