(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall support school district efforts under RCW
28A.230.097 to adopt course equivalencies for career and technical courses by:
(a) Recommending career and technical curriculum suitable for course equivalencies;
(b) Publicizing best practices for high schools and school districts in developing and adopting course equivalencies; and
(c) In consultation with the Washington association for career and technical education, providing professional development, technical assistance, and guidance for school districts seeking to expand their lists of equivalent courses.
(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall provide professional development, technical assistance, and guidance for school districts to develop career and technical course equivalencies that also qualify as advanced placement courses.
(3) The superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with one or more technical working groups convened for this purpose, shall develop and, after an opportunity for public comment, approve curriculum frameworks for a selected list of career and technical courses that may be offered by high schools or skill centers whose academic standards content is considered equivalent in full or in part to the academic courses that meet high school graduation requirements. These courses may include equivalency to English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, arts, world languages, or health and physical education. The content of the courses must be aligned with the most current Washington K-12 learning standards in English language arts, mathematics, science, arts, world languages, health and physical education, social studies, and required industry standards. The first list of courses under this subsection must be developed and approved before the 2015-16 school year. Thereafter, the superintendent of public instruction may periodically update or revise the list of courses using the process in this subsection.
(4) Subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate grant funds to school districts to increase the integration and rigor of academic instruction in career and technical courses. Grant recipients are encouraged to use grant funds to support teams of academic and technical teachers. The superintendent of public instruction may require that grant recipients provide matching resources using federal Carl Perkins funds or other fund sources.
(5) Subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, the superintendent of public instruction shall convene a technical working group to develop a course equivalency crosswalk for technology-based competitive student activities that complies with the equivalency and content requirements established in subsection (3) of this section. This technical working group shall include educators from school districts or educational service districts that have experience with technology-based competitive student activities. The superintendent of public instruction shall develop and approve course equivalencies to include in the updated list established in subsection (3) of this section based on the work of the technical working group.
