Brief Summary of Bill

Requires school districts to use additional instructional hours for secondary students, when they take effect, to provide career exploration and other activities intended to engage students in preparing for their future.
Requires the State Board of Education to permit students to choose alternatives based on their High School and Beyond Plan (HSBP) for certain courses required for graduation.
Directs the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to develop a template for the HSBP, which all school districts must use beginning in 2014-15 to help students design a Program of Study for their high school education.
Requires all high schools to provide a comprehensive guidance and planning program that includes specified components, beginning in 2014-15.
Directs the OSPI to adopt a list of academic course equivalencies for career and technical education (CTE) courses, which must be recognized by school districts.
Directs the Professional Educator Standard Board to redesign CTE teacher certification for individuals with industry experience.

Background:

Basic Education.

A revised definition of Basic Education adopted in 2009 provides for an increase in minimum instructional hours from a districtwide average of 1,000 hours across all grades, to 1,000 hours in each of grades one through six and 1,080 hours in each of grades seven through 12. This increase is to be implemented according to a schedule adopted by the Legislature, which has not yet occurred.

The State Board of Education (SBE) establishes minimum statewide graduation requirements. Students are required to complete one credit in occupational education, which may or may not be the same as career and technical education (CTE). The CTE courses must meet certain state standards and be approved by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The SBE recently increased the English credits from three to four, effective with the graduating class of 2016. The SBE has proposed, but not adopted, an increase in science credits from two to three.

Career Exploration and Planning.

One of the state graduation requirements is completion of a High School and Beyond Plan (HSBP). The content of the plan and whether a student's plan meets the requirement is determined at the local level.

To assist students in their career planning, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has developed Programs of Study, which are detailed guides that map out specific course options for a chosen career path from high school through postsecondary education. They also illustrate career options at varying levels of training and education. There are 78 model Programs of Study grouped into 16 different career clusters posted on the OSPI website.

Since 2006 the state has provided funds to support Navigation 101, a comprehensive school guidance and counseling program for middle and high school students. Navigation 101 consists of an established curriculum, assignment of an advisor who typically stays with a student throughout his or her high school career, student-led parent teacher conferences, and data collection to measure student progress. More than 400 schools have received implementation grants since 2006, and the full Navigation 101 curriculum, college and career planning tools, and teacher training are currently available online at no cost to schools.

Career Education.

School districts have been directed to examine their credit-granting policies and award academic credit for CTE courses that are determined to be equivalent to an academic course. The OSPI has developed a Course Equivalency Toolkit to assist districts in making these determinations. There is no data collected on district credit-granting policies.

The CTE courses fall into two categories. Exploratory courses offer introductory, basic skills in a particular area. Preparatory courses are more advanced, must be aligned with industry standards, and often offer students the opportunity to earn dual high school and college credit.

Under the CTE Business and Industry route to teacher certification, individuals with at least three years of occupational experience may enroll in a certification program approved by the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) to complete coursework on pedagogy, classroom management, and student teaching and then be certified to teach in their particular specialty.

Summary of Bill:

Basic Education.

When the increase in instructional hours for grades seven through 12 takes effect, school districts must use the additional 80 hours per year to provide opportunities for students to participate in career exploration, work-based learning, job shadowing, internships, student advisories, and other similar activities intended to engage students in preparing for their future.

The SBE must redesignate the occupational education credit required for graduation as a CTE credit. The SBE must also adopt rules that allow students to choose an alternative to the CTE course or the fourth credit of English based on their HSBP. These changes take effect with the graduating class of 2017. If the SBE adopts an additional science credit in the future, students must be allowed to choose an alternative course based on their HSBP.

Career Exploration and Planning.

The OSPI must develop a standard template for the HSBP to facilitate its use as a tool to help students develop a Program of Study for their high school education beginning in the 8th grade. School districts must use the standard template beginning in 2014-15. A Program of Study is defined as a coordinated progression of courses within a career pathway, that aligns secondary education with postsecondary education to prepare students for an occupation or group of occupations. A Program of Study offers academic content, CTE content, and opportunities for dual credit and work-integrated learning.

Beginning in 2014-15, each high school must implement a comprehensive guidance and planning program for all students in grades nine through 12 that includes a curriculum, assignment of an advisor who stays with a student throughout his or her high school career, student-led parent teacher conferences, and data collection to measure student progress.

The Education Data Center in the Office of Financial Management must develop an annual report on the postsecondary education and employment outcomes for public high school graduates within one year after graduation and within five years after graduation.

Career Education.

The OSPI must adopt a list of CTE courses that must be considered equivalent to academic courses. School district boards of directors must grant academic credit for these mandatory course equivalencies beginning in 2014-15.

All preparatory CTE programs must include at least one work-integrated learning opportunity provided for students. The OSPI must establish criteria and an award or designation to recognize exemplary CTE programs.

The PESB must revise certificate renewal rules and standards for secondary school principals to include fundamentals of CTE leadership, and must work with CTE teacher certification programs to revise requirements so that individuals with industry experience are only required to select those courses needed to provide the competencies they need for certification.