AN ACT Relating to educator cultural competence; amending RCW 28A.405.106 and 28A.405.120; adding a new section to chapter 28A.345 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.415 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.657 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.345 RCW to read as follows:

The Washington state school directors' association, in consultation with the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the professional educator standards board, the steering committee established in RCW 28A.405.100, and the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee, must develop a plan for the creation and delivery of cultural competency training for school board directors and superintendents. The training program must also include the foundational elements of cultural competence, focusing on multicultural education and principles of English language acquisition, including information regarding best practices to implement the tribal history and culture curriculum. The content of the training must be aligned with the standards for cultural competence developed by the professional educator standards board under RCW 28A.410.270.

Sec. 2.  RCW 28A.405.106 and 2012 c 35 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must develop and make available a professional development program to support the implementation of the evaluation systems required by RCW 28A.405.100. The program components may be organized into professional development modules for principals, administrators, and teachers. The professional development program shall include a comprehensive online training package.

(2) The training program must include, but not be limited to, the following topics:

(a) Introduction of the evaluation criteria for teachers and principals and the four-level rating system;

(b) Orientation to and use of instructional frameworks;

(c) Orientation to and use of the leadership frameworks;

(d) Best practices in developing and using data in the evaluation systems, including multiple measures, student growth data, classroom observations, and other measures and evidence;

(e) Strategies for achieving maximum rater agreement;

(f) Evaluator feedback protocols in the evaluation systems;

(g) Examples of high quality teaching and leadership; and

(h) Methods to link the evaluation process to ongoing educator professional development.

(3) The training program must also include the foundational elements of cultural competence, focusing on multicultural education and principles of English language acquisition, including information regarding best practices to implement the tribal history and culture curriculum. The content of the training must be aligned with the standards for cultural competence developed by the professional educator standards board under RCW 28A.410.270. The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the professional educator standards board, the steering committee established in RCW 28A.405.100, and the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee, must integrate the content for cultural competence into the overall training for principals, administrators, and teachers to support the revised evaluation systems.

(4) To the maximum extent feasible, the professional development program must incorporate or adapt existing online training or curriculum, including securing materials or curriculum under contract or purchase agreements within available funds. Multiple modes of instruction should be incorporated including videos of classroom teaching, participatory exercises, and other engaging combinations of online audio, video, and print presentation.

(((4))) (5) The professional development program must be developed in modules that allow:

(a) Access to material over a reasonable number of training sessions;

(b) Delivery in person or online; and

(c) Use in a self-directed manner.

(((5))) (6) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must maintain a web site that includes the online professional development materials along with sample evaluation forms and templates, links to relevant research on evaluation and on high quality teaching and leadership, samples of contract and collective bargaining language on key topics, examples of multiple measures of teacher and principal performance, suggestions for data to measure student growth, and other tools that will assist school districts in implementing the revised evaluation systems.

(((6))) (7) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must identify the number of in-service training hours associated with each professional development module and develop a way for users to document their completion of the training. Documented completion of the training under this section is considered approved in-service training for the purposes of RCW 28A.415.020.

(((7))) (8) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall periodically update the modules to reflect new topics and research on performance evaluation so that the training serves as an ongoing source of continuing education and professional development.

(((8))) (9) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall work with the educational service districts to provide clearinghouse services for the identification and publication of professional development opportunities for teachers and principals that align with performance evaluation criteria.

Sec. 3.  RCW 28A.405.120 and 2012 c 35 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) School districts shall require each administrator, each principal, or other supervisory personnel who has responsibility for evaluating classroom teachers or principals to have training in evaluation procedures.

(2) Before school district implementation of the revised evaluation systems required under RCW 28A.405.100, principals and administrators who have evaluation responsibilities must engage in professional development designed to implement the revised systems and maximize rater agreement. The professional development to support the revised evaluation systems must also include foundational elements of cultural competence, focusing on multicultural education and principles of English language acquisition.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.415 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in collaboration with the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee, the professional educator standards board, colleges of education, and representatives from diverse communities and community-based organizations, must develop a content outline for professional development and training in cultural competence for school staff.

(2) The content of the cultural competence professional development and training must be aligned with the standards developed by the professional educator standards board under RCW 28A.410.270. The training program must also include the foundational elements of cultural competence, focusing on multicultural education and principles of English language acquisition, including information regarding best practices to implement the tribal history and culture curriculum.

(3) The cultural competence professional development and training must contain components that are appropriate for classified school staff and district administrators as well as certificated instructional staff and principals at the building level. The professional development and training must also contain components suitable for delivery by individuals from the local community or community-based organizations with appropriate expertise.

(4) The legislature encourages educational service districts and school districts to use the cultural competence professional development and training developed under this section and provide opportunities for all school and school district staff to gain knowledge and skills in cultural competence, including in partnership with their local communities.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.657 RCW to read as follows:

Required action districts as provided in RCW 28A.657.030, and districts with schools that receive the federal school improvement grant under the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009, and districts with schools identified by the superintendent of public instruction as priority or focus are strongly encouraged to provide the cultural competence professional development and training developed under RCW 28A.405.106, 28A.405.120, and section 4 of this act for classified, certificated instructional, and administrative staff of the school. The professional development and training may be delivered by an educational service district, through district in-service, or by another qualified provider, including in partnership with the local community.

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