Legislature(1997 - 1998)
02/27/1997 03:00 PM House HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 146 - PUPIL COMPETENCY TESTING Number 0072 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said the first item on the agenda was HB 146, "An Act relating to competency testing requirements for secondary students; and providing for an effective date." He said this bill basically says that students, who receive a high school diploma, should be able to pass a competency exam showing that they are proficient in the basics. Number 0115 CHAIRMAN BUNDE read from the sponsor statement, many of our high school graduates are finishing school and receiving high school diplomas without the skills necessary to survive in the world. This obviously must not continue. Twenty-one states now conduct student competency tests for a standard high school diploma. The students in those states must pass a test with a minimum score before they are allowed to graduate. Three states also have an exit exam for an "Endorsed Diploma", which is basically an honors diploma. Students not only have to pass the test, but must score at a designated level, higher than the minimum required for a regular diploma. Three other states go even further and have a rigorous test for an "Honors Diploma". Number 0167 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said, under the provisions of HB 146, a student is required to pass a competency examination in the areas of reading, English, mathematics, science and social science before receiving a high school diploma. The test would be selected by the Department of Education (DOE). A pupil who failed this examination and was no longer in attendance would be given a certificate of attendance. It would indicate the number of years of attendance, but would also show that the student has neither passed the competency examination nor received a diploma. The pupil would have the opportunity to take a re-examination, but it would have to take place within three years after the pupil left high school. Number 0227 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said it is time for Alaska to take its place among those states working to ensure that their high school graduates have the knowledge needed to succeed in the world. Number 0327 SHIRLEY J. HOLLOWAY, Ph.D., Commissioner, Department of Education, testified next via teleconference from Anchorage. She was testifying from Kincaid Elementary School in Anchorage and had two students who were interested in the bill and wished to make a comment. Number 0289 JAMES RATUZZI testified next via teleconference from Anchorage. He said he is 12-years-old. His mother agrees with HB 145 and thinks it would be great. He agreed with his mother. Number 0327 LIZ FERGUSSON testified next via teleconference from Anchorage. She is 11-years-old and in sixth grade. She had not talked with her mother, but thinks her mother would want to pass this bill. Number 0360 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY thanked the committee for the opportunity to talk about the quality schools initiative and their interest and questions. She referred to the fact that last year, for the first time, the national assessment of educational progress test was given to the state of Alaska. Those scores were released at 2:00 p.m. EST and all the details were not available. She understood that fourth graders in the state scored, in math, at about the national average and eighth graders scored a little above the national average. She said the DOE would provide more detailed information once they received it. Number 0424 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said in order for the DOE to contemplate a fair test, which students must pass in order to graduate, the public school system really has to be of quality, this includes adopted and well-known standards for all students. This really means that our professionals are prepared to make sure that all students have an opportunity to learn these standards. At this time, no state uses a commercially available test. There are 17 states with an exit examination, that DOE knows of, and they have all been contacted for specific details on how they run a defensible testing program of this nature. COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said tests are either developed by the state or by a publisher for the state. The security of the test is evidently a major factor which causes states to revise their test frequently, most do so annually. Frequent retesting is not allowed as this affects the validity of the results. States do not test more than once a year. As you can see from the letter, which she hoped was located in the committee file, DOE cannot use the California achievement test as an exit examination. Number 0512 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said every state which has an exit examination has a state adopted curriculum. This means that all schools must teach this curriculum and all students are supposed to learn it. Every state, currently using an examination for graduation, has an exit test closely tied to the curriculum or standards with staff monitoring whether that curriculum and standards are being taught. This is what allows the exit examination to withstand the inevitable court challenges which will occur when students obtain passing grades, but do not pass the test. Studies say that students fail, even when they are actually able to perform the skills on the test, due to anxiety or other reasons. For that reason, many of the states have gone to a multiple approach in their exit tests. They might have a student do a portfolio, they might have a pencil and paper test and they might do what is called, "mastery exhibition." Master Exhibition is where students perform research, draft a well written paper and present those papers to a community of school people. Number 0607 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said there is not a state adopted curriculum or state adopted standards in Alaska at this time. She referred to the past committee meeting where she testified that Governor Knowles had asked the state Board of Education to consider imbedding language, in the regulations, that districts need to meet or exceed standards in language arts, math and reading. The Board of Education has directed the DOE to draft a regulation that would say that and then present it for their consideration. Number 0652 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said the state budget for this examination, based on quickly done research, varied from a low of $500,000 annually to a high of $10 million after the test development is completed. When students do not pass an exit examination, districts are probably going to have to incur costs such as remedial programs or summer school. The department thinks that any exit test has to be part of a comprehensive, broad based assessment that would start when children begin schooling. Children should come to the schools with a good developmental profiling of where they are in their development. Critical benchmarks and interventions should be done throughout their schooling to increase the probability that every student truly has the opportunity to gain the knowledge and the skills to perform well on the exit test. Number 0704 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said these tests are called high stakes test because the consequences, to the student who does not pass, are very high. Other states report that most students who do not pass end up dropping out of school, their whole life affected. With this knowledge, the state of Alaska would want to select or develop an examination of the very best quality and one which would be the most fair to all of the children in the school districts in the state. There is a lot of work to do to make an exit test a reality for Alaska. Number 0750 CHAIRMAN BUNDE referred to her testimony that students that fail this test would drop out of school. He envisioned that this test would be administered late in the senior year, so there would be little consequence to people dropping out of school. Number 0767 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said if we had a broader based assessment, assessments would have been done maybe two times before they ever got to that exit test. These tests might have been done even before they were in high school. We would know the probability of them passing that exit test and would do a good intervention to assist them in being able to pass it. Number 0786 CHAIRMAN BUNDE referred to her use of "we" and said he imagined that the school district would be doing the pretesting, the benchmarking, as the student goes along but the state would only be responsible for the final exam. Number 0799 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said this is a possible way to design it. She thought that some of the districts are well positioned to do that, but many of the district are not and would need a great deal of support and technical assistance from the state. Number 0815 REPRESENTATIVE BRIAN PORTER asked her, from her experience going around the state, if she had the opportunity to look at the basic curriculum throughout the state. Knowing whether or not there were substantial differences in the basic course of Algebra One in Sitka as opposed to Fairbanks. Number 0841 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said there is a great deal of diversity in expectations within the different schools in the state of Alaska. Number 0851 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER commented that perhaps we have identified a problem. Number 0857 REPRESENTATIVE FRED DYSON was under the impression that the Japanese, the English, the Canadians and the Germans were all doing a very standard test for their equivalent of high school proficiency and asked her if she knew if this was true or not. Number 0877 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY did not know for sure, but most of those countries have a basic curriculum that is country-wide and is expected to be taught to all students. It is probable that they have an exit examination based on agreed upon learning. Number 0903 REPRESENTATIVE DYSON said those countries probably have more cultural homogeneity than we do. Tailoring tests for cultural minorities might be less of a problem for those countries. He inferred that the commissioner would try to make a test to take into account students' learning styles and their ability to respond to standard tests. There would be a means of demonstrating competency other than a paper and pencil test. Number 0941 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said this was correct, any exit examination has to have a performance part of the test. We shouldn't just rely on paper and pencil. Based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test, the response of teachers who gave the national assessment educational progress test; 30 percent of the test was performance based. Students did scientific experiments, manipulation of objects and that kind of thing. Teachers reported that students were well engaged and said it gave those students an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge in a different way other than filling in a bubble. She thought this was important for us to consider in developing a credible, reliable exit test. Number 0983 REPRESENTATIVE DYSON said there will always be concern that some districts and some schools will find a way to get all the kids to pass, even though there isn't a competency in finding a test that they will pass. He asked how the DOE could work to limit that manipulation of the test. Number 1013 COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said we would have to learn from other states and their mistakes. She believed that it would be important that we have agreed upon learning. She mentioned the state board is adopting language arts, mathematics and reading as the core of the state's responsibility for assessment. "By saying that districts have to meet or exceed those, there would have to be, and we're recommending, through our accreditation, new accreditation model, that when we go in we would expect to see that there have been, there are standards and they are the state standards in language arts, math and reading. And if they are in fact being taught and measured all the way along, then your exit test is in alignment to the previous tests and what is actually being taught." Number 1079 CHRIS BLOUNT, Student, testified next via teleconference from MatSu. He said he is a junior at Wasilla High School and thinks the test is a good idea, but it should not be popped on the students. The testing should begin in 2001, current eighth graders would be the first ones to take the test allowing teachers to prepare the students. He said introducing this test would be unfair to the teachers as well as the students. He referred to students that have difficulty taking tests. Number 1146 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said this test would be phased in over at least a four year period so students are aware of what is being expected of them. The test would not surprise anyone. He said the concern is that a high school diploma needs to retain some respect in the public. Right now, particularly in the business community, a number of people are saying that a high school diploma doesn't mean anything because we have too many kids who can't read and write at the high school level. People look at a high school diploma and question how valid it is and what your credibility is. "One of the things we're trying to do is help those students who might not be able to pass the test, we want to encourage them to be able to pass the test and the other thing is that we want to help students like yourself, who could pass the test, by making their diploma mean even more than it does now." Number 1203 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER said legislation is often provided without talking to the people affected by the legislation. He asked Mr. Blount if he had an idea of what his career goals might be. Number 1227 MR. BLOUNT said he was thinking of being a teacher. Number 1232 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER said one of the other bills being considered by the committee is that when a teacher comes to this state and decides they want to be certified in the state, they are going to get a test popped at them. If they can't pass that test, they won't get certified and they won't teach. He said quite a few professions and occupations have that reality. This bill tries to get our high school students prepared for the reality that they are going to be facing. Number 1271 CHAIRMAN BUNDE assured Mr. Blount that this test would not apply to him. Number 1304 JOHN CYR, President, National Education Association-Alaska (NEA- Alaska), said his organization supports the principle that students should achieve certain competencies before graduation, but they could not support HB 146 in its present form. They believe that a one time test taken by 17 or 18-year-olds, shortly before graduation, is not the best way to achieve student standards or to ensure student competency. They believe that a comprehensive system of student assessment, followed with intervention and remediation, is more likely to positively affect student achievement. By requiring serious assessment and real interventions at earlier grade levels for those students who are experiencing difficulties, they believe schools and teachers can develop strategies to strengthen learning. MR. CYR referred to the commissioner's testimony and said that beyond the regular assessments that classroom teachers do, there are several natural checkpoints can be taken advantage if the state wishes to require district or statewide assessment. Perhaps the most natural checkpoint is when children enter school. Districts all over the country assess incoming kindergarten children to determine readiness to learn and their learning styles. A follow- up assessment could happen at the end of the primary grades, another assessment when they leave elementary school, an assessment coming out of middle school or junior high and then certainly assessments at the high school level. This would give teachers and parents the information needed to provide appropriate programs to effect change in those students who are not meeting the standards. The careful use of portfolios of work and testing at critical periods in the student learning cycle would help education professionals, more accurately, determine students needs as well as measuring proficiencies. MR. CYR said NEA-Alaska believes that students and parents deserve to find out, as soon as possible in the education process, if there are any learning problems that need to be addressed. The program of the sort that was outlined would help children and their families, but only if we are willing to provide the necessary support for remediation. It will not help the learning environment if all we do is test kids. Testing must lead to a change in the students' learning environment, if it is indicated. Smaller class size, intensive remedial programs, increased utilization of school counselors especially in the elementary grades, up to date instructional materials and technology and enhanced parental involvement must be the result of any assessment program. It is these types of changes that will increase the performance of all students, not just those who are at risk. MR. CYR said, finally, we must work with community partners and teachers to reallocate existing revenues to guarantee standards, referenced in learning, in every public school. Our long range goal must be to rebuild the education system so as to dedicate our work to activities for improving teaching and learning as measured by standards for student achievement. Number 1469 CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked if he could infer that if we just had smaller class size, school counselors, more parental involvement and the rest of the list that all students would be functionally literate when they received their high school diploma. Number 1478 MR. CYR said you could infer that if we had smaller class size, better instructional material, appropriate use of technology, used school counselors to help those kids with problems that the vast majority would be positively impacted. He said he could not guarantee that every child who is born and comes to an Alaskan public school would succeed with those supports. Number 1500 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said most of the teachers do a great deal of what he suggested should be done and they still have children who choose to fail. Number 1510 MR. CYR said, with all due respect, he did not know that children choose to fail. In some cases society fails children, in some cases parents fail them and in some cases schools fail them. Collectively, as a society, we fail children, but he did not think children choose to fail. Number 1530 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said his experience was limited to high school and post high school ages. He said there are high school kids who choose to fail. Number 1543 REPRESENTATIVE DYSON said, as he understood Commissioner Holloway's testimony, the way DOE would approach this testing is virtually identical to what Mr. Cyr said in his statement. Number 1564 MR. CYR said he arrived in the middle of her testimony. Number 1591 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said this is the first time this bill has been addressed, it would be heard again on Thursday, March 6, 1997. He said he would entertain and encourage a request for additional public testimony.
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