Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
04/06/2018 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB102 | |
| SB188 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 188 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | HB 102 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 102-LIMITED TEACHER CERTIFICATES; LANGUAGES
CHAIR STEVENS announced the consideration of HB 102. [Version
30-LS0237\J was before the committee.]
8:00:23 AM
REID MAGDANZ, Staff, Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins,
Alaska State Legislature, presented HB 102 on behalf of the
sponsor. He said the bill grew out of discussions that
Representative Kreiss-Tomkins and he have had with language
immersion programs across the state about how to help with their
missions. They heard that one of the largest barriers to
successful immersion programs, especially for Alaska Native
languages, is the limited pool of certified teachers with the
necessary language abilities. The language immersion programs
are quality programs, well-liked by parents, in demand, and they
produce solid academic results. Learning other languages
prepares Alaska students for jobs around the country and the
world. HB 102 helps the programs continue to grow to continue to
meet parent and student demand.
8:02:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JONATHAN KREISS-TOMKINS, Alaska State
Legislature, sponsor of HB 102 said the bill is very much a
response to a problem they've identified in conversations with
different language programs around Alaska, either in rural
Alaska with Native language programs or world languages in the
Mat-Su and Anchorage. It is an exciting solution because it
bridges both worlds in terms of the rural/urban divide in
Alaska.
8:03:04 AM
SENATOR BEGICH said he is confused about the bill. The testimony
for HB 102 shows it seeks to correct the problem with Alaska
Native language, but statute exists that allows for Alaska
Native language and culture to be taught with a limited teaching
certificate. That part of the legislation is already addressed
under the law. This goes beyond this to include other languages.
He asked why this is relevant and why the current law doesn't
work for indigenous languages.
8:03:56 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered that the Type M
certificate does what Senator Begich describes. HB 102 is in
response to immersion language programs, which are a growing
phenomenon in Alaska. All subject matter is taught in a certain
language. In the Native language it could be Yupik, like at
Ayaprun Elitnaurvik School in Bethel. Having a teacher teaching
not just Yupik but math and other basic subject is important in
an immersion language environment. This bill is responsive to
that broader scope of instruction.
8:05:13 AM
MR. MAGDANZ said that when the original limited certificate
statutes were put on the books, immersion programs were
uncommon. In the last couple of decades, they have become the
gold standard for language education, in particular Native
language revitalization. HB 102 meets the needs of those
programs that have developed since then.
8:05:42 AM
SENATOR BEGICH said that Mr. Magdanz is saying that the current
law allowing for a limited teaching certificate for Native
language and culture wouldn't include the vast array of things
happening in immersion programs.
8:06:05 AM
MR. MAGDANZ said that is the interpretation they have from
Legislative Legal. Current statutes would only allow someone,
for example, to teach an Inupiaq language class. A kindergarten
teacher could not teach science or social studies.
SENATOR BEGICH said the other issue for him is the foreign
language requirement. A concern of his is that they continue to
find ways to limit the specialties taught by teachers. It is not
necessarily an advantage. They might prepare students
inadequately because they haven't been taught by teachers who
have gone through teacher preparation. He himself went through
teacher training. There are skill sets taught to educate
students. He asked if Mr. Magdanz can reassure him that this
won't lead to a slippery slope of dumbing down teacher
requirements instead of trying to recruit quality teachers
instead.
8:08:27 AM
MR. MAGDANZ said HB 102 fully allows for the State Board of
Education to require a teacher preparation program for anyone
issued a certificate under the bill. He expects that the State
Board would. The State Board currently does not require that for
Type M but does for Type I. Having spent time immersed in a
culture and language is what makes immersion teachers most
effective. It is not dumbing down of a certificate. It is
allowing the people most qualified to be in the immersion
language programs to be there.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said all things are relative in a
situation. In previous committees he was struck by testimony
from immersion schools that are so desperate for fluent speakers
that long-term substitutes are marshalled into classrooms
because they need to have fluent speakers. If that is the
starting point, this bill is a big step up from that. The Board
of Education backstops all of this with approval. He agrees that
in the long term the ideal is that they want fully certificated
teachers. This is a stepping stone to get there. Right now
there's such a need that this is an improvement from where they
are.
8:11:14 AM
SENATOR BEGICH said that is his concern. There is a crying need
for these teachers. They don't have the supply because they
don't have the incentives for teachers to come teach in Alaska.
He's not certain that this bill gets them an incentive. It
provides a stopgap. That is part of his concern. That said, he
is reassured by Mr. Magdanz's comments.
8:11:51 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said she assumed that immersion programs like
Fronteras Charter School in Mat-Su would have certified teachers
who could make sure skills needed for going further in education
are covered. She asked if they can be reassured that other
teachers in the program or building will be certified.
8:12:43 AM
MR. MAGDANZ responded that the State Board would have complete
authority under the bill to require any level of mentorship from
a Type A certificated teacher. That is how the Type I
certificate works. Persons allowed to have their own classrooms
in an immersion would be subject to supervision, guidance, and
mentorship from more experienced teachers.
8:13:32 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said her concern is about teachers who have not
gone through training to teach other content areas. Someone with
a Type M certificate who is great at conversing may not be
trained for teaching math, earth sciences. She asked that if
these certificates are issued, would it make sense to require
these teachers to be working toward their certificates in the
same way that those with Type I certificates are working toward
bachelor's degrees.
8:14:52 AM
MR. MAGDANZ responded that the bill requires that any person
issued a limited teaching certificate has to demonstrate subject
area expertise. The bill mandates that; the State Board sets
regulations for what constitutes subject area expertise. A
certificate written under this bill would not be a blanket,
someone can teach anything in Spanish. Someone holding a
certificate under this bill would be qualified to teach a
specific subject in a specific language. They would have to
demonstrate subject area expertise under regulations that would
be set by the Board of Education.
8:16:07 AM
SENATOR GIESSEL arrived.
8:16:10 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said she appreciates that subject area expertise
would be required separate from the language itself. She asked
for the sponsor's view for some sort of requirement because she
understands what Senator Begich said about the slippery slope.
They want the best qualified teachers for their students. She
asked if the bill sponsor would object to requiring Type M
certified teachers to begin training to move on to the I
certificate and eventually full certificate.
8:17:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered that he agreed and
pointed to subsection (e). The one-year probationary period may
partly speak to that. It is not for any period of time for any
subject. It is a narrow band of subjects that someone with a
Type M certificate would teach. It is a one-year certificate. It
would be in everyone's interest, the certificate holder, the
charter school, for someone to work toward full certification.
8:18:30 AM
MR. MAGDANZ presented the sectional. He noted that the bill is a
repeal and reenactment of an existing section of law, so
although it looks like new law, most of this is already in law.
It has been reorganized with some new language added. Subsection
(a) adds paragraph four, which allows the limited certificate to
be issued to teachers in immersion programs.
HB 102 repeals and re-enacts AS 14.20.025.
Sec. 14.20.025(a)
The Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
may issue limited teacher certificates in certain specialty
areas:
• Alaska Native culture; Military science;
• Vocational or technical education;
• Classes taught in non-English languages.
Under current law, limited certificates may be issued
for teaching Alaska Native languages or culture,
military science, and vocational or technical
education. HB 102 adds classes taught in non-English
languages to the existing list.
Certificates issued under this section in one of these
specialty areas are subject to the provisions of AS
14.20.025 and exempt from certain requirements of AS
14.20.020 or AS 14.20.022.
Sec. 14.20.025(b)
Limited certificates can only be issued to a person if the
school board of the district in which the person will
teach has requested a limited certificate for that
specific person. The limited certificate is valid only in
the district that makes the request.
A person may only receive a limited certificate if they
demonstrate "instructional skills and subject matter
expertise sufficient to assure the public that the person
is competent as a teacher." This language is used in
current law, and like in current law, the state board of
education is empowered to write regulations interpreting
it.
The state board of education's regulations may require that
a limited certificate holder undertake additional academic
training.
8:19:39 AM
Sec. 14.20.025(c)
A limited teacher certificate must specify the language(s)
and subject(s) for which it is valid.
Restates that limited certificates can only be issued to a
person if the school board of the district in which the
person will teach has requested a limited certificate for
that specific person. The limited certificate is valid
only in the district that makes the request.
8:20:19 AM
Sec. 14.20.025(d)
Gives the state board of education authority to write
regulations implementing AS 14.20.025. Provides that
the regulations can't require a certificate applicant
to achieve a minimum score on an exam unless that exam
in given in the instructional language the certificate
will be valid for (e.g., a teacher who will be
teaching only in German or Inupiaq cannot be required
to pass an exam given in English).
8:21:16 AM
Sec. 14.20.25(e)
Limited certificates are initially valid for one year.
Terms and lengths of extension and renewal shall be set by
the state board of education. In order for a limited
certificate to be extended or renewed, the school board
that initially requested the certificate must certify that
the certificate holder has demonstrated skills in classroom
instruction and student assessment.
8:21:48 AM
BRANDON LOCKE, Senior Director, World Languages, Anchorage
School District, supported HB 102. He said the Anchorage School
District has a long history of immersion programs dating back to
the late 80s. They have 2,500 students in language immersion
programs, which include Chinese, Japanese, German, Spanish, and
Russian. They are launching a Yupik immersion program for the
first time this fall. In immersion, teachers are teaching
content in the language. It's about teaching content through the
language and by doing so, students are learning language, just
like they do their first language. He recognizes that the
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) has heard
some of this testimony and now has a world language expert
limited certificate, which is beneficial for high school
language teachers. It does not speak to the need of having an
elementary certification, which is what language immersion
teachers need to have. In Anchorage it is always a huge
challenge to find qualified teachers. Right now they have five
or six Spanish immersion positions available for next year.
Finding people who are dually qualified, fluent in a language
and fully endorsed in a content area, is challenging.
8:24:37 AM
MR. LOCKE said he heard the concerns about letting anyone in the
classroom. He would say on behalf of the Anchorage School
District that they would use this carefully. This would not open
the floodgates to let anyone in the classroom. They would use
this in a situation where they have tried all other avenues.
This will help in those extremely hard-to-fill situations.
SENATOR BEGICH asked what is the barrier to recruiting teachers
for unfilled positions.
8:25:47 AM
MR. LOCKE said that is a tough question to answer. It is hard to
recruit teachers to Alaska in general. Finding someone to teach
second grade in Japanese is not an easy task. The Anchorage
School District is constantly trying to recruit nationwide and
in other countries. It is an ongoing struggle and challenge.
8:27:16 AM
JENNIFER SCHMIDT-HUTCHINS, Principal, Fronteras Charter School,
supported HB 102. She said the biggest difficulty when trying to
find qualified applicants is simply the limited number of
native-Spanish speaker candidates, not only locally but
nationally and internationally. The lack of interest in moving
to Alaska is key. It's the climate, the pay is a deterrent. The
competition is quite high. The most significant barrier they
experience is the process of Alaska's certification. One teacher
from Colombia and one from Puerto Rico came to Fronteras fully
certified with numerous years of teaching. Even though they are
fully certified in their home countries and their credits have
been vetted and accepted by the state Department of Education,
they must pass the reading, writing, and mathematics sections of
Praxis, which is only offered in English. She highlighted the
difficulty this presents to native-Spanish speakers.
8:29:14 AM
MS. SCHMIDT-HUTCHINS said first the native speaker must read
everything in English and translate it into Spanish in the time
allotted for every single question. They have to write all their
responses in English. They can apply for a modification of an
additional 20 minutes, which is not much help. Because Praxis is
only offered in English, the two Spanish teachers were reduced
to substitute pay with benefits removed, but they continued to
do the full-time job of a certified teacher. This is wrong.
Native speakers bring that rich culture that is such a huge
component of their immersion program. Because of the quality of
their native-Spanish speaking staff, they are requested more as
homeroom teachers than English-speaking teachers because their
parents want their children immersed in the target language. She
asked them to please consider the gift they would give to every
immersion students by voting in favor of HB 102.
8:31:15 AM
CHAIR STEVENS asked what her solution is to the Praxis issue.
8:31:21 AM
MS. SCHMIDT-HUTCHINS suggested the first thing is to offer the
Praxis in other languages. If the Praxis remains only in
English, it's critical to have HB 102.
8:31:51 AM
ALICE TAFF, Affiliate Assistant Professor of Alaska Native
Languages, University of Alaska Southeast, supported HB 102. She
said she is a linguist affiliated with both the University of
Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Alaska Southeast. People
have better executive function if they are bilingual or
multilingual. They have less dementia and suicide. Native
communities which have 50 percent or more conversational use of
their ancestral language are healthier. Students will be
healthier and smarter if bilingual. They become bilingual
through significant immersion in the language. She asked them to
give Alaska students a chance to become healthier and smarter.
HB 102 will be a gleaming legacy, especially for Alaska Native
students.
8:37:16 AM
SENATOR BEGICH said he doesn't oppose bilingualism. He wants to
assure quality of instruction.
8:37:46 AM
MS. TAFF said that is her concern also. With HB 102, they can be
assured that that will be quality education.
8:37:59 AM
PEGGY AZUYAK, Representing Self, supported HB 102. She said she
is the Director of Rural Schools for Kodiak Island Borough
School District and teaches Alutiiq language at Kodiak College.
Kodiak has worked hard over several decades to grow Alutiiq
speakers. They have their first immersion program. Immersion is
so important to their community as they work to grow Alutiiq
speakers and strengthen the identity of their youth. Their pool
of language speakers and experts is so small. HB 102 will allow
them to continue their momentum and build their immersion
teaching capacity and move beyond preschool into elementary
schools as they work to build their teaching capacity within
their language community. They have teachers teaching Alutiiq
through Type M certificates, which has been so helpful to them
to get the language to their students. HB 102 is instrumental in
allowing them to broaden their immersion practices. In all of
their language programs, they have language experts work hand-
in-hand with teaching experts. HB 102 would allow them to honor
the expertise of their cultural and language knowledge and use
community resources while building capacity and strengthening
language teachers. The pool is so small that those with Type A
certificates are working full time to support language programs
in addition to other jobs.
CHAIR STEVENS asked DEED to provide a response.
8:41:37 AM
BOB WILLIAMS, Director, Educator and School Excellence,
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), testified
on HB 102. He said DEED supports immersion schools and efforts
to revitalize Alaska Native languages. HB 102 does raise some
concerns. It changes the specific nature of the subject matter
expert certificate into a certificate that makes a teacher a
subject matter expert at any grade level and subject by speaking
a different language without providing DEED a mechanism for
checking the competency of the teaching in that subject or grade
level unless the competency exam is in the world language. The
bill does say that the State Board can require academic training
for the limited teaching certificate by regulation but in their
conversations, it seems to preclude the requirement of
completion or enrollment of a teacher preparation program.
8:43:05 AM
MR. WILLIAMS said they have mechanisms in place to meet many of
these needs. The Type M allows individuals with specific skills
to teach specific skill areas and does not require a bachelor's
degree. Applicants must document expertise, be sponsored by a
school district, complete the mandatory trainings, and pass a
background check. The renewable certificate is valid for five
years. Those skills currently are military science, Junior ROTC,
Alaska Native language or culture, and career and technical
education. That can get Native speakers into the classroom. The
Type I, the instructional aide or the associate teacher, allows
individuals with skills in Alaska Native language and who are
also enrolled in a teacher preparation program that will lead to
a bachelor's degree, to teach Alaska Native language and the
content covered in the teacher preparation program.
MR. WILLIAMS said that applicants must be sponsored by a school
district, be enrolled in a teacher preparation program, be
supervised and mentored by a certified teacher, complete the
mandatory trainings, and pass a background check. It is valid
for one year and is renewable. The Type I can be extended when
the applicant documents the progress made to complete the
teacher preparation program and bachelor's degree. Lower
Kuskokwim School District is doing this with many of their
immersion schools. Those mechanisms can help meet those needs.
Sondra Meredith will testify about how the State Board has
responded to immersion schools with a Type W limited
certificate.
8:45:22 AM
SONDRA MEREDITH, Administrator, Teacher Education and
Certification, Department of Education and Early Development
(DEED), testified on HB 102. She said the Type W, which was just
adopted and will go into effect next year, will address those
native speakers from outside of the United States who were able
to qualify for an initial certification but did not pass the
Praxis 1 basic competency exam at the end of year. The limited
Type W will remedy that kind of situation. The basic competency
exam will be broken into three areas. Those individuals with
expertise in language must still take the math in English but
can substitute a language-specific exam for the writing and
reading. Those individuals must have or be enrolled in a teacher
preparation program and have a bachelor's degree. It is a step
to remedy a situation by bringing more native speakers into
classrooms.
8:46:59 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said the committee needs more time with the
sponsor and the department to fully vet the bill. He held HB 102
in committee.