S-4585.1
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6012
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session
By Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education (originally sponsored by
Senators Wellman, Braun, Dhingra, Nobles, and C. Wilson)
READ FIRST TIME 01/31/24.
1 AN ACT Relating to an ongoing and collaborative process to help
2 approved teacher preparation programs respond to the continuously
3 changing needs of the modern classroom; and adding a new section to
4 chapter 28A.410 RCW.
5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
6 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28A.410
7 RCW to read as follows:
8 (1) The board shall: Develop and facilitate an ongoing and
9 collaborative process to help programs in Washington state respond to
10 the continuously changing needs of the modern classroom; provide a
11 feedback loop between school staff and programs; and promote
12 continuity, consistency, and coherence across the teacher preparation
13 system regarding implementing new and existing standards. This
14 process must meet the requirements in this section.
15 (2) By August 1, 2024, the board, in collaboration with the
16 office of the superintendent of public instruction and the state
17 board of education, shall develop a list of changes to the
18 educational system in statute and rule during the last 10 years that
19 might require pedagogical changes in programs.
20 (3)(a) By October 1, 2024, the board shall convene a group of
21 educators, including principals and teachers, to identify what the
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 1 programs must be providing candidates to prepare them for the modern
2 classroom. This group shall review the list developed in subsection
3 (2) of this section to help meet this requirement.
4 (b) The group of educators must include a wide variety of
5 representatives from different subject matter areas including, but
6 not limited to, any shortage areas, different grade levels, rural and
7 urban school districts, large and small school districts, schools
8 participating in the mastery-based learning collaborative, schools
9 implementing inclusionary practices to support students with
10 disabilities, and educators of color.
11 (c) By March 1, 2025, the board shall compile a summary of the
12 findings from the group of educators. Members of the legislature may
13 review this summary upon request.
14 (4)(a) By January 1, 2025, the board shall convene a group
15 representing the programs at institutions of higher education. The
16 group shall review the list developed in subsection (2) of this
17 section and the summary compiled under subsection (3)(c) of this
18 section.
19 (b) Each program must perform a gap analysis of their programs.
20 The board shall determine the components of this gap analysis in
21 accordance with subsection (6)(b)(i) of this section. By December 1,
22 2025, each program must submit the gap analysis and if improvement is
23 needed as determined by the board, each program must submit an action
24 plan to the board to show how the program will address these gaps and
25 areas of needed improvement.
26 (c) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this
27 specific purpose, the board may administer one-time grants to
28 institutions of higher education to allow faculty to complete the gap
29 analysis required in this subsection.
30 (d)(i) The board shall monitor compliance with the action plans
31 and submit a report to the education committees of the legislature
32 summarizing progress on the action plans by December 1, 2026, and
33 then every December 1st of even-numbered years thereafter.
34 (ii) The report due on December 1, 2026, must also include the
35 following:
36 (A) Recommendations on how to best incorporate principal
37 preparation programs into the process described in this section; and
38 (B) A profile of a program finisher based on the information
39 gathered under this subsection and subsections (2) and (3) of this
40 section and national standards. The purpose of this profile is to
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 1 create a cohesive and coherent baseline of what is expected of all
2 programs.
3 (5) After December 1, 2026, the board, in collaboration with
4 policy experts from relevant education agencies, shall develop an
5 ongoing and collaborative process to help programs continue to update
6 their action plans and respond to the continuously changing needs of
7 the modern classroom. This process must include convening a group of
8 educators as described in subsection (3) of this section and the gap
9 analysis and action plan described in subsection (4) of this section.
10 The board shall establish a schedule for programs that are found to
11 need improvement to complete this process at least once every three
12 years. The board may stagger the completion of this process and must
13 align this process with other review processes.
14 (6)(a) The board shall adopt rules to implement this section.
15 (b) The rules must include:
16 (i) The components of the gap analysis required in subsection (4)
17 of this section. The components must help programs determine what
18 candidates are not getting to be prepared to begin teaching and areas
19 of needed improvement when compared to the list developed in
20 subsection (2) of this section and the summary published under
21 subsection (3)(c) of this section; and
22 (ii) How the board will monitor compliance with the action plans
23 required in subsection (4) of this section and the consequences if
24 programs do not make sufficient progress on their action plans.
25 (7) For the purposes of this section the following definitions
26 apply:
27 (a) "Board" means the Washington professional educator standards
28 board.
29 (b) "Program" or "programs" mean approved teacher preparation
30 programs. "Programs" do not include alternative route teacher
31 certification programs. The board may include alternative route
32 teacher certification programs in the ongoing and collaborative
33 process developed under subsection (5) of this section.
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