Legislature(2019 - 2020)CAPITOL 106
05/08/2019 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB109 | |
| HB136 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 136 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 109 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 136-PUBLIC SCHOOLS: SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL LEARNING
8:28:50 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY announced that the next order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 136, "An Act relating to public school funding
for social and emotional learning; and providing for an
effective date."
8:29:07 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS, as the prime sponsor of HB 136,
introduced the bill. He said he is honored to sponsor HB 136 as
part of the ongoing efforts of the legislature and this
committee to take a detailed look at ways to improve how the
state prepares young Alaskans for life success through education
and job readiness. He explained HB 136 would help Alaska school
districts to protect funds for social and emotional learning
(SEL) by requiring a percentage of the funds distributed by a
formula fund to be allocated to social and emotional learning
activities. The necessity of these activities has been
recognized by the legislature and would be protected from
elimination during these times of budget crisis by the language
in HB 136. The bill is not intended to dedicate specific state
funds; instead, it would be one-half of one percent of the
equivalent of how much money goes from the state to each school
district. As the bill is currently written, a grant or a
private donation could account for this money.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS noted the committee has heard from many
presenters over the session about the importance of social and
emotional learning (SEL), otherwise known as soft skills or
people skills. For example, before the committee last week Mark
Foster noted that, "Social skills tend to be a better predictor
of success in life." Representative Hopkins related that these
types of skills include motivation, self-restraint, self-
reflection, and empathy. Alaska spends more than $1.5 billion
annually on education and workforce development, yet research
shows that the most important indicator for future success is
thorough and effective social and emotional education, not just
concentrating on reading, writing, and math. An investment of
one-half of one percent is a very small amount with an
incalculable return.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS pointed out that nearly every school
district in Alaska currently does work on social and emotional
learning in some way. In its current form, HB 136 has no
additional cost to the state. The intent and goal of the bill
is to ensure that the districts continue to concentrate at a
minimum level of their budgets on this important type of
curriculum and program, as well as to continue to drive the
conversation. He noted the intent is to hold HB 136 in
committee and work over the interim with stakeholder groups to
further refine the specifics of the bill. He related that there
was some concern about starting to dedicate parts of the funding
formula and interrupting the work that the districts are doing.
8:33:00 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND asked whether HB 136 would create any new
programs.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS replied the bill would not create any new
programs or specify specifically how the districts need to work
on social and emotional learning. The districts would still
have flexibility to know what is best for their students and not
be mandated by the legislature as to what lessons or programs.
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND inquired whether HB 136 would place any
restrictions on a district's ability to fund these programs.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS responded it would not.
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND asked why social and emotional learning is
necessary in Alaska's schools.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS answered that starting in kindergarten
the state tests standards for playing well in the sandbox and
working well with others, in an understanding of what it takes
to be a stronger functioning member of society as opposed to
just learning multiplication tables or the periodic table of
elements. This look at social skills goes all the way through
high school because they determine future success. There is a
wide array of research that backs this up.
8:34:44 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ZULKOSKY recounted that the committee has talked
this year and last about the impact of adverse childhood
experiences and the importance of ensuring that children come
into the classroom with readiness to learn, which sometimes
takes focus in other areas beyond reading, writing, and
curriculum. She pointed out that in rural districts the larger
districts would probably be better able to absorb this type of
dedication/expectation of funds, but that it might be difficult
for the smaller districts. She asked whether there has been
vetting and conversations with the smaller rural school
districts that may have a more difficult time implementing
something like this. She suggested that, if not, this work
could happen over the interim.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS replied "absolutely" and explained that
the original impetus behind the bill was that school districts
of all sizes are having to do a lot of health and social service
work with students who come to school with adverse childhood
experiences, and seeing how that impacted the classrooms.
Districts are working hard on preparing the students to learn.
A spreadsheet in the committee packet shows how much money it
would be for each school district under the bill's current
structure - the Anchorage School District is obviously the
highest amount, while Pelican is the smallest at [$2,687], which
is not a heavy lift. Representative Hopkins said he has talked
to school districts of all sizes. For example, the Tok and
Dillingham school district superintendents were excited about
the bill and liked that it would remove some of the political
dialogue and the political pressure when they are forming their
budgets.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS continued his reply. He allowed he has
heard concern from the Alaska Association of School Boards and
former members of school boards about theoretically getting "the
nose of the camel under the tent" such that future legislatures
might want to also dedicate a portion of funding toward
something else, and then something else, and then something
else. Because he doesn't want to open that door and because he
wants to allow flexibility for the districts, he is going to
back off mandating a certain amount of money and work with the
school boards, superintendents, and school district business
officers to find out how to continue to drive that dialogue
instead of mandating funding levels.
REPRESENTATIVE ZULKOSKY said she appreciates this answer. She
noted that it would require $30,000 for one of the school
districts in her region, which is a heavy lift for a school
district that serves three small villages.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS offered his understanding that funding is
tight and said he doesn't want to put on pressure.
8:39:28 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY observed that the bill on page 1, line 7, only
says "state aid" and nothing about grant money. She suggested
that this language be added.
REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS responded he will look at this to ensure
the language is specific on how that funding needs to be shown.
CO-CHAIR STORY complimented the sponsor for the information
provided in the packet. She offered her belief that all members
of the committee believe in social and emotional learning and
wish they could be adding this money to districts and putting in
a fiscal note of this amount. Superintendents, parents,
teachers, and school board members have talked to committee
members about how critical this learning is in school climate
and the workplace in life. She mused about investing this money
up front and how much cost would be saved in the future for
other tough situations the state might find itself in.
8:40:59 AM
TANIA CLUCAS, Staff, Representative Grier Hopkins, Alaska State
Legislature, reviewed the documents provided in the committee
packet for HB 136. She brought attention to the sponsor
statement, the fiscal note of zero, and the spreadsheet that
breaks out the one-half of one percent for each school district.
She pointed out that school counselors are considered part of
social and emotional learning and therefore in one of the small
districts a school counselor would cover what the cost would be.
She drew attention to the examples of what already exist in
Alaska for curriculum materials and guidelines for the different
school districts. The document with the header "Pre-K" is from
the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, and that it lists
the different standards from pre-kindergarten through grade 12
that are in the Alaska educational guidelines from DEED. The
packet also includes a recent report to the Fairbanks School
Board and materials on what has been happening in the Fairbanks
School District with social and emotional learning. She added
that the Juneau School District has provided examples of what it
uses for kindergarten through grade 12, which she will be
getting to the committee. Another item is an article about
social and emotional learning in the classroom and its effects
on the students in their long-term success that was referenced
by Mr. Mark Foster.
8:44:16 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY opened invited testimony on HB 136.
8:44:32 AM
JAN DAVIS, SEL and Positive Behavior Coordinator, Anchorage
School District (ASD), testified that in 2006 the Anchorage
School District became the first district in the nation to adopt
social and emotional standards. She explained that the ASD's 15
standards for kindergarten through grade 12 are organized into
four quadrants. The first is self-awareness, where students are
asked to be knowledgeable of their emotions, personal traits,
external supports, and personal responsibility. The second is
self-management, where students are asked to be capable to
manage their emotions, to demonstrate honesty and integrity, to
use effective decision-making skills, and to be able to set and
achieve goals. The third is social awareness, where students
are asked to care about other's perceptions, to care to be able
to contribute positively to their community, to respect others'
differences, and to read social cues. The fourth is social
management, where students are asked to be able to interact
effectively with others, to develop constructive relationships,
and can prevent, manage, and resolve interpersonal conflicts
constructively.
MS. DAVIS noted that ASD found an area it missed in the initial
rollout of its standards - the adult aspect. She explained that
if students are being asked to live within these four quadrants,
there must be adults who have a mindset that they truly see the
student in front of them, believe in the student's capacity to
learn and to change their behavior, care about the students and
that their SEL and academic needs are being met, and are
responsible to support the students in any way possible to
ensure the students are having success academically.
8:47:00 AM
MS. DAVIS stated ASD believes that to have a cohesive SEL
program there are three areas that must be had - climate, direct
instruction, and integrating SEL into other curricular
activities. Addressing the integration of SEL, she explained
that this means integrating SEL skills throughout the day in all
curricular areas through modeling and instructional practices
that promote SEL skills practiced in maximized learning. "The
way we teach is as important as what we teach," she said.
Allowing students time to enhance their SEL skills while
addressing academic content allows for students and for teachers
to know that SEL is not just half an hour once a week but needs
to be practiced throughout the whole week of school. Hopefully
students will apply that ability in other areas of their life.
MS. DAVIS asked the question, "How do we know what we're doing
is working?" She explained that this year ASD developed an SEL
walkthrough rubric, a tool that provides an external view at the
site to see what is happening during a short visit. The three
areas of the rubric are: schoolwide culture and environment;
classroom instruction; and classroom climate, environment, and
management. The idea of the rubric is to give additional data
points to the leadership teams at the schools so they can use
them to make sound decisions on what their next steps are and to
be used as a department to assess the professional development
that is needed.
8:48:55 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY requested Ms. Davis to send the SEL walkthrough
rubric to the committee. She inquired whether Ms. Davis was
previously in Juneau to give a training on aggressors, victims,
and bystanders at one of the middle schools.
MS. DAVIS confirmed she gave the training.
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND requested Ms. Davis to provide the committee
with a written copy of her testimony. She asked what year it
was that ASD became first in the U.S. to adopt SEL standards.
MS. DAVIS replied 2006.
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND inquired whether there was a trigger to that
early adoption or whether it was simply because Anchorage had
already been providing SEL training and thought the way to do it
would be to solidify it as standards.
MS. DAVIS responded that ASD was already doing lots of social
and emotional learning within the district before it knew the
term "SEL." The district worked with Search Institute and the
institute's four-day Developmental Assets, a foundation that was
then used by the district to look at what is needed in a school
so that it isn't just hit and miss. The district looks at
climate, direct instruction, and infusion of SEL skills to hit
all the needs of all students and adults.
8:50:44 AM
JENNIFER KNUTSON, PhD, Senior Director, Department of Teaching
and Learning, Anchorage School District (ASD), testified that
the Anchorage School District has been implementing SEL for over
20 years. For the last eight years ASD has been participating
nationally through a collaborating districts initiative. She
said SEL involves teaching skills that students - and adults -
need to be successful at school as well as at home, in the
community, and in the workplace.
DR. KNUTSON noted Ms. Davis talked about how the ASD embeds SEL
throughout the day and said she will discuss the other two
prongs of how the ASD looks at SEL. She explained that those
two prongs are through climate in the schools and through direct
teaching of those SEL skills. She said social and emotional
learning was first implemented in ASD schools by creating a safe
and respectful learning environment where students feel
connected to the schools, the adults who are working with them,
and their peers. Examples of the work done in the district to
build a positive climate include teachers greeting students as
they enter the class and creating social contracts for how to
treat each other and work with each other. Also, ASD has been
working on reset zones, which are places where students can go
when they demonstrate challenging behaviors and where they can
work on replacement behaviors and have restorative conversations
so that they can interact in a productive way with peers and
adults and get back to their learning. A safe and respectful
climate is an essential piece for teaching and learning because
without that it is going to be hard to get to the academics.
For example, in one school that implemented these climate
practices the suspensions went down from 286 last year to 85
this year.
8:53:15 AM
DR. KNUTSON said the third piece around SEL that is emphasized
by ASD is using evidence-based programs. Specific skills such
as problem solving, listening to others, and being self-aware of
emotions and how other people are feeling, must be intentionally
taught just like reading and math skills are taught, especially
at elementary and middle school levels. Students who might be
experiencing more challenging behaviors or experiencing trauma
receive additional support and individualized instruction on SEL
skills to help them cope during the day. When the three prongs
of embedding SEL throughout the day, climate, and direct
teaching are done together, changes are seen in academic
achievement, office discipline referrals go down, families feel
more connected, and students feel more connected. It is a
necessary part of the educational system.
DR. KNUTSON specified that the Anchorage School District funds
all its SEL work through multiple funding sources, including
grants, federal title funds, and general funds, because SEL is
important. Even without this bill, she said, all school
districts should be including this as a foundation to the
education that they are providing to students. She stated that
ASD fully supports HB 136.
8:55:06 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND asked how the Anchorage School District could
adapt if class sizes suddenly rose should the governor's
proposed budget cuts occur.
DR. KNUTSON replied that increasing the number of students in
the classroom has two issues. The first is a space and
management issue within the classroom and fitting that many
bodies in a classroom. The second issue is to individually meet
the needs of all the students in a classroom. The district
would have to look at how it educates kids and how it provides
services to them. This is where the district's SEL work comes
into play, because it will require talking about interacting
with each other and how the district might move classrooms,
share students, and do different ways of educating kids. More
kids in a classroom presents a real challenge and delivery
models would have to be looked at.
8:56:43 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY requested Dr. Knutson to provide the committee
with a list of the evidence-based programs. She suggested that
perhaps the Alaska Association of School Boards could let the
committee know if there is such a list to ensure that evidence-
based programs are being practiced for social and emotional
learning within the state.
8:57:10 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY opened public testimony on HB 136. She closed
public testimony after ascertaining no one wished to testify.
8:57:34 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY held over HB 136.