Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/23/1998 09:06 AM Senate HES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
March 23, 1998
9:06 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Wilken, Chairman
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Jerry Ward
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Loren Leman, Vice-Chairman
Senator Johnny Ellis
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 203
"An Act relating to phonemic awareness, letter-sound
correspondence, word-attack skills, spelling, vocabulary, use of
decodable text, reading comprehension strategies, and testing for
basic reading and reading comprehension skills in the public school
system."
HEARD AND HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 246
"An Act amending the definition of correctional facility to include
a therapeutic treatment center; providing for the conveyance of the
Harborview Developmental Center and appurtenant land to the City of
Valdez for the purpose of conversion and lease of a part of the
center for a therapeutic treatment center for the Department of
Corrections; providing that such a land conveyance counts toward
the general grant land entitlement of the City of Valdez; and
providing for an effective date."
PASSED SB 246 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 203 - See HESS minutes dated 2/20/98, 2/23/98 and 3/23/98.
SB 246 - See Senate Community & Regional Affairs minutes dated
2/2/98 and HESS minutes dated 2/27/98.
WITNESS REGISTER
Mel Krogseng
Legislative Aide to Senator Taylor
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified for the sponsor of SB 203
Dr. Nick Stayrook
Fairbanks North Star Borough School District
520 Fifth Avenue
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SSSB 203
Jean Ann Alter
Alaska State Literacy Association
319 Distin Avenue
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SSSB 203
Jaqueline Tagaban
National Assn. for the Education of
Young Children (NAEYC)
320 West Willoughby
Juneau, Alaska 98901
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SSSB 203
Nila Rinehart
Tlingit & Haida Head Start
3211 Tongass Boulevard
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SSSB 203
Bridget Smith
Even Start
137 Sixth Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SSSB 203
Dennis Early
Tlingit & Haida Head Start
3211 Tongass Boulevard
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SSSB 203
John Cyr
National Education Association
114 Second Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SSSB 203
Sue Oliphant
2155 Fritz Cove Road
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SSSB 203
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 98-26, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN WILKEN called the Senate Health, Education and Social
Services (HESS) Committee to order at 9:06 a.m. Present were
Senators Wilken, Ward and Green. SB 203 was before the committee.
SB 203 - PHONICS CURRICULUM
CHAIRMAN WILKEN announced the committee would be addressing the
sponsor substitute for SB 203 and that committee packets contained
a new fiscal note and copies of various e-mail notes sent to the
committee.
MEL KROGSENG, legislative aide to Senator Robin Taylor, sponsor of
SSSB 203, explained the measure as follows. SSSB 203 was drafted
as a compromise to the original legislation after a great deal of
testimony was heard in opposition to a provision that mandated that
every public school system include phonics instruction in its
curriculum. SSSB 203 requires students to be tested in first,
second, and third grades using a nationally normed test. The bill
encourages school districts to include systematic intensive phonics
in their curricula and only mandates its inclusion if a majority of
the students in any particular grade level scores below the 25th
percentile on a nationally normed test for three consecutive school
years. Senator Taylor would prefer to have the committee address
the percentage amount, on page 2, line 13, rather than wait until
a majority, or 51 percent, of students score in the lower 25th
percentile before districts are forced to take action to reverse
that trend.
MS. KROGSENG informed committee members that Senator Taylor was
approached on Friday by a representative of the Department of
Education (DOE) with a proposed amendment to change the content of
the bill and tie it to the draft DOE standards. Senator Taylor
opposes the amendment because DOE's standards remain in draft form
at this time. Second, the Fordham Foundation evaluation of 46
states criticized the Alaska DOE's math standards for being very
vague.
MS. KROGSENG stated that Senator Taylor believes SSSB 203 contains
a very reasonable approach to ensuring that elementary students
receive adequate language education. She pointed out the United
Kingdom is now mandating the use of systematic intensive phonics
instruction in its school systems, according to the London
Telegraph. Also, a Wall Street Journal editorial, dated March 23,
1998, stated the process of teaching young children to read has
been a notable disaster throughout this country in recent years.
She concluded by saying Senator Taylor preferred the approach set
out in CSSB 203, previously reviewed by the committee, but in light
of trying to get legislation to address this problem passed, he is
offering the sponsor substitute.
Number 121
DR. NICK STAYROOK, staff to the Fairbanks North Star Borough School
District (FNSBSD) and a consultant to the Alaska DOE, gave the
following testimony. He informed committee members he is not a
reading expert, but is very familiar with the issue of phonics and
whole language instruction in the FNSBSD. His area of specialty is
in assessment and evaluation. In 1989 the FNSBSD adopted a whole
language curriculum and the use of a Holt Impressions Reading
Series which resulted in a lot of controversy over the whole
language approach and the selected reading materials. This
approach de-emphasizes the use of phonics instruction and
emphasizes learning to read in context, using real literature as
opposed to "Dick and Jane" type primers. While that curriculum
has been in place during the last eight years, a number of concerns
were raised regarding significant decreases in elementary students'
spelling scores on the California Achievement Test (CAT). Those
scores dropped to about the 30th to 35th percentile districtwide
during the first three years. As a result, the school board took
action and instituted the use of spelling textbooks and curricula.
CAT spelling scores increased over the last four or five years up
to the national average.
DR. STAYROOK indicated the FNSBSD is in the process of revising its
entire curriculum. The draft curriculum has undergone extensive
review by teachers, parents, and other groups, and will be before
the school board in the next month. The draft contains a balanced
approach to the teaching of reading and language arts in the
elementary schools. The balanced approach includes both phonics
instruction, as proposed in SSSB 203, and the whole language
approach. The district found that elementary students must be
provided with a range of different instructional methods because
students come to school with various backgrounds in reading: some
read well when they enter kindergarten, others do not know the
alphabet. The FNSBSD believes a balanced approach is the only way
to go. Recent research on reading instruction favors a balanced
approach as well. He urged the committee to look closely at a bill
that will require not only phonics, but also the whole language
approach because no one method is good for all students.
DR. STAYROOK stated the FNSBSD did use the CAT to assess first,
second, and third graders, but discontinued its use with first
graders for a number of reasons. First, classroom teachers felt it
was not developmentally appropriate to have students, who were
instructed using open-ended assessment tasks that allowed them to
read orally and demonstrate their reading abilities in other ways,
take a test that required them to focus in on one correct answer on
an answer sheet. A standardized test, like the CAT or the
Metropolitan or Stanford Achievement Tests, only gives half the
story about reading performance of students in the early grades.
Those tests measure the basic skills listed in SSSB 203, such as
phonemic awareness, but they do not measure a child's ability to
read orally and then explain the meaning of what was read.
Number 205
SENATOR GREEN asked Dr. Stayrook to suggest an appropriate measure
to use to assess the reading abilities of young children.
DR. STAYROOK replied there are many individually administered
reading tests available for teachers to use. SSSB 203 calls for
the use of individual tests only for the students who are scoring
below a certain level on a group administered, norm referenced
test.
SENATOR GREEN asked Dr. Stayrook whether he thought individually
administered tests are preferable for all young students.
DR. STAYROOK answered the FNSBSD Title 1 programs assess young
students using an individually administered reading test the
result of politics which allows students to provide both verbal and
written responses. He added many other good tests are available
that do the same.
Number 239
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether she is correct in assuming that
most teachers do not need a nationally normed test to evaluate a
student.
DR. STAYROOK said he believes that is true. Teachers usually know
what the test results will be before the test is administered,
because teachers work with students 180 days over the school year.
SENATOR GREEN commented that many teachers use a check-off sheet
to determine which phonics principles a student is aware of, and
that exercise becomes part of the student evaluation process. She
questioned whether that approach could be tied in to determining
which students need to be tested.
DR. STAYROOK stated he met with Senator Taylor and his staff during
the past week to come up with a compromise bill that will emphasize
the balanced approach to reading instruction as opposed to a bill
that simply talks about phonics. DOE believes a balanced approach
is necessary. He suggested amending the bill to require districts
to use a balanced approach and to require students to meet the
Alaska student performance standards in reading and language arts.
He incorporated, into proposed amendments, the contents of the
standards which include such things as phonics, spelling,
instruction, word meaning in context, structure of the English
language, and other whole language concepts. DOE recommends the
use of an assessment system based on performance standards set for
very young students; one age group being 5 to 7 year olds. The
assessment will contain test items much like those in an
individually administered diagnostic reading test.
SENATOR GREEN asked whether DOE's plan involves creating a new
test.
DR. STAYROOK said it does.
SENATOR GREEN remarked she does not think creating a new test is
necessary because measurements already exist to determine whether
first graders can recognize certain sounds for reading. Existing
tests can fulfill what both DOE and Senator Taylor have in mind.
DR. STAYROOK clarified that DOE does not plan to develop a
completely brand new set of test questions to measure the portion
of the standards that deal with phonics. Other parts of the
standards, such as listening, speaking, and writing skills, cannot
be measured using existing tests. DOE proposes to work with a test
contractor to ensure that the assessment is comprehensive. DOE
believes a balanced assessment program will be necessary to measure
all aspects of the balanced approach to reading.
Number 295
SENATOR GREEN pointed out the problem with the Quality Schools
Initiative is the incredibly high cost of creating the assessment
piece. She repeated her belief that an appropriate measurement
already exists to assess all of the components of a balanced
approach. She suggested that the legislation should be broadened
to require schools to do something other than provide special
education classes for students who measure below a certain
percentile on a nationally normed test. She stated that is the
direction in which the Legislature is headed. She asked Dr.
Stayrook to help the Legislature get there with this bill without
creating a new test.
DR. STAYROOK spoke to the "normed" part of a nationally normed
test. The definition of what represents norming is the average
score of a nationally representative group of students of the same
age who took the test. When students in Alaska are compared
against the national norm, they are being compared against the
average of all students in the norm group upon which this test was
standardized. He noted if one looks at the achievement of students
over the last five or ten years, when the normed tests were
created, one should ask whether the standards are high enough. The
CAT was normed in 1992 so we are comparing students today to a
representative group of students who took the same test in 1992.
DOE is arguing that nationally normed tests do not provide a high
enough standard for Alaska students. If Alaska creates its own set
of standards and assessments for students, the assessments could be
benchmarked against other states with much higher standards than
the nationally normed test. For example, the State of Virginia is
viewed as a state with an extremely good standards and assessment
system; Virginia's students score well above the national average.
He proposed amending SSSB 203 to require that any standards and
assessment system that DOE devises for students ages 5 to 7 be
compared against other states to ensure that Alaska holds the same
high expectations for its students as other states do.
Number 341
SENATOR GREEN asked Dr. Stayrook if he could change the words
"nationally normed test" to another phrase, what that would be.
DR. STAYROOK replied "to a set of criterion referenced tests that
have high standards."
SENATOR GREEN asked whether such tests already exist.
DR. STAYROOK replied many of the tests that exist are norm-
referenced, not criterion referenced, because a criterion
referenced test cannot be created without first determining the
criteria.
SENATOR GREEN asked whether the State of Virginia has such a test.
DR. STAYROOK said it does but that test is based on performance
standards set by the State of Virginia, not on a nationally-normed
reference test.
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether the Alaska DOE could borrow from
the State of Virginia.
DR. STAYROOK said DOE could, if that information is not privileged
or copyrighted. DOE would benchmark Alaska's standards and
assessments against Virginia's standards, as well as other selected
states.
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether any well known, criterion-
referenced tests are commercially available.
DR. STAYROOK said none are commercially available because a
criterion referenced test relates to the criteria set up for a
specific school, school district, or state, hence commercial
publishing companies do not create criterion referenced tests
unless requested. DOE is proposing to have a test created that
will emphasize a balanced approach to reading instruction.
Number 365
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked Senator Green if her concern is, that while
she supports using a test, she does not see the need to create a
new test.
SENATOR GREEN responded that she cannot imagine that creating a new
test is necessary for first, second, and third grade student
assessments. She repeated that although teachers do a wonderful
job with day-to-day assessments, some students in every classroom
do not succeed and it is those students that SB 203 is geared to.
She said she cannot believe, after so many years of testing, an
appropriate test does not already exist.
DR. STAYROOK answered assessments exist in pieces. DOE is
proposing to put the pieces together to create a comprehensive
assessment for young children.
SENATOR GREEN asked how much DOE estimates the creation of a new
test will cost.
DR. STAYROOK said DOE is using the same estimate it used for the
high school exit qualifying exam which is about $2 to $3 million
and it will take two to three years to develop.
Number 388
CHAIRMAN WILKEN maintained that any test of first, second, and
third graders would be a test of basic skills. He suggested the
language on page 2, line 2 is problematic and needs to be further
developed. He asked Dr. Stayrook if he planned to offer any
amendments at this time.
DR. STAYROOK stated he presented a series of amendments that are
acceptable to DOE to Senator Taylor's staff.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN noted the committee will consider those amendments
as it continues to work on this bill.
SENATOR GREEN asked what the phrase "If a majority of the
students..." means on page 2, line 13.
DR. STAYROOK explained that would apply if over 50 percent of the
students score in the bottom quartile on a nationally normed test.
Nationally normed tests have percentile ranks of students. It is
conceivable that all, or a majority, of the students within a
school or school district could score below the 25th percentile.
SENATOR GREEN asked what percent is typical, or what DOE would hope
for.
DR. STAYROOK answered the national standard is to have 25 percent
of the students score within each quartile on the test. In a good
school district, less than 25 percent of the students would score
in the bottom quartile.
Number 411
SENATOR GREEN stated that if a majority of students in a grade
tested below the 25th percentile, the situation would be ominous.
She asked what would be a reasonable standard to expect statewide.
DR. STAYROOK replied it is very difficult to say. Anytime the
percentile is over 25, those scores indicate that problems exist,
but the same holds true when even one student scores below the 25th
percentile.
SENATOR GREEN asked if the word "majority" on line 13 would set a
false standard.
DR. STAYROOK replied DOE has reviewed the fourth grade CAT results
by district across the state. 11 out of 53 districts have greater
than 50 percent of their students scoring in the lowest quartile in
reading. Those districts need help getting their students up to
grade level. That information is not available for first, second,
and third graders because they are not tested. He cautioned that
the content of these tests tell only part of the story about the
reading achievement level of students.
SENATOR GREEN asked whether this might not only indicate the
delivery method is in question, but also that the child needs
further testing and that special assistance will be required for
more than just reading skills.
DR. STAYROOK said it does. He believes any child scoring below the
25th percentile needs additional assistance. DOE does not oppose
having classroom teachers administer diagnostic reading tests to
students who have deficiencies in order to determine where those
deficiencies are. A group administered achievement test, such as
the CAT, is not a diagnostic test. It gives a broad picture of how
students score across a number of subjects.
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether a diagnostic test is completely
different from a criterion referenced test.
DR. STAYROOK said yes, a diagnostic test is individually
administered to determine specific kinds of reading and language
arts deficiencies. A criterion referenced test measures a
student's performance against a set of standards or a set of
criteria.
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether a diagnostic test is the piece
that is needed for this type of bill.
DR. STAYROOK answered certainly students who perform low should be
given a diagnostic test. He pointed out SSSB 203 does call for
diagnostic testing if a majority of students are scoring in the
bottom quartile on the group administered test.
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether it would be appropriate to
initially administer a diagnostic test.
DR. STAYROOK thought that would be a good idea and noted that is
the direction the FNSBSD is going in. The FNSBSD is not satisfied
with the assessments it currently has for first graders so it plans
to pilot more individualized assessments.
SENATOR GREEN questioned whether any existing test might complement
a diagnostic test to get the results the sponsor is aiming at.
DR. STAYROOK said such a test would be a criterion referenced test
based on the Alaska standards.
Number 457
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked whether the FNSBSD tests first graders now.
DR. STAYROOK said first graders have not been tested for the last
three years. The FNSBSD has substituted a performance assessment.
Teachers read students a three page story and allow them to answer
open-ended questions regarding the reading. The FNSBSD has found
the performance assessment is rather easy and only measures the
students' ability to comprehend a story read to them. Test results
show that the average first grader scores at the 90th percentile.
The FNSBSD is now looking at other types of reading assessments to
substitute.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked whether some districts in this state would
benefit from this legislation, while others would not benefit at
all.
DR. STAYROOK said that would be fair to say. He thought one reason
the bill was introduced is that curriculum specification is the
responsibility of each school district, and many districts have
instituted curricula that largely emphasize whole language
instruction and de-emphasize phonics and basic skills instruction
in reading. If the bill was written to include a balanced
approach, it would preclude districts from adopting curricula that
do not have either phonics or whole language instruction.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN questioned whether that would become transparent if
SSSB 203 passed.
DR. STAYROOK stated he believes that is true. The draft FNSBSD
curriculum would match this bill in its entirety in terms of what
is emphasized.
Number 482
JEAN ANN ALTER, legislative chair of the Alaska State Literacy
Association, former DOE Title 1 coordinator, and a reading teacher,
gave the following testimony. She complimented the committee for
addressing the issue of assessing students who are not learning to
read and requiring schools to provide additional instruction and
support for those struggling readers. She suggested dropping the
mandate for norm-referenced testing in at least the first two grade
levels and replacing it with language in the bill requiring DOE to
approve every schools' reading assessment plan for the early
grades. Any reading assessment plan should assess phonetic
awareness, word attack, fluency, etc. She expressed concern about
reinstating the use of norm-referenced tests in the first two
grades because in the last five to 10 years Alaska schools have
found more effective kinds of assessments to use in the early
grades. All of the schools in the state that receive any federal
money in the way of Title 1, Migrant, Title 6, or Title 2 funds
report their assessment methods of primary grade students to DOE.
Many school districts use informal assessments, such as the Dural
(ph) Qualitative Reading Assessment, while more and more school
districts are combining that with the Clay Observation Survey, used
on all primary grade children. The Clay Observation Survey
includes an alphabet screen that tests a student's ability to
recognize letters and sounds to determine the level of phonetic
awareness, tests dictation skills, familiarity with word lists,
writing skills, and oral reading skills. That approach is much
more effective than using a norm-referenced test. Norm-referenced
tests tempt teachers to teach directly to the test which limits
instruction. Ms. Alter said norm-referenced tests are not
particularly accurate in the primary grades; one could get a better
view of a student's achievement level by looking at the parent's
income level. Students in the primary grades guess at answers in
norm-referenced tests, and using the test as a screen does not
provide accurate results. She pointed out in rural Alaska, the
students she works with are very good at phonics but have more
difficulty with comprehension, which is why she agrees a balanced
approach is necessary.
SENATOR GREEN asked Ms. Alter if she could recommend language to
replace the phrase "... using a nationally normed group-
administered test" on page 2, line 2.
MS. ALTER said she would recommend language requiring DOE approval
of each district's assessment plan for students in primary grades.
Most districts are already required to report to DOE how they are
assessing student literacy for their federal programs and a
majority of the districts already have a solid plan in place. At
this point DOE is understaffed so staff cannot travel to, and
assist, districts in developing good assessment plans, and smaller
districts cannot hire consultants like Dr. Stayrook.
Number 561
SENATOR GREEN commented if a statewide standard is set in statute
and DOE has oversight, the onus will be put on the classroom.
MS. ALTER suggested requiring districts to have assessment measures
in place to assess reading, including phonetics, comprehension,
writing skills, etc., for younger children, and then, if the
Legislature so desires, use norm-referenced measures beginning in
third grade because those tests are more accurate at that level.
SENATOR GREEN asked Ms. Alter if she believes an ongoing assessment
of children is already occurring.
MS. ALTER said she does. Some school districts use standardized
materials to do so, for example, the Clay Observation Survey is a
standardized measure but it is not norm-referenced. Many schools
use informal surveys that are effective in gathering the kind of
information desired.
TAPE 98-27, SIDE B
JAQUELINE TAGABAN, Tlingit and Haida Central Council Project
Director for the Family Education Center, a Native parent, and the
Chairperson for the Southeast Alaska Affiliate of the National
Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), expressed
the following concerns about viewing phonics as the one and only
way to teach reading to children. She believes that children learn
to read in many ways, phonics being one, and they learn to read
when exposed to authentic literature that is meaningful to them and
their environment, rather than with books that lose meaning when
attempting to provide a phonics lesson. NAEYC believes it is
extremely important to capitalize on the active and social nature
of children's learning. Early instruction must provide rich
demonstrations and models of literacy in the course of activities
that make sense to young children. As a member of the Native
community, Ms. Tagaban stated her concerns are at the targeted
group for whom this bill is addressing. If nationally-normed
standardized tests are used to identify students considered at risk
for learning, Native children will be targeted because they do not
score well on such tests. Such tests do not appropriately reflect
what all children know, and are even more inaccurate for Alaska
Native children whose learning environment is nothing like the
national norm. Ms. Tagaban did not believe it is necessary to
create a new assessment piece if we can trust in individual
teachers who are doing authentic assessment on a daily basis. If
Native children continue to be labeled "at risk" and are given less
of a variety of ways to learn to read, we are taking steps backward
rather than forward.
SENATOR WARD commented that he is an Alaska Native and went through
the public school system. In the seventh grade, his family moved
to Florida for a short period of time. He left the Anchorage
school system with a below average grade but was a straight A
student in Florida. He believes the handicap that is put on Native
children is a joke and as a grandfather, he will not allow his
grandchildren to be involved in the Johnson O'Malley program but he
insists that they get good grades. He said Alaska's schools were
far ahead of the rest of the nation, but no longer are as something
has changed drastically, but the decline in school systems has
nothing to do with race.
MS. TAGABAN said she was in no way saying it has to do with race,
her point was there are many inequities in this state already, and
that many children do not have grandparents who can support them to
learn to read, or even parents who can be there on a daily basis.
The problem is not that the children are not able to learn to read,
it is due to all of the inequities they must battle on a daily
basis.
SENATOR WARD stated they will battle, and will end up being
leaders.
MS. TAGABAN stated as long as we can think of Native students as
individuals who can learn to read using whatever method is best for
them and materials appropriate in their environment, they will
learn.
SENATOR WARD said he does not disagree with Ms. Tagaban, but he
needs to make sure that Native students have all of the tools they
need to compete, and that is what SSSB 203 is about.
MS. TAGABAN said she had to disagree because she does not believe
SSSB 203 will provide the tools necessary to learn to read.
Number 523
NILA RINEHART, manager of Tlingit and Haida Head Start, Tlingit and
Haida Central Council Indian Tribes of Alaska, and a national board
member of NAEYC, made the following statements. NAEYC and the
Reading Association are in the process of developing a position
paper on how young children learn to read. Children learn to read
and write in a variety of ways. Children are from varied
backgrounds and are put in groups of children who may or may not be
like them when they enter an educational institutional setting.
Because the early years are such important learning years, teachers
must be well prepared and trained on how to help young children
develop reading and writing skills. Children need to have a good
learning environment, teacher-pupil ratios need to be adequate.
Children learn best in small group settings, especially in the
younger years. In addition, schools need sufficient resources to
bring books into the hands of children. Many libraries need to be
upgraded to include good children's literature and high quality
learning materials so that all children have access to a print-rich
environment. Children who do not meet national ranges for literacy
need individualized instruction. Parents, teachers, and schools
need to be involved in determining what the individualized approach
should be. She agreed that phonics needs to be a part of the
curriculum, but it is not the only part. Teachers should use
multiple indicators to assess whether or not children are reading
at the appropriate level, including daily observations. Group
administered, multiple choice, standardized tests in reading and
writing are not appropriate for the younger children. Standardized
testing leads to standardized ways of teaching which is not
acceptable for young children. Children learn to love or hate
learning in their younger years. Also, every child needs to have
appropriate health care. Whether a child can adequately hear, see,
and has enough nutrition to carry him/her throughout the day is
essential. She commended the sponsor for recognizing the
importance of learning to read but she stated she believes in a
balanced approach and that there are many different aspects that
contribute to a child's ability to learn.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked Ms. Rinehart how the Head Start Program
introduces three year old children to reading.
Number 472
MS. RINEHART said at age three they are provided with a print rich
environment and they are read to daily. Children learn to write
their names and to recognize symbols. Books are provided in the
classroom and to parents to read at home. They have found the best
way to teach children to love to read is to be read to by parents
and teachers. Providing books that talk about their cultures and
communities, as well as the broader world, is very important.
DENNIS EARLY, a Head Start preschool teacher and parent of two
children, made the following comments. Both of his children
thoroughly enjoy reading and writing and both were presented with
a basal type approach to reading when they began which they
struggled with. He believes it is very important to get children
hooked on reading at the preschool level. He cautioned against
testing children at a young age because they are unlikely to score
well.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked what the basal approach is.
MR. EARLY responded he thinks of it as a "Dick and Jane" approach
which emphasizes words rather than meaning.
Number 436
BRIDGET SMITH from the Even Start program explained that program is
a federal education program which focusses on family literacy. She
assured committee members it is not the absence or presence of
phonics instruction that leads to childrens' success in learning to
read. Many factors are at play, the most important being whether
parents provide a literate environment at home. She appreciated
the committee's concern but said she is wary of a bill that
prescribes a program of intensive systematic phonics because she
believes children need a balanced approach to language instruction.
JOHN CYR, National Education Association (NEA) President, stated
that previous testimony has almost been unanimous in the belief
that the curriculum change that takes place must be broad based.
He commended the Legislature for looking at education in the in-
depth way that it has over the last couple of years but he stated
he does not believe SB 203 is necessary. Mandating norm-referenced
tests moves the state backward. He remembered giving norm-
referenced tests to young students in Kipnuk, which was a waste of
one week's worth of school. If the goal is to make schools better,
the teacher-pupil ratio must be smaller, schools need more books
and libraries, and students need to come to school healthy.
Requiring another nationally normed, artificial test, and
mandating a prescriptive program for all children will hurt as many
students as it helps. Alaska needs to set rigorous state standards
and let professionals in school districts and classrooms make sure
that students meet them. Micromanaging individual classrooms is
the wrong approach.
SENATOR GREEN stated what prompted this legislation is the fact
that some students end up with a degree but can neither read,
write, or spell. She stated assessing students at an early age
could prevent such situations.
MR. CYR said he thinks we need to set criterion referenced
standards in place and to ensure that those standards are very
clear to teachers and parents. We also need to set up a system of
testing. He was unsure whether DOE needs to spends millions of
dollars to do so. He thought that setting standards will obligate
school districts to find a way to ensure students meet them. He
said such a system will be expensive and it will fall to the
legislative body to provide funding.
Number 333
SENATOR GREEN asked whether the problem is that school districts
are inconsistent in their grade level standards.
MR. CYR replied that question is better asked of reading
specialists, but he assumed textbook companies still sell reading
textbooks and that there is some basic understanding of what skills
a six year old child should have. He thought most basal programs
follow a prescribed method of teaching reading. Every good first
and second grade teacher should be able to assess each student in
the classroom and know what level the student is at.
SENATOR GREEN said that is not happening in every school. She
asked how the Legislature can raise the standards and criteria for
each grade, without offending districts that already have programs
in place.
MR. CYR said the Legislature could set the standard. If he was
teaching U.S. history, he could be told what all students should
know when completing the class. Teachers should be able to decide
which textbooks and materials to use, but teachers should be held
responsible for ensuring that the students meet the standard.
SENATOR GREEN asked whether that is currently happening.
MR. CYR said there are no statewide standards.
Number 287
SENATOR GREEN commented no statewide standards have been set after
all of the curriculum committees have met for so many years. She
stated she would like to think that the purpose of the legislation
is not to offend anyone, but to say that assessments for reading,
writing, and spelling skills in first, second and third graders are
very important, and that the Legislature wants to know what
students can do and what to do when students have problems.
Number 274
MS. KROGSENG noted that previous speakers made numerous references
to using a balanced approach. She clarified language on page 1,
lines 7-10, speaks to the use of intensive systematic phonics along
with other methods of instruction. She emphasized there is nothing
in the original bill or the proposed committee substitute that
mandates that phonics is to be the only thing taught, nor is there
a reference to any particular program, because Senator Taylor
believes it is the teachers' responsibility to incorporate phonics
instruction in with the other methods they use.
MS. KROGSENG said, regarding the use of nationally normed tests,
Senator Taylor's intent is not necessarily to accept the mid-norm;
Alaska can require scores to be in the 80th percentile. Senator
Taylor's concern is that when Alaskan children graduate from our
schools, they should be able to compete with students from the
other 49 states. The bill focuses on first, second and third
graders because students' problems must be determined at an early
age in order for school districts to address them. If problems are
not assessed until the tenth or eleventh grades, the student has
lost years of opportunities. In addition, children cannot learn
history or other subject material without knowing how to read.
Regarding the fiscal note, MS. KROGSENG remarked it is Senator
Taylor's belief that if this bill passes, and deficient school
systems begin using phonics instruction in addition to other
methods of instruction in their language arts programs, special
education costs will decreaes far more than any costs incurred as
the result of requiring nationally normed tests to be given.
MS. KROGSENG referred to page 2 of the Wall Street Journal
editorial, dated March 23, 1998, which reads:
The report just released by the National Research Council
(sponsored by the Department of Education and the Department
of Health and Human Services) concludes that no single method
has all of the answers and recommends a mix of the two. Well,
that's a start. So is the report's recognition that the
debate over methods has diverted too much attention from the
problem of actually getting kids to read.
For proof, there are the embarrassing statistics: a 1992
National Adult Literacy Survey showed that 21% of Americans
are functionally illiterate. On top of that, a December study
by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development
found the United States to be among the few developed nations
that has failed to improve literacy over the past generation.
MS. KROGSENG questioned why, if teachers are already assessing
students on a daily basis and attacking the problem, we are in the
situation we are today. She urged committee members to amend SSSB
203 on page 2, line 13, to replace the words "a majority" with "25
percent or more."
CHAIRMAN WILKEN asked that the sponsor work with the Administration
on the amendments discussed today and on the language on page 2,
line 2, which pertains to testing. The committee will schedule the
bill when that work is done.
Number 192
SUE OLIPHANT, the Tlingit and Haida Head Start Disabilities and
Education Coordinator, commented throughout her career she has
learned that young children learn at very different rates and they
learn different things at different times. While one child may be
focusing on physical development, another child is working on
language development. She cautioned against using standardized
tests on young children. As a third grade teacher, she noted that
the students who were achieving best academically scored lower than
she would have expected on a standardized test. She thought that
occurred because those students were thinkers and could see several
options to the questions on a standardized test. She also warned
that no standardized tests are appropriate for our geographic area.
She discussed the difficulty her own children had with standardized
testing and that expectations were key to whether they were
successful or not. She suggested that if the Legislature wants to
address the problem of student underachievement, it should address
the problem of large class sizes.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN requested that a representative from DOE address
the fiscal note when SSSB 203 is rescheduled.
CHAIRMAN WILKEN announced that there will be a 3:00 presentation to
the House and Senate HESS committees on Thursday on early brain
development.
SB 246 - HARBORVIEW DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER
SENATOR WARD moved SB 246 out of committee with individual
recommendations and its accompanying fiscal notes. There being no
objection, the motion carried.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
CHAIRMAN WILKEN adjourned the meeting at 10:33 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|