AWSP Blog

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has released a revised edition of the Washington Children and Youth Activities Guide for Air Quality. For more than six months, DOH has worked alongside stakeholders to create improved guidance that will benefit children when air quality is compromised. The revised guide is now available on DOH’s Smoke from Fires Took Kit Page.

We know, we know…hundreds of you just completed a survey this winter for us about your job satisfaction and working conditions. Why are we back again with another one? We’ve partnered with Strategies 360, one of the west coast’s leading government relations and communications firms, to help us grow, support, and sustain the principalship. This survey will help us understand what our members need from us, and prioritize the most impactful policies to pursue. The questions align with the Wallace Foundation's Principal Pipeline Sustainability Guide. ​​​​​This guide explains what it takes to sustain an effective principal pipeline and provides tools to help school district teams keep the pipeline going.

Session has concluded, and the Governor has acted. Below is a brief summary of pension, health care, and other benefit legislation that will impact school districts, present and future retirees. The work continues...

ESB 5175 passed this last legislative session, allowing a district to offer a principal a contract of up to three years if certain conditions are met. The bill was introduced by Senator Lisa Wellman in order to help recruit and retain quality school leaders. We know it takes time to change systems and culture, and that nothing changes without relationships. A three-year contract might help reduce principal churn, and at the same time, help a principal lead with a long-term vision and plan.

The purpose of any evaluation process is to improve. Sure, you can use evaluation to make judgments and inform program decisions, but essentially the main reason for evaluating your Comprehensive School Counseling Program (CSCP) is to improve your program. Establishing an annual review and assessment process, as required for the CSCP written plan, fundamentally establishes a continuous improvement process.

OSPI, the State Board of Education, and the Washington Student Achievement Council held a webinar this week where they shared updates on new legislation related to graduation, as well as career and college readiness. These groups provided updates on changes coming to graduation pathways, the High School and Beyond Plan, the Washington College Grant, Mastery-Based Learning, and more. Here are some highlights. The State Board of Education explained HB 1308, which establishes another graduation pathway that districts can choose to use for their students. This performance-based pathway is an opportunity for students to demonstrate knowledge and skills in a real-world context, providing evidence that the student meets or exceeds state learning standards in English and mathematics.

Kaiser Permanente, Healthier Generation, and OSPI are excited to offer an opportunity for districts to apply the Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework to staff wellbeing. Using a learning cohort model, we are inviting up to eight (8) district teams to join us in the 2023-24 school year. Experts in MTSS and staff well-being will guide teams through a series of learning and activities that will prepare them to implement key elements of workplace well-being within the context of MTSS. This process will assure compliance with SHB 1363: Addressing Secondary Traumatic Stress in the K-12 Workforce (WSSDA Model Policy 5515).

OSPI recently released an important bulletin related to certificate renewal requirements for all teachers and administrators who need to renew their certification after July 1, 2023. Educators may renew early. An educator may choose to renew a certificate at any time during the validity of their certificate. It is the responsibility of the educator to ensure that they hold a valid certificate and renew that certificate in a timely manner. OSPI recommends that those wishing to renew a certificate apply for their renewal as soon as they have completed the required number of hours.

These resources are sent out weekly to leaders in special education and Section 504. Each post contains tips and resources on a variety of topics that are meant to keep you informed and up-to-date.

Conducting an annual Comprehensive School Counseling Program (CSCP) program review, as required in the CSCP written plan, should include feedback from school administrators and other educational partners. SSB 5030 requires each school to develop a process for conducting an annual CSCP review, but it allows schools to develop their own process. If you have not yet established a process for collecting feedback, allow us to make a suggestion: consider a simple open-ended survey.