(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, an expanded civics education teacher training program is established within the office of the superintendent of public instruction.

(2) The program must provide for the selection of a team of qualified social studies teachers, and when appropriate, civics education specialists, from across the state who will:

(a) Develop teacher training materials using existing open educational resources (OERs) that include civics information on national, state, tribal, and local government, and the civics component of the federally administered naturalization test required of persons seeking to become naturalized United States citizens;

(b) Provide teacher training across the state, consistent with provisions in this chapter, and using the tools established by the office of the superintendent of public instruction including the college, career, and civic life (C3) framework and the six proven instructional practices for enhancing civic education; and

(c) Provide professional learning opportunities as described in section 2(3), chapter 77, Laws of 2016, which states that professional learning shall incorporate differentiated, coherent, sustained, and evidence-based strategies that improve educator effectiveness and student achievement, including job-embedded coaching or other forms of assistance to support educators’ transfer of new knowledge and skills into their practice.

(3) The program shall assure an increase in the number of:

(a) Teachers with the knowledge and skills to effectively engage students in civics education;

(b) Students who have a basic understanding of how governments work; and

(c) Students from every demographic and socioeconomic group who know their rights and responsibilities within society and are prepared to exercise them.

(4) The office of the superintendent of public instruction may accept gifts and grants to assist with the establishment and implementation of the program established in this section.

Finding—Intent—2018 c 127: See note following RCW 28A.230.094.