State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2014 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/11/14.
AN ACT Relating to integrating career and college readiness standards into K-12 and higher education policies and practices; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature acknowledges and supports
the work being done by classroom teachers, curriculum specialists,
college faculty, state education agencies, and other interested groups
and organizations to implement new, more rigorous K-12 learning
standards in English language arts and mathematics throughout the
public school system in Washington. The common core state standards
and the next generation science standards offer the potential to
increase students' overall knowledge and skills, as well as
significantly improve the rate at which students graduate from high
school ready to pursue a range of career and college pathways without
remediation and successfully attain higher levels of education. To
ensure that the standards achieve this potential, the legislature
intends to direct further work by state education agencies in key
policy areas such as high school planning, curriculum and course
development, support for dual credit courses, and integration of the
common core state standards and the next generation science standards
into career and technical education and educator certification.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 The provisions in this section shall be
accomplished within the state education agencies' available resources.
(1) The state board of education shall examine options and
strategies for making the high school and beyond plan a more rigorous
and meaningful tool for students to identify and pursue career and
college pathways beginning in the eighth grade and align their high
school course-taking with those pathways. The state board shall submit
its recommendations along with examples of best practices currently
used by high schools as provided under subsection (7) of this section.
(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in
consultation with career and technical educators and directors across
the state, shall identify and recommend specific strategies and
resources needed to embed the common core state standards and the next
generation science standards into career and technical course
curriculum and instruction. The office shall also make recommendations
to address particular challenges, such as courses taught by individuals
certified through a business and industry route or courses offered by
skill centers that serve multiple school districts. The office shall
submit its recommendations as provided under subsection (7) of this
section.
(3) The professional educator standards board shall examine the
strategies being used to incorporate the common core state standards
and the next generation science standards into educator certification,
including preservice, professional certification, and continuing
certification through professional growth plans. The board shall also
examine the verification and review processes used by both
certification programs and the board to assure that all educators have
the requisite knowledge and skills to support student learning of the
standards. The board shall submit its recommendations for improvement
along with examples of best practices as provided under subsection (7)
of this section.
(4) The state board for community and technical colleges shall
continue convening college faculty and high school teachers to design
and develop courses and curricula for students in their senior year of
high school who do not meet the career and college ready standard on
the eleventh grade consortium-developed assessments of the common core
state standards and the next generation science standards. The purpose
of the courses and curricula is to provide these students an
opportunity to become career and college ready by the end of their
senior year and avoid the need for remediation in English language arts
or mathematics. The state board shall submit a status report and any
recommendations to enhance statewide dissemination and use of the
courses and curricula as provided under subsection (7) of this section.
(5) The student achievement council shall conduct an analysis of
dual credit courses offered to high school students as a key strategy
for increasing not only career and college readiness but also
educational attainment of students. Specifically, regarding the
running start program, the council's analysis shall include a review of
the barriers that students face in participating in the program,
identification of best practices for making the program accessible and
preparing students academically for the program, and the degree
completion outcomes of students who participate in the program.
Regarding all dual credit programs, the council shall examine the
variability of access to dual credit opportunities; costs to students,
high schools, and colleges; and acceptance of dual credit by
institutions of higher education. The council shall recommend
strategies and policies to reduce the variability of access to,
participation in, costs of, and acceptance of, dual credit courses as
provided under subsection (7) of this section.
(6) The office of the superintendent of public instruction and the
state board for community and technical colleges shall examine the
mentoring and service-learning opportunities available to K-12 and
postsecondary students. The office and the state board shall recommend
best practices for increasing these opportunities with the goal of
integrating the common core state standards and the next generation
science standards into these opportunities, and increasing the
educational attainment of students. The office and the state board
shall submit their recommendations as provided under subsection (7) of
this section.
(7) The student achievement council shall convene the state
education agencies at least three times in 2014 to address tasks
assigned under this section and as specified in the ten-year roadmap
under RCW 28B.77.020 to assure that the analyses, strategies, and
recommendations from each agency are aligned and not duplicative. In
developing their strategies and recommendations, the student
achievement council and the agencies referenced in subsections (1)
through (5) of this section are encouraged to consult with the
workforce training and education coordinating board, labor
representatives, and business representatives. The student achievement
council shall also coordinate a common format for the analyses and
recommendations required under this section and combine them to create
a single report, to be submitted to the education and higher education
committees of the legislature by December 1, 2014.
(8) This section expires December 31, 2014.
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, 2014, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and
void.