Any compliance reporting requirements as a result of laws in this chapter that apply to second-class districts may be submitted in accordance with RCW 28A.330.250.

Conflict with federal requirements—2011 c 45: See note following RCW 28A.330.250.

(1) The work-integrated learning initiative is established. The purpose of the initiative is to promote work-integrated learning experiences for students by providing:

(a) An opportunity for students to engage in work-based academic programs with public and private sector employers, such as internships, externships, and registered apprenticeships; and

(b) A framework for the development and replication of successful work-integrated learning programs throughout the state.

(2) Local applicant schools receiving funding through participation in the initiative must:

(a) Provide academic curricula in a work-integrated and career-contextualized manner and include an external mentor for each student in the program;

(b) Demonstrate collaboration with and input from students, parents or guardians, local employers, community members, a workforce development council, and a labor organization. Evidence of local collaborations may include but are not limited to partnerships with a dropout reengagement organization, an apprenticeship sponsor, a community and technical college, a STEM network, or a homeless youth service organization;

(c) Reflect local circumstances, including local industries, employers, and labor markets;

(d) Comply with graduation requirements established by the state board of education; and

(e) Align the high school and beyond plans of participating students to reflect opportunities that may be available through the initiative.

(3)(a) Local applicant schools selected to participate in the work-integrated learning initiative must, in accordance with this section and RCW 28A.300.196, submit to the work-integrated learning advisory committee created in RCW 28A.300.196 an interim and an end-of-project report that includes numeric and other data summarizing the effects of their work-integrated learning project programs on high school graduation rates, state test scores, and community partnerships, including partnerships with local employers and industries.

(b) In complying with this subsection (3), local applicant schools must also provide other data and information as requested by the work-integrated learning advisory committee in accordance with RCW 28A.300.196.

(4) For the purposes of this section and RCW 28A.300.195 and 28A.300.196, "work-integrated learning" includes but is not limited to early, frequent, and systematic learning experiences that are essential for preparing Washington youth for high-demand, family-wage jobs in Washington state, and that engage students in grades five through twelve or through high school dropout reengagement plans.

(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction and educational service districts shall establish the regional apprenticeship preparation pilot program.

(2) The purpose of the pilot program is to identify common best practices and processes for establishing regional apprenticeship preparation programs that support postsecondary success for students and strengthen community engagement in schools and school districts.

(3) The pilot program must consist of five sites: Three located west of the crest of the Cascade mountains; and two located east of the crest of the Cascade mountains. The office of the superintendent of public instruction and educational service districts must ensure that the sites are geographically dispersed, with one western Washington site located in a school district with a collaboratively developed regional apprenticeship pathways program, and a second western Washington site located in a school district with a preapprenticeship program recognized by the Washington state apprenticeship and training council after July 1, 2021, but before September 1, 2021. The eastern Washington sites must also be geographically dispersed and at least one eastern Washington site must be located in an educational service district with rural communities that lack convenient access to skill centers or other workforce development facilities or programs.

(4) In implementing the pilot program, the educational service districts must:

(a) Ensure that the pilot program is:

(i) An education-based apprenticeship preparation program recognized by the Washington state apprenticeship and training council; and

(ii) Developed as a collaborative partnership involving local school districts, charter schools, state-tribal compact schools, community or technical colleges, local labor unions, local Washington state apprenticeship and training council registered apprenticeship programs, and local industry groups;

(b) Provide students with dual credit opportunities to meet high school graduation requirements and earn credit toward a postsecondary degree or industry recognized credential;

(c) Provide students with preferred or direct entry into an aligned state registered apprenticeship program; and

(d) Provide data requested by the office of the superintendent of public instruction to support the evaluation required by RCW 28A.630.155.

(5) For the purposes of this section, "apprenticeship preparation program," also referred to as a preapprenticeship program, means an apprenticeship preparation program that is recognized by the Washington state apprenticeship and training council.

(6) This section expires June 30, 2027.

Finding—Intent—2023 c 128: "The legislature finds that state recognized apprenticeship preparation programs, programs that are also referred to as preapprenticeship programs, provide important graduation pathways and future career opportunities to students. These programs also benefit employers, providing them with an opportunity to train students for jobs in industries that are important to local communities.

Regional apprenticeship preparation programs are one approach to help coordinate the state's educational offerings with local resources, work-integrated learning opportunities, and future career pathways.

To assist these efforts, the legislature intends to encourage the development of a state-recognized and regionally serving regional apprenticeship preparation pilot program and associated supports. Examples of these supports include funding for staff to oversee the program and other funding needed to establish the program and secure necessary agreements with local stakeholders including unions, state registered apprenticeship programs, and school districts. The legislature intends for this program to be known as the regional apprenticeship preparation pilot program." [ 2023 c 128 s 1.]

(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in collaboration with the state board for community and technical colleges, the Washington state apprenticeship and training council, the Washington association for career and technical education, and the work-integrated learning advisory committee established in RCW 28A.300.196, must evaluate the pilot program established in RCW 28A.630.145 and best practices for increasing:

(a) Awareness about career and technical education, including participation in career and technical student organizations, dual credit opportunities, core plus, and career and technical education course equivalencies;

(b) Awareness about preapprenticeship and postsecondary career opportunities for students and employers;

(c) The availability and variety of dual credit and industry-related and postsecondary articulation opportunities; and

(d) Community and industry support for preapprenticeships, internships, externships, and all work-integrated learning opportunities.

(2)(a) By June 30, 2027, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must report the results of the evaluation to the governor, the state board of education, the student achievement council, the workforce training and education coordinating board, and, in accordance with RCW 43.01.036, the appropriate committees of the legislature.

(b) The report required by this subsection (2) must include: An analysis of barriers to the establishment and support of recognized apprenticeship preparation programs and work-integrated instructional programs; recommended policies to implement recognized apprenticeship preparation programs and work-integrated strategies that increase the college and career readiness of students statewide; and recommendations for legislative action to establish common standards for the operations of regional apprenticeship preparation programs and other work-integrated learning opportunities, and authorize additional regional apprenticeship preparation programs and other work-integrated learning opportunities. The report may also include recommendations for actions to improve the cohesion, coordination, and quality of work-integrated learning opportunities, including regional apprenticeship preparation programs, throughout the state.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "apprenticeship preparation program" has the same meaning as in RCW 28A.630.145.

(4) This section expires June 30, 2027.

Finding—Intent—2023 c 128: See note following RCW 28A.630.145.

(1)(a) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the Washington professional educator standards board shall distribute grants to an educational service district that volunteers to pilot an alternative route teacher certification program, under chapter 28A.660 RCW. The purpose of the grant is to provide financial assistance to teacher candidates enrolled in the educational service district's alternative route teacher certification program with the intent to pursue an initial teacher certificate. The Washington professional educator standards board must provide a grant sufficient to provide up to five thousand dollars of financial assistance for up to twenty teacher candidates in the 2019-20 school year and for up to thirty teacher candidates in the 2020-21 school year.

(b) In piloting the program, the educational service district must:

(i) Engage retired or practicing teachers and administrators who are knowledgeable and experienced classroom teachers to inform the development and curriculum of the program;

(ii) Provide extended support and mentoring through the first three years of a teacher's career, using the components of the beginning educator support team, under RCW 28A.415.265;

(iii) Support school districts in developing school staff and community members to become teachers, so that the district's teachers better reflect the region's demographics, values, and interests; and

(iv) Provide opportunities for classified staff to become teachers.

(2) By November 1, 2024, the volunteer educational service district must report to the Washington professional educator standards board with the outcomes of the pilot and any recommendations for implementing alternative route teacher certification programs in other educational service districts. The report must include the following data: (a) The number of teacher candidates applying for, and completing, the alternative route teacher certification program; (b) the number of program completers who are hired as teachers, both in the educational service district and elsewhere in the state; and (c) the retention of teachers in the educational service district before and after implementation of the pilot. The data must be disaggregated by race and ethnicity, gender, type of endorsement, and school. The report must also include feedback from school principals and teachers in the local school districts on the quality of the teacher candidates they worked with during the pilot.

(3) By December 1, 2024, and in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the Washington professional educator standards board must submit the educational service district's report, required under subsection (2) of this section, to the appropriate committees of the legislature, with recommendations for whether the pilot program should be expanded, modified, or terminated.

(4) This section expires August 1, 2025.

Effective date—Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See notes following RCW 28A.310.235.

Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See notes following RCW 28B.10.033.

Intent—2019 c 295: See note following RCW 28B.102.030.

Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See note following RCW 28A.415.265.

Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See note following RCW 28A.180.120.

By December 1, 2019, and in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the student achievement council, in cooperation with the Washington professional educator standards board-approved teacher preparation programs, the Washington state school directors' association, and the rural education center at Washington State University, must submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature. The report must include policy recommendations to encourage or require the Washington professional educator standards board-approved teacher preparation programs to develop relationships with, and provide supervisory support for field placements of student teachers in, school districts that are not in the general geographic area of an approved teacher preparation program.

Effective date—Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See notes following RCW 28A.310.235.

Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See notes following RCW 28B.10.033.

Intent—2019 c 295: See note following RCW 28B.102.030.

Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See note following RCW 28A.415.265.

Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See note following RCW 28A.180.120.

(1) The professional educator standards board and the state board for community and technical colleges, in consultation with the superintendent of public instruction, the state apprenticeship training council, and community colleges, shall adopt rules as necessary under chapter 34.05 RCW to implement the paraeducator associate of arts degree.

(2) As used in this section, a "paraeducator" is an individual who has completed an associate of arts degree for a paraeducator. The paraeducator may be hired by a school district to assist certificated instructional staff in the direct instruction of children in small and large groups, individualized instruction, testing of children, recordkeeping, and preparation of materials. The paraeducator shall work under the direction of instructional certificated staff.

(3)(a) The training program for a paraeducator associate of arts degree shall include, but is not limited to, the general requirements for receipt of an associate of arts degree and training in the areas of introduction to childhood education, orientation to children with disabilities, fundamentals of childhood education, creative activities for children, instructional materials for children, fine art experiences for children, the psychology of learning, introduction to education, child health and safety, child development and guidance, first aid, and a practicum in a school setting.

(b) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, by September 1, 2018, the training program for a paraeducator associate of arts degree must incorporate the state paraeducator standards of practice adopted by the paraeducator board under RCW 28A.413.050.

(4) Consideration shall be given to transferability of credit earned in this program to teacher preparation programs at colleges and universities.

Effective date—2011 1st sp.s. c 11 ss 101-103, 106-202, 204-244, and 301: See note following RCW 28B.76.020.

Intent—2011 1st sp.s. c 11: See note following RCW 28B.76.020.

Findings—Purpose—Part headings not law—2006 c 263: See notes following RCW 28A.150.230.

Part headings, table of contents not law—1995 c 335: See note following RCW 28A.150.360.

The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules as necessary under chapter 34.05 RCW to carry out the provisions of chapter 233, Laws of 1989.