Teacher residency & apprent.

AN ACT Relating to teacher residency and apprenticeship programs; 1
amending RCW 28B.102.110, 28A.410.045, 28A.410.220, 28A.410.2211, 2
28A.410.226, 28A.410.250, 28A.410.251, 28A.410.252, 28A.410.278, 3
28A.410.290, and 28A.660.005; reenacting and amending RCW 4
28A.410.270; adding new sections to chapter 28A.410 RCW; adding a new 5
section to chapter 49.04 RCW; creating a new section; and providing 6
an effective date. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:8
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 9
RCW to read as follows: 10
(1) A teacher residency is a teacher preparation model that 11
integrates a full year of collaborative hands-on classroom teaching 12
with an experienced mentor with concurrent, targeted academic 13
coursework, designed to develop effective, community-focused 14
teachers. This collaborative model is offered by a public elementary 15
or secondary school and a board-approved teacher preparation program.16
(2) At a minimum, a teacher residency program must meet the 17
following requirements: 18
(a) The program must be operated as a formal partnership between 19
a school district or state-tribal education compact school and a 20
board-approved teacher preparation program; 21
S-1241.1
SENATE BILL 5693
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Cortes, Conway, and Nobles
Read first time 02/06/25. Referred to Committee on Early Learning &
K-12 Education.
p. 1 SB 5693
(b) The program partners must collaboratively design the 1
coursework to align with the unique context of each resident's 2
classroom; 3
(c) Each resident must be assigned a preservice mentor;4
(d) A preservice mentor must co-teach with the resident 5
throughout the duration of the resident's preservice clinical 6
experience; 7
(e) Each resident must receive at least 900 hours of preservice 8
clinical practice over the course of one school year;9
(f)(i) A resident who is an undergraduate student may not be 10
assigned the lead or primary responsibility for student learning 11
until the resident completes 900 hours of preservice clinical 12
practice; and 13
(ii) A resident who is a graduate student may not be assigned the 14
lead or primary responsibility for student learning until the 15
resident completes 450 hours of preservice clinical practice;16
(g) Each resident must be grouped into a cohort based on 17
geography, specialty, or other relevant criteria determined by the 18
board; 19
(h) Funding must be provided to each resident; and20
(i) A stipend must be provided to each preservice mentor.21
(3) The board shall establish an approval process for a teacher 22
preparation program in partnership with a school district, state-23
tribal education compact school, or consortium to either: (a) Become 24
a new teacher preparation program; or (b) transition some or all of 25
an existing teacher preparation program to a teacher residency 26
program. 27
(4) For purposes of this section, the following definitions 28
apply: 29
(a) "Board" means the Washington professional educator standards 30
board. 31
(b) "Cohort" means a group of residents enrolled in the same 32
teacher preparation program who begin their residencies at the same 33
time and have the same anticipated completion date.34
(c) "Consortium" means a group of school districts, state-tribal 35
education compact schools, or both, that partner with a teacher 36
preparation program to support a cohort of residents.37
(d) "Preservice mentor" means a teacher qualified to be a mentor 38
for the beginning educator support team program under RCW 39
28A.415.265. 40
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(e) "Resident" means a person enrolled in a board-approved 1
teacher preparation program who is participating in a teacher 2
residency program. 3
(f) "Teacher preparation program" means a teacher preparation 4
program approved by the board. 5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 6
RCW to read as follows: 7
A teacher apprenticeship program is a program approved by both 8
the Washington apprenticeship and training council under chapter 9
49.04 RCW and the Washington professional educator standards board 10
under RCW 28A.410.210 that is designed for individuals with 11
bachelor's degrees who seek an initial teacher certificate and no 12
graduate degree. In addition to meeting other requirements, the 13
program must provide the apprentice with 2,000 hours of on-the-job 14
mentored teaching experience under a gradual release method.15
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 49.04 16
RCW to read as follows: 17
A teacher apprenticeship program must meet the requirements in 18
section 2 of this act. 19
Sec. 4. RCW 28B.102.110 and 2019 c 295 s 217 are each amended to 20
read as follows: 21
(1) The alternative route and teacher residency conditional 22
scholarship program is created. The purpose of the program is to 23
provide financial assistance to encourage persons to become teachers 24
through alternative route teacher certification programs or the 25
teacher residency program and to retain these teachers in shortage 26
areas. 27
(2) To qualify for the program an applicant must:28
(a) Be accepted into, and maintain enrollment in, an alternative 29
route teacher certification program under chapter 28A.660 RCW or a 30
teacher residency program under section 1 of this act; and31
(b) Intend to pursue an initial teacher certificate with an 32
endorsement in a shortage area. 33
(3) Participants are eligible to receive an alternative route and 34
teacher residency conditional scholarship for up to two academic 35
years. 36
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The legislature recognizes that, in 1
the educator preparation and certification context, the term 2
"residency" refers to the initial certificate of an educator. In 3
order to reduce possible confusion between teacher residency programs 4
approved and operated under section 1 of this act and residency 5
certificates issued under RCW 28A.410.010, the legislature intends to 6
change the name of the "residency certificate" to the "initial 7
certificate" and to change the name of the "professional certificate" 8
to the "continuing certificate."9
(2) The Washington professional educator standards board shall 10
prepare to implement these name changes effective July 1, 2026.11
Sec. 6. RCW 28A.410.045 and 2007 c 319 s 2 are each amended to 12
read as follows: 13
(1) The Washington state first peoples' language, culture, and 14
oral tribal traditions teacher certification program is established. 15
The professional educator standards board shall adopt rules to 16
implement the program in collaboration with the sovereign tribal 17
governments whose traditional lands and territories lie within the 18
borders of the state of Washington, including the tribal leader 19
congress on education and the first peoples' language and culture 20
committee. The collaboration required under this section shall be 21
defined by a protocol for cogovernance in first peoples' language, 22
culture, and oral tribal traditions education developed by the 23
professional educator standards board, the office of the 24
superintendent of public instruction, and the sovereign tribal 25
governments whose traditional lands and territories lie within the 26
borders of the state of Washington. 27
(2) Any sovereign tribal government whose traditional lands and 28
territories lie within the borders of the state of Washington may 29
participate individually on a government-to-government basis in the 30
program. 31
(3) Under the first peoples' language, culture, and oral tribal 32
traditions teacher certification program: 33
(a) Only a participating sovereign tribal government may certify 34
individuals who meet the tribe's criteria for certification as a 35
teacher in the Washington state first peoples' language, culture, and 36
oral tribal traditions teacher certification program. Tribal law 37
enforcement agencies and the Washington state patrol shall enter into 38
government-to-government negotiations regarding the exchange of 39
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background information on applicants for certification. The office of 1
the superintendent of public instruction shall not authorize or 2
accept a certificate or endorsement in Washington state first 3
peoples' language, culture, and oral tribal traditions without 4
certification from a participating sovereign tribal government and 5
without conducting a record check of an individual applying for 6
certification as required under RCW 28A.410.010; 7
(b) For each teacher to be certified in the program, the 8
participating sovereign tribal government shall submit information 9
and documentation necessary for the issuance of a state certificate, 10
as defined by rule, to the office of the superintendent of public 11
instruction; 12
(c) A Washington state first peoples' language, culture, and oral 13
tribal traditions teacher certificate serves as a subject area 14
endorsement in first peoples' language, culture, and oral tribal 15
traditions. The holder of a Washington state first peoples' language, 16
culture, and oral tribal traditions teacher certificate who does not 17
also hold an initial ((, residency, )) or continuing((, or 18
professional)) teaching certificate authorized by the professional 19
educator standards board may be assigned to teach only the languages, 20
cultures, and oral tribal traditions designated on the certificate 21
and no other subject; 22
(d) In order to teach first peoples' language, culture, and oral 23
tribal traditions, teachers must hold certificates from both the 24
office of the superintendent of public instruction and from the 25
sovereign tribal government; and 26
(e) The holder of a Washington state first peoples' language, 27
culture, and oral tribal traditions teacher certificate meets 28
Washington state's definition of a highly qualified teacher under the 29
no child left behind act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110) for the purposes of 30
teaching first peoples' language, culture, and oral tribal 31
traditions, subject to approval by the United States department of 32
education. 33
(4) First peoples' language/culture teacher certificates issued 34
before July 22, 2007, under rules approved by the state board of 35
education or the professional educator standards board under a pilot 36
program remain valid as certificates under this section, subject to 37
the provisions of this chapter. 38
(5) Schools and school districts on or near tribal reservations 39
are encouraged to contract with sovereign tribal governments whose 40
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traditional lands and territories lie within the borders of the state 1
of Washington and with first peoples' language, culture, and oral 2
tribal traditions teacher certification programs for in-service 3
teacher training and continuing education in the culture and history 4
appropriate for their geographic area, as well as suggested pedagogy 5
and instructional strategies. 6
Sec. 7. RCW 28A.410.220 and 2019 c 121 s 1 are each amended to 7
read as follows: 8
(1)(a) The Washington professional educator standards board shall 9
make available a means of assessing an applicant's knowledge in the 10
basic skills. For the purposes of this section, "basic skills" means 11
the subjects of at least reading, writing, and mathematics. An 12
applicant must take this basic skills assessment, or an alternative 13
or equivalent basic skills assessment as determined by the Washington 14
professional educator standards board, and report the individual 15
results to the Washington professional educator standards board and 16
an approved teacher preparation program, for admission to the 17
approved teacher preparation program. 18
(b) An approved teacher preparation program may use the results 19
of the basic skills assessment, or an alternative or equivalent basic 20
skills assessment as determined by the Washington professional 21
educator standards board, as a formative assessment of academic 22
strengths and weakness in determining the candidate's readiness for 23
the program. 24
(c) The Washington professional educator standards board may 25
establish criteria to ensure that persons from out-of-state who are 26
applying for ((residency)) initial certification and persons applying 27
to master's degree level teacher preparation programs can demonstrate 28
to the board's satisfaction that they have the requisite basic 29
skills. 30
(d) The Washington professional educator standards board may 31
identify and accept other tests and test scores as long as the tests 32
are comparable in rigor to the basic skills assessment and candidates 33
meet or exceed the basic skills requirements established by the 34
board. 35
(2) The Washington professional educator standards board shall 36
set performance standards and develop, pilot, and implement a uniform 37
and externally administered ((professional)) continuing-level 38
certification assessment based on demonstrated teaching skill. In the 39
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development of this assessment, consideration shall be given to 1
changes in ((professional)) continuing certification program 2
components such as the culminating seminar. 3
(3) Beginning not later than September 1, 2002, the Washington 4
professional educator standards board shall provide for the initial 5
piloting and implementation of a means of assessing an applicant's 6
knowledge in the subjects for which the applicant has applied for an 7
endorsement to his or her ((residency)) initial or ((professional)) 8
continuing teaching certificate. The assessment of subject knowledge 9
shall not include instructional methodology. Beginning September 1, 10
2005, passing this assessment shall be required to receive an 11
endorsement for certification purposes. 12
(4) The Washington professional educator standards board may 13
permit exceptions from the assessment requirements under subsections 14
(1), (2), and (3) of this section on a case-by-case basis.15
(5) The Washington professional educator standards board shall 16
provide for reasonable accommodations for individuals who are 17
required to take the assessments in subsection (1), (2), or (3) of 18
this section if the individuals have learning or other disabilities.19
(6) With the exception of applicants exempt from the requirements 20
of subsections (2) and (3) of this section, an applicant must achieve 21
a minimum assessment score or scores established by the Washington 22
professional educator standards board on each of the assessments 23
under subsections (2) and (3) of this section. 24
(7) The Washington professional educator standards board and 25
superintendent of public instruction, as determined by the Washington 26
professional educator standards board, may contract with one or more 27
third parties for: 28
(a) The development, purchase, administration, scoring, and 29
reporting of scores of the assessments established by the Washington 30
professional educator standards board under subsections (1), (2), and 31
(3) of this section; 32
(b) Related clerical and administrative activities; or33
(c) Any combination of the purposes in this subsection.34
(8) Applicants for admission to a Washington teacher preparation 35
program and applicants for ((residency)) initial and ((professional)) 36
continuing certificates who are required to successfully complete one 37
or more of the assessments under subsections (1), (2), and (3) of 38
this section, and who are charged a fee for the assessment by a third 39
party contracted with under subsection (7) of this section, shall pay 40
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the fee charged by the contractor directly to the contractor. Such 1
fees shall be reasonably related to the actual costs of the 2
contractor in providing the assessment. 3
(9) The superintendent of public instruction is responsible for 4
supervision and providing support services to administer this 5
section. 6
(10) The Washington professional educator standards board shall 7
collaboratively select or develop and implement the applicable 8
assessments and minimum assessment scores required under this section 9
with the superintendent of public instruction and shall provide 10
opportunities for representatives of other interested educational 11
organizations to participate in the selection or development and 12
implementation of such assessments in a manner deemed appropriate by 13
the Washington professional educator standards board.14
(11) The Washington professional educator standards board shall 15
adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW that are reasonably necessary for 16
the effective and efficient implementation of this section.17
Sec. 8. RCW 28A.410.2211 and 2021 c 198 s 5 are each amended to 18
read as follows: 19
(1) The professional educator standards board shall revise 20
assessments for prospective teachers and teachers adding subject area 21
endorsements required for teacher certification under RCW 28A.410.220 22
to measure the revised standards in RCW 28A.410.221.23
(2) The professional educator standards board shall require that 24
successful candidates for the ((residency)) initial certificate 25
demonstrate effective subject specific instructional methods that 26
address the revised standards. 27
Sec. 9. RCW 28A.410.226 and 2013 c 197 s 2 are each amended to 28
read as follows: 29
(1) As provided under subsections (2) and (3) of this section, 30
individuals certified by the professional educator standards board as 31
a school nurse, school social worker, school psychologist, or school 32
counselor must complete a training program on youth suicide screening 33
and referral as a condition of certification. The training program 34
must be at least three hours in length. The professional educator 35
standards board must adopt standards for the minimum content of the 36
training in consultation with the office of the superintendent of 37
public instruction and the department of health. In developing the 38
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standards, the board must consider training programs listed on the 1
best practices registry of the American foundation for suicide 2
prevention and the suicide prevention resource center.3
(2) This section applies to the following certificates if the 4
certificate is first issued or is renewed on or after July 1, 2015:5
(a) Continuing certificates for school nurses; 6
(b) Continuing certificates for school social workers;7
(c) Continuing ((and professional )) certificates for school 8
psychologists; and 9
(d) Continuing ((and professional )) certificates for school 10
counselors. 11
(3) A school counselor who holds or submits a school counseling 12
certificate from the national board for professional teaching 13
standards or a school psychologist who holds or submits a school 14
psychologist certificate from the national association of school 15
psychologists in lieu of a ((professional)) continuing certificate 16
must complete the training program under subsection (1) of this 17
section by July 1, 2015, or within the five-year period before the 18
certificate is first submitted to the professional educator standards 19
board, whichever is later, and at least once every five years 20
thereafter in order to be considered certified by the professional 21
educator standards board. 22
(4) The professional educator standards board ((shall consider 23
the training program under subsection (1) of this section as approved 24
continuing education under RCW 28A.415.020 and)) shall count the 25
training program toward meeting continuing education requirements for 26
certification as a school nurse, school social worker, school 27
psychologist, or school counselor. 28
Sec. 10. RCW 28A.410.250 and 2017 3rd sp.s. c 26 s 3 are each 29
amended to read as follows: 30
The agency responsible for educator certification shall adopt 31
rules for ((professional)) continuing certification that:32
(1) Grant ((professional)) continuing certification to any 33
teacher who attains certification from the national board for 34
professional teaching standards; (([and])) and35
(2) Identify an expedited ((professional)) continuing 36
certification process for out-of-state teachers who have five years 37
or more of successful teaching experience, including a method to 38
determine the comparability of rigor between the Washington 39
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((professional)) continuing certification process and the advanced 1
level teacher certification process of other states. A 2
((professional)) continuing certificate must be issued to these 3
experienced out-of-state teachers if the teacher holds: (a) A valid 4
teaching certificate issued by the national board for professional 5
teaching standards; or (b) an advanced level teacher certificate from 6
another state that has been determined to be comparable to the 7
Washington ((professional)) continuing certificate.8
Sec. 11. RCW 28A.410.251 and 2017 3rd sp.s. c 26 s 1 are each 9
amended to read as follows: 10
By September 1, 2017, the Washington professional educator 11
standards board shall adopt rules allowing teachers and principals 12
with at least two years of experience, who hold or have held ((a 13
residency)) an initial certificate and have not achieved the 14
((professional)) continuing certificate, to renew their ((residency)) 15
initial certificate in five-year intervals based on completion of ten 16
credits or one hundred clock hours ((as defined in RCW 28A.415.020 17
and 28A.415.023)). 18
Sec. 12. RCW 28A.410.252 and 2016 c 233 s 5 are each amended to 19
read as follows: 20
The agency responsible for educator certification shall adopt 21
rules for ((professional)) continuing certification that identify an 22
expedited ((professional)) continuing certification process for out-23
of-state teachers who have five years or more of successful teaching 24
experience, including a method to determine the comparability of 25
rigor between the Washington ((professional)) continuing 26
certification process and any United States federally issued or 27
state-issued advanced level teacher certification process that allows 28
an individual to teach internationally. A ((professional)) continuing 29
certificate must be issued to these experienced out-of-state teachers 30
if the teacher holds a United States federally issued or state-issued 31
advanced level teacher certificate that allows the individual to 32
teach internationally and that has been determined to be comparable 33
to the Washington ((professional)) continuing certificate.34
Sec. 13. RCW 28A.410.270 and 2021 c 198 s 4 and 2021 c 197 s 11 35
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:36
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(1)(a) The board shall adopt a set of articulated teacher 1
knowledge, skill, and performance standards for effective teaching 2
that are evidence-based, measurable, meaningful, and documented in 3
high quality research as being associated with improved student 4
learning. The standards shall be calibrated for each level along the 5
entire career continuum. For candidates recommended for ((residency)) 6
initial teacher certification by a board-approved preparation 7
program, the standards adopted by the board must be the most recent 8
teaching standards published by a consortium of state and national 9
education organizations dedicated to the reform of the preparation, 10
licensing, and ongoing professional development of teachers since 11
1987. 12
(b) The ((Washington professional educator standards )) board 13
shall incorporate along the entire continuum the standards of 14
practice developed under RCW 28A.410.260. 15
(c) By January 1, 2020, in order to ensure that teachers can 16
recognize signs of emotional or behavioral distress in students and 17
appropriately refer students for assistance and support, the board 18
shall incorporate along the entire continuum the social-emotional 19
learning standards and benchmarks recommended by the social-emotional 20
learning benchmarks work group in its October 1, 2016, final report 21
titled, "addressing social emotional learning in Washington's K-12 22
public schools." In incorporating the social-emotional learning 23
standards and benchmarks, the board must include related 24
competencies, such as trauma-informed practices, consideration of 25
adverse childhood experiences, mental health literacy, antibullying 26
strategies, and culturally sustaining practices. 27
(2) The board shall adopt a definition of master teacher, with a 28
comparable level of increased competency between ((professional)) 29
continuing certification level and master level as between 30
((professional)) continuing certification level and national board 31
certification. Within the definition established by the board, 32
teachers certified through the national board for professional 33
teaching standards shall be considered master teachers.34
(3) Award of a ((professional)) continuing certificate shall be 35
based on a minimum of two years of successful teaching experience as 36
defined by the board, and may not require candidates to enroll in a 37
((professional)) continuing certification program.38
(4) Educator preparation programs approved to offer the 39
((residency)) initial teaching certificate shall be required to 40
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demonstrate how the program produces effective teachers as evidenced 1
by multiple measures of the knowledge, skills, performance, and 2
competencies described in subsection (1) of this section and other 3
criteria established by the board. 4
(5) Each board-approved teacher preparation program must publish, 5
and provide to candidates prior to admission, a list of program 6
completion requirements. 7
(6) Before a board-approved teacher preparation program may 8
recommend a candidate for ((residency)) initial teacher 9
certification, the candidate must meet or exceed the knowledge, 10
skill, performance, and competency standards described in subsection 11
(1) of this section. 12
(7) For the purpose of this section, "board" means the Washington 13
professional educator standards board. 14
Sec. 14. RCW 28A.410.278 and 2019 c 295 s 304 are each amended 15
to read as follows: 16
(1) After August 31, 2013, candidates for ((a residency )) an 17
initial principal certificate must have demonstrated knowledge of 18
teacher evaluation research and Washington's evaluation requirements 19
and successfully completed opportunities to practice teacher 20
evaluation skills. 21
(2) At a minimum, principal preparation programs must address the 22
following knowledge and skills related to evaluations under RCW 23
28A.405.100: 24
(a) Examination of teacher and principal evaluation criteria, and 25
four-level rating evaluation system, and the preferred instructional 26
and leadership frameworks used to describe the evaluation criteria;27
(b) Classroom observations; 28
(c) The use of student growth data and multiple measures of 29
performance; 30
(d) Evaluation conferencing; 31
(e) Development of classroom teacher and principal support plans 32
resulting from an evaluation; and 33
(f) Use of an online tool to manage the collection of observation 34
notes, teacher and principal -submitted materials, and other 35
information related to the conduct of the evaluation.36
Sec. 15. RCW 28A.410.290 and 2010 c 235 s 502 are each amended 37
to read as follows: 38
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(1) By September 30, 2010, the professional educator standards 1
board shall review and revise teacher and administrator preparation 2
program approval standards and proposal review procedures at the 3
((residency)) initial certificate level to ensure they are rigorous 4
and appropriate standards for an expanded range of potential 5
providers, including community college and nonhigher education 6
providers. All approved providers must adhere to the same standards 7
and comply with the same requirements. 8
(2) Beginning September 30, 2010, the professional educator 9
standards board must accept proposals for community college and 10
nonhigher education providers of educator preparation programs. 11
Proposals must be processed and considered by the board as 12
expeditiously as possible. 13
(3) By September 1, 2011, all professional educator standards 14
board-approved ((residency)) initial teacher preparation programs at 15
institutions of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016 not 16
currently a partner in an alternative route program approved by the 17
professional educator standards board must submit to the board a 18
proposal to offer one or more of the alternative route programs that 19
meet the requirements of RCW 28A.660.020 ((and 28A.660.040)).20
Sec. 16. RCW 28A.660.005 and 2007 c 396 s 5 are each amended to 21
read as follows: 22
(1) The legislature finds and declares: 23
(a) Teacher qualifications and effectiveness are the most 24
important influences on student learning in schools;25
(b) Preparation of individuals to become well-qualified, 26
effective teachers must be high quality; 27
(c) Teachers who complete high quality alternative route programs 28
with intensive field-based experience, adequate coursework, and 29
strong mentorship do as well or better than teachers who complete 30
traditional preparation programs; 31
(d) High quality alternative route programs can provide more 32
flexibility and expedience for individuals to transition from their 33
current career to teaching; 34
(e) High quality alternative route programs can help school 35
districts fill subject matter shortage areas and areas with shortages 36
due to geographic location; 37
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(f) Regardless of route, all candidates for ((residency)) initial 1
teacher certification must meet the high standards required by the 2
state; and 3
(g) Teachers need an adequate background in subject matter 4
content if they are to teach it well, and should hold full, 5
appropriate credentials in those subject areas. 6
(2) The legislature recognizes widespread concerns about the 7
potential for teacher shortages and finds that classified 8
instructional staff in public schools, current certificated staff, 9
and unemployed certificate holders represent a great untapped 10
resource for recruiting more teachers in critical shortage areas.11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. Sections 6 through 16 of this act take 12
effect July 1, 2026. 13
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