02/15/2010 08:00 AM House EDUCATION

        HB 206-HIGH SCHOOL ASSESSM'T/POSTSECONDARY CLASS                                                                    
                                                                                                                              
9:53:36 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SEATON announced that the  final order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE  BILL NO.  206  "An Act  establishing  a career  assessment                                                               
requirement  in public  schools;  and  relating to  postsecondary                                                               
courses for secondary school students."                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
9:53:50 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  SEATON  reminded  the committee  that  the  questions  for                                                               
Department  of Education  and  Early  Development were  regarding                                                               
aligning WorkKeys with state standards  and a national evaluation                                                               
that might align with college entrance scores.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:54:33 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
LES  MORSE,  Deputy  Commissioner, Office  of  the  Commissioner,                                                               
Department of Education and Early  Development (EED), stated that                                                               
he  previously  served   for  five  years  as   the  Director  of                                                               
Assessment and Accountability  in the department.   He offered to                                                               
discuss  previous questions  the  committee had  on WorkKeys  and                                                               
state  standards.    He  began  by  addressing  the  question  on                                                               
WorkKeys relative to  the alignment to the state  standards.  The                                                               
department previously  reviewed the competencies that  are tested                                                               
on WorkKeys and have compared  them to the competencies tested in                                                               
the  state's  testing  program.    He stated  that  most  of  the                                                               
competencies assessed on WorkKeys match  and offered to provide a                                                               
chart to lend clarity.  Most  of the standards match and many are                                                               
slightly lower on  the WorkKeys than the requirement  on the High                                                               
School  Graduation Qualifying  Exam (HSGQE),  but about  4 of  24                                                               
language arts  standards are slightly higher  than those required                                                               
on the testing program at the HSGQE  level.  In terms of the math                                                               
standards,  the  17 math  standards  tested  in WorkKeys  do  not                                                               
appear to be more difficult than those in the HSGQE, he stated.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
9:56:46 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  SEATON  offered  his  belief  that  WorkKeys  has  various                                                               
levels,  and asked  whether the  highest level  of attainment  on                                                               
WorkKeys is  equivalent or slightly below  the minimum competency                                                               
on the graduation requirements.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR. MORRIS clarified  that excludes the Platinum  level, which is                                                               
a newer level not available for  comparison at the time the study                                                               
was  done.   There  are four  levels on  the  WorkKeys:   Bronze,                                                               
Silver, Gold, and  Platinum.  Since the Platinum level  is so new                                                               
information was not available for  comparison, but he anticipated                                                               
that  Platinum level  would be  above the  others.   The concepts                                                               
will  be similar  concepts but  may  be more  challenging in  the                                                               
higher level.   However, none of the concepts  would be different                                                               
than curriculum taught, although the rigor might be different.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:58:06 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON  asked whether a student  who is working                                                               
towards  the  Platinum level  would  know  the standards  of  the                                                               
Platinum level.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR. MORSE remarked  he could only speculate, but  he imagined the                                                               
Platinum level would be the  higher level of mathematics required                                                               
in the higher level work and career areas.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
9:59:04 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.  MORSE  related  that  the same  analysis  is  not  available                                                               
regarding the  Scholastic Assessment  Test (SAT) or  the American                                                               
College Test  (ACT).   The SAT does  indicate first  year college                                                               
success  primarily via  the written  essay activity,  followed by                                                               
the  high  school  GPA,  the  SAT  math,  critical  reading,  and                                                               
advanced  placement  (AP)  exam   performance.    The  SAT  study                                                               
consisted of  150,000 students, which  provided research  data to                                                               
support their findings.  The study  also looked at gender bias or                                                               
ethnicity  and determined  the  test to  be  fair for  predictive                                                               
uses.  In  response to Representative P. Wilson,  Mr. Morse noted                                                               
the fourth indicator was AP  exam performance, which is a product                                                               
of the same company.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
10:01:04 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MR.  MORSE pointed  out that  the ACT  publications speak  to the                                                               
importance of  rigor of courses  beyond the core as  being highly                                                               
predictive of  first year college performance.   Finally, neither                                                               
of the test publishers suggests using  a score of a test alone as                                                               
a predictor.   Thus, the  department is looking at  a combination                                                               
of  factors, including  a test  score, grades,  and rigor  of the                                                               
courses.   The score alone  would be a  misuse of the  score, per                                                               
the  publishers,  since  courses  taken and  GPA  would  also  be                                                               
relevant.   On the topic of  cut scores, Mr. Morse  said that not                                                               
enough  work has  been done  at this  time on  cut scores  on the                                                               
exams to  share, but the  department would certainly  review data                                                               
from  Alaskan  students.   Students  currently  take the  SAT/ACT                                                               
throughout the state  and enough have taken the  WorkKeys exam so                                                               
performance  levels  can  be  considered.   The  state  does  not                                                               
receive  individual student  assessment results  in terms  of the                                                               
SAT/ACT  but  can  work  with  the  publisher  to  establish  the                                                               
appropriate level for  a cut score and  make necessary decisions.                                                               
He cautioned that the decisions  would not be isolated decisions,                                                               
but would be  made in combination with course work  taken and the                                                               
GPA.                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
10:02:52 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  SEATON  asked  whether comparisons  by  other  states  are                                                               
available that can indicate WorkKeys versus the SAT/ACT scores.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR. MORSE  responded he  will work  with the  publisher as  he is                                                               
certain  the  information  will  be available.    He  offered  to                                                               
provide it to the committee.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SEATON  pointed out that  this information will  be helpful                                                               
for the integration  of WorkKeys into the  high school curriculum                                                               
since every 11th grader will be taking this test.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
10:04:20 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER  said that  in general  terms it  would be                                                               
assumed that students  who are performing at an A  level would do                                                               
well  on the  SAT/ACT.    She asked  whether  the department  can                                                               
provide data  indicating a  correlation between  classroom grades                                                               
and GPAs on standardized test scores.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MR. MORSE  said he didn't  know that information, but  offered to                                                               
provide it to the committee if it is available.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SEATON pointed out that a  request has been made to analyze                                                               
the UA  Scholar Program, which  represents the top 10  percent of                                                               
students,  and  determine  how these  factors  correlate  to  the                                                               
success of first year students  and graduation from postsecondary                                                               
school.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
[HB 206 was held over.]