Legislature(2013 - 2014)CAPITOL 106
02/13/2013 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation: Alaska Performance Scholarship Program | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
February 13, 2013
8:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Lynn Gattis, Chair
Representative Lora Reinbold, Vice Chair
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux
Representative Dan Saddler
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Harriet Drummond
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Mike Dunleavy, Vice Chair
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Charlie Huggins
Senator Berta Gardner
MEMBERS ABSENT
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Peggy Wilson
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: ALASKA PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DIANE BARRANS, Executive Director
Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information about the Alaska
Performance Scholarship Program.
BRIAN RAE, Assistant Director
Research and Policy Analysis
Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information about the Alaska
Performance Scholarship Program.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:01:32 AM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the joint meeting of the House and
Senate Education Standing Committees to order at 8:01 a.m.
Present at the call to order were Senators Stedman, Huggins,
Gardner, Dunleavy and Chair Stevens, and Representatives
Saddler, Seaton, Drummond, and Chair Gattis.
^PRESENTATION: Alaska PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
PRESENTATION: ALASKA PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
8:02:10 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced that the committee would be hearing
about the outcomes of the Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS)
Program.
DIANE BARRANS, Executive Director, Alaska Commission on
Postsecondary Education, Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED), thanked Chair Gattis and Chair Stevens for
the opportunity to provide information about the APS Outcomes
Report for 2013. She said the information represents just three
semesters of data, but has interesting indicators. She
introduced Brian Rae, the report's author.
8:03:05 AM
BRIAN RAE, Assistant Director, Research and Policy Analysis,
Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, Department of
Education and Early Development (DEED), emphasized the
collaborative efforts between the University of Alaska System,
DEED, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and the
Commission. He thanked his colleagues at the partnering research
agencies.
MR. RAE explained that the report is laid out similarly to last
year's report.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS noted the arrival of Representative
LeDoux.
MR. RAE reviewed the topics he would cover in the presentation.
He began with the first topic: where APS-eligible graduates
reside. He showed tables of residency based on school district.
He noted that there are several regulations that protect student
privacy, especially the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA). Some data for smaller districts must be suppressed
in order to protect student privacy, such as eligibility data.
He related that 48 out of the 54 small districts graduated
students that were eligible for the APS the first two years it
was available. He said that graduates from 42 of those districts
made use of the scholarship.
He reported that with 40 percent of the state's high school
graduates, Anchorage has the highest number of APS-eligible and
recipient students. Fairbanks is a distant second, followed by
Mat-Su and Kenai.
8:05:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if the reason the percentages of
scholarship recipients cannot be known in the smaller schools is
because that would give away who received them.
MR. RAE answered yes. Under FERPA guidelines, education
attainment and levels of performance are not reportable for
small districts.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX inquired if it is a state or federal law.
MR. RAE replied that it is a federal regulation.
CHAIR STEVENS noted the arrival of Senator Stedman.
SENATOR GARDNER requested clarification if 48 of the smaller
schools had students that were eligible for the APS.
MR. RAE answered that was correct.
SENATOR GARDNER related that she counted 27 districts in the
Academic Year 2012 that had no eligible graduates.
MR. RAE clarified that the asterisk does not mean that there are
no students that qualify; it means that those students cannot be
reported.
SENATOR GARDNER asked if Chugach School District, which boasts
of a 98 percent graduation rate, had some of the 13 students
that graduated qualify for the APS.
MR. RAE answered that was correct.
8:07:45 AM
SENATOR STEDMAN recalled that last year there was talk of
combining some of the remote schools' data in order to put some
validity in the report. He noted that he represents some of the
smaller districts and receives no useful information from the
report. He asked for the status of that suggestion.
MR. RAE explained that report includes a breakdown by region,
and small school information was aggregated by region.
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND asked why Fairbanks was a distant second
to Anchorage in terms of the number of graduates. She assumed
the number of graduates and the number of eligible graduates is
in proportion to the size of the school district.
MR. RAE related that Fairbanks is second in terms of the number
of eligible graduates and third in terms of the number of
graduates. He said it is not always the case that there is
proportionality between the number of graduates and those
eligible for the APS. Statewide, 27.2 percent of graduates do
achieve APS eligibility.
8:09:24 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked if Haines is twice as eligible as everyone
else at 65 percent.
MR. RAE said oftentimes school districts have wide ranges of
students that have achieved APS eligibility. He could not say
why Haines reported that way.
SENATOR HUGGINS stated that he is amazed at the difference and
it is worth looking into.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX inquired how many students a school has to
have in order to be able to report. She noted that Gateway
School District has 13 graduates. She questioned why reporting
one or two students as eligible for the APS would give away who
it was.
MR. RAE explained a rule that states that a student cannot be
easily identified by a person who has local knowledge; therefore
a number that is five or greater can be reported. If the number
of eligible students is less than five, the information would
not be reported.
8:11:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX returned to the subject of Alaska Gateway
with 13 students and said it was wrong to assume that no
students were eligible for the APS.
MR. RAE said that is correct; there could be anywhere from none
to four students eligible.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX did not understand why they could not be
reported.
MR. RAE stated that DEED must follow federal regulations.
CHAIR STEVENS said fewer than five is the suppression number.
MR. RAE replied yes.
CHAIR GATTIS noted the arrival of Representative Reinbold.
SENATOR STEDMAN spoke of the regional analysis listed on page
four of the report, which does not show any consolidation of the
village schools in Southeast Alaska. It only shows the
consolidation of all schools in Southeast Alaska; however, the
larger school data should not be combined with smaller school
data. He noted the data does not provide the information he
needs and he requested that village school data be consolidated
in future reports.
He asked about the data regarding Mt. Edgecumbe High School
which shows 18 percent eligible recipients. He pointed out that
Mt. Edgecumbe is probably the top high school in the state. He
questioned the low score.
MS. BARRANS responded that she could share numbers from schools
with legislators if the numbers were sufficiently large enough
to share. The purpose of the APS Outcomes Report is to present
broad information to the public.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if Senator Stedman was satisfied with that
option.
SENATOR STEDMAN replied that he was. He emphasized that one of
the discussion points since the inception of the APS has been
the disadvantages that rural schools face against urban schools.
He opined that it was not good public policy to withhold data
related to small schools.
MS. BARRANS addressed Senator Stedman's question regarding Mt.
Edgecumbe. She said the report presents the data as the
department receives it. She suggested having a further
discussion with administrators from Mt. Edgecumbe about the
percentage of qualified students.
8:16:39 AM
MR. RAE pointed out that there were a very small number of
school districts that dominate the percentage of graduates for
districts with 70 percent. Also, there were eleven districts
that had fewer than 10 graduates, which is why there is so much
suppression in the data.
He reported that, statewide, 27.2 percent of last year's public
high school graduates were eligible for the APS, a number that
was down slightly from 29 percent the previous year. Some of the
decline can be attributed to year-to-year fluctuation. However,
there was an increase in curriculum requirements necessary to
become eligible for the APS. The rigorous curriculum
requirements are being phased in through 2015 in order to allow
students time to adjust their course-taking patterns. He noted
large differences between the districts regarding eligibility
percentages. Nine of the suppressed districts had eligibility
rates that were above 35 percent, and six of those districts had
eligibility rates above 40 percent.
He presented data by regions in the state. He stated that the
pattern of APS eligibility and usage is fairly similar to last
year's report. He said he found this data to be interesting
because there are such large differences in the numbers of
graduates coming from the various districts and it is easier to
make cross-region comparisons using percentages. The Interior
region had the highest percentages of graduates academically
eligible to receive an APS award at 30.4 percent. The Far North
Region had the lowest percentage of eligible graduates at 11.2
percent.
MR. RAE explained that school districts within the regions did
differ. For example, Nome, in the Far North Region had an
eligibility rate that was 6 percentage points above the
statewide average. However, when the percentage of students
eligible for the award was considered, both the Far North and
the Interior Regions had the highest usage rates for the awards.
Approximately, one half of the eligible students from these two
regions did take advantage of the APS.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked if middle school courses in smaller
schools are being used in the formula to determine eligibility.
MR. RAE replied that he was not aware of any.
MS. BARRANS said that provision did not apply during the first
two years APS was in place. She explained that last year the
legislature passed a law that allowed DEED, through regulation,
to promulgate rules around which a high school level course
taken in middle school could be transcripted as satisfying the
APS curriculum. This provision will apply for the first time to
the graduates in 2013.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY summarized that it was a high school course
taken by middle school students.
MS. BARRANS agreed.
8:20:34 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if all schools are operating on an
even playing field. She inquired how students qualify for the
APS, by standardized test or by grades.
MS. BARRANS said the requirements to qualify have three
components which are set in regulation. The student must have
completed certain curricular requirements, have a certain grade
point average, and have a certain score on the SAT, ACT, or
WorkKeys Assessment. If one of those three components is missing
they do not qualify.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX gave an example of a student qualifying in
one region, but not in another.
MS. BARRANS explained that all students also have to achieve a
level of achievement on nationally normed tests, regardless if
there is a variation in bell curves between regions.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX insisted that was only one of three
qualifications. She continued to distinguish between a harder
school district versus a lower level district.
MS. BARRANS explained that a student would not qualify for the
scholarship with a lower than 2.5 grade point average.
MR. RAE clarified that there are three different scores used to
determine eligibility.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX reiterated her concern.
MR. RAE explained that the award level is based on the lowest
score of the three.
8:24:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX restated that if the school districts are
not on the same level the comparison is not equal.
MR. RAE maintained that the standardized test scores would
equalize that.
MS. BARRANS added that the state does not receive the test
scores; the schools determine which students are eligible.
CHAIR GATTIS asked if all school districts offer the necessary
classes in order to qualify for the scholarship and if on-line
or correspondence courses are acceptable.
MS. BARRANS noted that Commissioner Hanley was available to
answer questions later on in the presentation.
CHAIR STEVENS requested that Chair Gattis hold her question
until later.
8:27:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked for clarification regarding the 11
percent of graduates from the Southeast School District.
MR. RAE explained that data is an attempt to show the magnitude
of the scale of different regions.
CHAIR STEVENS said the numbers total 100 percent.
MR. RAE said "hopefully." He continued to discuss exhibit 3, the
AY 12 public school graduates, eligibility, and recipients by
ethnicity and gender. There are large differences in eligibility
rates by ethnicity. On average, 27.2 of all graduates are
eligible for the APS, and 35 percent of Caucasian graduates were
eligible, and 10.5 percent of Alaska Native and American Indian
graduates. Once a student becomes APS eligible, the usage rates
are much more similar across ethnic groups with one in three
graduates taking advantage of the scholarship.
He reported that when reviewing eligibility and usages by
gender, female graduates are somewhat more likely to be eligible
to receive the APS. The gender differences seem to disappear
when considering usage.
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND wondered about the percent of Alaska
Native and American Indian eligible for the APS who had
participated in the ANSEP program.
8:29:55 AM
MR. RAE said he would love to be able to research that issue.
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND thought it would be difficult to do so
due to the small numbers.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if students can use this scholarship
for out-of-state colleges.
MR. RAE said the requirements say it is for in-state schools
only.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX surmised that one of the reasons students
who are eligible don't use the scholarship is because they plan
to attend school in another state.
MR. RAE said that was correct.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY inquired which other institutions accept APS
scholarships.
MR. RAE referred to an appendix in the report that provides a
list of all schools that accept the scholarship.
MS. BARRANS commented that there is an extensive list.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked if Alaska Pacific University and Wayland
Baptist University are on the list. He noted they are private
schools. He asked if there could be sectarian schools, as well.
MS. BARRANS answered yes.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX understood that public money was not
supposed to go into religious or private education. She did not
understand why APS was constitutional.
8:32:42 AM
MS. BARRANS replied that the history of financial aid in Alaska
is that students can take their financial aid to any school of
their choice as long as the school is accredited. That has not
been challenged in court.
MR. RAE discussed exhibit 4 that shows award levels for AY 12
and AY 11, with an increase in the usage of the APS by eligible
students by all award levels. He attributed this to an increased
awareness of the scholarship and a longer planning time.
CHAIR STEVENS noted the count in level two only differs by one
student.
MR. RAE responded that there was an increase in the number of
eligible level two recipients.
He continued with exhibit 20 - a survey of respondents'
knowledge about the APS and their eligibility status. He related
that in the first year, only 55 percent of graduates reported
being aware of their APS eligibility. For the most recent
graduating class, 70 percent were aware. He compared data
between the two groups.
8:37:02 AM
He said next two exhibits show in-state and out-of-state
attendance patterns by award level in AY 11 and AY 12. He shared
conclusions of that data as it relates to all U.S. graduates and
to Alaska graduates. He detailed changes between APS eligible
graduates in Alaska during the two years.
8:39:52 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked if they were going to track post-
secondary completion rates.
MR. RAE said yes. He discussed exhibit 7 - APS recipients in the
fall following graduation by award level and expected family
contribution (EFC). He noted that financial need is not a factor
in determining eligibility in these students. For data purposes,
students were broken down into four quartiles based on EFC. He
reported that students eligible for the top award level and in
the higher income bracket were more likely to use their
scholarship in AY 12 compared to AY 11.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER requested clarification of the chart.
MR. RAE explained the categories on the chart.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked about a category.
MR. RAE clarified the data.
CHAIR STEVENS asked for an explanation of 93 percent.
MR. RAE explained the highest quartile.
MS. BARRANS noted it was a head count number, not a percent.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked about income numbers.
MR. RAE said those numbers are included in the report itself,
but not in the chart.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER concluded that the highest quartile
represents the wealthiest families.
MR. RAE said correct.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked for the conclusion the committee
should draw from the chart.
MR. RAE summarized the data on the chart. He related that more
students fell into eligibility level one this year than last
year. In the third quartile, the family is expected to
contribute a greater amount toward the student's education, yet
there was an increase in the most recent year. Both these groups
show the largest gains from year to year.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER concluded that more students who are
eligible for the top award are using it and attending in Alaska.
MR. RAE said that was correct. In order to receive the APS the
student must attend in Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER stated that the program is working well
to encourage students to attend college in Alaska.
MR. RAE said the evidence points to that.
8:45:43 AM
He explained exhibit 8 - APS recipients and postsecondary
attendance by institution. He said that overwhelmingly - 99
percent - were attending one of the University of Alaska
schools.
CHAIR STEVENS noted that attendance at the other universities is
quite small.
MR. RAE said that was correct. He turned to exhibit 9 - how much
in APS funds was awarded and for what types of enrollment. The
majority of APS recipients are enrolling in bachelor's degree
programs; nearly 88 percent.
He explained exhibit 10 shows that APS recipients are enrolled
on a full-time basis. He pointed out that the only other factor
besides the eligibility level, that affects the amount of the
award, is the student's enrollment status. Part time students
see a 50 percent reduction in their maximum scholarship amount.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked if the Y axis is dollars.
MR. RAE answered yes. He continued to explain that full time
recipients of the APS were awarded $5.3 million total for both
years.
He noted that the use of the scholarship in any quarter counts
against the 8 semesters of eligibility. There is a very strong
incentive for a student to attend full time.
8:48:33 AM
He explained exhibit 13 - public high school graduates pursuing
postsecondary degree/certificate at UA within one year of
graduation. He noted that there was only preliminary information
on students' educational attainment and none on students' future
workforce success.
He addressed information about educational attainment of APS
students, of which there is very little data available to date.
He listed the advantages of students who pursue post-secondary
education immediately upon graduation from high school.
CHAIR STEVENS stated it was too early to draw conclusions, but
asked how many years of data would be needed in order to see the
impact of the APS.
MR. RAE replied that the earliest timeframe would be four years
after the first year's graduating class. That may have to be
extended to six years for comparison with non-APS students.
SENATOR GARDNER asked if the shift from four to five or more
years in order to obtain a college degree is nationwide. She
inquired what factors may be influencing that trend.
MR. RAE said it does appear to be a nationwide trend. Many
reporting metrics now consider graduation rates within six years
to be a reporting mark.
CHAIR STEVENS wondered if it was due to lack of jobs in the
market.
MS. BARRANS agreed it was nationwide, but added that there were
differences between the rates at which students complete
college, depending on type of school. Highly selective schools
typically have on-time completion rates; community colleges have
longer completion rates. More students are taking longer due to
lack of academic preparation or for economic reasons.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER read that the APS was amended to include
vocational schools. He wondered what conclusions could be drawn
from that change. He noted that vocational certificate seekers
were 1.6 percent of APS recipients versus 3 percent of all
graduates.
MR. RAE asked Representative Saddler about his calculations.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER clarified that he was looking at the
bottom row on the far right of the chart. He said the conclusion
he has drawn is that those who got the APS scholarship sought
certificates less than the general population of graduates.
MR. RAE responded that he was going to say the same thing in
reverse: APS recipients are more likely to pursue a bachelor
degree and less likely to pursue a vocational certificate or an
Associate's Degree than the general population of student
graduates.
MR. RAE recapped exhibit 13 - APS students are more likely to
finish a degree and require less remediation if they start
college earlier.
8:57:42 AM
He turned to exhibit 12 (out of order), which contains
information about which students required preparatory courses at
the start of post-secondary education. Of 3,284 first time
freshmen at UA, 892 received APS awards. Students ineligible for
the APS were nearly three times more likely to take a
preparatory class than were APS recipients.
CHAIR STEVENS asked where that information could be found.
MR. RAE explained where it was on exhibit 12. He concluded that
the numbers are preliminary, but the average APS eligible
student would have earned 13.2 credit hours applicable to a
degree at the end of fall semester, whereas, the ineligible
student would have earned only 8.5 hours.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked what this information is supposed to
show.
MR. RAE commented that the data shows that an APS student has
achieved a high academic level and will perform better in
college. It shows that incentivizing students to attend early
leads to better success in college.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if they are attending early due to
the APS scholarship.
MR. RAE commented that when comparing the AY 11 and the AY 12
class, it shows that some aspects of APS come into play, such as
attending college in state.
MS. BARRANS said that over time, more trends would become
apparent. She added that, ideally, there would be more students
qualifying for APS. She wished to see more data about APS
students and non-APS students in order to reach solid
conclusions about the impact of the program.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER opined that the slide shows that the APS
is having its intended effect.
9:04:12 AM
MR. RAE turned to exhibit 14 - postsecondary attendance patterns
for AY 11 APS eligible graduates. He shared data regarding that
group, noting the pattern of attendance. Eighty percent of
students were attending post-secondary education somewhere.
MR. RAE explained exhibit 15 - postsecondary attendance patterns
for AY 11 non-APS eligible graduates. He related information
about attendance. Sixty-seven percent were not attending post-
secondary education.
He discussed exhibits 16 and 17 - AY 11 public school graduates
receiving a fall 2011 APS, and how many continued to receive the
scholarship in subsequent semesters. Over 90 percent in that
category returned to continue with their education using the
APS.
9:08:25 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked what "returned" means.
MR. RAE clarified which students the data was referring to.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER suggested different wording such as
"utilized" the scholarship.
MR. RAE said the students were "receiving the payment."
MS. BARRANS added that the data shows persistence rates.
MR. RAE said the Interior Region had the highest usage rate of
any region. Seventy-five percent of those students who attended
in the fall of 2011, continued to receive the award in the fall
of 2012.
MS. BARRANS noted students may be enrolled in college, but not
receiving the award if they failed to meet the requirements to
continue to receive the award.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if the limit on semesters counts against
them in that case.
MS. BARRANS answered no.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked about the eligibility requirements
of continuing to receive the scholarship once a student is
enrolled in college.
MR. RAE replied that he would address that later in the
presentation.
9:11:10 AM
MR. RAE said the student's award level is the best predictor of
success. He noted that 80 percent of award level one recipients
in the fall of 2011 were still receiving the award the following
fall. For levels two and three, the percentage drops to 60
percent.
He discussed exhibit 18 - AY 11 public school graduates meeting
"continuing eligibility requirements" (CER). The first
certification of a student's continuing eligibility occurs after
the student has received two semesters or three terms of APS
awards. Full time students must have earned at least 24 semester
credit hours and maintained a GPA of 2.0 or higher. He said the
Interior Region had the highest percentage of students meeting
the CER at 90 percent. The Southwest region had the lowest
number of students not meeting CER at 30 percent.
He noted that 93 percent of level-one students met the CER and
78 percent and 79 percent of levels-two and three did so.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked about eligibility as it relates to
the eight semesters.
MS. BARRANS said the 8-semester clock does not continue to run
if a student is ineligible, but the 6-year clock does.
MR. RAE showed exhibit 19 - persistence of AY 11 APS recipient
high school graduates attending UA in the fall immediately
following graduation. Nearly 83 percent of APS recipients return
to school the following year.
MR. RAE discussed exhibit 22 - the percentage of AY 11 APS
eligible graduates receiving an award in the fall 2012 and
working at any time during fiscal year, by award level. He
explained what each bar means on the graph. He concluded that it
is too soon to determine how the APS affects future earnings.
9:16:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if the data includes summer
employment.
MR. RAE answered that it includes any wages, including summer.
He talked about exhibit 23 - percentage of AY 11 APS eligible
graduates receiving an award in the fall of 2012 and working at
any time during fiscal year, by award amounts. He said similar
patterns emerged.
CHAIR STEVENS said he did not know what conclusions were being
drawn.
9:18:25 AM
MR. RAE said the interest in this baseline wage data is in the
future, and in the relationship of high academics to work.
CHAIR STEVENS suggested working is good for everyone.
SENATOR GARDNER found it interesting that the two extremes start
out together and then diverge.
MS. BARRANS said it is important to see what impacts success in
post-secondary education.
SENATOR GARDNER noted the data is from UA and not many students
are going to private institutions. She wondered about students
attending private schools and the problems related to them, as
seen in the Lower 48.
MR. RAE suggested that Alaska's private schools do not fit the
description of those down south.
SENATOR GARDNER reiterated that she would like to see the data
at some point for students that attend non-UA schools.
MR. RAE explained the conclusions of the previous slides. The
first couple of slides showed that students at different award
levels showed slightly different employment patterns.
He related that exhibit 24 is the percentage of AY 11 APS
eligible graduates receiving an award in the fall of 2012 and
working in four quarters during the fiscal year, by award
amounts. Between 22 percent and 30 percent of students worked in
their junior year in high school. Those who received lower
awards were more likely than their peers to have worked in all
four quarters.
9:23:16 AM
He explained exhibit 25 - average earnings of AY 11 APS eligible
graduates receiving an award in the fall of 2012 and working in
four quarters during the fiscal year, by award amounts. He said
the students with the highest awards have the lowest wage income
in college. He concluded that most students focus more on
education than work.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if there is a connection between hours
worked and wages.
MR. RAE commented that an assumption could be made that the
students were working entry level jobs.
9:25:31 AM
CHAIR STEVENS thanked the presenters.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER wondered what was going on in other
states in this area.
MR. RAE replied that he has compared Alaska data to Wyoming's.
Alaska's Department of Labor captures more data than Wyoming
does.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked if Mr. Rae had come to any
conclusions.
MR. RAE answered that he was struck by the difference in the
populations in AY 11 and AY 12 due to having an increased
awareness and more time to consider options related to post-
secondary choices for those in AY 12.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if there were any future legislative issues
that need to be discussed.
MS. BARRANS answered no. She explained that the Commission is
working on a project with DEED, DOL, and UA to develop a
statewide longitudinal data system regarding student-level
information. She said she hopes the impact of the APS Program
will go beyond the impact of financial aid and have effects on
the aspirations and preparation of the entire student
population. She said the project is three years out from
implementation. Currently, the discussion is how to
appropriately and securely collect data and make it available to
practitioners and districts, as well as to the public.
9:29:51 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Stevens adjourned the Joint House Education Standing
Committee and Senate Education Standing Committee at 9:29 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 02132013_APS_Annual_Report2013.pdf |
HEDC 2/13/2013 8:00:00 AM |