Student Learning Goals and Learning Standards. State law establishes four goals for basic education and directs every school district to provide opportunities for students to develop the knowledge and skills essential to:

• read with comprehension, write effectively, and communicate successfully in a variety of ways and settings and with a variety of audiences;
• know and apply the core concepts and principles of mathematics; social, physical, and life sciences; civics and history, including different cultures and participation in representative government; geography; arts; and health and fitness;
• think analytically, logically, and creatively, and to integrate technology literacy and fluency as well as different experiences and knowledge to form reasoned judgments and solve problems; and
• understand the importance of work and finance and how performance, effort, and decisions directly affect future career and educational opportunities.

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) must develop the state learning standards, which are based on the student learning goals and define what all students need to know and be able to do at each grade level. OSPI maintains learning standards in 14 content areas, including English language arts (ELA) and mathematics.

Statewide Assessments in English Language Arts and Mathematics. OSPI, in consultation with the State Board of Education, maintains and revises a statewide academic assessment system in reading, writing, mathematics, and science. These assessments must be developed with a multistate consortium and be designed to determine if each student has mastered the state learning standards.

Statewide assessments in ELA and mathematics are required by state and federal law and administered in third through eighth grades and tenth grade.

Elementary School Reading Intervention.  Meeting for Grade Placement and Student Improvement.  Prior to the return of statewide assessment results, elementary schools must require meetings between teachers and parents of third graders who are reading below grade level or likely to score at the below basic level on the statewide ELA assessment. Below basic is described as a level one out of four. At this meeting, teachers must inform parents of the district's grade placement policy and the available intensive reading improvement strategies that will be available to students. For students to be placed in fourth grade, the intensive improvement strategy must be developed to prepare the student for fourth grade.

The parent’s or guardian’s consent must be obtained regarding grade placement and intensive improvement strategies for the student, but if the school district does not receive a response from a parent by the deadline or a reasonable time, the principal may make a decision on grade placement and intensive improvement strategies. Students who have participated in the transitional bilingual instruction program for less than three years are exempt from these requirements. Communication with the parents or guardians of students whose Individualized Education Programs (IEP) include specially designed instruction in reading takes place through the IEP process.

Intensive Reading and Literacy Improvement Strategies.  School districts must implement an intensive reading and literacy improvement strategy for any student who received a score of basic or below basic on the third-grade statewide assessment in ELA in the previous school year. Basic is described as a level two out of four and below basic is described as a level one out of four. Improvement strategies for students with IEPs that require specially designed instruction in reading shall be as provided in the IEP.

Districts must also implement an intensive reading and literacy improvement strategy in any school where more than 40 percent of the students received a score of basic or below basic on the third grade statewide ELA assessment in the previous year. OSPI is directed not to count students enrolled in the transitional bilingual instruction program for less than three years, students whose IEPs specify a different standard to measure reading performance, and school with fewer than ten students in third grade.

The intensive reading and literacy improvement strategy is to be selected from a state menu of best practices and strategies developed by OSPI. School districts may use an alternative best practice or strategy not on the state menu for an initial period of two years. If the district is able to demonstrate improved outcomes for participating students commensurate with those resulting from the practices on the state menu, OSPI must approve the use of the alternative practice for one additional school year. Subsequent annual approval is dependent on the district continuing to demonstrate an increase in improved outcomes for participating students.

Teacher Endorsements. The Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) adopts rules and creates policies for the preparation and certification of educators, including establishing endorsements. An endorsement is the subject area in which a certificated teacher is authorized to teach, along with designated grade levels for that area. PESB also publishes endorsement competencies, which outline the knowledge and skills that educators are expected to master in each endorsement they are pursuing.

Educational Service Districts. Educational Service Districts (ESDs) are regional agencies which are intended to provide cooperative and informational services to local school districts, the Washington Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth and the Washington State School for the Blind. There are nine ESDs in Washington State.

Star Teacher Award. Each ESD must select six high-performing teachers each year to receive an ongoing annual Star Teacher bonus, subject to appropriations. Three of these Star Teachers must be mathematics teachers and three must be English language arts teachers. At least one awardee in each subject area must be selected based on improvement in kindergarten to sixth grade scores and one must be selected based on improvement in seventh to twelfth grade student scores over the previous two years. When assessing student improvement, the ESD must account for the difficulty level of the courses taught. The third awardee in each subject area must be selected at the ESD’s discretion, incorporating consideration of the teacher’s engagement with students, knowledge of teaching materials, ability to implement best practices for teaching, and student outcomes.

Beginning in the year in which a teacher is selected as a star teacher, the star teacher will receive a $10,000 bonus for each year that he or she is a full-time educator teaching in his or her awarded subject area. This bonus is increased to $20,000 if the star teacher teaches in a school that meets the definition of high poverty school established by OSPI or in a school where at least 70 percent of the student body qualifies for the free and reduced-price lunch program.

Structured Literacy Programs. School districts, charter schools, and state-tribal education compact schools must implement a structured literacy program that uses evidence-based instructional practices to promote the literacy of students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, beginning no later than the 2028-29 school year. A structured literacy program must:

• include at least semantics or comprehending written language, reading and writing fluency, orthographic knowledge or phonics, phonology and phonemic awareness, and vocabulary or oral language knowledge and proficiency;
• be systemic, sequential, and cumulative;
• provide direct, explicit, and rigorous instruction that is high quality and knowledge rich;
• be diagnostic of and responsive to individual student needs, including by being multisensory and multimodal;
• provide instruction and services, including dyslexia interventions, within a multitiered system of supports;
• use screening assessments and other tools to identify at-risk readers in kindergarten through twelfth grade, including dyslexia screenings for students in kindergarten through second grade;
• implement intensive reading improvement strategies for third-graders reading below grade level;
• use research-based family involvement and engagement strategies to help families and guardians assist in improving students’ reading and early literacy skills at home; and
• offer the parents of a student who performs below grade level on any reading assessments a reading improvement strategy.

Structured Numeracy Programs. School districts, charter schools, and state-tribal education compact schools must implement a structured numeracy program that uses evidence-based instructional practices to promote the mathematics skills of students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, beginning no later than the 2028-29 school year. A structured numeracy program must:

• include instruction aligned to achieve age and developmentally appropriate mathematical proficiency which includes, but is not limited to, conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and a productive disposition;
• use high quality instructional materials that are rigorous, standards-aligned, evidence-based teaching resources that promote deep conceptual understanding of mathematics and provide clear guidance and support for diverse learners;
• be systematic, sequential, and cumulative;
• provide direct, explicit, and rigorous instruction that is high quality and knowledge rich;
• provide instruction and services, including numeracy interventions with a multitiered system of supports;
• use screening assessments and other tools no less frequently than in kindergarten and third grade to identify students who are at risk of not achieving age and developmentally appropriate mathematical proficiency, including screening for dyscalculia;
• provide personalized intervention plans, in consultation with parents and guardians, for students identified as at risk of not achieving mathematical proficiency and implement intensive improvement strategies for third graders who are not mathematically proficient; and
• use research-based family involvement and engagement strategies, including strategies to help parents and guardians improve students’ numeracy and mathematical proficiency skills at home.

A structured numeracy program must offer all students who perform below grade level on any state mathematics assessment a math improvement strategy which must use reasonable interventions such as small class sizes, on-site tutoring, or a summer program. The student’s parent or guardian may decline the student’s participation in a math improvement strategy and students with disabilities whose IEP includes specially designed instruction in mathematics are exempt from the required interventions of a structured numeracy program.

Update to Teacher Endorsements. PESB must revise standards for teacher endorsements with reading and writing literacy competencies by September 1, 2027, within existing resources. The revised standards must include competencies necessary to participate in the delivery of a structured literacy program, including the essential components of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. PESB must require approved educator preparation programs offering teacher endorsements with reading and writing literacy competencies to incorporate the revised standards into their programs by the beginning of the 2028-29 school year.

Elementary School Mathematics Intervention.  Required Interventions and State Menu of Best Practices.  OSPI must convene a panel of experts to develop a state menu of best practices for intensive mathematics support designed to assist struggling students in reaching grade level in mathematics by the end of fourth grade, and improve mathematics instruction for all students. This state menu must be published by July 1, 2026 and updated each year thereafter. School districts may use an alternative practice or strategy that is not on the state menu for two school years initially. OSPI may approve the continued use of this alternative practice every two years if the district is able to demonstrate improved outcomes for participating students at a level commensurate with the best practices on the state menu.

Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, school districts must implement an intensive mathematics improvement strategy from the state menu or an approve alternative, for:

• any student who received a score of basic or below basic on the third-grade statewide student assessment in mathematics in the previous school year; and
• any school where more than 40 percent of the tested students received a score of basic or below basic on the third-grade statewide student assessment in mathematics in the previous school year, excluding students with disabilities whose IEPs specify a different standard to measure mathematics performance and schools with fewer than ten students in third grade.

Communication with Parents and Guardians.  Prior to the return of statewide mathematics assessment results, elementary schools must require meetings between teachers and parents of third graders who are performing below grade level in mathematics or who are likely to score in the below basic level on the third-grade statewide mathematics assessment. At that meeting, teachers must inform the parents or guardian of the school district’s grade placement policy for the following year and the intensive mathematics improvement strategies that will be available to the student before fourth grade.

If a third grader scores below grade level on the statewide assessment in mathematics and there was no parent-teacher meeting prior to the return of the assessment results, the principal or designee must notify the student’s parents or guardians of the student’s score, available intensive improvement strategies, the district’s grade placement policy, a reasonable deadline for obtaining the parent’s consent regarding improvement strategies and grade placement, and a district contact for questions or additional information.

The parent’s or guardian’s consent must be obtained regarding grade placement and intensive improvement strategies for the student, but if the school district does not receive a response from a parent by the deadline or a reasonable time, the principal must make a decision on grade placement and intensive improvement strategies for the following year. Students with disabilities whose IEP includes specially designed instruction in mathematics are exempt from these requirements and communication with their parents or guardians must take place through the IEP process.

Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction Review of Alternative Reading Improvement Strategies. OSPI is directed to review district alternative intensive reading and literacy improvement practices every two years rather than every year.