Legislature(2015 - 2016)CAPITOL 106
03/11/2015 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Presentation: University of Alaska Report on Attracting, Training and Retaining Qualified Public School Teachers | |
| Adjourn |
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| += | HB 80 | TELECONFERENCED | |
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 11, 2015
8:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Wes Keller, Chair
Representative Lora Reinbold, Vice Chair
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Harriet Drummond
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Jim Colver
Representative Liz Vazquez
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA REPORT ON ATTRACTING~
TRAINING AND RETAINING QUALIFIED PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
MIKE POWERS, Vice-Chair Board of Regents
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented the University of Alaska's Report
on Attracting, Training, and Recruiting Qualified Public School
Teachers.
STEVE ATWATER PhD, Associate Vice President
K-12 Outreach
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the University of Alaska
report on attracting, training, and retaining qualified public
school teachers.
DIANE HIRSHBERG, Director
Center for Alaska Education Policy Research
University of Alaska Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions during the
University of Alaska's presentation.
DEBORAH LO, Dean
School of Education
University of Alaska Southeast
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions during the
University of Alaska's presentation.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:04:46 AM
CHAIR WES KELLER called the House Education Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Representatives Seaton, Drummond,
Kreiss-Tomkins, Reinbold, and Keller were present at the call to
order.
8:05:22 AM
^PRESENTATION: UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA REPORT ON ATTRACTING,
TRAINING AND RETAINING QUALIFIED PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS
PRESENTATION: UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA REPORT ON ATTRACTING,
TRAINING AND RETAINING QUALIFIED PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS
CHAIR KELLER announced that the only order of business would be
a presentation from the University of Alaska (UA) on attracting,
training, and retaining qualified public school teachers.
CHAIR KELLER advised the committee that the following
presentation is required by statute, and the intent is to narrow
the gap between teachers new to the state and turnover, and the
quality of training teachers out of Alaska, thereby retaining
more teachers. He opined that the intent was to require the
legislature and University of Alaska to interact once a year
personally.
8:08:23 AM
REGENT MIKE POWERS, Vice-Chair Board of Regents, University of
Alaska, said the mission and strategy of the University of
Alaska is quality of life, and that economic Alaska is able to
depend upon an educated population so the link with the
University of Alaska is vital. In 2011, under the leadership
of President Pat Gamble, the Shaping Alaska's Future project
involved 80 listening sessions comprising of students, faculty,
alumni, staff, business leaders, elected officials, and K-12
partners. A broad survey of state and national trends was
conducted regarding the likelihood of budget constraints, and
the choices available to students largely due to mobility and
distance delivery. It was a two year effort with five themes,
which included: enhancing student achievement; creating
productive partnerships with Alaska schools; productive
partnerships with public and private industry; research and
development to enhance economic growth; and accountability to
all Alaskans. He explained that relative to creating productive
partnerships with Alaska schools the focus was upon three key
outcomes: high school graduation requirements aligned and post-
secondary pathways clearly communicated to high school students;
teacher retention in rural Alaska to equal that of urban Alaska;
partnership with Alaska schools as the college going rate in
Alaska would be similar to its peer group in the Western states.
8:13:07 AM
STEVE ATWATER PhD, Associate Vice President, K-12 Outreach,
University of Alaska, advised that a portion his responsibility
is to attract, train and retain public school teachers. The
report indicates that the UA universities prepare approximately
1/3 of Alaska teacher needed for Alaska and their intention is
50 percent. He drew the committee's attention to page 2, "Table
1. University of Alaska Education Program Graduates, 2006-07 to
2013-14" and noted that 2014 273 teacher graduates is the second
highest in the eight years referenced. With regard to
certificates such as, reading endorsement on page 2, "Chart 1.
University of Alaska Teacher Preparation Program Graduates by
Level of Endorsement, 2007-2014" the majority are elementary
prepared teachers. "Chart 2. University of Alaska Special
Education Graduates 2007-2014" indicates the number of graduates
with special education endorsement and is fairly stable and,
however he noted, those returning to school to seek an
additional endorsement for special education is going down. He
related the thought being that special education teachers have a
larger and larger caseload, often dealing with challenging
situations, the compliance side is increasing, and are often
called in to take part in the remedial work performed at the
lower elementary level with intervention. He pointed out that
the following pages of the report include: Table 3, that shows
85 percent of Alaska's education graduates were working in
Alaska and are in the field of education, and Table 4, shows the
wages earned by teachers versus other licensure type professions
who quickly earn more than teachers.
8:16:05 AM
DR. ATWATER turned to page 6, "Alaska Native Educators" and
advised that research on student teachers reveals that one of
the recurring findings is that students who like and trust their
teachers will learn at a faster rate and teachers who understand
the culture of their students may have more success than
teachers that do not. Therefore, he pointed out, last year
shows a positive trend for schools with Alaska Native students.
He said their work to attract and train Native teachers include:
a federal grant award to UAS that will help in the preparation
and advancement of Native teachers; money from a foundation that
is strengthening teacher preparation and knowledge in cultural
based arts instruction; and a partnership with UAA in exploring
Native teachers for rural Alaska. A pressing challenge, he
remarked, is determining how well the investment in the system
is bringing about the desired outcome by using feedback about
Alaska teacher graduates to guide improvement efforts. He
referred to page 7, "Table 5. Employer ratings of UA program
graduates in the classroom," and advised it provided feedback
from principals overseeing UA prepared teachers and that the
vast majority are generally doing very well. More specifically
the information on page 8, "Table 6. UA Program Graduates'
Assessment of Skills," provides data on how teacher graduates
view themselves which, he described as invaluable information.
He turned to page 9, "Table 7. Teacher Turnover and Student
Achievement," and explained that village schools fall under the
federal classification of "remote." He then stressed that
teachers trained in Alaska tend to stay for longer periods of
time in the remote schools when compared to teachers recruited
from the lower-48. He said refining longevity helps schools to
experience better success and turned to page 9, "Table 7.
Teacher Turnover and Student Achievement," and pointed out it
demonstrates that teacher stability is an important variable to
students and school districts. In response, the teacher
preparation program is sending more pre-service students to
rural Alaska to perform practicums in student teaching which is
an expensive endeavor.
8:19:54 AM
DR. ATWATER said that page 10 refers to "Teacher Candidate
Pipeline Issues," and noted that schools across the nation are
experiencing a diminished supply of teachers. The diminishing
supply makes it difficult to bring teachers to Alaska, but the
University of Alaska has spent time on the lower-48 recruiting
trail and created a plan revitalizing teacher education in
Alaska. The Alaska Teacher Placement (ATP), funded by the
University of Alaska as part of its K-12 outreach office, has
expanded its role from coordinating job fairs and housing
applicant information to actively recruiting teachers to come to
Alaska. Rural Alaska school districts are on the road from
January through May, and sometimes year round, attempting to
recruit teachers, he added. The University of Alaska is writing
grants to recruit and train teachers starting with its outreach
to 23 high schools with a Future Educators for Alaska program
that primarily serves rural Alaska Native students.
8:22:19 AM
DR. ATWATER responded to Chair Keller that he was referring to
the Future Educators of Alaska program on page 11, second
paragraph.
8:23:19 AM
DR. ATWATER said that UA schools and College of Education have
expanded their efforts by training teachers through a variety of
ways such as the Alaska Rural Paraprofessional Program that
trains classroom aids with in-school experience to become
teachers. The move from a paraprofessional to a certified
teaching position is a heavy lift and requires more effort than
simply recruiting a student to the University of Alaska. The
expectation is that while paraprofessionals are earning
certificates they will maintain employment should lead to long
term placement in village schools. The University of Alaska
schools and College of Education plan to reach out to similar
schools in the lower-48 to target free service juniors, he said.
The proposed agreements include course work, clinical experience
in Alaska, and mentoring and the outreach is dependent on
funding which is a challenge today, he related. Critical
support is offered to UA new teachers in the form of mentoring
through the Alaska State Mentoring Program as those teachers
stay in their jobs at a higher rate, he remarked. He explained
that the plan is to prepare more teachers and revitalize teacher
education in Alaska is designed to tightly align teacher
preparation programs with the demands of K-12 with 4 goals,
which include: improving the rigor and selectivity of UA teacher
certification; graduate 50 percent more teachers who have
certifications; partner with State of Alaska and Alaska School
Districts to reduce turnover and collaborate to eliminate
barriers to student completion and unnecessary duplication. Dr.
Atwater acknowledged the criticism that courses taken at the
University of Alaska Anchorage, for example, do not easily
transfer to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Currently over
95 percent of its courses statewide transfer and that education
it is even better.
8:25:53 AM
REGENT POWERS offered that a challenge of any strategic plan is
keeping it alive and the UA regents agreed to focus on each
previously mentioned themes individually at meetings and most
importantly the issue of productive partnerships with Alaska
schools. He explained that Student Regent, Courtney Enright and
Regent Powers took that issue and called a superintendent,
principal, and teacher of a school district in 53 school
districts to determine what is and is not working. He described
the exercise as worthwhile, and relative to partnerships with
Alaska schools is mentorship, and the Alaska Statewide
Mentorship Program was mentioned time and again. Monitoring a
student's progress is "absolutely crushing" as it requires
documenting their progress, looping back when the student moves
off course, and intervening in some manner, which is extremely
burdensome as opposed to processes in the past, he remarked. He
mentioned that classroom management was an issue in people
moving forward such as, understanding cultural issues,
differences of learning styles, et cetra. The reports were
solid and pointed to the significance of schools knowing its
geographic region well and able to intervene due to the nuances
of remote areas particular to their geographic setting. He
added that page 15 is a full circle graft with the message "How
do we continue to improve:" build a pipeline by working with K-
12 to ensure readiness; encourage education as a career;
continue with teacher prep on campus and the community served;
augment with mentorship; and continue to champion advanced
degrees, professional development, and continued learning with
educators.
8:31:10 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked why regulatory reporting is
burdensome.
DR. ATWATER responded that there is an increasing amount of
compliance and record keeping required of teachers and that the
monitoring of learning done now as compared to 15 years ago is
more sophisticated, in-depth, and authentic. The parent is
provided with more than just a grade effort, but rather a
thoroughly informed spectrum report on the student which is
burdensome in terms of reporting. In terms of regulations and
training coming down on teachers, they now need to address such
things as suicide prevention training and with more of those
types of regulations teachers are required to spend time. In
the past teachers had 25 students and they would do their best
to meet each student, but currently there is a progress
monitoring of the students on a regular basis to determine where
they are in the continuum of learning and when students are
identified as "not really" needing it they are pulled into
remediation rather than fall further behind.
8:33:40 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked whether it is a state or federal
regulation, or school district policy for this monitoring.
DR. ATWATER advised the monitoring of literacy progress is a
2001 regulation from the state requiring school districts to
monitor literacy at the district level. In terms of reporting,
school districts make the choice on their own as it is not
required.
8:34:41 AM
CHAIR KELLER advised that this issue is beyond the parameters of
the University of Alaska's report. He then surmised that the
number of students entering the Alaska workforce is stable and
not improving.
DR. ATWATER responded there has not been a big bump in Alaskan
educated teacher.
CHAIR KELLER returned to the chart on page 2, and asked for
clarification.
DR. ATWATER explained that the dark blue represents trained
teachers for elementary school, light blue represents trained
teachers for secondary school, and green are teachers trained as
generalist to teaching a K-12 endorsement.
8:37:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON referred to the chart on secondary and
asked whether there is an explanation for the decrease in number
of teachers preparing for secondary licensure in the university
system.
DR. ATWATER offered to provide written information.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON opined there should be an explanation as
to why a trend line is dipping for overall high school training.
8:38:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS questioned whether he anticipates
a positive trend in the total number of teachers graduating from
UA programs in future years, Table 1. He referred to Table 3
regarding retention and asked how the data in Alaska compares to
data of university educated school graduates in other states.
DR. ATWATER answered that he does not have that comparison, and
noted that the challenge is in rural Alaska where the retention
could be eight to nine percent. Alaska is unique and does not
compare with other states as the variables are not similar, he
pointed out. With regard to the second question, he does not
expect Alaska to produce "tons and tons" of more teachers, but
it can inch up. The Alaska Native Science and Engineering
Program (ANSEP) and Alaska Native Teacher Education Program
(ANTEP) are being cultivated, but with the fiscal climate that
may not happen, he said. He then advised their plan is to bring
rural students together to expose them to the university setting
and hold their hands in a manner they are not held currently and
put them through the pipeline. External factors include, why
choose teaching, and other factors UA cannot control, he
highlighted.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS referred to Tables 2-3, and
requested a combination of data indicating the number of
students graduating from the UA education system, live in
Alaska, and teach.
DR. ATWATER advised he would provide the information.
8:43:03 AM
CHAIR KELLER referred to page 5, and said he found the
comparison between teachers and other professions "hollow" in
that teachers work nine months of the year. He asked whether
the teacher salaries include adjusted annual salaries and
benefits.
DR. ATWATER responded that it is annual salaries without
benefits, and depending upon the district a teacher will sign a
contract for 188-193 days. He pointed out that it is not a
9:00-5:00, 5 days a week position as teachers work all of the
time and chaperone dances, work on Saturdays, take students on
field trips, et cetera.
8:44:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON pointed to page 3, and asked whether the
trend for 2015 will remain in that there is a reduction in
endorsements for special education graduates.
DR. ATWATER advised he would provide the information.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON commented that the state has to move up
with special education and requested a breakdown between the
effectiveness and retention of the three university programs.
DR. ATWATER responded that it would be determined by the metric
used to determine effectiveness.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON advised that the metrics used here is
retention.
DR. ATWATER replied he would provide the information and
commented that teacher preparation, Masters of Arts of Teaching
(MAT) are people with Bachelor Degrees and perhaps biology and
intend to obtain a teaching endorsement as compared to a young
person "doing education courses." In general, he related, the
teacher preparation programs are much more intensive in terms of
requirements to be in classrooms than in the past.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON maintained his interest.
8:48:06 AM
CHAIR KELLER referred to page 4, Chart 3, and read "Not all of
the work is as a classroom teacher in schools; however, data on
occupations shows that about 85 percent of graduates who are
working in Alaska are in some sort of education occupation," and
opined that previous to that sentence, the number was 70
percent.
DR. ATWATER agreed, and advised it would be administrative or
support staff such as, counselors, speech pathologist, et
cetera.
8:49:05 AM
CHAIR KELLER turned to page 7, and asked whether there was a
control group when principals were contacted as to their rating
of teachers or whether it was a general report response and not
scientific.
DR. ATWATER answered that the comparison was not scientifically
based.
8:50:10 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON referred to page 7, Table 5, and asked how
the University of Alaska is responding to the 31 percent deficit
regarding UA graduates modifying educational and instructional
practice with students to be successful, and also to the 24
percent figure for teachers using technology effectively,
creatively and wisely.
DR. ATWATER answered that more time and adjustments will be
devoted to assessments and training teachers to use that
information to drive instruction.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON requested a written summary as to how the
goal is being accomplished.
8:52:09 AM
CHAIR KELLER referred to page 9, regarding teacher turnover in
the context of urban and rural and asked what factors were
considered as the comparison is between the proficiency scores
in schools.
DR. ATWATER responded that the proficiency scores include
teacher turnover, homes where English may not be spoken, and
poverty.
8:54:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND asked whether the average teacher
turnover includes retiring teachers or simply teachers moving on
to another school.
DR. ATWATER replied that it represents 8.7 percent of the people
to replace.
8:54:34 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON referred to page 11 regarding the second
paragraph, and read "Courses will be offered through Alaska
Learning Network (AKLN) ..." He opined that AKLN was not funded
and asked whether there was another mechanism for how Future
Educators for Alaska ...
DR. ATWATER interjected that the University of Alaska will have
to adjust the distance education programs and will make it work.
8:55:53 AM
CHAIR KELLER asked whether it is the intent of AKLN to offer
general education classes in math and English, introductory
teacher education classes, and test preparation for the SAT/ACT
and PRAXIS test of basic skills.
DR. ATWATER replied he would not summarize AKLN as a test
preparation program.
CHAIR KELLER asked for an explanation of how AKLN will assist
with teacher turnover.
DR. ATWATER responded high school students thinking of becoming
teachers are given the introduction to education classes through
AKLN.
8:56:53 AM
CHAIR KELLER referred to page 11, paragraph 1 and asked the
start date of the Alaska Rural Paraprofessional Program and the
success of that program.
DR. ATWATER advised he would provide that information and noted
it takes several years to bring paraprofessionals to the point
they can become teachers as it is usually a slow process of 1-2
classes per semester.
CHAIR KELLER opined the program started 11 years ago and there
should be data depicting success. With regard to the mentoring
program, he questioned, whether Dr. Atwater could offer an idea
of the amount of money spent on the program, both the UA and
EDM.
DR. ATWATER advised the entire principal and teacher monitoring
budget was $2.2 million. He explained that the bulk of the
money is to secure contracts with mentors through the Department
of Education, and that the University of Alaska facilitates
training and travel coordination for mentors.
CHAIR KELLER requested information as to whether there has been
a positive result at the school and district level.
DR. ATWATER answered in the affirmative and will provide a graph
depicting early career teachers and new to the profession that
have mentoring will stay in the job at a 10 percent higher rate
than those that do not.
8:59:37 AM
REGENT POWERS added that within the cold calls to rural
districts each person mentioned mentoring.
REGENT POWERS responded to Chair Keller that 11 regents called
33 districts.
CHAIR KELLER surmised that a superintendent, principal, and
teacher were called in each district and nothing to the
community.
REGENT POWERS answered in the affirmative.
9:00:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD referred to the page 5 and said that the
teacher salaries appear low and asked whether this is across the
state or whether it doesn't include some of the supplementary,
and further asked whether there are discrepancies across the
state.
DR. ATWATER answered there are many variances in that a teacher
coming in cold with no experience and no extra college pieces
the salary will vary from mid-$30,000 to low-$50,000 which is
the most basic level.
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD said it would be helpful to receive
salaries on counselors, department heads, principals,
administrators and all the way up to superintendents.
DR. ATWATER agreed.
9:02:44 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD referred to a survey she reviewed many
years ago regarding why teachers leave which was not due to
salary and benefits and opined it would be a good supplement to
this report because there were eye opening issues in the survey.
She expressed concern regarding recruitment and opined that it
cost $12,000 per recruit to fly down and recruit teachers and
obtain housing. She asked why the University of Alaska is not
getting more parents, locals, and Native Corporations involved
to help solve some of these problems. She described it as a
must more stable framework rather than flying an outsider to
Alaska with a quick turnaround.
DR. ATWATER explained that their model is the model
Representative Reinbold described and on August 27 the schools
must have teachers and will recruit from out-of-state. There is
a concerted effort for high school students in rural Alaska to
enroll at the University of Alaska and go back as teachers, he
explained.
9:04:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked their plan to draw local parents
and community into the process, which is a sustainable model and
include local tutors and not mentors from the East Coast. She
expressed concern regarding new evaluations linked to new
assessments based on the common core, which is an untested
system.
DR. ATWATER offered that the new evaluation system is more
comprehensive as it is looks at teachers and requires rigorous
oversight of their student's performance in the classroom. It
ties student performance to teacher performance and as a result
requires more time. He commented that the challenge is, how to
fully determine a student's and how closely can their learning
be tied to teacher's instruction. There is clear connection,
yet in terms of the teach evaluation, all of the variables
affecting student learning may not be included. He opined it is
helping the overall profession and causing conversations between
a principal and teacher than didn't previously exist. The
examination and reflection of what is good instruction has
improved and, he said, that he recognizes the process is labor
intensive but it is effective and has improved instruction for
students. He surmised it is improving the teaching profession,
yet on the other side it is more labor intensive and may cause a
connection of student learning that may be overly emphasized due
to the other variables.
9:07:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD opined she does not believe this system
is needed to encourage principals to reach out and that she is
troubled with the nationalization of standards, curriculum, and
teacher evaluations as she has heard there will be a mass exodus
of teachers.
DR. ATWATER responded there is a social tension wherein teachers
are blamed and it is not an esteemed profession. A book
entitled "The Smartest Kids in the World" depicts some of the
models in the world regarding teaching and how a teacher is
valued in terms of society. In terms of recruiting people into
a profession that is perhaps not as well received as it used to
be is part of the challenge. He agreed that it is not strictly
a monetary decision in determining whether a person becomes a
teacher.
9:10:00 AM
CHAIR KELLER referred to the UA Statewide Office for K-12
Outreach on Future Educators for Alaska (FEA), and asked how
long they've collaborated with UAA, UAF, UAS and K-12 teachers.
DR. ATWATER replied the Statewide Office has been in place since
2002 and, with the exception of Alaska Teacher Placement, is a
grant funded office and dependent on soft money.
CHAIR KELLER explained to Dr. Atwater that Monday's presentation
should include the prioritization of programs, costs, and how
long they have been in existence. He explained that the Finance
Committee asked committees to pay attention to the cost of the
different programs.
DR. ATWATER remarked that the report could be tailored for the
current committee as under Governor Sarah Palin the report was
designed to address the gap in teacher preparation but it could
be moved to a different way in terms of teachers and the
University of Alaska.
CHAIR KELLER reminded the committee that assuming the
legislature does not take the requirement away for the report
there would not be another report until 2017.
DR. ATWATER agreed and commented that it is a bi-annual report
and would be available March 2017.
9:13:12 AM
DIANE HIRSHBERG, Director, Center for Alaska Education Policy
Research, University of Alaska Anchorage, in response to
previous questions, said that creating a teacher and principal
salary schedule under HB 278 will be provided. She advised
there is salary data available regarding certificated and
classified positions in the state and pointed out that the data
on page 5, Table 4 comparing graduates is not the same as the
other teacher data as this is all UA graduates in an education
related field as defined by the Department of Labor. The figure
looks low because it includes early childhood education
employees earning less than K-12 certified educators and people
performing education related services such as, working in a
Native Corporation with an education related program, and
private classrooms. She related that they will provide a report
prepared specifically for UAA graduates that unpacks the
salaries. When reviewing AA Degrees such as an AA Degree in
Process Technologies are earning $100,000 a year working on the
North Slope, she pointed out, so it skews the data. She is in
possession of approximately 1,500 pages of data as to why
teachers leave but, unfortunately, does not have funding for
that project and will use graduate student labor. She assessed
that the data includes teacher perceptions of working conditions
and why they are leaving. She pointed out that salary matters
but it doesn't override many of the other issues. She informed
the committee that strongly correlated with a teacher's decision
to leave is their relationship with the community and their
perception of support by their principals and district
administrators. She will share a poster prepared after the
first 300 surveys depicting teachers spoken with, analysis of
the educators and relationships between different aspects of
community support and community relationships, and their
decisions to stay or go.
9:18:41 AM
MS. HIRSBERG, in response to a prior special education graduates
question, said that previously teacher endorsements were paid by
their district and is no longer available. She opined as a
result there is a drop off of currently certificated and
currently teachers choosing to obtain a special education
endorsement, but has not directly asked the teachers.
9:19:51 AM
DEBORAH LO, Dean, School of Education, University of Alaska
Southeast, interjected that for the two years the initial
certifications have gone up. She explained that an endorsement
is a teacher from a general education classroom trained and go
into a special education classroom, and when speaking of new
certifications it is a brand new teacher going in. She remarked
it is hopeful that the trend of initial certifications in
special education continues to go up.
9:20:38 AM
MS. HIRSHBERG stated that recent research has shown a 50 percent
drop in the number of teacher candidates going into universities
in California. She said that Alaska has not seen the national
trend but does have declining numbers of students in the age
group that would go to a university with a modest decline in the
number of students entering the UA system. That, she commented,
combined with convincing students teaching is a good career, and
the continuing issue of more graduates in general in that a
demographic dip will further challenge increasing the number of
students going through teacher education programs.
9:22:17 AM
CHAIR KELLER asked whether there is a population drop in the
State of Alaska in the broadest sense of the term as the
projection is a drop in the 14-17 year olds, and yet the
population is going up.
MS. HIRSHBERG clarified it is a drop in projection of 18-22 year
olds and the Department of Labor indicates that students are
choosing to leave the state following high school graduation.
She pointed out that recent demographic state projections
reveals a decline for probably a decade in the number of college
age students leaving the state.
9:23:23 AM
MS. LO offered that teacher bashing is prevalent in the nation
and will have long term effects.
CHAIR KELLER asked Ms. Lo to speculate why teacher bashing is
occurring.
MS. LO replied that the National Consortium for Product Quality
(NCPQ) group has evaluated teacher education program on
variables that are unclear to anyone except themselves that has
received a lot of press.
CHAIR KELLER surmised that part of the teacher assessment is
tied to the student proficiency and a part of Alaska's
compliance with No Child Left Behind (NCLB), now waivered.
MS. LO agreed to some extent as their analysis is based on
syllabi and catalogs from the university and they believe they
can project quality based upon one dimensional documents.
CHAIR KELLER asked whether a mechanism is in place to determine
how Alaska's graduates are performing in other states because
there is an indication that Alaska principals agree with what UA
is producing. He further asked whether there is data as to why
students are leaving to teach out-of-state and how prepared they
are to function in another state.
MS. LO responded that it is difficult to follow graduates out-
of-state as often they are military transferring with a spouse.
9:26:33 AM
MS. HIRSHBERG noted that the survey of principals and teachers
is not a scientific survey as it was a questionnaire sent to
every employing principal of a graduate, and there was a lack in
response. She described the survey as expensive but important
as it provides a benchmark. On an annual basis students about
to graduate are surveyed, and graduates one, two, and three
years out to cultivate data for analysis on program
effectiveness, she related.
9:28:49 AM
CHAIR KELLER said that to pass casual survey information off as
a study is difficult in that a telephone call response will be
biased and the quality of the survey will not hold up to a peer
review type study.
MS. LO explained that it is not a research study but rather an
evaluation providing valuable information to program designers.
CHAIR KELLER agreed it is helpful although from a legislator's
perspective the study does not offer much information as to
where to put the money.
MS. HIRSHBERG clarified that study data was included within the
report because with the statewide survey they know response
rates and know who responded. She said that research can be
expensive and they turn to external funding in that their
challenge is obtaining data with reclining resources.
9:31:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD related that she has seen teacher
bashing in Alaska and asked the Superintendent at "our"
community council to not threaten to lay teachers off to make a
statement. She remarked that the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
talk down approach, No Child Left Behind waivers, and mandates
with control over Alaska's education is frustrating. The NCLB
waiver created a top down approach mandate from the federal
government and placed Alaska's education system into a box, she
expressed. She further expressed her ongoing concern for the
need to include all stakeholders within the education of
Alaska's children.
9:35:26 AM
CHAIR KELLER asked whether the University of Alaska incorporates
local village councils and other local organizations as partners
in the process.
MS. LO answered that she attends the school board's conference
which is made up of school board members who are the community
and speaks with them.
CHAIR KELLER asked whether there have been useful results.
MS. LO responded that the principals have a ground level
understanding of what their students and schools need, and have
a slightly different perspective than the professionally trained
principal.
9:37:07 AM
MS. HIRSHBERG cautioned that reporting program cost data is
difficult in extrapolate the cost in producing a graduate or the
cost of a program as they are struggling with how best to obtain
the data. She pointed out that the system is designed to
facilitate certain aspects and in order to have a full
understanding of the cost data is difficult and flawed.
CHAIR KELLER noted that in understanding where the general funds
are being directed and the ability to quantify is necessary.
MS. HIRSHBERG said they can quantify but it takes an enormous
amount of work to get the cost data to a place where a
prioritization report can be written. She expressed concern
that regarding Chair Keller's request for prioritization of
programs by next Monday is a challenge.
CHAIR KELLER pointed out that cost breakdowns for the various
programs will be necessary in the state budget process and
requested that the breakdowns, priority list, and general cost
for the programs be provided.
9:42:20 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Education Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 9:42 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska's University for Alaska's Schools.pdf |
HEDC 3/11/2015 8:00:00 AM |