AN
ACT Relating to standards for educator quality; adding new sections to chapter
28A.410 RCW; creating new sections; and repealing RCW 28A.410.020.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
PART
1
PROFESSIONAL
EDUCATOR STANDARDS BOARD
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1.
INTENT. The legislature finds and declares:
(1)
Creation of a public body whose focus is educator quality would be likely to
bring greater focus and attention to the profession;
(2)
Professional educator standards boards are consumer protection boards,
establishing assessment policies to ensure the public that its new
practitioners have the knowledge to be competent;
(3)
The highest possible standards for all educators are essential in ensuring
attainment of high academic standards by all students;
(4)
Teacher assessment for certification can guard against admission to the
teaching profession of persons who have not demonstrated that they are
knowledgeable in the subjects they will be assigned to teach; and
(5)
Teacher assessment for certification should be implemented as an additional
element to the system of teacher preparation and certification.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. A
new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:
WASHINGTON
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR STANDARDS BOARD. (1) The Washington professional educator
standards board is created, consisting of nineteen members to be appointed by
the governor to four-year terms and the superintendent of public instruction,
who shall be an ex officio, nonvoting member. No person may serve as a member
of the board for more than two consecutive full terms. The governor shall
annually appoint the chair of the board from among the teachers and principals
on the board. No board member may serve as chair for more than two consecutive
years.
(2)
Seven of the members shall be public school teachers, one shall be a private school
teacher, three shall represent higher education educator preparation programs,
four shall be school administrators, two shall be educational staff associates,
one shall be a parent, and one shall be a member of the public.
(3)
Public school teachers appointed to the board must:
(a)
Have at least three years of teaching experience in a Washington public school;
(b)
Be currently certificated and actively employed in a teaching position; and
(c)
Include one teacher currently teaching at the elementary school level, one at
the middle school level, one at the high school level, and one vocationally
certificated.
(4)
Private school teachers appointed to the board must:
(a)
Have at least three years of teaching experience in a Washington approved
private school; and
(b)
Be currently certificated and actively employed in a teaching position in an
approved private school.
(5)
Appointees from higher education educator preparation programs must include two
representatives from institutions of higher education as defined in RCW
28B.10.016 and one representative from an institution of higher education as
defined in RCW 28B.07.020(4).
(6)
School administrators appointed to the board must:
(a)
Have at least three years of administrative experience in a Washington public
school district;
(b)
Be currently certificated and actively employed in a school administrator
position; and
(c)
Include two public school principals, one Washington approved private school
principal, and one superintendent.
(7)
Educational staff associates appointed to the board must:
(a)
Have at least three years of educational staff associate experience in a
Washington public school district; and
(b)
Be currently certificated and actively employed in an educational staff
associate position.
(8)
Each major caucus of the house of representatives and the senate shall submit a
list of at least one public school teacher. In making the public school
teacher appointments, the governor shall select one nominee from each list
provided by each caucus. The governor shall appoint the remaining members of
the board from a list of qualified nominees submitted to the governor by
organizations representative of the constituencies of the board, from
applications from other qualified individuals, or from both nominees and
applicants.
(9)
All appointments to the board made by the governor shall be subject to
confirmation by the senate.
(10)
The governor shall appoint the members of the initial board no later than June
1, 2000.
(11)
In appointing board members, the governor shall consider the diversity of the
population of the state.
(12)
Each member of the board shall be compensated in accordance with RCW 43.03.240
and shall be reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in carrying out the duties
of the board in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
(13)
The governor may remove a member of the board for neglect of duty, misconduct,
malfeasance or misfeasance in office, or for incompetency or unprofessional
conduct as defined in chapter 18.130 RCW. In such a case, the governor shall
file with the secretary of state a statement of the causes for and the order of
removal from office, and the secretary of state shall send a certified copy of the
statement of causes and order of removal to the last known post office address
of the member.
(14)
If a vacancy occurs on the board, the governor shall appoint a replacement
member from the nominees as specified in subsection (8) of this section to fill
the remainder of the unexpired term. When filling a vacancy of a member
nominated by a major caucus of the legislature, the governor shall select the
new member from a list of at least one name submitted by the same caucus that
provided the list from which the retiring member was appointed.
(15)
Members of the board shall hire an executive director and an administrative
assistant to reside in the office of the superintendent of public instruction
for administrative purposes only.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. A
new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:
POWERS
AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD. The Washington professional educator standards board
shall:
(1)
Serve as an advisory body to the superintendent of public instruction and as
the sole advisory body to the state board of education on issues related to
educator recruitment, hiring, preparation, certification including high quality
alternative routes to certification, mentoring and support, professional
growth, retention, governance, prospective teacher pedagogy assessment,
prospective principal assessment, educator evaluation including but not limited
to peer evaluation, and revocation and suspension of licensure;
(2)
Submit annual reports and recommendations, beginning December 1, 2000, to the
governor, the education and fiscal committees of the legislature, the state
board of education, and the superintendent of public instruction concerning
duties and activities within the board's advisory capacity. The Washington
professional educator standards board shall submit a separate report by
December 1, 2000, to the governor, the education and fiscal committees of the
legislature, the state board of education, and the superintendent of public
instruction providing recommendations for at least two high quality alternative
routes to teacher certification. In its deliberations, the board shall
consider at least one route that permits persons with substantial subject
matter expertise to achieve residency certification through an on-the-job
training program provided by a school district; and
(3)
Establish the prospective teacher assessment system for basic skills and
subject knowledge that shall be required to obtain residency certification
pursuant to sections 201 through 203 of this act.
PART
2
TEACHER
ASSESSMENT
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 201. A
new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:
(1)(a)
Beginning not later than September 1, 2001, the Washington professional
educator standards board shall make available and pilot a means of assessing an
applicant's knowledge in the basic skills. For the purposes of this section,
"basic skills" means the subjects of at least reading, writing, and
mathematics. Beginning September 1, 2002, except as provided in (c) of this
subsection and subsection (3) of this section, passing this assessment shall be
required for admission to approved teacher preparation programs and for persons
from out-of-state applying for a Washington state residency teaching
certificate.
(b)
On an individual student basis, approved teacher preparation programs may admit
into their programs a candidate who has not achieved the minimum basic skills
assessment score established by the Washington professional educator standards
board. Individuals so admitted may not receive residency certification without
passing the basic skills assessment under this section.
(c)
The Washington professional educator standards board may establish criteria to
ensure that persons from out-of-state who are applying for residency
certification and persons applying to master's degree level teacher preparation
programs can demonstrate to the board's satisfaction that they have the
requisite basic skills based upon having completed another basic skills
assessment acceptable to the Washington professional educator standards board
or by some other alternative approved by the Washington professional educator
standards board.
(2)
Beginning not later than September 1, 2002, the Washington professional
educator standards board shall provide for the initial piloting and
implementation of a means of assessing an applicant's knowledge in the subjects
for which the applicant has applied for an endorsement to his or her residency
or professional teaching certificate. The assessment of subject knowledge
shall not include instructional methodology. Beginning September 1, 2003,
passing this assessment shall be required to receive an endorsement for
certification purposes.
(3)
The Washington professional educator standards board may permit exceptions from
the assessment requirements under subsections (1) and (2) of this section on a
case-by-case basis.
(4)
The Washington professional educator standards board shall provide for
reasonable accommodations for individuals who are required to take the
assessments in subsection (1) or (2) of this section if the individuals have
learning or other disabilities.
(5)
With the exception of applicants exempt from the requirements of subsections
(1) and (2) of this section, an applicant must achieve a minimum assessment
score or scores established by the Washington professional educator standards
board on each of the assessments under subsections (1) and (2) of this section.
(6)
The Washington professional educator standards board and superintendent of
public instruction, as determined by the Washington professional educator
standards board, may contract with one or more third parties for:
(a)
The development, purchase, administration, scoring, and reporting of scores of
the assessments established by the Washington professional educator standards
board under subsections (1) and (2) of this section;
(b)
Related clerical and administrative activities; or
(c)
Any combination of the purposes in this subsection.
(7)
Applicants for admission to a Washington teacher preparation program and applicants
for residency and professional certificates who are required to successfully
complete one or more of the assessments under subsections (1) and (2) of this
section, and who are charged a fee for the assessment by a third party
contracted with under subsection (6) of this section, shall pay the fee charged
by the contractor directly to the contractor. Such fees shall be reasonably
related to the actual costs of the contractor in providing the assessment.
(8)
The superintendent of public instruction is responsible for supervision and
providing support services to administer this section.
(9)
The Washington professional educator standards board shall collaboratively
select or develop and implement the assessments and minimum assessment scores
required under this section with the superintendent of public instruction and
shall provide opportunities for representatives of other interested educational
organizations to participate in the selection or development and implementation
of such assessments in a manner deemed appropriate by the Washington
professional educator standards board.
(10)
The Washington professional educator standards board shall adopt rules under
chapter 34.05 RCW that are reasonably necessary for the effective and efficient
implementation of this section.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 202. A
new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:
The
Washington professional educator standards board shall report the proposed
assessments to the legislative education committees for review and comment
prior to implementing the assessments by contractual agreement with the
selected vendor or vendors.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 203. A
new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:
(1)
By December 1, 2003, and annually thereafter, the Washington professional
educator standards board shall prepare a report that includes the following
information:
(a)
The range of scores on the basic skills assessment under section 201(1) of this
act for persons who passed the assessment and were admitted to a Washington
preparation program; and
(b)
The range of scores on the subject assessments under section 201(2) of this act
for persons who passed the assessments and earned an endorsement.
(2)
The information under subsection (1) of this section shall be reported for the
individual public and private colleges and universities in Washington, as well
as reported on an aggregate basis. The report shall also include results
disaggregated demographically. The report shall include information on the
number and percentage of candidates exempted from assessments, demographic
information on candidates exempted, institutions attended and endorsements sought
by exempted candidates, and reasons for exclusion from the required
assessments. The report shall be made available through the state library, on
the website of the office of superintendent of public instruction, and placed
on the legislative alert list.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 204. By
January 1, 2001, the Washington state institute for public policy shall report
to the governor, the education and fiscal committees of the legislature, the
state board of education, and the superintendent of public instruction on its
findings and recommendations concerning the governance of educator
certification, licensure, and preparation issues and the scope of authority of
the Washington professional educator standards board for the issues listed in
section 103(1) of this act.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 205. RCW
28A.410.020 (Requirements for admission to teacher preparation
programs--Rules) and 1996 c 309 s 1, 1991 c 116 s 20, 1988 c 251 s 4, &
1987 c 525 s 202, as now or hereafter amended, are each repealed, effective
September 1, 2002.
PART
3
MISCELLANEOUS
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 301. PART
HEADINGS AND SECTION CAPTIONS NOT LAW. Part headings and section
captions used in this act are not any part of the law.
