Washington State
House of Representatives
Office of Program Research
BILL
ANALYSIS
Education Committee
HB 2005
Brief Description: Including weighted grade point averages on high school transcripts.
Sponsors: Representatives McClintock, Couture, Waters, Reed, Cheney and Sandlin.
Brief Summary of Bill
  • Requires the development of a revised standardized high school transcript with a weighted grade point average to recognize accelerated coursework.
  • Requires all school districts to use the revised standardized high school transcript, beginning in the 2027 school year.
Hearing Date: 1/16/24
Staff: Megan Wargacki (786-7194).
Background:

Standardized High School Transcript.
The standardized high school transcript used by school districts was developed at the direction of the Legislature by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), in consultation with the public four-year institutions of higher education, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), and the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (WTB).


Transcript Report.
Legislation enacted in 2020 directed the OSPI, in consultation with the four-year institutions of higher education, the SBCTC, and the WTB, to review and report on potential adjustments or alterations to the standardized high school transcript, including granting the option of using a weighted grade point average (GPA) to recognized accelerated coursework.  The report was due to the Governor and the Legislature by January 1, 2021.


The report used the following questions to guide the development of recommendations:  (1) how do we define accelerated coursework; (2) would a weighted GPA encourage more students to take accelerated coursework; (3) what about issues of equity; and (4) are there other impacts of using a weighted GPA on student, schools, and higher education institutions that need to be considered?


The report recommended that weighted GPAs not be adopted at the time of its issuance, but instead that the issue be revisited after school districts have had adequate time to implement specified policy changes.  The report also recommended that a transcript work group update the OSPI Transcript User Guide and FAQs.


Western Undergraduate Exchange.
The Western Undergraduate Exchange is an agreement among the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education's 16 members, through which over 160 participating public institutions of higher education discount the tuition for eligible out-of-state-students to no more than 150 percent of the institution's resident tuition rate.
Summary of Bill:

By May 1, 2025, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the public four-year institutions of higher education, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, the Washington State School Directors' Association, and an association representing school counselors, must develop for use by all school districts a revised standardized high school transcript with a weighted grade point average to recognize accelerated coursework.


The revised standardized high school transcript must be available for school districts in the 2025-26 school year and, beginning in the 2027 school year, used by all school districts.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Requested on January 9, 2024.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.