Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
04/16/2019 09:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB6 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 6 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 6-PRE-ELEMENTARY PROGRAMS/FUNDING
9:00:04 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced the consideration of SB 6. He noted that
the committee had run out of time for public testimony at the
first hearing. He stated his intention to allow time for public
testimony today and then to hold the bill in committee.
9:00:35 AM
SENATOR BEGICH, speaking as prime sponsor, said he introduced
the bill at the last hearing and he wanted people to have a
chance to hear from the public. He emphasized that early
education was absolutely essential. When he met with the
governor last week, the governor asked him what solutions would
make a difference in education. The Department of Education and
Early Development (DEED) material provided to the committee
conclude that evidence-based early education, requiring higher
levels of certification, ensuring collaboration and cooperation
with existing early education programs, leads to substantial
positive outcomes for kids in both urban and rural Alaska. The
successes of reading skills by third grade and even in eighth
grade are significant. He expressed an interest in hearing from
the professionals and the public. He said he that hoped over the
interim the committee could fine tune the bill based on today's
testimony.
9:02:04 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said she has read that early education can be
helpful, but it can balance out in later grades. If the teaching
is good, students can catch up. She wondered whether some
children were simply not mature enough to begin school. Students
in Finland start school later, at seven or eight years of age,
and these students perform fabulously. She acknowledged he was a
fan of the Finnish model, so she welcomed his comments.
SENATOR BEGICH said that some studies show the effects fade, but
it depends on the studies and the quality of the prekindergarten
programs. Evidence-based, high-quality prekindergarten, such as
the Oklahoma model or other models that were used to develop
this bill, do not show the fade effects over time. The Alaska
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) results,
whether in the Mat-Su or the Lower Kuskokwim, show that not only
are the accelerated differences clear, but these results are
retained even in the older age groups. He pointed out that the
districts are now in the tenth year of consistent pre-K
programming.
Second, the Perry pre-K project tracked pre-K kids into
adulthood using a wide variety of indicators, such as income and
criminal justice interactions. This data showed those kids do
not become wards of the state. He characterized the Finnish
model as complex, with results that were not just about the age
of maturity. Alaska has a unique situation, particularly in
rural Alaska and in Anchorage, due to the numerous dual-language
students. The majority of the Anchorage School District is
comprised of minority students with over 100 languages are
spoken. He offered his belief that his district is the most
diverse senate district in the United States. The data in Alaska
seems to show that the earlier students are prepared to enter
the school system the better. He offered to produce studies to
support his comments. He suggested that the committee consider
holding a hearing during the interim to provide more time for
him to more directly address those questions. The Finnish model
works, he said. However, Finland has a fairly uniform language
pool and Alaska has a diverse one.
9:06:24 AM
CHAIR STEVENS moved to invited testimony.
9:06:49 AM
STEPHANIE BERGLUND, Chief Executive Officer, thread Alaska,
Anchorage, spoke in support of SB 6. She said "thread Alaska" is
Alaska's childcare resource and referral network, a 33-year-old
private nonprofit that works to increase access to affordable
and quality early care and education. Thread supports expanding
quality, early childhood education services, including pre-K.
Decades of research demonstrates that pre-K makes a difference,
not just in the short term but in the long term as children
grow, become employed and contribute to the strength of the
economy. Early and sustained participation in quality early
education leads to more children graduating from high school,
higher lifetime earnings, reduced public spending on remedial
education and services, and lower incarceration rates. This is
especially true if the administration invests in struggling
schools or targets disadvantaged populations to help close the
achievement gap. Work done to close the achievement gap before
children start school puts children in a more successful school
trajectory.
MS. BERGLUND said that a 2016 Texas study on its public pre-K
programs that targeted at-risk three and four-year-old children
found that children who attended full-day pre-K programs scored
28 points higher on the standardized third grade reading exams
and had a 40 percent higher likelihood of reading at a college-
ready pace. Programs with higher investments yielded even better
results. In 2017. Montana students who enrolled in the STARS
preschool showed a 21 percent overall increase in school
readiness. Findings published in December 2018 showed that
students who participated in North Carolina's More at Four Pre-
K, reduced the likelihood of repeating a grade between the third
and eighth grades. These findings included a 36 percent
reduction in special education placements. Positive program
outcomes were consistent from third to eighth grade, reinforcing
a continuity of positive impacts. The findings showed that more
vulnerable populations, including students from economically
diverse backgrounds, averaged higher scores than their
counterparts without an early education foundation.
MS. BERGLUND said that Alaska's pre-K services are working.
Children participating in pre-K have shown growth in cognitive,
language, literacy, and math development. Further, the pre-K
program is meeting all ten benchmarks set by the National
Institute for Early Education Research. While these benchmarks
demonstrate high-quality, the current grant reaches a small
number of children. Expanding this high-quality, early childhood
education through SB 6 would continue to promote school
readiness, identify and provide support for the children most at
need and maximize parental choice. It would provide continuity
of care through collaborative, mixed delivery systems, and
support quality activities. She offered her belief that access
to high-quality, early education programs were desperately
needed in the state. In fact, thread estimates that only half of
the needed spaces for quality, early childhood programs exist.
By expanding pre-K, the organization can support families with
more choices by creating more affordable and accessible
opportunities for children to learn in quality settings. To reap
the full benefits of pre-K investments the department must
ensure that the programs are of high-quality. Elements of high-
quality pre-K include highly qualified, and whenever possible,
degreed professionals who are well compensated with benefits,
low teacher-child ratios and small class sizes. High-quality
pre-k also includes parental involvement, minimum hours of pre-K
instruction, developmental screening and early intervention, and
programming to provide smooth transition to kindergarten.
MS. BERGLUND said that "thread" supports SB 6 as a means to grow
and sustain pre-K services. The organization encourages any pre-
K services be provided in communities through a diverse delivery
system. That means that pre-K in Alaska can be strengthened,
with not only additional investment, but by allowing service
delivery in ways that best meets individual community needs, she
said. Pre-K must also align with and expand existing early
childhood education services and support infrastructure. This
could include existing community-based programs in addition to
school district programs. Alaska's quality recognition and
improvement system, QRIS, is called Learn and Grow. It is a
system that provides a framework to ensure quality activities
for all early childhood education program types, including pre-
K.
MS. BERGLUND said that in addition to existing quality early
childhood education programs for pre-K, "thread" encourages the
committee to consider full-day options. Studies show that full-
day programs like ones in North Carolina may be more beneficial
than part-time programs. The strongest outcomes in third grade
were seen in states that invested more pre-K funding. Full-day
programs provide continuity of care for young children, reduce
transportation needs between care settings, which helps meet the
needs of working families. Alaska is not alone in funding pre-K
and early education, she said. Only three states have decreased
funding for pre-K in the last two years and over 40 states have
significantly increased their investments. High-quality pre-K
must be be followed by strong teaching and learning environments
in the early elementary grades. Funding for pre-K should be
aligned with increased investments in young children beginning
in infancy and continue through the elementary grades. Quality
early education, including pre-K, needs to be part of Alaska's
economic infrastructure to help create a strong and prepared
workforce. The evidence is clear that high-quality pre-K
programs are among the most cost-effective interventions states
can make with long-term payoffs.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if she could give them facts to support the
statement that pre-K leads to lower incarceration rates.
MS. BERGLUND replied that she would provide more specific
research. States with higher graduation rates see more adult
successes in terms of job security and higher earnings. These
graduates have more protective factors and resiliency to avoid
some of society's ills.
SENATOR BEGICH said that statement is directly from the Perry
preschool's study, which is the longest single study.
Participants were in the preschool when the study began and are
now in their 40s. It analyzed employment and incarceration
rates. He offered to provide an updated reference to the Perry
preschool study to the committee.
SENATOR HUGHES said that Ms. Berglund mentioned programs in
Montana and North Carolina. She remarked that the results in
Montana and North Carolina were impressive. She asked whether
she had any information on how Alaskan students have performed
on standardized test results.
MS. BERGLUND recalled that Alaska had gains. Many school
districts have information about the gains in early elementary
grades from pre-K interventions. She offered her belief that the
Department of Education and Early Development could provide the
results.
SENATOR BEGICH referred to information in members' packets on
the DEED's early childhood programs, which shows the differences
in outcomes for the Lower Kuskokwim, Mat-Su, Anchorage, and Nome
School Districts. This information also identifies changes
occurring in Alaska for the higher level, evidence-based pre-K
that the department has promoted with its experimental process.
9:17:15 AM
ABBE HENSLEY, Executive Director, Best Beginnings, Anchorage,
supported SB 6. She said Best Beginnings supports early literacy
with the Imagination Library and parent education. She offered
to make comments not focused on the bill, but on one aspect of
early learning programs promoted by the bill. She acknowledged
the significant discussion about students' low scores on state
and national reading proficiency assessments. Children who are
good readers by third grade are more likely to graduate from
high school, attend postsecondary education or training, stay
out of prison and off welfare, and become productive citizens.
Some studies show up to 70 percent of people who are
incarcerated are functionally illiterate.
MS. HENSLEY described ways that help children can become
productive citizens. She said that the first year of life is a
time of synaptic exuberance. A baby's brain makes a million
synapses or neural connections every second. The more that baby
is played with and talked with, sung to, and read to, the
stronger the baby's brain architecture becomes, laying the
foundation for learning. A few years ago, the American Academy
of Pediatrics recommended for the first time that parents read
to their babies from birth. Along with enhancing the development
of early literacy and language skills, reading with young
children helps to nurture the relationship between parents and
children and builds social and emotional skills. These results
can be seen in resiliency studies, she said.
MS. HENSLEY emphasized reading is a learned skill that does not
come naturally. The first step in learning to read relates to
vocabulary. The more words children know, the more sounds and
words children recognize strengthens every aspect of reading. In
2015, the Society for Research in Child Development found that
children who had a larger oral vocabulary at age two were better
prepared academically and behaviorally for kindergarten with
greater reading and math achievement and better self-regulation.
MS. HENSLEY described the process in how children learn to read.
She explained that parents can develop their children's
vocabulary by talking and holding back-and-forth conversations
with them, even as babies. A Psychological Science study found
that pictures books provide a richer source of unique words than
conversation, containing 72 percent more unique words, which
helps children expand their vocabulary. Second comes
phonological awareness, the ability to hear, identify, and
manipulate sounds in spoken words, and sentences. The emphasis
is placed on hearing the sound in spoken words. In fact,
developmental screenings are critical because it is difficult to
identify when children cannot hear, she said. Third comes
phonics, the connection between the letter sound and the letter
that makes the sound. Finally, learning print concepts, such as
knowing that print carries a message, including that print is
read left to right and from top to bottom. Children need
exposure to books and reading in fun and pleasurable ways in
order to learn to read once school begins.
MS. HENSLEY explained that in quality early care and learning
programs, children regularly read a wide variety of children's
books. This month, through the Imagination Library, more than
18,000 Alaskan children from birth to age five have access to
those important experiences in their own homes. These children
have the opportunity to build vocabulary, hear the sounds in
letters and words, connect sounds and letters, and understand
print concepts. She characterized the program as being more than
children receiving a book in the mailbox. Eighty-one percent of
parents responded that receiving Imagination Library books
increased the amount of their time spent reading with their
children. Eighty-seven percent of parents reported that reading
with their children helped them form closer relationships and
that the children enjoyed reading together. Eighty-four percent
reported that their children were more excited about reading.
These positive experiences with books and reading are reinforced
in the kinds of programs promoted by this bill, she said. She
emphasized that she is passionate about ensuring that all
Alaskan children have access to books and the early literacy
experiences necessary to become good readers. It is really one
of the best investments for their future, she said.
9:24:13 AM
CHAIR STEVENS asked for an assessment of early learning and pre-
K funding in the governor's budget and the House version of the
budget.
MS. HENSLEY replied the governor's budget cut virtually all the
funds for early learning, including $2 million for pre-K program
grants. The school districts have consistently received these
grants for a number of years. The governor's budget cut $1.2
million for schools as part of the Moore settlement, and
$475,000 for the Parents as Teachers program. She reported that
the governor's budget cut $6.8 million for Head Start, which is
the state matching portion for the federal $40 million. The
governor's budget cut $320,000 for Best Beginnings. As a
consequence, the Head Start program reported that 138 jobs would
be lost, and programming would not be available for hundreds of
children. Further, twelve to fifteen communities may not have
any early childhood programs. Funding was cut for the home
visiting programs located in a number of communities throughout
the state, she said. The department could also provide
information about the consequences of cutting the pre-K grants,
she said.
MS. HENSLEY offered to focus on Best Beginnings, noting that the
state has invested $320,000 annually for the public-private
partnership since this program began. The Imagination Library in
Alaska is set up very differently than in the rest of the
country. Alaska's program has been held up as a model program by
the Dollywood Foundation. Twenty-eight Imagination Library
affiliates are supported by Best Beginnings, many with funding
but all offer training and technical assistance. The necessary
resources exceed $320,000, which meets half of the budget costs
for Best Beginnings. In 2018, 223,729 books provided by Best
Beginnings and local communities, valued at $2.9 million were
delivered to 112 communities, she said.
MS. HENSLEY pointed out hearing testimony that parents should
take responsibility for teaching their children. While parents
have the base responsibility to do so, for $30 per child per
year, from birth to age five, families can have as many as 60
books in their home libraries. In other states, kindergarten
teachers reported that Imagination Library children exhibited
more school readiness, which is very valuable to kindergarten
teachers. It helps them pull a group of children together, she
said. Some studies indicate that children who attend pre-k also
have higher math achievement, she said.
CHAIR STEVENS asked for clarification on the funding in the
House budget.
MS. HENSLEY reiterated the figures.
9:30:13 AM
SENATOR BIRCH said the Constitution of the State of Alaska
requires the state to establish a system of public schools
without reference to pre-K or Kindergarten. Therefore, the
judgement and responsibility to provide funding outside of the
constitutional requirements are vested with the legislature and
governor, he said. In the Molly Hootch case, {Alaska Supreme
Court, Tobeluk v. Lind] a young woman said children are entitled
to an education in their communities under the Constitution of
the State of Alaska. One challenge the legislature has after
passage of Senate Bill 26 last legislature, is that the state
has a finite revenue, eh said.
He offered his belief that the legislature would need to make a
policy call on the amount of permanent fund dividend dollars
versus public services dollars to fund government.
SENATOR BIRCH said that everyone hopes that adults have good
parenting skills, but this is not always the case. He asked for
further clarification on her perspective about screen time
impacts on pre-K children. He recalled previous committee
discussions on educators who use distance delivery using
internet tools. He further asked whether the state should
support or moderate that concept.
MS. HENSLEY responded that she has long been interested in the
impacts of of media screen time on children. In 1994, she began
working with parents and childcare providers to provide public
television to young children. About two years ago the American
Academy of Pediatricians modified its position on screen time,
which was not based on research, from advocating for no screen
time for children under the age of two to recommending that
screen time for children under the age of two should be more
interactive with a parent. One beneficial screen time use for
children and grandparents is FaceTime. This allows children to
interact with grandparents or other family members, she said.
When a person talks to children via FaceTime, it provides almost
the same quality of interaction as when children and
grandparents are in the same room. But experts still find that
kids have too much unattended screen time. She referred to a
section on the Best Beginnings website that provides resources
and help for parents. A recent study said that e-books are
probably better for older kids, but print books provide greater
benefit for young children than e-books since children can lose
track of the story with an e-book, she said.
SENATOR BEGICH said that based on a task force that he and
Senator Stevens served on, he has been contemplating early
education as an opportunity to provide developmental screening
for audio and visual. He asked for her professional perspective.
MS. HENSLEY replied that one thing she found in her work with
ARISE [Anchorage Realizing Indigenous Student Excellence] with
the Cook Inlet Tribal Council a few years ago was that most
children have hearing screenings at birth, but not again until
entering school. She said that is a long period when no one
would know whether these children can see or hear well. For
phonological awareness, children must hear the sounds in letters
and words to learn how to make sense of the words. For example,
it is important to identify when children cannot distinguish the
difference between sounds p and t, to help determine the type of
intervention that might be needed. She offered her belief that
that type of screening would be valuable.
9:36:49 AM
SENATOR BEGICH said that one element of high-quality early
education is related to social interaction. Part of the Finnish
model involves social interaction in order to prepare children
for a learning environment. Early education is about developing
reading and social skills, not screen time, he said.
MS. HENSLEY said one reason the American Academy of
Pediatricians (AAP) recommends reading to children from birth is
to help children develop social and emotional attachments. In
Finland, formal reading education starts at age 7 but it also
involves substantial play-based education. However, that play-
based educational component was sometimes lost in America
because the first-grade curriculum has been pushed into
kindergarten. The AAP has expressed concern that the
kindergarten curriculum will be pushed down into pre-K, she
said. She emphasized the importance of developing pre-K programs
and standards in line with age-appropriate and developmentally
appropriate standards. She expressed her concern that educators
might make things even more academic, which would ultimately
hurt children.
SENATOR HUGHES remarked anecdotally that she read to her
children as babies and taught them to read before kindergarten.
He daughter began reading to her own son when he was a few weeks
old. She said she found it fascinating to see how much her
grandson, now one year old, enjoys that time.
CHAIR STEVENS [opened public testimony].
9:40:52 AM
DAVID NEES, representing himself, Anchorage, raised questions
about data used to rate the effectiveness of pre-K programs. He
said that pre-K has been offered in Alaska at least since 2001.
The McDowell Group "ARISE" report did a good job of reviewing
the data from 2010 to 2016. He offered his belief that committee
packet information was an incomplete snapshot because it only
included one year, but the available data spans many years.
Anchorage has had a consistent gap between the Native and non-
Native population. While Cook Inlet Tribal Council has taken a
good approach, the CITC is missing longitudinal data. He said
that the Yupiit School District has consistently been ranked as
one of worse performing school districts in the state, even
though YSD has 92 percent pre-K enrollment. He questioned
spending $50 million a year in state funding for Head Start if
it does not produce measurable results. Other studies indicated
the lack of a male in a household was a better predictor of poor
performance in school and subsequent arrests and incarcerations.
Alaska regulations, 4AAC 06.712 requires all children entering
kindergarten be tested, but it does not provide any guidance of
how to use the data. When he served on the House Education Task
Force five years ago, the assistant commissioner at the time was
considering a longitudinal study on Head Start, but it was never
completed or published. He emphasized that the districts need
the data.
MR. NEES said that there is no Constitution of the State of
Alaska mandate to provide education prior to the 7th grade. He
suggested that if the legislature decides to fund [Head Start]
based on anecdotal evidence, it should seek long-term evidence
to determine how many students graduated from high school, went
to college, or were incarcerated. Even though thousands of
children have gone through the program, the administration does
not have data to determine its success or whether the free books
program, [Imagination Library], has had a positive impact.
Without data, the districts and the legislature must consider
the main drivers. In his view, one of the main drivers would be
for districts to run a pilot program for five years and count
the children in their ADM [average daily membership]. Using the
multiplier effect, the further away the districts are from
Anchorage, the more money the legislature could put into the
program.
He said that SB 6 has merit, but the committee also needs to
obtain longitudinal data. In 2014, DEED's former commissioner
and assistant commissioner started the study. The legislature
should obtain that data and analyze the $60 million investment,
he said.
CHAIR STEVENS said he made some good points for the committee to
follow up on.
9:46:56 AM
PATTY OWEN, Director, Alaska Public Health Association, Juneau,
supported SB 6. She said the Alaska Public Health Association is
a statewide organization of health professionals and other
community members dedicated to improving health and well-being
in Alaska. APHA is an affiliate of the American Public Health
Association, which was on record as supporting universal
preschool programs. She reminded members that this is also an
important public health issue. The APHA considers education as
one of primary social determinants of health, along with things
like economic status and housing, she said. Education strongly
correlates with a longer life expectancy and improved health
status. Early education is particularly important, not just for
school readiness, but also for brain development, positive
social and emotional and cognitive development. The experts know
that adverse childhood experiences have detrimental effects on
young people, including diseases and other adverse health
outcomes later in life. Early childhood development
opportunities can help provide protective factors to offset
those adverse childhood experiences. The APHA is very supportive
of early childhood development to improve health and education,
she said. She clarified that she was referring to quality early
education and quality K-12 education.
9:49:40 AM
SENATOR BIRCH remarked that people typically immunize their
children but lately some pushback against vaccinations has
occurred, which has had adverse impacts. He asked for further
clarification on vaccinations in general and in public schools
since substantial numbers of kids are congregated together in
that setting.
MS. OWENS replied that the public health community was united in
its support for immunizations.
CHAIR STEVENS expressed concern about shocking news related to
disease outbreaks.
SENATOR BEGICH recalled an earlier discussion on developmental
screening. He said he is contemplating adding language to the
bill related to developmental screening. He asked whether Ms.
Owens could play a role in developing an adequate screening
tool. He further recalled that screening arose as part of the
Task Force on Reading Proficiency and Dyslexia Task Force, which
was something Ms. Hensley also described.
MS. OWENS responded that she could research it but believe the
APHA would be interested.
9:51:39 AM
DAVID BOYLE, representing himself, Anchorage, asked for more
research about the efficacy of pre-K programs. He said that
everyone in the state wants what is best for Alaskan children,
but the state must proceed carefully in any efforts to improve
education outcomes. Before the [legislature and the districts]
spend money on a perceived problem, the legislature must
evaluate the efficacy of pre-K programs in Alaska and across the
nation.
He said he read most of the documents in the bill packet. He
expressed concern over the "cherry picking" of research to
justify universal pre-K in Alaska. He strongly recommended that
the committee conduct its own research, consider questions, and
use the most reliable, gold standard randomized research to
decide if pre-K programs present the appropriate approach.
Initially, it might seem like the right thing to do, but pre-K
may have unintended consequences, he said. The greatest downside
might result in less parental involvement in their children's
education. When the state substantially provides early
education, parents are absolved of the responsibility to provide
it. He advocated for more parental involvement in pre-K and K-12
education and his concern that the state was replacing the
parent as the primary teacher.
MR. BOYLE said that in addition, the majority of pre-K majority
studies do not show any difference after third grade between the
control group and those children who were enrolled in pre-K. The
most recent longitudinal data in the Vanderbilt study shows that
the control-group kids had higher achievement than those in the
pre-K group, which he found unbelievable. The Vanderbilt study
provided the gold standard research, which compared two randomly
selected groups of children. Even the federal government's study
on Head Start demonstrated that there were no significant
differences in student achievement after the third grade. He
other states' pre-K programs, noting the Alabama has the highest
rating for a pre-K program from the National Institute for Early
Education Research. The reading proficiency rate in the
Montgomery public schools was less than one percent according to
the state standardized test. He asked members to consider the
impact of an excellent pre-K program and identify the solution.
He suggested a pilot program that would actively engage parents
involved in their children's early education. The program should
teach parents how to teach their children phonics, reading, and
basic math. Some parents who want to be involved lack the
knowledge of how to help. He said he places his faith in parents
who know their kids better than the government does. He
expressed concern that spending more money on pre-K won't
produce needed results.
CHAIR STEVENS asked Mr. Boyle to inform the committee staff how
to access the Vanderbilt study.
SENATOR BEGICH reminded members that SB 6 would not expand Head
Start. He referred to a list of studies in members' packets,
including a study of the Arkansas Better Chance program.
Children who participated in the Better Chance program scored
higher on kindergarten measures of vocabulary, math skills, and
an understanding of print concepts than students who did not.
There are a number of studies for every state that provide some
form of universal pre-K. "No cherry picking here, Mr. Chairman,
just the facts," he said.
SENATOR HUGHES said the committee previously discussed a policy
to ensure that that every child reads proficiently by the third
grade. That policy would seem to meet the sponsor's goal, she
said. She agreed with Ms. Hensley on the importance of healthy
play and activities for young children. She highlighted
Finland's early education program, which does not focus on
actual phonics and letters until age seven that has had
excellent results. She was unsure if any studies were done
related to states with Read by Nine programs. She cautioned that
it was not possible to isolate the effects of preschool if the
schools also use a Read by Nine approach. She pointed out that
the committee hasn't discussed child readiness for math, just
for reading. She questioned whether the committee would like to
focus expand its focus. The districts have been running pre-K
programs long enough to acquire the data about the impacts all
the way through high school graduation, she said.
She reported that Alaska currently spends about $11 million a
year for the [pre-K] programs. The fiscal notes for SB 6
indicate that amount would increase. She said that using the
multiplier effect once the children are added to the BSA [base
student allocation] would relate to a significant number of
dollars. She would like the longitudinal data from the
Department of Education.
CHAIR STEVENS said committee will request that data from the
department.
10:00:03 AM
BRIDGET WEISS, Ph.D., Superintendent, Juneau School District
(JSD), Juneau, supported SB 6. She said she wanted to share a
Juneau project that has been dear to her heart. The community
has spent considerable time over the last few years discussing
early childhood and high-quality childcare from ages zero to
five. The community has grave concerns about the availability
and capacity for high-quality childcare, she said. Mayor Weldon
put together a Child Care Task force (CCTF), comprised of seven
members, including assembly members and community members. The
CCTF members were tackling that issue as a city to decide what
funds it can contribute and the potential scope of the program.
The JSD uses local funds, state funds, and partners with other
Southeast communities in a five-year STEPS grant for pre-K
facilitated by the Association of Alaska School Boards, she
said.
DR. WEISS agreed that the committee members raised important
questions about data and tracking. She said she hoped that the
JSD would seek data for the district during the interim. She
asked the committee to realize the many variables when it
reviews the data. Educational data is seldom scientific, she
said. She said when Juneau considered its targeted population
for early childhood programs, it wanted to identify students who
live in economically disadvantaged homes.
She highlighted Juneau's program, KinderReady, which hosts
children aged three to five. This year the district has expanded
the program from one classroom last year to three classrooms.
About 60 percent of the students in each classroom reside in
economically disadvantaged homes. One piece that the JSD has
gained through that process was family engagement. That is a
different view than the testimony the committee heard earlier,
which suggested family engagement and responsibility for
children's education. She said that it would be wonderful if
every child in Alaska lived in a high-functioning home, that
their children's activities were a priority, and that these
children came to school ready to learn. However, the reality is
that many families are in crisis across Alaska, she said.
Sometimes these crises are due to language challenges, as
Senator Begich stated. Other times the crises are due to
economic factors and other traumatic experiences.
DR. WEISS said that when the districts track that data it is
important to see the impact, but it may be relational in
comparison to children from families who may not have any
challenges. The Juneau School District commits 13 classrooms to
preschool. Seven classroom are for special education programs,
plus the district has three KinderReady programs. The district
also uses two classrooms to support Head Start and has a
Montessori classroom that was a blended pre-K and kindergarten
classroom. She characterized the JSD program as a strong
commitment.
She related her experience working with Family Promise, a
program for homeless families, designed to help the families to
transition into their own homes. She described watching a child
go from homeless, to kindergarten, and to a K-3 program. It
represented a beautiful example of the continuum that the most
vulnerable children need. She highlighted the many layers of
need including academic, social/emotional, self-regulation, and
parent engagement at an earlier level. She said that these areas
were ones in which the district can help guide families who may
not know how to read to their children, what it means to connect
with the schools. Many of these parents had their own traumatic
school experiences, so these parents don't seek support from the
district. However, parents viewed the district as meeting their
kids' needs, the children might enter the district systems
earlier and the district can start influencing them. She offered
her belief that there are a lot of moving parts that can make a
difference. The districts can start putting some of those data
pieces together, she said.
SENATOR BIRCH thanked her for her advocacy for children. She
asked about the onsite daycare in Juneau. He asked whether there
is commercial or government support for daycare because it is a
component of zero to five.
DR. WEISS answered that Juneau has some daycare, such as the day
care in the federal building for the U.S. Coast Guard. The
community has experienced day care closures due to the financial
challenges. The Child Care Task Force is reviewing that issue,
she said. The continuum from zero to age 5 is childcare. This is
something the task force would like to be high quality learning,
she said. The continuum is something the CCTF has been
reviewing. The CCTA has been creative about where to look in
Juneau to increase capacity and quality.
She related that one issue raised earlier related to health care
screenings. The districts are federally required to do Child
Find, she said. The districts are obligated to pursue students
who have special needs that have not yet been identified. The
district also partners with the Association for the Education of
Young Children (AEYC) on early learning and performs screening
at early learning fairs.
10:09:10 AM
POSIE BOGGS, Alaska Reading Coalition, Anchorage, spoke in
support of SB 6. She said that reading starts in infancy. The
ARC supports high-quality preschool and early literacy
screening. The result is to produce intervention if needed. If
schools had high-quality early literacy screening and preschool,
she would not need to tutor a ten-year old to read or teach a
35-year-old had he had early screening in preschool. He is now
learning to read with her help, along with an online reading
coach. She would like the committee to consider early preschool
screening as a parental right. Parents do not have the knowledge
to be aware of what to look for. She asked if parents naturally
know about phonological awareness, phonemic awareness,
orthographic mapping, and other topics.
MS. BOGGS said that regarding Senator Hughes' comments about
Finland, it is important to understand that it is easy to learn
to read Finnish. One letter has one sound. English has 26
letters and 44 sounds. It is extremely difficult to learn.
English is considered an opaque language, not a transparent
language such as Finnish, Spanish, or Turkish. He emphasized the
importance to start literacy as early as possible because of the
nature of English. The first thing Finland did when it went from
a poor education system to one of the best was to close every
school except the five best and then standardize its teacher
preparation courses. That fact gets buried with the love affair
the districts seem to have with Finland.
MS. BOGGS agreed with Senator Hughes that children do not catch
up. The NAEP reported that 12th grade reading outcomes are just
as dismal as fourth grade reading outcomes. She offered her
belief that the country wouldn't be experiencing the cost of
illiteracy to industry is $250 billion because the districts do
not start screening and intervention in preschool. She referred
the committee to contact U.S. Senator Cassidy for correlations
between reading capabilities and incarceration.
10:16:19 AM
TIM PARKER, President, NEA-Alaska, Fairbanks, supported SB 6. He
said educators primarily work with children ages five to 18, but
the NEA also considers what happens in pre-K, because it is
interlinked to K-12. He said that when he moved to Alaska almost
30 years ago, he was surprised the department was named
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) since it is
the Department of Education in other states. He said that SB 6
is helping push the state in that direction.
He reviewed the DEED's homepage, which lists Alaska's Education
Challenge as the driving force within the department, with the
goal to provide an excellent education for every student every
day. In order to achieve that districts must focus on pre-K. One
commitment of the DEED is to cultivate safety and well-being. It
also provides recognition that Alaska is not like other places
in the country. The state needs to provide additional focus to
make sure that some of Alaska's most vulnerable students get the
necessary help so these children are able to learn.
MR. PARKER cautioned that the state can't wait until children
are five years old to assess whether children live in a safe
environment since environmental influences have dramatic effects
on student achievement. The Alaska Developmental Profile, in
which 600 kindergarten teachers examine 13 areas for incoming
kindergarteners. According to a 2018 department study, only 70
percent of students meet fewer than ten of those benchmarks.
He recalled the committee previously discussed the idea of
return on investment. According to research from Professor James
Heckman, a Nobel-winning economist from the University of
Chicago, pointed to a 13 percent return on investment in the
pre-K area. He cautioned that the longer the state waits to
address pre-K, the less the return on investment.
MR. PARKER acknowledged that the quality of pre-K programs was
important. He appreciated that Senator Begich provided a large
volume of research in this area. The legislature must work with
DEED to ensure quality in pre-K. The state needs a program that
actually works, one that works for parents and fits Alaska. He
urged member to look to their professionals and invest in
Alaska's children.
10:21:28 AM
CHAIR STEVENS asked Mr. Parker to provide the Heckman report to
the committee.
10:21:51 AM
PATTY MERITT, representing herself, Fairbanks, Alaska, supported
SB 6 with some recommendations. She has worked as a professor at
the University of Alaska Fairbanks for over 40 years in early
childhood education. She said it is wonderful that Alaska is
considering a universal pre-K option. She has three concerns
with the bill. First, she expressed concern about the
qualifications of the lead teacher and other adults in the
classroom. Early childhood education is often misunderstood
People recognize specialized training in the health field, but
not in the education field, she said. For example, this bill
refers to six early childhood credits for someone who is already
certified. However, the training and course of study is very
different for someone to teach K-12 compared to early childhood.
Most K-12 teachers have one course in child development that
covers ages zero to 18 whereas early childhood development
teachers take three courses to cover the same range to provide
depth and foundation. Curriculum and preparation for K-12 is
also very different for early childhood, she said. Assessment
for K-12 is standardized, but is performance based and uses
specialized observation skills for preschool. Early childhood
training focuses on child guidance while training for older kids
focuses on class management. She agreed that suggesting a type A
certified teacher could take six credits to become a lead
teacher was a significant gap in the bill.
MS. MERITT expressed concern that the bill is missing some
points about quality. For example, research shows that ratios
are critical, which the bill should address. Public schools, due
to funding and space problems often work with large group sizes.
CHAIR STEVENS asked Ms. Meritt to send in her written
recommendations.
MS. MERITT said her third point was that the bill should be
equitable to childcare licensing standard requirements. For
example, some childcare standards might require meeting a 1 to
10 ratio in a private setting but children in a public setting
have ratios of 1 to 15 or 1 to 20.
10:28:27 AM
JUDY ELEDGE, representing herself, Anchorage, opposed SB 6. She
provided a brief work history, including that she has worked in
education in Alaska since 1981 and in rural and bush Alaska
since 1997. She expressed frustration that people are asking for
things that have already been tried, especially when considering
the cost. She said the state does not address truancy, which is
a problem. In her experience, attendance was even worse in pre-
K. Since 2003, she has worked with low-performing schools to
provide support. She has worked with the lowest of the low. It
was baffling to discuss adding pre-K funding when the
legislature is reducing K-12 education and districts struggle to
provide it, she said. She encouraged districts and the
legislature to discussing improving the current program before
adding additional grades.
MS. ELEDGE said she supports the Read by Nine effort because it
has provided early screenings since 2001 when the department
brought in Roland Good of DIBELS from the University of Oregon.
She described her experiences working with low-achieving
students in low-performing schools, noting that many of these
schools don't have the capability to change. However, when
schools have strong programs and strong principals, these low-
performing schools can be turned around. She acknowledged that
the department has limited resources. She hoped that the
department would focus on K-3 reading. She has observed students
enter kindergarten well behind catch up from teacher effort. She
did not hear anything in testimony today that districts haven't
already tried. Sometimes programs don't work well when the
administration forces them on teachers, who push back. She
offered her belief that the districts know what needs to be
done. She expressed frustration that nothing seems to change.
10:33:08 AM
ESTHER PEPIN, representing herself, Naknek, supported SB 6. She
said she is the early learning coordinator for Bristol Bay
School District. As a recipient of the pre-elementary grant, her
community was able to provide every four-year-old with a quality
half-day pre-K program for the last three years. This has had a
significant impact on child development, kindergarten readiness,
and development of a culturally responsive education program.
With the continuation of pre-K funding, the schools and
districts hope to continue to explore a sustainable model to
ensure that early learning support is a priority for their
community and that the children's needs are being met. The pre-
elementary grant is not a one size fits all preschool program.
It is a challenge to ensure that districts developa model
responsive to their community's needs, one that supports
continuity of care through a mixed delivery system. The
districts respect the educational role of parents, elders and
families. It is their right to participate as their children's
first educators, not just at home but also in the classrooms for
early learning, she said.
MS. PEPIN said that continuity of care means that preschool is
not a silo learning experience and continuity includes Alaska
Native ways of knowing and a Western education system. The
program has ensured their young children are ready for
kindergarten. Before receiving the pre-K funding, their children
averaged 25 to 30 percent fully ready for kindergarten based on
the Alaska Developmental Profile. In the last three years, the
school's profile score has increased from 67 and 100 percent on
the 13 goals kindergarten teachers must measure. She said the
district hoped this readiness will be reflected in future years
and also when measuring literacy and math skills in third grade
and beyond. Funding has allowed the school district to provide a
responsive program that meets the social/emotional, cognitive
and physical needs by providing daily opportunities for inquiry-
based play. This funding also provides and trains teachers,
selects and implements research-based inquiry curriculum
resources, and develops a rich, support environment for children
to help them develop the necessary skills to succeed in the
world. Speaking as a mother who will have a child in preschool
next year, she hoped that his teachers would be able to support
his needs and that he will have a rich environment to socialize
in and play with other children as he prepares not only for
kindergarten but for his educational years.
10:37:11 AM
LAURA BONNER, representing herself, Anchorage, supported SB 6.
She said SB 6 is a good long term investment. She said she
previously submitted written testimony on the benefits of SB 6.
She offered support for Section 3, because it created a stair-
step grant program. This program could help the lowest
performing districts improve, many of which are in rural areas
with less access to programs. She expressed support for Section
5, regarding cultural content in the local communities and
accommodations for the needs of all pre-K children and their
families, regardless of socioeconomics circumstances. She
suggested the bill should be expanded to include children who
are three years old, and not be limited to four and five year
old children. She highlighted that her daughter, now an adult,
has autism but was in a special education pre-K program when she
was three years old because of testing. At the time, Ms. Bonner
did not know anything about autism, but she through the pre-K
program she learned how to help her daughter. She acknowledged
that the program has costs, but early investment costs less. She
urged the committee to find the revenue to fund this important
program.
10:39:29 AM
JENNIFER SCHMITZ, State Representative, Alaska Association of
Elementary School Principals, Principal, Scenic Park Elementary
School, Anchorage, spoke in support of SB 6. She said the Alaska
Association of Elementary School Principals strongly supports
early childhood. She briefly reviewed her background, including
that she served as an elementary principal in Anchorage for the
past 13 years. She has seen more rigorous standards and changes
in families' overall fiscal and personal situations. She taught
kindergarten her first year of teaching in 1990. All but one of
her students that year had attended at least one year of
preschool. Today, only 12 of 85 kindergarten students in her
school have attended some type of preschool program. Those who
were attended preschool immediate become leaders in the
classroom. She and her colleagues believe that these students
will remain leaders long after kindergarten. Unfortunately,
quality programs are not available to all families. These
programs are difficult to find and expensive. While the number
of students in high-quality programs has decreased, the
standards for student expectations have increased. When her 22-
year-old son was in kindergarten, it was a half day. The
children played, learned social skills, did art projects, had
naptime, and a basic introduction to letters and numbers. Today,
kindergarten runs a full day. Students are expected to learn
letters, letter sounds, letter blends, story structure, to
compose and decompose numbers, add and subtract fluently to
five, and many other skills. School districts have raised their
rigor, which helps schools compete nationally.
MS. SCHMITZ said each year she discovers that many of her
kindergarteners have never held a pencil, have never had a book
read to them, and many of them have never heard English at home.
These children have never had to sit in a circle, stand in a
line, learn their colors, or many other things that other
students experience prior to beginning school. These teachers
spend much of the school year being pre-K teachers at the same
time these teachers function as the kindergarten teachers. It is
difficult raise these students to the appropriate level by the
end of the year. Unfortunately, some students never catch up.
Pre-K involves parents early on in the educational process, she
said. These parents learn the importance of reading books to
young children. As Ms. Hensley said, reading to children,
talking and interacting with them at home is vital for reading
readiness. However, without early childhood programs and
resources, many parents don't recognize the importance of
reading or how to teach their children. She urged the committee
to support the bill to provide adequate and early funding for
public education.
10:43:11 AM
STEPHANIE GISH, Discovery Preschool, Juneau, spoke in support of
SB 6. She said neuroscience has confirmed that the first five
years of life are crucial to human development. Early childhood
experiences lay the foundation for life. Infants are active
participants in learning. Besides preparing children for
kindergarten, early child educators are trained to spot trauma
triggers and to build resiliency in preschoolers. Considering
Alaska's high incidence of abuse and neglect, early learning
programs might be the only place where healthy development is
being fostered. Continued lack of investment in early education
will produce dire and costly social and economic results, she
said. The lifelong effects of adverse childhood experiences
(ACEs) place a significant and lifetime burden on the state.
High ACE scores are correlated with poor physical and mental
health, along with an increased likelihood of criminal behavior
and unemployment. In short, criminals are made from children who
are abused and neglected, children who cannot access healthy
environments or attachments. Lowering crime rates in Alaska
starts with early childhood education. Adversity and childhood
trauma are not limited to the impoverished, she said. It happens
to far more children than people realize, and the results can
last for generations.
MS. GISH said that learning begins at birth, such that an
infant's brain triples in size by age three. Their dense brains
are eager to learn more about the world. Their brains cannot
distinguish one type of toxic stress from another. These
stresses have the same impact and capacity to impair their
health and well-being for lifet. If the state honestly wants to
make a difference for current and future Alaskans, the
legislature must pave the way for high-quality care and
education to begin in infancy, she said. Programs that provide
developmentally appropriate, high-quality continuity of care
will generate greater academic, social, and economic success.
10:46:10 AM
KATHY CLARK, representing herself, Homer, spoke in support of SB
6. She said she lived in Talkeetna when the first primary
program was introduced in the elementary school for three and
four-year-old children. Her son's daycare teacher was hired to
run the preschool program and encouraged Ms. Clark to enroll her
son. Because he entered the program when he at three-and-a-half
years old, the district discovered he had dysgraphia. That early
diagnosis made a huge difference in how the teachers approached
his education. Currently, her son is a successful graduate and
getting his contractor license at 21, she said. Early education
is not only important for social issues but for learning
disabilities. She referred to testimony she heard today about
the availability, capacity, and quality of childcare. If the
Homer were to lose its Head Start and early preschool programs,
only one church in her community would provide childcare. She
expressed concern that it would cut off a substantial number of
children in the community from the benefits of pre-K.
Unfortunately, some parents are illiterate and cannot read with
their children or help them do simple math problems. These
parents now observe their children being left behind in a system
that left them behind, she said. She urged members to pass SB 6
because it is important.
10:48:38 AM
LISA SKILES PARADY, Ph.D., Executive Director, Alaska Council of
School Administrators, Juneau, supported SB 6. She said that Ms.
Hensley, Dr. Weiss, Principal Schmitz, and others have explained
the importance of this investment in early learning. The Alaska
Council of School Administrators (ACSA) 2019 joint positions
statements consider early childhood as one of their highest
priorities. She read the ACSA position statement on early
childhood education, "ACSA believes equitable access to fully
funded, sustainable preschool programs provides a foundation of
excellent social, emotional and cognitive instruction to
students. Research clearly demonstrates that early intervention
and instruction is one of the best ways to increase student
achievement across all demographics and create the greatest
opportunity for all students to read proficiently by third
grade. Early childhood education should be considered as part of
public school funding through the BSA."
DR. PARADY said that the ACSA and their educational partners
invested in a public opinion poll administered by Zogby
Analytics, a highly respected international polling and research
company. The poll was administered to provide a better
understanding of Alaska voters' perspectives, both on pre-K and
K-12 public education. The pre-K question was whether voters
support or oppose state funded public preschool. The answer was
overwhelming with 73.5 percent of Alaskan voters supporting
state funded preschool. The evidence of public opinion is clear.
Yesterday, the Anchorage Daily News published an opinion piece
that she and her colleagues, Norm Wooten and Sarah Sledge,
wrote. She offered to submit that opinion as written testimony.
She said strongly agreed with the previously testifiers that the
committee should independently research pre-K. She offered her
belief that members will find that investing in early childhood
programs was one of the most critical investments the
legislature can make for the future success of our children and
of our state.
SENATOR BEGICH disclosed that his wife is Sarah Sledge, the
executive director for the Coalition for Education Equity.
10:53:02 AM
CHAIR STEVENS held SB 6 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 09_SB006_PreKfunding_Research_THREAD_FactSheet_2019.pdf |
SEDC 4/16/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 6 |
| 10_SB006_PreKfunding_Support_Emails Bundle15April2019.pdf |
SEDC 4/16/2019 9:00:00 AM |
SB 6 |