This bill amends RCW 28A.230.710 to change high school diploma graduation requirements by specifying nine numbered careerand college-readiness pathway options. It requires each public high school graduate to meet the requirements of at least one listed pathway, allows students to pursue one or more pathways so long as any chosen option aligns with the student’s high school and beyond plan, and gives school districts discretion to decide which of the listed pathway options they will offer. The amendment adds definitions for "demonstrate readiness," "dual credit course," and "high school transition course," and it states that AP, International Baccalaureate, Cambridge, or competency-based courses used under one pathway require a C+ or higher for high school credit or meeting minimum exam scores referenced in RCW 28B.10.054(1). The change imposes procedural requirements: school districts must annually provide comprehensive information about the district’s offered pathway options to students in grades 8–12 and their parents or legal guardians (with districts strongly encouraged to begin in grade 6) and must provide this information consistent with district language access policies under RCW 28A.183.040. The State Board of Education (SBE) must adopt rules to implement the pathway options, including listing which AP/IB/Cambridge courses and competency-based assessments qualify, establishing scores and standards for statewide assessments and SAT/ACT portions referenced, and rulemaking on performance-based learning pathway safety, quality, and assessment criteria. For the performance-based learning pathway the bill allows use of external evaluators, requires that at least one evaluator be a certificated teacher with a relevant endorsement or applicable qualifications as permitted by the Professional Educator Standards Board, and requires school district boards to adopt a written policy before offering that pathway. SBE must also establish graduation proficiency targets and associated rubrics in collaboration with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). Affected entities expressly named include the State Board of Education, OSPI, school districts and their boards of directors, students graduating from public high schools and students in grades 6 (encouraged), 8–12 and their parents or guardians, institutions of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016, the Professional Educator Standards Board (as to allowable evaluator qualifications), career and technical education programs, and outside community evaluators. The extracted text does not define "competency-based assessments," contains a formatting artifact in the "high school transition course" sentence, and does not include any timelines or deadlines for SBE rulemaking or for SBE/OSPI to establish proficiency targets and rubrics. The amendment changes procedural and substantive graduation requirements; it does not create or modify criminal penalties.

If enacted, every public high school graduate would need to meet at least one of nine state-listed graduation pathways, but school districts decide which of those options they will actually offer. Districts must annually tell students in grades 8–12 and their parents or guardians (and are encouraged to start in grade 6) what pathways are available, in the district’s languages under its language access policy. For college-prep options like AP, IB, Cambridge, or other competency-based courses used for graduation credit, students must earn at least a C+ or meet specified exam score thresholds. The performance-based learning pathway will require district boards to adopt a written policy before offering it, allow external evaluators (including at least one certificated teacher with relevant qualifications), and be subject to state rules and statewide proficiency targets and rubrics developed by the State Board of Education with OSPI. The biggest effects fall on school districts and the State Board of Education/OSPI. Districts will face new ongoing duties and likely modest costs for choosing and maintaining pathway offerings, creating and distributing annual multilingual materials, adopting policies for performance-based options, and contracting or coordinating with external evaluators. SBE and OSPI must create lists, rules, assessment criteria, and proficiency rubrics, which will require staff time and coordination. It is unclear from the provided text how quickly the SBE/OSPI work must be completed, how “competency-based assessments” are defined, or where funding for these new responsibilities will come from.