ByHouse Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Senn, Ortiz-Self, Harris, Dolan, Orwall, Stonier, Cody, Riccelli, Slatter, Callan, Fey, Eslick, Kilduff, Bergquist, Doglio, Paul, Reeves, Pollet, Hudgins, Davis, Leavitt, Macri, and Steele)

AN ACT Relating to building capacity within the educator workforce to improve student mental health and well-being; amending RCW 28A.410.270 and 28A.413.050; adding new sections to chapter 28A.410 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.415 RCW; and creating a new section.

(1) The mental health and well-being of students in Washington schools is of utmost importance to improve academic learning, social-emotional learning, school safety, and success in school and life. Building a safe and supportive school climate where students feel a deep sense of belonging takes intentional, coordinated work by educators demonstrating shared knowledge and skills.

(2) Educators and other school staff are on the front lines to notice the behavioral and mental health of students. However, educators in Washington's public schools possess varying skills and knowledge about how to recognize signs of social-emotional distress and how to ensure that students receive timely and appropriate services and support from qualified professionals who are licensed to provide mental health services.

(3) Professional learning for educators and other school staff to address the mental health and well-being of students is widely variable across the state and is without specific standards or a consistent approach. The need for robust training and basic competencies for educators in these areas is critical to address the mental health and well-being of students in the classroom. The educator workforce must be equipped with the knowledge and skills to build these competencies to be responsive to the changing needs of students in Washington schools.

(1)(a) The Washington professional educator standards board shall adopt a set of articulated teacher knowledge, skill, and performance standards for effective teaching that are evidence-based, measurable, meaningful, and documented in high quality research as being associated with improved student learning. The standards shall be calibrated for each level along the entire career continuum.

(b) In developing the standards, the board shall, to the extent possible, incorporate standards for cultural competency along the entire continuum. For the purposes of this subsection, "cultural competency" includes knowledge of student cultural histories and contexts, as well as family norms and values in different cultures; knowledge and skills in accessing community resources and community and parent outreach; and skills in adapting instruction to students' experiences and identifying cultural contexts for individual students.

(((b)))(c) By January 1, 2020, in order to ensure that teachers can recognize signs of emotional or behavioral distress in students and appropriately refer students for assistance and support, the Washington professional educator standards board shall incorporate the social-emotional learning standards and benchmarks recommended by the social emotional learning benchmarks work group in its October 1, 2016, final report titled, "addressing social emotional learning in Washington's K-12 public schools." In incorporating the social-emotional learning standards and benchmarks, the Washington professional educator standards board must include related competencies, such as trauma-informed practices, consideration of adverse childhood experiences, mental health literacy, antibullying strategies, and culturally sustaining practices.

(2) The Washington professional educator standards board shall adopt a definition of master teacher, with a comparable level of increased competency between professional certification level and master level as between professional certification level and national board certification. Within the definition established by the Washington professional educator standards board, teachers certified through the national board for professional teaching standards shall be considered master teachers.

(((2)))(3) The Washington professional educator standards board shall maintain a uniform, statewide, valid, and reliable classroom-based means of evaluating teacher effectiveness as a culminating measure at the preservice level that is to be used during the student-teaching field experience. This assessment shall include multiple measures of teacher performance in classrooms, evidence of positive impact on student learning, and shall include review of artifacts, such as use of a variety of assessment and instructional strategies, and student work.

(((3)))(4) Award of a professional certificate shall be based on a minimum of two years of successful teaching experience as defined by the board, and may not require candidates to enroll in a professional certification program.

(((4)))(5) Educator preparation programs approved to offer the residency teaching certificate shall be required to demonstrate how the program produces effective teachers as evidenced by the measures established under this section and other criteria established by the Washington professional educator standards board.

By January 1, 2020, in order to ensure that principals can recognize signs of emotional or behavioral distress in students and appropriately refer students for assistance and support, the Washington professional educator standards board shall incorporate the social-emotional learning standards and benchmarks recommended by the social emotional learning benchmarks work group in its October 1, 2016, final report titled, "addressing social emotional learning in Washington's K-12 public schools" into principal knowledge, skill, and performance standards. In incorporating the social-emotional learning standards and benchmarks, the Washington professional educator standards board must include related competencies, such as trauma-informed practices, consideration of adverse childhood experiences, mental health literacy, antibullying strategies, and culturally sustaining practices.

(1) The board shall adopt state standards of practice for paraeducators that are based on the recommendations of the paraeducator work group established in chapter 136, Laws of 2014. These standards must include:

(2) By January 1, 2020, in order to ensure that paraeducators can recognize signs of emotional or behavioral distress in students and appropriately refer students for assistance and support, the board shall incorporate the social-emotional learning standards and benchmarks recommended by the social emotional learning benchmarks work group in its October 1, 2016, final report titled, "addressing social emotional learning in Washington's K-12 public schools" into the standards of practice for paraeducators adopted under subsection (1) of this section. In incorporating the social-emotional learning standards and benchmarks, the board must include related competencies, such as trauma-informed practices, consideration of adverse childhood experiences, mental health literacy, antibullying strategies, and culturally sustaining practices.

The office of the superintendent of public instruction must create and publish on its web site an inventory of resources available for professional development of school district staff on the following topics: Social-emotional learning, trauma-informed practices, recognition and response to emotional or behavioral distress, consideration of adverse childhood experiences, mental health literacy, antibullying strategies, and culturally sustaining practices.

Beginning in the 2020-21 school year, and every other school year thereafter, school districts must use one of the professional learning days funded under RCW 28A.150.415 to train school district staff in social-emotional learning, trauma-informed practices, using the model plan developed under RCW 28A.320.1271 related to recognition and response to emotional or behavioral distress, consideration of adverse childhood experiences, mental health literacy, antibullying strategies, and culturally sustaining practices.

The Washington professional educator standards board must periodically review approved preparation programs to assess whether and to what extent the programs are meeting knowledge, skill, and performance standards, and publish on its web site the results of the review in a format that facilitates program comparison.