ANACORTES, Wash. – At its July 13-14 meeting, the Washington State Board of Education will review and likely approve draft language of a new rule designed to intervene in some of the state’s persistently lowest-achieving schools. For the first time in state history, a select number of the persistently lowest-achieving schools and their districts will be required to develop and implement improvement plans under a new process called Required Action.

Washington’s new Required Action process identifies districts with schools that are (1) persistently underperforming (those with the lowest scores on math and reading statewide assessments), and (2) show no improvement, requires those districts to develop a plan for improvement (a Required Action plan, based on four federal school-improvement models (turnaround, restart, closure, and transformation)), and then supplies those schools with the federal funding necessary to improve student achievement.

As this is a federally funded endeavor, the number of districts supported is contingent on the amount of federal revenue the state has at its discretion.

In addition to the Required Action plan discussion, the Board will examine proposed revisions to its high school graduation requirements framework, based on the feedback it has received for the last two years. The impetus for the proposed revisions arises from the Board’s commitment to graduating college/career-ready students, a focal point for the Board since 2007.

Across the nation, the push for college/career readiness is gaining traction. President Obama’s $4.3 billion dollar Race to the Top Education reform grant and the recent proposed revisions of No Child Left Behind both include college/career readiness as a central tenet to school improvement.

The Board meeting is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. on July 13.

The meeting agenda and materials are now available at: sbe.wa.gov/materials.

Time for public comment will be provided. The public and news media are invited to attend.

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Contact: Aaron Wyatt, Communications Manager

About the State Board of Education: The State Board of Education provides advocacy and strategic oversight of public education. The board is comprised of 16 members: five are elected by school board directors, seven are appointed by the Governor, two serve as student representatives, and one serves as a private school representative. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is also a member.

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