Washington § 28A.410.270 - Washington professional educator standards board — Performance standards — Certification levels — Teacher effectiveness evaluations — Requirements for professional certificate and residency teaching certificate — Demonstration of educator preparation programs' outcomes (as amended by 2021 c 197).

(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.))The Washington professional educator standards board shall incorporate along the entire continuum the standards of practice developed under RCW 28A.410.260.

(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 along the entire continuum 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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

Finding—Intent—2021 c 197: See note following RCW 28A.415.443.