Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
03/01/2017 08:00 AM EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Presentation: Graduation Rates and Academic Achievement in Alaska | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 1, 2017
8:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Shelley Hughes, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator John Coghill
Senator Tom Begich
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: GRADUATION RATES AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN
ALASKA
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DR. MICHAEL JOHNSON, Commissioner
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information on Graduation Rates
and Academic Achievement.
BRIAN LAURENT, Data Management Supervisor
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Graduation Rates and Academic
Achievement in Alaska.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:01:36 AM
CHAIR SHELLEY HUGHES called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:01 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Giessel, Begich, Stevens and Chair Hughes.
Senator Coghill arrived shortly thereafter.
^PRESENTATION: Graduation Rates and Academic Achievement in
Alaska
PRESENTATION: Graduation Rates and Academic Achievement in
Alaska
8:02:12 AM
CHAIR HUGHES announced that the only order of business would be
a presentation on Graduation Rates and Academic Achievement in
Alaska by the Commissioner of Education, Dr. Michael Johnson,
and Brian Laurent, Data Management Supervisor for the
department. She said we often hear anecdotally that academic
achievement in Alaska is poor compared to other states. She
requested that Department of Education and Early Development
(DEED) report on the actual numbers for Alaskan schools. She
stated that Alaska has many excellent teachers and schools and
she dispelled the perception that the Education Committee is
against the work teachers are doing. The meeting will be to add
to the conversation about what is going on in schools and what
the committee can do to make the education system better.
8:03:21 AM
DR. MICHAEL JOHNSON, Commissioner, Department of Education and
Early Development (DEED), presented information on Graduation
Rates and Academic Achievement. He read from the following:
First, the information we give you today helps us
understand how the public education system is working,
it is not a report on individual districts. The
system of public education is called for in the
constitution, Article 7 Section 1. The information we
give you today is about that entire system, not one
single component.
Second, today, as we speak, teachers are working hard
to provide a great education to our students. This
data is not an evaluation of our teachers. It is not
an evaluation of our students. There are tools that
evaluate teachers and there are tools that evaluate
individual students, the data represented today is not
one of those tools.
Third, achievement data is only one piece of
information about our system. Just as in medicine,
one test does not tell us everything we need to know.
There are many other factors that should be
considered, but achievement is definitely one of those
factors.
CHAIR HUGHES noted the arrival of Senator Coghill.
8:05:05 AM
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON continued:
Other indicators are attendance, teacher turnover,
curriculum, and many societal factors that show up in
the classroom door every day, such as the impacts of
poverty, substance abuse, childhood hunger, physical
and sexual abuse, just to name a few.
Fourth, many students in Alaska are receiving a great
education. We have some schools with graduation rates
of almost 100%. There are students graduating from
Alaska's schools and going on to prestigious colleges,
workforce training programs, the military, and
homemaking. We have many reasons to celebrate in our
public school system.
Fifth, but as we celebrate the successes, we must not
forget the students that have fallen into a tragic
achievement gap. There is a gap among Alaska's
schools, and there is a gap between Alaska and other
states in our country, and there is a gap between
America and other countries in our world.
We must NOT be content with that gap. We must not be
content when our public school system is not working
for ALL of our students and their families.
I hope today's presentation is informative, but more
importantly, I hope it is motivating. The Alaska
Education Challenge has a purpose, and that is to make
our system of public education system, called for in
our constitution, work for more and more of our
students.
8:06:27 AM
CHAIR HUGHES suggested Commissioner Johnson's testimony could be
used as an op-ed.
8:06:38 AM
BRIAN LAURENT, Data Management Supervisor, Department of
Education and Early Development (DEED), presented Graduation
Rates and Academic Achievement in Alaska. He provided an
overview of his presentation.
8:08:04 AM
MR. LAURENT explained how the graduation rate is calculated.
First, a cohort assignment based on initial entry into 9th grade
is gathered. For example, the 2015-2016 four-year cohort is
based on first-time 9th graders in the 2012-2013 school year.
Students transfer into and out of cohorts and the final cohort
is based on the school of the student's most recent enrollment.
The graduation rate is the percentage of students in the cohort
who graduated within four years. This method has been in place
since the 2010-2011 school year.
8:09:03 AM
He shared that DEED publishes graduation rates at the state,
district, and school levels. They publish by subgroups,
including race/ethnicity, students with disabilities, English
learners, and economically disadvantaged. They report graduation
rates for four-year and five-year graduates.
8:09:32 AM
He distinguished between the four-year rate and the five-year
rate. The 2015-2016 four-year cohort is based on first-time 9th
graders in the 2012-2013 school year. The 2015-2016 five-year
cohort is based on first-time 9th graders in the 2011-2012
school year. In a given year, the four-year cohort is a
completely different group of students than the five-year
cohort. The 2015-2016 four-year cohort will become the base for
the 2016-2017 five-year cohort.
8:10:12 AM
MR. LAURENT described shifts in graduation requirements that
have had an impact on graduation rates. On July 1, 2014, the
repeal of the High School Graduation Qualifying Examination
(HSGQE) requirements went into effect and it was the beginning
of the College/Career-Ready Assessment (CCRA) graduation
requirement. On June 30, 2016, the repeal of the CCRA graduation
requirement went into effect. Now, students must meet all local
requirements to receive a diploma.
8:11:26 AM
He displayed four-year and five-year graduation rates for all
students statewide for years 2010 to 2016. He detailed the
impacts HSGQE and CCRA had on those rates.
8:12:33 AM
CHAIR HUGHES asked how to combine the two rates to see how many
do not graduate or take longer than five years.
MR. LAURENT replied that they only calculate up to a 5-year
graduation rate. However, they also report the total number of
graduates in a particular year.
CHAIR HUGHES inquired if the yellow bar includes both 4-year and
5-year graduates. She asked if 19.2 percent did not graduate
within five years in 2015-2016.
MR. LAURENT explained that the 5-year rate is 80.8 percent and
the 4-year rate is 76.1 percent. It means that 19.2 percent of
the students in that cohort did not graduate within five years.
CHAIR HUGHES asked how many students in Alaska do not graduate
from high school.
MR. LAURENT did not think they had a metric for that. He said
those students are included in the dropout rate and not all
students who did not graduate are dropouts.
8:14:37 AM
SENATOR STEVENS summarized that the increase in graduation rate
in 2014 and 2015 is due to the end of HSGQE and the next
increase will occur due to the elimination of CCRA.
MR. LAURENT did not anticipate much of an increase. With the
CCRA there was not a minimum cut score; the requirement was
simply to take it.
8:15:14 AM
SENATOR GIESSEL asked how many kids graduate in less than four
years.
MR. LAURENT said those students would be included in their class
cohort.
8:15:55 AM
SENATOR BEGICH shared a story about a nephew in special
education who took seven years to graduate. He inquired how many
special education students don't graduate and if they are part
of the 19.2 percent.
MR. LAURENT noted that information is in the next slide.
8:16:43 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked how districts are funded for students who
take longer than four years and if they fall under the
Foundation Formula funding.
MR. LAURENT explained that a general education student can be
funded up to the age of 20.
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON agreed. Special education students are
funded until they turn 22. All students can request to be
allowed to complete their diploma after those ages, but the
district receives no funding for them.
8:18:35 AM
SENATOR COGHILL asked whether students that move between schools
and those that complete GEDs are shown in the graph.
8:19:01 AM
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON said 19.2 percent does not mean a student
dropped out and didn't finish high school or earn a GED.
MR. LAURENT added that GED students are included in the 19.2
percent of non-graduates.
8:19:41 AM
MR. LAURENT turned to the four-year graduation rates statewide
by subgroup from 2010 to 2016. He showed the graduation trend of
all students, students with disabilities, English learners, and
economically disadvantaged students.
MR. LAURENT showed a graph of graduation rate by race/ethnicity.
He drew attention to the lowest graduation rate, that of Alaska
Native/American Indian students.
8:21:22 AM
MR. LAURENT showed an image of the department's website. More
graduation data is found on the statistics and reports page.
He concluded that the graduation rate increased after the repeal
of the HSGQE, which was a barrier. No comparisons to graduation
rates prior to the 2010-2011 school year should be made due to
different calculations used. For small schools and districts,
the graduation rate can fluctuate due to their small sizes. He
noted that the inverse of the graduation rate is not the dropout
rate and a graduation cohort versus a count of graduates are not
the same thing.
He offered to answer questions.
8:23:21 AM
CHAIR HUGHES asked if there is a connection between the
elimination of the exams and not having a statewide assessment
and students needing remedial work entering college, despite
high GPAs.
8:24:22 AM
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON replied that the department had
conversations with the university about that as they selected
the new assessment to be administered this spring. He stressed
the importance of having a standard measure for high school
students to ensure that they are prepared for college and
careers. He hoped to address this issue by having end-of-course
assessments rather than a standardized grade level test.
8:25:27 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked if would be harder to track graduation
rates going forward due to varying graduation requirements by
school districts.
8:26:12 AM
MR. LAURENT responded that there are statewide requirements in
place; students must earn 21 credits to graduate. Districts can
choose to exceed those requirements. In the past there was a
choice of three assessments. He thought it was important to
mention that graduation requirements vary by district.
8:27:39 AM
MR. LAURENT turned to an overview of academic achievement,
including a balanced assessment system and the recent history of
Alaska's summative assessments, the Standards-Based Assessments
(SBA) and the Alaska Measures of Progress (AMP). He said he
would also discuss the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) and the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA).
MR. LAURENT noted there are many types of assessment systems. He
showed a graph of various types and stressed the importance of
having a balanced assessment system. He said he would address
summative assessments and interim assessments. Alaska's
summative assessment measures Alaska's English, Language Arts,
and Mathematic Standards and is administered at the end of the
school year. Interim assessments, such as the Measure of
Academic Progress (MAP), are administered by all districts
multiple times per year and allow districts to determine student
growth within the school year. They are not necessarily aligned
with state standards. The interim assessment is not part of the
summative assessment. The goal of the summative assessment is to
help inform school improvement practices, provide stakeholders
with a point of information about how schools are doing, and to
ensure educational equity across the state.
8:30:54 AM
MR. LAURENT discussed the recent history of Alaska's summative
assessment. Beginning in 2005 Alaska administered the SBAs which
were aligned to grade level expectations in reading, writing,
and math. When they began in 2005, grades 3 through 9 took them;
grade 10 was administered for the first time in 2006. Grades 3
through 10 took the SBAs until 2014. There was also a science
test for grades 4, 8, and 10.
8:31:47 AM
He showed SBA results by content area, statewide, for all
students from 2005 to 2014. The rates were stable with a higher
number of students scoring proficient in reading than in
writing, and higher in writing than in math.
He showed reading results for the SBA by subgroup. He said the
dramatic decrease for English learners was due to how they were
reported by school districts.
8:33:17 AM
SENATOR BEGICH noted only a decrease for English learners, and
asked if it meant all other subgroups improved.
MR. LAURENT explained that the all-students group remained
relatively flat; there would have been an increase for the
category non-English learners.
SENATOR BEGICH implied that another category would increase.
MR. LAURENT agreed it was the non-English learners that
increased. He further explained how the learners were coded.
8:35:29 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked for a definition of English learners.
MR. LAURENT said they include students who are immigrants and a
significant number of Alaska Natives, which is different than
other states. The language spoken by most English learners is
Yupik.
SENATOR STEVENS asked how many students are Native language
students.
MR. LAURENT said they do not publish that number for privacy
reasons.
CHAIR HUGHES asked how many total English learners there are.
MR. LAURENT offered to provide that data. He added that Yupik is
spoken by 40 percent of English learners.
8:37:53 AM
MR. LAURENT showed SBA reading results statewide by subgroup,
noting the trends are the same as in math and writing. He did
the same for writing and math results by subgroups and
race/ethnicity.
8:39:48 AM
He turned to the recent history of Alaska's summative
assessment. In June 2012 the State Board of Education adopted
more rigorous English, Language Arts, and Math Standards. In
2015 the state administered the Alaska Measures of Progress
(AMP) assessment aligned to those standards. He stated that no
comparison should be made between SBA and AMP results because
they measure different things.
8:41:03 AM
MR. LAURENT showed AMP results for English and Language Arts by
grade for all students in 2015. The percentages were much lower
than for the SBAs because the tests painted different pictures
of students. He said results were the same for math.
Next, he showed AMP ELA and Math results by subgroups and by
race/ethnicity.
8:43:11 AM
MR. LAURENT said there is no summative assessment data available
for 2016. A new assessment will be given in 2017 called the
Performance Evaluation for Alaska's Schools (PEAKS). It is
aligned to state standards. The test window opens March 27 and
lasts for one month.
8:44:06 AM
MR. LAURENT addressed the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) which compares Alaska students to students in
other states. It is administered every other year to grades 4,
8, and 12. In Alaska, 75 percent of students in 4 and 8 take it.
Results are only reported at the state level, not at the
district level.
8:45:08 AM
CHAIR HUGHES asked why it is not administered to 12th graders.
8:45:27 AM
MR. LAURENT did not know, but offered to find out.
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON also did not know. He noted that part of
the DEED team is funded by NAEP and he will ask them.
CHAIR HUGHES asked whether the department would consider giving
the test to 12th graders.
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON said yes.
8:46:20 AM
SENATOR STEVENS agreed it would provide important information.
8:46:37 AM
MR. LAURENT said NAEP is transitioning to a digitally-based
assessment for 2017.
8:47:06 AM
CHAIR HUGHES asked if online tests are set up for students to
save if there is a technological glitch.
MR. LAURENT explained that the NAEP team goes to school sites
with tablets for students to take the test. With AMP and PEAKS
there is a process in place for testing conditions in schools
with challenged technology. A local caching server saves test
information until there is enough bandwidth.
8:48:58 AM
SENATOR STEVENS stressed the importance of knowing test results
as soon as possible. Paper testing for PEAKS would slow testing
down.
MR. LAURENT clarified that PEAKS has a 5-week test window and
students who take the paper version of the test do it during the
first two weeks. They want to ensure that all tests get to the
vendor in comprehensive format. There is a challenge getting
results back this year in a timely manner due to the process of
standard setting - establishing the cut points between different
levels of proficiency - because it is a new assessment. He said
he is expecting NAEP results data in August, a couple months
later than usual.
8:50:19 AM
MR. LAURENT compared Alaska scores to scores in other states and
all public schools in grade 4 reading. The purpose of the graph
is to show Alaska's relative position to other states. Alaska
ranked 49th in 2015. He said because NAEP is administered to a
sample of students the results show how Alaska compares to other
sampled schools.
He showed grade 8 reading average scale score by state with
Alaska at 42nd. In grade 4 math, Alaska ranks 47th, and in grade
8 math, Alaska ranks closer to the national average.
8:52:47 AM
MR. LAURENT talked about the wide discrepancy in scores between
SBA and AMP. He showed a graph that depicted the different
information the state received from both tests. Next, he
compared AMP and NAEP results in ELA and in Math, which now look
similar.
8:54:52 AM
MR. LAURENT discussed the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA), which is administered every three years "to
evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and
knowledge of 15-year-old students." About 540,000 students
completed the PISA assessment in 2015. He noted that smaller
states and smaller schools are not included in the sampling and
it is possible that no students in Alaska took the PISA. A total
of 72 countries and economies took the test. The rankings are
out of 70 countries, because two countries were excluded for
technical reasons.
He said the major domain of PISA in 2015 was science.
8:56:23 AM
CHAIR HUGHES asked whether the 72 nations are industrialized
nations.
MR. LAURENT said that is correct.
He shared U.S rankings. Out of 70 countries in science, the U.S.
ranked 25th; in reading 24th; and in math 40th. He noted the
difficulty of comparing countries due to the sampling process.
He highlighted the number of countries that ranked higher,
similarly, and lower than the U.S. He showed the U.S average
score comparison in 2015 versus 2012.
He noted examples of countries that the U.S. scored similarly
to.
8:58:48 AM
MR. LAURENT concluded that the summative assessment is just one
piece of a balanced assessment system. The SBA and AMP results
should not be compare. AMP achievement looks very different than
SBA proficiency, but more like NAEP. Alaska has room for growth
when compared to other states, and the U.S. has room for growth
when compared to other states.
8:59:45 AM
SENATOR STEVENS thanked Mr. Laurent. He asked why Alaska scored
lower on NAEP in 4th grade than on 8th. Alaska was 42nd in grade
4 and 33rd in grade 8.
MR. LAURENT explained that the sample is representative and does
not include every student.
9:01:58 AM
CHAIR HUGHES maintained that it was hard to look at some of
those scores and achievement gaps. She wondered whether the
amount of money spent on education impacts student achievement.
She noted that the Augenblick Study concluded that it didn't.
9:02:44 AM
MR. LAURENT responded that he has not done that analysis, but it
was worth looking at. He opined that it would hard to compare
"apples to apples" across Alaska school districts.
CHAIR HUGHES shared that when she researched state rankings in
education, a report by the National Education Association
reported ranking by revenue spent on education, not academic
achievement. She asked if spending on education should be the
focus.
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON said it was an important question because
students are always learning from educators and listening to the
conversations on their priorities. He used an example of buying
a car to make the point that spending a specific amount does not
ensure the same quality. He suggested looking at how money is
spent, not how much is spent. He agreed that it is worth talking
about.
9:05:55 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked whether the state is looking at the
Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) in cooperation with
the university, the Department of Labor, and Post-Secondary
Education.
MR. LAURENT named the four agency partners that work with SLDS,
DEED, DOTPF, the Commission on Post-Secondary Education, and the
University System. They decided not to request additional
outside funding for SLDS. It will now serve as an internal
resource for the partner agencies to answer education policy-
related questions. Currently, DEED has not submitted any new
data into their SLDS, which is called ANSWERS.
9:07:31 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked if there is value in the SLDS program.
MR. LAURENT replied, in theory, there are benefits, because
currently there is partnership occurring and they do not have to
invent the wheel every time a policy question comes up. Alaska
received answers to valid questions they asked about the use of
data.
9:08:29 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked if there is data that shows a relationship
between student readiness to attend school and improved test
scores; if there is some correlation between early education and
achievement over time.
9:09:25 AM
MR. LAURENT said he and his colleague have been collaborating on
how they report on early learning data. They use the Alaska
Developmental Profile as part of the comprehensive system of
student assessment, and they have changed how they report the
results of kindergarten readiness based on that profile.
Currently, they do not have a standardized definition of what
pre-K is. When teachers submit the ratings, they are letting the
department know of the kindergarten readiness of students and
whether students attended pre-K. The challenges are the lack of
a standardized definition of pre-K and no guidance in terms of
how much pre-K students received. Therefore, they can't dig deep
into a student-level analysis. They can report on a school-wide
and district-wide level the results of the developmental
profile, which serve as a starting point.
SENATOR BEGICH said he was eager to see that as it evolves. He
referred to the Augenblick Study which showed that the amount
spent in schools made very little difference, except for
economically disadvantaged populations, special education
students, and Alaska Native students, which are not adequately
funded. He thought investing in those populations would improve
test scores.
MR. LAURENT agreed that the subgroup results highlight the
achievement gaps and the need for this conversation.
9:12:46 AM
SENATOR STEVENS did not know what the solution was for
economically disadvantaged children. He opined that focusing on
English learners would be the easiest to do to help improve test
results. He asked what is to be done with all this information.
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON maintained that "we need to be
dissatisfied" with the results and then do something about it.
The State Board of Education and the governor have established a
process to do something about it.
He appreciated the point that English learners might be a place
to start. However, he said he wants the system to work for all
students. He does not want to just look for the easy fixes. He
hopes to take specific steps to close the achievement gap and
show an improvement by the second assessment of PEAKS. He
stated, "At least all are unified around the fact that we are
dissatisfied with the performance that we currently have."
SENATOR STEVENS agreed all students should be considered.
9:16:02 AM
CHAIR HUGHES asked Commissioner Johnson whether it is possible
for Alaska to move up in rankings. She requested three things to
focus on to change what we're seeing, because we are
dissatisfied, and we can do better.
9:17:09 AM
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON responded that it has to be possible for
Alaska to move up and for all students in all areas of the state
to improve. He wished to have more time to ponder on the three
specific areas of focus. The process in place is to prioritize
"what we are going to do to close the achievement gap." He hoped
to bring diverse ideas together and unify around several steps
to take to close the achievement gap.
CHAIR HUGHES asked if two-way virtual education might be one of
the solutions.
9:19:36 AM
COMMISSIONER JOHNSON said absolutely. He thought technology had
great potential to improve the quality of learning in schools,
and as a tool to give students access to great teachers and
courses they might not otherwise have. Technology will help
students get a better education.
CHAIR HUGHES thanked the presenters and made announcements.
9:21:09 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Commissioner Hughes adjourned the Senate Education Standing
Committee at 9:21 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SEDC Achievement Grad Rates Presentation 3-1-17.pdf |
SEDC 3/1/2017 8:00:00 AM |