(1) Subject to funds appropriated specifically for this purpose, the academic acceleration incentive program is established as provided in this section. The intent of the legislature is that the funds awarded under the program be used to support teacher training, curriculum, technology, examination fees, textbook fees, and other costs associated with offering dual credit courses to high school students, including transportation for running start students to and from the institution of higher education as defined in RCW 28A.600.300. (2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate half of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section on a competitive basis to provide one-time grants for high schools to expand the availability of dual credit courses. To be eligible for a grant, a school district must have adopted an academic acceleration policy as provided under RCW 28A.320.195. In making grant awards, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must give priority to grants for high schools with a high proportion of low-income students and high schools seeking to develop new capacity for dual credit courses rather than proposing marginal expansion of current capacity. (3) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate half of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section to school districts as an incentive award for each student who earned dual high school and college credit, as described under subsection (4) of this section, for courses offered by the district's high schools during the previous school year. School districts must distribute the award to the high schools that generated the funds. The award amount for low-income students eligible to participate in the federal free and reduced-price meals program who earn dual credits must be set at one hundred twenty-five percent of the base award for other students. A student who earns more than one dual credit in the same school year counts only once for the purposes of the incentive award. (4) For the purposes of this section, the following students are considered to have earned dual high school and college credit in a course offered by a high school: (a) Students who achieve a score of three or higher on an AP examination; (b) Students who achieve a score of four or higher on an examination of the international baccalaureate diploma programme; (c) Students who successfully complete a Cambridge advanced international certificate of education examination; (d) Students who successfully complete a course through the college in the high school program under RCW 28A.600.287 and are awarded credit by the partnering institution of higher education; and (e) Students who satisfy the dual enrollment and class performance requirements to earn college credit through a career and technical education course. (5) If a high school provides access to online courses for students to earn dual high school and college credit at no cost to the student, such a course is considered to be offered by the high school. (6) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall report to the education policy committees and the fiscal committees of the legislature, by January 1st of each year, information about the demographics of the students earning dual credits in the schools receiving grants under this section for the prior school year. Demographic data shall be disaggregated pursuant to RCW 28A.300.042. [ 2022 c 75 s 4; 2021 c 71 s 4; 2015 c 202 s 2; 2013 c 184 s 3.]
‹ Prev All Washington sections Next ›
Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.