04/11/2014 08:00 AM House EDUCATION

        HB 365-PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIP: QUALIFYING EXAM                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
9:18:01 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GATTIS announced that the  final order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL  NO. 365, "An  Act relating to the  Alaska performance                                                               
scholarship."                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
9:18:33 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  PAUL SEATON,  Alaska State  Legislature, speaking                                                               
as  prime   sponsor  of  HB   365,  explained  that   the  Alaska                                                               
Performance  Scholarship (APS)  started in  2010 and  eligibility                                                               
for  the  ASP   program  is  determined  by   taking  a  rigorous                                                               
curriculum,  having  certain  grade point  average  (GPA)  cutoff                                                               
scores, plus cutoff  scores on SAT, ACT and WorkKeys'  tests.  He                                                               
indicated that the  WorkKeys is used as an  assessment for career                                                               
and technical  certificated programs; however, over  200 students                                                               
were  denied  the APS  but  had  enrolled in  [Associate]  degree                                                               
programs.   He  indicated  the  intent of  HB  365  is to  engage                                                               
students  who  are  not  college  bound  but  select  career  and                                                               
technical fields  and training.   If these students  have already                                                               
taken a  rigorous high  school academic  program, they  should be                                                               
eligible to  use the  APS to  obtain an  Associate's degree.   He                                                               
pointed  out the  cut  score  used for  WorkKeys  is  set by  the                                                               
department and state  school board at 13;  however, many students                                                               
surpassed that level.  The  legislature imposed a restriction for                                                               
students on a  career and technical path that  doesn't allow them                                                               
to  use the  APS  for a  degree program.    Therefore, this  bill                                                               
allows  WorkKeys  to allow  qualified  students  to change  to  a                                                               
college  path to  use the  APS  to obtain  either an  Associate's                                                               
Degree or to participate in a certificate program.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
9:21:43 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SEATON  directed  attention   to  a  document  in                                                               
members'  packets  entitled,  "2013-14 Student  Data  from  Kenai                                                               
Peninsula  Borough  School  District."   He  reported  that  some                                                               
students took  all three  exams and  this chart  tabulates scores                                                               
from lowest  to highest  by WorkKeys,  SAT, and  ACT scores.   He                                                               
also  pointed out  that the  corresponding scores  were different                                                               
than  those used  by the  Commission on  Postsecondary Education.                                                               
Although his  goal is not to  establish any cut scores,  which is                                                               
best  performed  by  the EED,  the  Commission  on  Postsecondary                                                               
Education,  and  the  State School  Board,  the  relative  scores                                                               
should prove  helpful in creating  opportunities for  students to                                                               
pursue higher education  by allowing them to use  the APS program                                                               
to pursue different academic or career paths.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
9:24:38 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR GATTIS commented  that the vocational aspect  of the Alaska                                                               
Performance  Scholarship   (APS)  program  appears  to   have  "a                                                               
glitch."    She understood  the  intent  of  HB  365 is  to  give                                                               
vocational technical  students the same opportunities  as college                                                               
bound students.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON agreed and indicated  that if the cut score                                                               
is at an  appropriate level, that it  shouldn't preclude students                                                               
from qualifying for the APS program.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
[The committee  treated it  as though  public testimony  had been                                                               
closed.]                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
9:26:30 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND moved  to report HB 365  out of committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  fiscal                                                               
notes.   There being no objection,  HB 365 was reported  from the                                                               
House Education Standing Committee.