BILL REQ. #:  S-1315.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/11/13.   

     AN ACT Relating to establishing policies to support academic acceleration for high school students; adding new sections to chapter 28A.320 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that progress is being made in making dual high school and college credit courses available for students:
     (a) Overall dual credit program enrollments increased by almost four percent between 2009 and 2012;
     (b) The number of dual credit programs offered by Washington high schools increased by almost fifteen percent between the 2009-10 school year and the 2011-12 school year; and
     (c) Dual credit program participation rates for low-income students increased more than fourteen percent between the 2009-10 school year and the 2011-12 school year.
     (2) However, the legislature further finds that more can be done to promote academic acceleration for all students and eliminate barriers, real or perceived, that may prevent students from enrolling in rigorous advanced courses, including dual credit courses.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.320 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By September 1, 2013, each school district board of directors must adopt an academic acceleration policy for high school students as provided under this section.
     (2) Under the academic acceleration policy:
     (a) The district must automatically enroll any student who meets the state standard on the high school statewide student assessment or meets a district-approved minimum threshold score on the preliminary scholastic aptitude test (PSAT) in the next most rigorous level of advanced courses offered by the high school. Students who successfully complete such an advanced course must then be enrolled in the next most rigorous level of advanced course, with the objective that students will eventually be automatically enrolled in courses that offer the opportunity to earn dual credit for high school and college.
     (b) The subject matter of the advanced courses in which the student is automatically enrolled depends on the content area or areas of the statewide student assessment where the student has met the state standard or has met the minimum threshold score on the PSAT. Students who meet the state standard on both end-of-course mathematics assessments are considered to have met the state standard for high school mathematics. Students who meet the state standard in both reading and writing are eligible for enrollment in advanced courses in English, social studies, humanities, and other related subjects. Students who meet the minimum threshold score on the math problem-solving skills portion of the PSAT are eligible for enrollment in advanced courses in mathematics and science. Students who meet the minimum threshold score in the critical reading skills and writing skills sections of the PSAT are eligible for enrollment in advanced courses in English, social studies, humanities, and other related subjects.
     (c) The district must notify students and parents or guardians regarding the academic acceleration policy and the advanced courses available to students.
     (d) The district must provide a parent or guardian with an opportunity to opt out of the academic acceleration policy and enroll a student in an alternative course.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.320 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Subject to funds appropriated specifically for this purpose, the academic acceleration incentive program is established as provided in this section. The intent of the legislature is that the funds awarded under the program be used to support teacher training, curriculum, technology, examination fees, and other costs associated with offering dual credit courses to high school students.
     (2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate half of the funds appropriated under subsection (1) of this section to school districts for the purposes of establishing an incentive award based on the growth of the percentage of students who earn dual high school and college credit in each school during the previous school year. School districts must distribute the award to the high schools that finish in the top ten percent of growth in dual credit earning students, based on the data collected pursuant to section 4 of this act. A student who earns more than one dual credit in the same school year counts only once for the purposes of the incentive award.
     (3) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate half of the funds appropriated under subsection (1) of this section to school districts for the purpose of promoting the growth of enrollment in dual credit courses. The office of the superintendent of public instruction will distribute funding to districts containing high schools with dual credit course enrollment rates that fall into the lowest twenty-five percentage quartile of high schools. School districts must distribute the funding to those high schools to promote and encourage increased enrollment in dual credit courses, or for one of the purposes outlined in subsection (1) of this section.
     (4) For the purposes of this section, the following students are considered to have earned dual high school and college credit in a course offered by a high school:
     (a) Students who achieve a score of three or higher on an AP examination;
     (b) Students who achieve a score of four or higher on an examination of the international baccalaureate diploma programme;
     (c) Students who successfully complete a Cambridge advanced international certificate of education examination;
     (d) Students who successfully complete a course through the college in the high school program under RCW 28A.600.290 and are awarded credit by the partnering institution of higher education; and
     (e) Students who satisfy the dual enrollment and class performance requirements to earn college credit through a career and technical education or tech prep course.
     (5) If a high school provides access to online courses for students to earn dual high school and college credit at no cost to the student, such a course is considered to be offered by the high school. Students enrolled in the running start program under RCW 28A.600.300 do not generate an incentive award under this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:
     In addition to data on student enrollment in dual credit courses, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall collect and post on the Washington state report card web site the rates at which students earn college credit through a dual credit course, using the following criteria:
     (1) Students who achieve a score of three or higher on an AP examination;
     (2) Students who achieve a score of four or higher on an examination of the international baccalaureate diploma programme;
     (3) Students who successfully complete a Cambridge advanced international certificate of education examination;
     (4) Students who successfully complete a course through the college in the high school program under RCW 28A.600.290 and are awarded credit by the partnering institution of higher education;
     (5) Students who satisfy the dual enrollment and class performance requirements to earn college credit through a tech prep course; and
     (6) Students who successfully complete a course through the running start program under RCW 28A.600.300 and are awarded credit by the institution of higher education.