BILL REQ. #:  H-5549.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/12/08.   

     AN ACT Relating to professional development for instructional assistants; adding a new section to chapter 28A.415 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that classified instructional assistants are key partners with classroom teachers in improving student achievement. Research on rigorous reading programs, including the reading first programs in our own state, proves that when instructional assistants are skilled, well-trained in a particular intervention, and positively supported by the classroom teacher or coach, they can have a significant impact on student reading attainment. The legislature further finds that school district practice provides sufficient evidence of the need for instructional assistants. Statewide, school districts relied on more than nineteen thousand classified instructional assistants, equal to nearly ten thousand full-time equivalent staff, during the 2006-07 school year. Therefore, the legislature intends to support instructional assistants by providing opportunities for high quality professional development to make them more effective partners in the classroom.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.415 RCW to read as follows:
     The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with various groups representing school district classified employees, shall develop and offer a training strand through the summer institutes and the winter conference targeted to classified instructional assistants and designed to help them maximize their effectiveness in improving student achievement.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2008, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.