Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
02/07/2020 09:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB6 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 6 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 6-PRE-K/ELEM ED PROGRAMS/FUNDING; READING
9:01:14 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced the consideration of the sponsor
substitute for SB 6, SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 6,
"An Act relating to early education programs provided by school
districts; relating to funding for early education programs;
relating to the duties of the Department of Education and Early
Development; establishing a reading intervention program for
public school students enrolled in grades kindergarten through
three; establishing a literacy program in the Department of
Education and Early Development; and providing for an effective
date."
CHAIR STEVENS said this is known as the Alaska Reads Act. He
stated his intention to hear invited testimony, discuss some
changes, and hold the bill for review.
9:01:36 AM
SENATOR BEGICH shared that the commissioner approached him in
late October with the concept of putting this bill together. He
said the fact that people could reach out after a difficult year
with a lot of animosity that divided the legislature, and the
administration and legislature, is commendable. The legislation,
which has moved rapidly and effectively, is at a beginning
point.
SENATOR BEGICH said he has appreciated the philosophical debate,
but some is not relevant to the bill. He asked members to
remember the components of the bill when listening to testimony,
which is early education supported by identification of the
elements of successful reading that includes interventions.
Those interventions include support for those schools that are
failing. He urged people not to spend time debating issues not
in the bill.
CHAIR STEVENS said he appreciated Senator Begich bringing the
committee back to the basics about what it is trying to
accomplish. He invited Lisa Parady to the table.
9:04:39 AM
LISA SKILES PARADY, Ph.D., Executive Director, Alaska Council of
School Administrators (ACSA), Juneau, Alaska, thanked Senator
Begich for his leadership and bringing the bill forward and
reaching out to her organization. In response to Senator
Begich's request for input from administrators, she surveyed
districts to get feedback from the field and received 25
responses from about half of the districts. She said ACSA is
happy with the focus of the bill and they look forward to
helping shape the best bill possible for all students.
DR. PARADY pointed out that ACSA administers the Alaska Staff
Development Network (ASDN), which has been providing Alaskan
educators high-quality professional development for almost 40
years. Their mission is to improve student achievement by
providing research-based online learning and face-to-face
professional development for Alaska teachers and school
administrators.
DR. PARADY shared that last night Commissioner Johnson, Senator
Hughes, Senator Begich, Senator Costello and many others were at
an event focused on civil discourse in education. It is relevant
because everyone wants to do his or her best to support
students. People may have different routes on how to get there,
but the intent is to do something positive.
9:08:44 AM
DR. PARADY said SB 6 must be viewed in a multidimensional way.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), while an
important indicator, is not the only indicator of success for
students. She displayed a graph on slide 3 of the presentation
showing the growth in high school graduation, charts of 2018 ACT
scores on slide 4, and 2018 SAT scores on slide 5 showing that
Alaska's scores are at or above the national average. She said
these statistics show that the idea that education in Alaska
needs to be fixed is not exactly the full picture.
DR. PARADY called attention to the ACSA joint position
statements and the early childhood education position statement
in the committee packets. She said members support the core
concepts in SB 6. They know that the research demonstrates that
early intervention and instruction is one of the best ways to
increase student achievement across all demographics and create
the greatest opportunity for all students to read proficiently
by third grade. ACSA believes that early childhood education
should be part of public school funding through the base student
allocation. They support those provisions in the bill.
DR. PARADY pointed out that the position statement on preparing,
attracting, and retaining quality educators aligns with the
Alaska Education Challenge. Everyone recognizes that attracting
and retaining effective educators is essential to student
achievement. That is another dimension that must be recognized
when looking at this bill, she said.
DR. PARADY showed data on educator turnover from the Northwest
Regional Educational Lab on slide 9. Rural-remote areas have a
36 percent turnover rate for teachers and 38 percent for
principals. This kind of turnover undermines program
implementation. As the bill is considered, the question of what
to do about these other pieces needs to be considered. Almost
half of current superintendents have two years or less of
experience. If a business had this much turnover, what would the
output look like. This dimension also needs to be reviewed.
9:13:59 AM
DR. PARADY displayed the social, emotional, and mental health
position statement and referenced Transforming Schools: A
Framework for Trauma-Engaged Practice in Alaska developed by the
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) and the
Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB). She said the social-
emotional health of children is another dimension to consider
because one of two Alaskan youth has lived through one or more
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) by kindergarten, the age
group addressed in SB 6. She displayed a graph on slide 6 that
shows that the more adverse experiences a student has had, the
lower the rate of high school graduation and college
achievement.
DR. PARADY explained that when students struggle with academic
achievement or behavior, schools need a method of providing
systemic and data-driven intervention. The main goal of RTI
(Response to Intervention) and MTSS (Multitiered Systems of
Support) is to identify and provide intervention before students
get too far behind. She showed the three tiers of RTI and MTSS
on slide 13. Most districts are heavily engaged in some level of
RTI, but against the backdrop of turnover, districts are
constantly training staff about this. The bill accounts for
that. Commissioner Johnson has referred to the RTI conference
put on by ASDN every year and the support ASDN provides to
districts. The most recent RTI conference had 49 school
districts and over a thousand educators attending, representing
one in 10 educators. This foundation is in place and supports
the goals of the bill. She feels optimistic about working with
the department to continue to support districts with this type
of professional learning.
DR. PARADY presented information on Hattie's effect sizes on
slide 15. Dr. John Hattie is an internationally renowned
research educator who is focused on what works best in
education. He has provided a list of the relative effects of
different factors on student achievement. Effect size tells how
powerful a factor is in making change. Effect size is a way of
quantifying the size of the difference between two groups. It
moves from the simplistic "does it work or not" to the
sophisticated "how well does it work." Cohen's d is the effect
size used to indicate the standardized difference between two
means. It is the appropriate effect size for the comparison
between the two means.
DR. PARADY showed the graph of the hinge point, Cohen's d=0.4,
on slide 16. The hinge point represents a year of progress for a
year of school. With higher effect sizes, there is more
progress. The goal of RTI is to move kids to be with their
peers. Collective efficacy, which means everyone is on board
with the will and belief to make that change, is in the blue
zone.
9:20:51 AM
DR. PARADY showed the effectiveness of RTI with a d=1.09 on the
graph on slide 17. She said the point is that retention with a
d=-0.32 as shown on slide 18 has a negative effect. This is Dr.
Hattie's research that is well accepted by education experts.
This has been one of the philosophical discussions, and both
sides of that must be considered.
DR. PARADY displayed quotations from Dr. Winter's studies on
Florida's retention policies research that her team reviewed.
She said her team is not discrediting the entire study, but she
wanted to point out that the effect of retention is not clear.
Dr. Winter is unable to differentiate between the impact of
treatment or interventions and retention. That is significant.
If he repeatedly says, "does not allow for separating the effect
of retention from these other interventions," then it is not
clear that retention is intervention. That combined with Dr.
Hattie's research should cause everyone to pause and look at
retention again.
DR. PARADY shared some of the feedback from her survey of
districts on slide 20:
• Reading is a priority. It is also an issue of equity.
Research supports that the majority of students are
able to learn to read with well-rounded instruction
• Mandated intervention services like summer school,
after hours intervention, and high-quality
professional development without increased funding to
districts
• Being asked to implement practices that are
internationally benchmarked as ineffective (retention)
• A lack of educator input during an opportune time for
collective efficacy statewide on critical parts of the
bill, including details concerning cost, curriculum,
measurement tools, and accountability
• The rush to push the bill through the legislature and
without resolving important details until later, there
is a lot that DEED needs to do prior to districts
being able to do their part.
• Hiring highly-qualified reading specialists in a time
of critical teacher/educator shortages
• Growth measures should be included and considered
• Let's not create a high stakes environment for our
young children but rather focus on their individual
needs in regard to reading
DR. PARADY said the bill is not in its final form and ACSA will
continue to provide feedback from school districts as it is
received, but there are questions about how this can go forward.
All respondents agree that a district reading program should
include diagnostic assessments to identify significant reading
deficiencies. This includes a universal screening tool that
measures phonological awareness, but school districts are using
15 different programs. How to provide a menu of options vs. a
single option needs to be considered.
9:24:07 AM
DR. PARADY relayed that four respondents agreed with the
statement about retention and almost 70 percent disagreed that
retention would be an effective strategy. Several did not answer
because they did not know. Everyone supports reading as a high
priority and unequivocally everyone supports universal pre-K and
including in the formula. There is concern about mandating
intervention services and lack of educator input when the bill
was created. She thanked Senator Stevens for taking the time to
allow educators to review bill and for future public testimony.
She asked the committee to talk and think and work together on
this because there was limited educator input on the front end.
Now is the time to hear from people in the field about the
impact to their districts, their questions, and how this can
work for all students. ACSA stands ready to be a resource she
said.
CHAIR STEVENS called Dr. Weiss to the table.
9:26:58 AM
BRIDGET WEISS, Ph.D., Superintendent, Juneau School District,
Juneau, Alaska, shared that she is a third generation Juneau
resident, so this state and place are incredibly important to
her. She has spent 36 years trying to make a difference for kids
and is a fierce advocate for achievement. She taught high school
mathematics for 16 years, so she is not trained as an early
learning literacy specialist. However, she has spent much of her
career focusing on early childhood programming and was an
elementary principal for three years. After 20 years in
secondary education, it was incredibly informative and
educational to work in the early years. That experience formed a
lot of the last 16 years of her work.
DR. WEISS thanked Senator Begich, Commissioner Johnson, and
others who have worked on this bill. She emphasized that reading
achievement, math achievement, and literacy achievement are top
priorities. The Juneau School District has had that as a
legislative priority as well as part of its strategic plan. In
the new strategic plan being written, reading by grade three is
in both the achievement and equity pillar. The district
recognizes that it is more challenged in meeting the needs of
certain subgroups. "So, we're naming a few of those subgroups.
It is a little bold. It is not finalized yet, but I'm
encouraging my school board to make a bold statement and say,
'If we're going to do this, we need to do it genuinely and
pragmatically.' We have our economically disadvantaged students,
our Alaska Native and American Indian students, and we have our
English learner students who have demonstrated that those are
the areas that we are the least meeting their need in achieving
grade level proficiency. So, we're going to name that and we're
going to measure our progress and we're going to attack it," she
said.
DR. WEISS shared that based on her discussions with Southeast
superintendents, early learning is critical. One-third of
kindergarten students in Juneau show up ready for kindergarten.
That is about the average across the state. Juneau is starting
kindergarten with kids sitting in the dugout and not at the
plate. She appreciates the acknowledgement that the work done
before kids are five is critical.
9:30:31 AM
DR. WEISS said Juneau has developed programming through a
variety of grants. That has been part of the school board's
strategic plan and legislative priority for multiple years.
There was some pushback initially because the district is a K-12
institution, so how could a school board of a K-12 institution
have a priority around early childhood. The board owned it and
as a result the district was able to get grants and city support
and now has effective programming. She serves on the steering
committee for ROCK Juneau (Raising Our Children with Kindness)
that works on gathering agency resources for the betterment and
empowerment of youth in Juneau from cradle to career. She served
as the cochair of the mayor's task force on childcare, which
developed options for the city to support high-quality
childcare. The task force stated that zero to five is all about
learning, so whether a child is six months or four-years-old,
the task force wants them in the highest quality learning
environment that is developmentally appropriate.
DR. WEISS observed that one part of the bill is about
accountability. She said there was adequate yearly progress with
No Child Left Behind. She spent 26 years in the state of
Washington where there was the Washington Assessment of Student
Learning and high stakes graduation qualifying exams. She lived
through that as an administrator who helped kids get to that
stage. For many it was traumatic. Her own children were part of
that accountability system and passed the tests the first time.
She worked with many kids who didn't. She tutored a girl who
took the exam three times and finally passed it in tears,
fearing that she would not walk across the stage with her
classmates. That system is not in place anymore in Washington.
DR. WEISS continued to say:
I want us just to be prudent and wise. We want to be
held accountable. Our strategic plan is built with
measures and strong layers of accountability. We are
being very strategic about what we choose to measure
and what strategies we're putting in place. So, I'm
not opposed to accountability. I hold myself
accountable every day. Every day I wake up and think
how can I, I just have to keep at it because there's
more and more to do. But broad scoping accountability
has a tenor of shame. We have to be super careful. We
have to inspire our educators. Dr. Parady talked about
teacher retention. I'm picturing myself at 21-years-
old when I became a teacher. I'm not sure I would be
inspired by this challenge, the way that it's framed.
Language, tenor, tone is super important. When we say
a district is going to post on its website how many
children are retained in third grade, in second grade,
to what end, I ask. To what end." She is all in for
reports to the state and school boards and to work
collectively to make a difference. Accountability
needs to make sense, be pragmatic, and connected to
the goal of the bill, which is to increase
achievement. "We will not shame achievement. It just
doesn't work. It hasn't worked in the past. We've seen
lots of examples.
9:34:25 AM
DR. WEISS mentioned the discussion on civil discourse last night
and said it would be great civil discourse to discuss whether
retention is mandatory, whether it is conditional as written in
the bill, and whether it is necessary in the bill. The dominant
voice of superintendents she represents is not in support of
that provision in the bill.
DR. WEISS said she heard that this is not about funding, but the
connection between the economic status of families and their
resources and the resources of districts cannot be denied. She
mentioned a phone call between Southeast superintendents and
Senators Begich and Kiehl in which Senator Begich said the
Department of Education has been challenged because of its
dwindling resources and this bill would support the Department
of Education and Early Development (DEED). Districts need
support from the department and districts need DEED to be funded
so it can support school districts. The department and school
districts have lost resources, and school district needs have
increased. Juneau does not have a nurse in every building and it
lost all six instructional coaches. The two middle schools, with
450 and 500 students respectively, have one counselor in each
school. In the last nine years, the percentage of families
eligible for free and reduced lunch has increased by 50 percent
while resources have dwindled. Money does matter.
DR. WEISS said the unfunded mandates in the bill should be
considered in terms of how districts can meet them. A
kindergarten teacher said she may not get 17 kids to
proficiency, but she would be close. She has 27 kids. Dr. Weiss
said many people are stressed trying to meet needs, so it is
important to look at the costs of the bill. As superintendent,
once this bill passes she will have to think about the
expectations and the most effective and efficient ways to get
this done with limited resources. Legislators have the
responsibility to keep that in mind too and not set educators up
for failure. She said she wants to set teachers up for success.
9:38:46 AM
DR. WEISS said states with an increase of students eligible for
free and reduced lunch have seen NAEP reading scores go down, so
there is a connection with socioeconomic status and performance.
She noted that another piece of Juneau's strategic plan is
family engagement. The beauty of early childhood is that it
gives the district access to families one to two years before
children begin kindergarten. The district needs to provide
support to families so they understand what their kids need
before entering the school system. Juneau's Kinder-Ready Program
has a 65 percent scholarship rate, she said.
DR. WEISS said Alaska's incredibly diversity is a gift and a
challenge. She urged legislators to think strategically about
that. Just like in a classroom, the same strategy does not work
for everyone. The needs of districts and communities are so
diverse that it requires another filter to prevent unintended
consequences. The Southeast superintendents are talking as a
group because their region has its own challenges and these
administrators are trying to leverage resources for reading
instruction. For example, since travel for professional
development is expensive, these administrators are considering
that Juneau could be a hub for professional learning experiences
rather than Anchorage.
DR. WEISS said last summer when she was reading about reading
and achievement, she kept coming across high-quality
instruction, effective interventions, high levels of engagement,
and reducing classroom distractions because behaviors are going
up extraordinarily compared to five to ten years ago. As a
result of this reading she realized that the finish line has
changed. It used to be graduation and when she started, there
was no measure of accountability for graduation. Kids either
made it or they didn't. Education has grown a lot since then
regarding the importance of accountability, the importance of
measuring, and keeping track of where progress is being made.
And graduation rates have gone up across the country. Now high-
stakes decisions are made at third grade so accountability has
to be well thought out. She noted that many of these kids have
had extreme challenges. She questioned what would happen if
people changed their expectations of the end game in a
supportive and inspirational way that fits the needs of a
diverse state.
9:44:25 AM
DR. WEISS concluded saying, "You have a very complicated job,
and I appreciate your hearing from a superintendent. We are
deeply engaged in the work, and we want nothing more than to
help you help us be successful."
CHAIR STEVENS expressed appreciation for her comments and
perspective, including the storm warnings of potential problems.
He called Norm Wooten to the table.
9:46:13 AM
NORM WOOTEN, Executive Director, Association of Alaska School
Boards, Juneau, Alaska, said pre-K is a topic near and dear to
the hearts of school board members. For many years, the
Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB) has had resolutions
supporting both pre-K and reading proficiency by third grade.
The 2011 report of the Alaska Advisory Task Force on Higher
Education and Career Readiness stated in part:
Children who receive quality early education arrive at
school ready to learn and perform better in school.
They are less likely to need expensive special
education interventions, and they are more likely to
graduate from high school and to successfully enter
the workforce.
Research is clear that when students enter
kindergarten, 40 percent of them on average are one to
three years behind grade level, and too many of them
stay behind throughout their school careers. Alaska
can invest a relatively small amount in early
childhood and innovative K-12 programs, or a vastly
greater amount at the college level. Today's third
grader can't wait for, and our public treasure cannot
afford, a remediation response that doesn't begin
until the third grade.
MR. WOOTEN gave the following testimony:
Reading and literacy are the great equalizers in the
world in which we live. Students who cannot read are
educationally crippled in every other academic
subject, as well as being career disadvantaged
throughout adulthood. Our children must learn to read
and deserve no less from us.
AASB unequivocally supports Pre-K, early assessment of
reading proficiency, interventions for less than
proficient readers, and high-quality professional
development to enable educators to create proficient
readers.
However, my recommendation is to carefully consider
the provision for retention of students. It seems to
me that retaining a child for lack of reading
proficiency may be more of a failure of the system,
rather than the fault of the child. I applaud the
bill's provision for early assessments and
implementation of interventions. This seems to be a
more logical approach than retention, and one that is
more about improvement.
MR. WOOTEN noted that some members are calling some details
overprescriptive. Providing high-quality professional
development to educators and paraprofessionals in reading
instruction and intervention and then holding them accountable
would be more productive. He voiced concern about the aggressive
timeline for implementing provisions in the bill and DEED's
ability to find enough educators trained and competent in
teaching reading, implementing interventions, and providing
professional development for those needing assistance.
MR. WOOTEN said his concerns should not be taken as opposition
to the bill because he is very excited to address the reading
crisis. AASB has sought this state support for years, and
districts are anxious to begin the work. He only asks for
careful consideration of legislation to ensure that it is the
very best that can be provided for students.
CHAIR STEVENS said the concern about finding the right staff is
shared by all. He called Tim Parker to testify.
9:51:11 AM
TIM PARKER, President, NEA-Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, stated
that the 12,000 teachers and support staff that NEA-Alaska
represents are motivated by student learning and they feel it
acutely when student learning hits a bump. These educators want
the Alaska Reads Act to succeed because reading is fundamental
and opens the doors to learning. He said SB 6 is a product of
Alaska's Education Challenge. He believes all the committee
members were part of that process, which also included parents,
educators, school board members, and community leaders from
every part of the state. The center of that challenge work was
an excellent education for every student. That language is in
statute. It is surrounded by the three commitments--increase
student success, support responsible and reflective learners,
and cultivate safety and well-being. Those are key phrases and
educator buy-in was a result of the process for the Alaska
Education Challenge. Educators want that same support when this
bill moves forward. The commissioner had a big role in making
sure the buy-in happened for that challenge. Because of that
work, educators are here today reviewing SB 6.
MR. PARKER said teachers and education support professionals
(ESPs) look at things a bit differently than superintendents,
principals, and school boards. NEA-Alaska has members in
virtually every one of Alaska's 500 schools. He worked hard to
get the Alaska Education Challenge in front of each member. It
was discussed at staff meetings, staff lounges, at union
meetings and these educators reviewed the language. Members
believe that the five trajectories are the right way to go. Two
of those ideas are in front of the committee this session.
Besides the Alaska Reads Act, there is tribal compacting. If
Alaska keeps an eye on those five trajectories, it will be in a
much better place.
MR. PARKER stated that teachers and ESPs like the research and
evidence-based aspects in the bill. Teachers like the pre-K
provisions because studies show a solid pre-K program is
important for success in reading. NEA members like the
connections with families, such as reading at home and the
support adults outside of school give to their kids. The bill
continues to emphasize family connections from pre-K to third
grade. His members like early interventions and differentiated
instruction. Reading intervention needs to happen early.
Finally, teachers like the broad focus on phonics and phonemic
awareness. His members like that the science of reading is based
on research and evidence. They also like that the bill talks
about comprehension, building content knowledge, oral reading,
and literacy. Those are all fundamental skills that are included
in the state standards.
9:57:43 AM
MR. PARKER said his members want to participate in helpful ways.
Alaska has 8,000 teachers and 2,500 teach K-3. There are 500
schools and 350 schools include the grades affected by the bill.
Each of those school has education support professionals (ESPs)
who play a big part in reading development, which is critical to
success. They often deliver specialized instruction side-by-side
with teachers. His members want to make sure that aspect is
supported. His members appreciate the team support reflected in
the bill with training and professional development for
principals and district staff.
MR. PARKER said these teachers and ESPs are key to the success
of the bill and are closely following it. They have much
experience to bring to the table and that expertise needs to be
tapped both during the legislative process and the years of
implementation.
MR. PARKER relayed that he brought about a dozen respected and
experienced reading instructors from around the state together
to read SB 6 and compare it to similar bills around the country.
Two concepts surfaced repeatedly. The first is the time for the
implementation. Time is one of the most valuable resources that
teachers have. The United State puts teachers in front of kids
teaching mode about 28 hours per week, which is more than any
other country. The world average is 19 hours per week and some
countries are as low as 15 hours per week. Teachers already have
big time pressures; they do not have much time to prepare
lessons.
10:01:16 AM
MR. PARKER said the second issue is class size. Senator Hughes
mentioned earlier in the week that she heard from a first grade
teacher who had 26 students in her class. He looked up some of
the larger class sizes in each of the senators' districts. For
Senator Begich, Fairview Elementary has 26 students in first
grade. For Senator Coghill, North Pole Elementary has 28
students in second grade. For Senator Costello, Sand Lake
Elementary has 27 students in first grade. And East Elementary
School in Kodiak has 23 students in each of its first grade
classrooms. These classes are too big. The committee heard about
the many changes in Florida, one of which was a limit on class
size. The cap is 18 for K-3. Eighteen for K-3 is a research-
supported number. It is not what the majority of classrooms in
Alaska have. The Florida limit for grades four through eight is
22 and the class limit for high school is 25.
MR. PARKER said one of his recommendations is that educator
voices and buy-in are needed to make this work. There are 37
other states that have adopted statewide reading policies and
Alaska can learn a lot from those states. Policy makers can
learn a lot from educators who have been teaching kids to read
for years. Educators teach in the face of large class sizes,
pink slips, trauma, poor curriculum, misguided administrators,
scripted curriculum, and more. Those are all realities that his
members talk about a lot.
MR. PARKER said educators have a lot to offer in this policy
debate. For the Alaska Reads Act to succeed, there are some
must-haves: Educators voice and buy-in. Parental engagement and
buy-in. Stability in the education system and adequate
resources. Support for all students. Adequate resources are a
factor in large class sizes. Budgets are moral documents that
show how states prioritize. Education has been essentially flat
funded for seven years and the system is strained almost to the
breaking point. This is the system that people want the Alaska
Education Challenge to move to success. Educators think it is
possible, but it will take a focus on resources.
10:05:18 AM
MR. PARKER said he would be remiss not to mention the
socioeconomic and trauma impacts students face on a daily basis.
That is one of the aspects of the challenge and he applauds the
state for the work that has been done there. He said educators
assess kids every day and if they show up for school hungry or
traumatized, they are unable to learn until those issues are
resolved. This takes time and effort.
MR. PARKER said his members know that pre-K is a game changer
for reading and the whole public school ecosystem. His members
have ideas about how the reading component in the bill could be
successful for students. For the bill to succeed, educators,
administrators, and all Alaskans have to be at the table and
engaged.
CHAIR STEVENS stated that the intention is to get the content of
the bill right before it leaves the committee. The Finance
Committee will deal with the fiscal issues. The committee
appreciates the input from parents, teachers, school boards and
others. Getting it right will not be easy.
SENATOR BEGICH explained that after the beginnings of the bill
were ready in late December, one of the first contacts was to
get input from the Alaska Council of School Administrators.
Another meeting was with the early education group with Posie
Boggs to discuss dyslexia and other learning disabilities. "We
wanted to be sure we didn't put a written document out that
didn't at least take some of that into account. All of us love
education, and everyone who just testified and Mr. Parker just
reminded me of how integrated this is into Alaska Education
Challenge," he said. Those at the table who participated in the
challenge and others who continue to move forward with that
agenda have been talking for three-and-a-half years. In 2013,
Senator Stevens initiated an Alaska literacy act, a lot of which
is incorporated in this bill. In the past, every time
legislators have tried to build something that addresses one of
the elements identified in the challenge, the weight of the bill
caused it to collapse. He acknowledged that other provisions
could be added to the bill, but he hoped members would not do
that. Instead, he hoped members would incrementally build the
education system so it supports the growth of kids. That is what
the bill tries to do, but it cannot be everything for everybody.
10:10:37 AM
SENATOR BEGICH reflected on what he heard from the testimony.
Ms. Weiss mentioned shaming language on page 2, line 26. That
language could be taken out. Part of the process is making
changes so the bill does not do anything unintended. That is a
great suggestion. Mr. Wooten said, "Today's third grader can't
wait for, and our public treasure cannot afford, a remediation
response that doesn't begin until the third grade." That is
exactly why this bill begins before third grade. It is possible
that the timelines cannot be met, but why not set them as
aspirational goals. And the committee substitute that is being
worked on will include regular reporting of progress. An annual
report will inform legislators.
SENATOR BEGICH said the governor is a partner on this bill and
he mentioned the importance of teacher retention in his State of
the State address. Yesterday, other legislative leaders and the
governor's chief of staff talked about what that commitment
looks like. Senator Begich said he thinks there will be a
separate piece of legislation dealing specifically with
retention. He has never said funding does not matter. The
administration showed its commitment by adding additional
resources specifically around support to teachers,
superintendents, districts, and professional development to the
bill.
SENATOR BEGICH said feedback about the bill will be deeply
integrated in the committee substitute. Nothing in this bill
will change the current retention policy in any district in the
state. Every district can retain a student today and nothing
compels districts to do more than they would normally do. Last
night a speaker at the civic discourse event said Alaska has
good teachers who want to teach reading, but if those kids come
to school unprepared, all their efforts fall apart. By the same
token, a strong pre-K program will fail if not backed up with
strong reading [instruction] and those kids will not progress
well. This is the step that moves the state in the right
direction. He said he is pleased that there will be at least
three more days of testimony.
SENATOR BEGICH emphasized that the bill is starting with decades
of testimony from this committee, the work of the Alaska
Education Challenge, and the work of educators for decades and
decades. This might be one good, solid incremental step in the
right direction.
CHAIR STEVENS advised that the bill has five fiscal notes and he
asked the University of Alaska to prepare an additional one. An
enormous responsibility falls upon the university in this
process and it will have to find a way to make sure its
departments of education are teaching teachers to teach reading.
Beyond that, the university will have to be prepared to help
bring teachers currently in the field up to speed.
10:16:29 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said she loves that students are doing well on
the ACT and SAT relative to the national average. She would like
to know if the percentage of students taking the tests in Alaska
is the same as other states. Those students tend to be the "high
end" students that would not need the intervention addressed in
the bill. She said she is not sure how relevant those scores are
to this bill. Also, no matter the profession, people are more
apt to stick with the current process if it results in a
successful mission. With this type of policy, there would be a
built-in reward because more kids would succeed. Students would
not just be better prepared in kindergarten through third grade,
but also up into middle and high school. This will help with
retention. It is not the sole solution to the turnover rate, but
it will be helpful.
SENATOR HUGHES said she heard the school board association and
the superintendent association express concern about what she
calls proficiency-based promotion. The committee saw the charts
[of Bob Griffin, Senior Education Research Fellow with the
Alaska Policy Forum] that showed that states with policies of
both proficiency-based promotion and intervention had higher
scores and improvement. The states that only had the
intervention piece had lower scores and less improvement. She
asked if any state that only had the intervention policy without
proficiency-based promotion could match those scores. Dr.
Goyette, [superintendent, Mat-Su School District, and Dr.
Bishop, [superintendent, Anchorage School District], have both
indicated to her their comfort with a proficiency-based
promotion policy. These administrators will be happy to testify
if the committee wishes.
SENATOR HUGHES added that when she was the chair of this
committee, she had several conversations with school board
members from small districts who were concerned about social
promotion. She asked how to make sure students were graduating
with valuable diplomas and had mastered the objectives along the
way. School board members said that even though they knew it
would be better not to promote certain students, such a policy
was difficult in a small community where everyone knows each
other. The communities in small districts would prefer that the
state be the "bad cop." The committee needs to continue the
conversation. There is a way to learn from the other 37 states
so that Alaska does not have a spike in students repeating
grades, but a spike in reading proficiency. She agrees with
Senator Begich that the committee does not want to implement
something that harms students and teachers who are trying hard.
But she also recognizes that it is hurtful and shameful for a
fifth grader or a ninth grader who is struggling because of
deficient reading skills. There is a way to do this that will
not increase student retention, but will put some teeth to what
the committee is putting forward, she said.
10:23:02 AM
SENATOR COGHILL thanked everyone for working on the bill.
Obviously, class size becomes a question. He wonders whether,
apart from establishing pre-K, if current resources were used to
decrease class sizes for first and second grade, if the result
would be the same, rather than creating a whole new program.
That will be his question during the process. Perhaps the state
will want to get better specialists, but first, second, and
third grade teachers will still need specialized training.
Lifting everyone up is another question he has. The issue is
whether the state can use existing resources better or does it
have to do this and still do that other. He has to answer to his
constituents about why one thousand five hundred million dollars
are being put into the education system and students cannot
read.
SENATOR BEGICH said the committee substitute incorporates so
many suggestions that he could not mention them all. One is the
suggestion from Senator Hughes to report on class size. Mr.
Parker mentioned the 70 hours [page 12, line 15] and time
constraints for teachers. The committee substitute will
recognize what has already been put in place if a student has an
Individualized Education Plan. He said he looks forward to the
next three days of hearings. He thanked Senator Stevens for
providing the opportunity for people to testify, modify, and
build a better bill.
10:25:18 AM
CHAIR STEVENS reminded the committee of the deadline for
amendments and held SB 6 in committee for further review.