Educational Equity Trainings
Washington state’s 1,477 school directors oversee the education of more than 1.1 million K-12 students. That comes with a tremendous responsibility to ensure that our public education system serves all students and their families.
To help directors shoulder that responsibility, WSSDA offers courses that give school directors an even deeper appreciation of:
- their positions within the American electoral and legal systems
- the strengths and challenges faced by students and families of different backgrounds
- their responsibilities as leaders of their community and in the public education system
- how our own beliefs and actions can impact the students we serve
- and other impactful learnings
With new or deepened perspectives, school directors will gain the background knowledge necessary to support the delivery of programs and services that benefit every corner of their school districts. The courses also satisfy requirements outlined in Washington Senate Bill 5044, which became law in July 2021.
How it Works
To meet legislated requirements, directors need to take two courses early in their service, then one course per subsequent term of office. We refer to that as “initial” professional development and “continuing” professional development.
Initial Professional Development—5 Hours
Beginning with the 2022 calendar year, each school director must take two courses, the introduction plus an elective, during their current term of office. Newly elected or appointed directors must meet the requirement within two years of taking office. The two courses are:
- Introduction to the commitment to Educational Equity
- An elective
Initial Requirement
Two 2.5-hour trainings (5 hours total)
Continuing Professional Development—2.5 Hours
In subsequent terms of office after completing the initial requirement, directors will need to take one elective course per term.
Continuing Requirement
One 2.5-hour training
About the Courses
The variety of courses and topics will grow as WSSDA is continually developing curriculum. At present, WSSDA has developed:
Intro:
- Introduction to Educational Equity (the first, foundational course)
Electives:
- Advancing Inclusion Through Belonging
- Identity Discrimination — A Look at Federal Involvement
To see what’s available at any given time, visit the calendar at wssda.org/trainings
Frequently Asked Questions
- An overview of WSSDA’s role related to standards and the requirement to collaborate with PESB: RCW 28A.345.115: School director governance—Cultural competency, diversity, equity, and inclusion—Report.
- Development and delivery of the training program: RCW 28A.345.120: School director governance—Cultural competency, diversity, equity, and inclusion—Training programs.
- The requirement of school directors to complete the “governance training program”: RCW 28A.343.100: Governance training program.
- Definitions of cultural competency, diversity, equity, inclusion: RCW 28A.415.443: Definitions.
Beginning with the 2022 calendar year, school directors must complete the program once per term of elected office, except that newly elected directors must complete it within two years of election. The initial requirements include a minimum of two 2.5-hour trainings (5 hours total) that must include the introductory course plus one additional elective course.
Continuing Professional Development After completing the initial training requirement of 5 hours, in subsequent terms of office, the ongoing legislative requirement is to take a minimum of one 2.5 hour course of their choice per term.
See available trainings at wssda.org/training
Later, WSSDA may be able to develop asynchronous and interactive virtual options. Research indicates that individual, asynchronous learning is the least impactful modality for adult learners, so it will be the last delivery method developed.