Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
02/12/2020 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
| += | SB 6 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 6-PRE-K/ELEM ED PROGRAMS/FUNDING; READING
9:00:34 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced the consideration of 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."
He noted that the committee substitute, work order 31-LS0159\G,
was available but this hearing would be spent taking public
testimony.
9:01:16 AM
SENATOR BEGICH reminded everyone that in all versions of SB 6
and in the previous version, SB 99, pre-K is not mandated. The
bill is clear that it always remains the parent's choice. He
also addressed concerns of homeschool parents. AS 14.03.016 is
about the parent's right to direct the education of the parent's
child. It recognizes the authority of a parent, allows the
parent to object to and withdraw the child from the standards-
based assessment or test required by the state. This bill does
not mandate that parents who homeschool would have to do the
screenings in SB 6. Parents' rights under AS 14.03.016 are not
changed under this bill.
SENATOR BEGICH noted that the bill requests that school
districts provide the department the ratio of kids to teachers
in a classroom, to gather good data from around the state. He
reminded the committee that Mr. Parker [NEA-Alaska President]
talked about large class sizes in each of the committee member's
school districts. Legislators want to address that important
issue but need evidence from rural and urban areas of the state
to identify the effect of class sizes. Under SB 6, this element
would be reported to the department and to both the House and
Senate Education Committees.
CHAIR STEVENS shared that he received several emails from
homeschool parents who need to understand that parents always
have the right to opt out.
9:04:53 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said everyone knows that smaller class sizes are
better at the lower grades. She encouraged districts to
reprioritize funding to reduce the classroom ratio of students
to teaching staff. The bill will not mandate that, but school
districts and boards should be doing that as much as possible,
she said.
9:06:02 AM
CHAIR STEVENS reminded the public that written testimony could
be submitted to senate.education@akleg.gov. He opened public
testimony on SB 6.
9:06:43 AM
At ease.
9:06:46 AM
MARY BETH VERHELST, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska,
applauded the state for taking action to ensure that all Alaskan
students learn to read well. She is an instructional coach at
the district level for the Anchorage School District. She has
been a kindergarten teacher. She has experienced the need for
explicit teaching of the five essential areas of reading and for
having an assessment system in place to show the effectiveness
of instruction. As she has worked with teachers, the need is
apparent to support teacher in teaching the five areas of
reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and
comprehension. Many teachers have not had the training on how to
teach phonics explicitly so that all students get a well-
developed phonics lesson daily, especially in kindergarten and
first grade, where it is essential.
9:08:43 AM
DEBBIE CARY, Member, Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
School Board, Ninilchik, Alaska, said her district is in support
of SB 6. She asked about the change from September 1 to June 1
for kindergarten entry in the committee substitute.
SENATOR BEGICH explained that the date for the qualifying age
for kindergarten is being changed from September 1 to June 1. He
said Senator Hughes can speak about the developmental awareness
of a child. According to the data from the department, that
change would have affected eight kids in the state.
SENATOR HUGHES added that the change will allow kids to be older
and more prepared to enter school. It allows a few more months
for children to mature which will be helpful to teachers. A lot
of parents now hold boys back a year to allow them to mature
before entering school. This just adds a few months so the set
of students will be more mature.
MS. CARY stated that would be more than eight students. Students
born from June 1 through September 1 would not enter
kindergarten until they are almost six.
SENATOR BEGICH replied he got the data from the department. If
that is not correct, he would like to hear from the department.
SENATOR HUGHES said she thought the data indicated that on
October 1, eight students were still not that age, but the point
is to allow children to mature. It would be all the children
born between June and September. A lot of schools begin in
August, so some four-year-olds enter kindergarten. This would
mean that all students starting kindergarten would be five years
old.
CHAIR STEVENS said further questions about that should be
directed to the department.
9:13:05 AM
JENNIFER KNUTSON, Ph.D., Senior Director, Teaching and Learning,
Anchorage School District (ASD), Anchorage, Alaska, said SB 6
provides direction and support to ensure all Alaskans students
are proficient readers by third grade. She worked in two Title I
schools in Anchorage that were part of the Reading First
initiative in the early to mid-2000s. With that grant, ASD
implemented many of the practices that are in this bill. That
includes a core curriculum that addresses those five essential
areas of reading, universal reading screening, targeted and
intensive reading interventions and progress monitoring. ASD
implemented reading instruction and what is now referred to as
response to instruction or multitiered systems of support.
During that time, the third graders increased from 28 proficient
or higher on state assessments in 2001 to 85 percent in 2006.
ASD saw significant results with this model in Title I schools.
Reading is the one content area with a convergence of evidence
about how students learn and how to best teach. Given the higher
standards the state has in 2020, it is even more critical that
it have this early reading instruction for all students in
Alaska. This would allow students to access advanced classes and
experience the joy of reading. She offered her support for SB 6
as a parent and district administrator.
CHAIR STEVENS thanked her for providing the specific information
about the students' improvement in reading skills.
9:16:19 AM
CHRISTINE VILLANO, representing self/retired teachers,
Fairbanks, Alaska, said she has been an Alaskan teacher for many
years. Her training and courses have focused on reading,
writing, and STEAM [science, technology, engineering, arts, and
mathematics] education. She taught in the inner city in Newark,
New Jersey, in the Yupik village of St. Mary's, and has been a
first grade teacher in Fairbanks for more than 45 years. Her
professional life has been focused on teaching reading and
writing. She likes many things in the bill--pre-K programs for
all Alaskan children, the focus on reading practices, the
connection with parents, and early reading interventions.
MS. VILLANO said she is concerned about how the bill will be
funded. Early primary teachers often face large class sizes and
will be hard pressed to do all the components required by the
bill. She is encouraged about the state's interest in reading
but concerned about the prescriptive nature of the bill. Basic
skills are important but that is only part of a balanced reading
program. The bill needs more teacher voice throughout the
process from the selection of supplemental materials, assessment
tools, professional development, the retention policies, and how
the program will be implemented.
MS. VILLANO said those who have been in the classrooms have much
to offer the legislature on reading instruction, progress
monitoring, interventions, and assessment. Teachers need to be
part of the process of how the legislation evolves and what it
will look like in the future. Teacher "buy-in" and motivation
happens when teachers are part of the process and policy
implementation. A one-size-fits-all reading program does not
work. Educators need to be able to differentiate and personalize
instruction. All reading instruction should be culturally
relevant and developmentally appropriate. Issues of English
language learners must be addressed. She said she is passionate
about class size. The bill talks about small group instruction
and frequent assessments and reporting to parents. This is all
best practices, but she has taught up to 31 first graders. It is
difficult to reach the needs of all kids in such a stressful and
difficult situation. When classes are smaller reading
instruction is much more successful.
MS. VILLANO said she wants this bill to succeed because she
wants Alaskan kids to succeed. With just a couple of
modifications, it could benefit Alaskan students. She thanked
Senator Begich for meeting with groups of teachers to get their
input on the bill. She asked the committee to feel free to use
her expertise as well as that of many of her colleagues.
9:21:07 AM
JUDY ELEDGE, State Literacy Coordinator, Department of Education
and Early Development (DEED), Anchorage, Alaska, said she has
been an educator since 1981 and since 1997 has lived and worked
in rural Alaska. Since 2003 she has worked in the lowest
performing schools in the state. She has been a teacher,
principal, curriculum director, testing coordinator, and state
instructional coach and now is the state literacy coordinator.
She wants to commend the wonderful teachers she has known and
worked with through the years. There are many reasons for why
the state is where it is today. That blame does not only lie
with teachers, who are often blamed, but on parents, districts,
and local school boards. The law will not work without total
commitment from all stakeholders.
MS. ELEDGE said she wanted to comment on one of the changes that
were reviewed in yesterday's meeting. For item 17 of the
explanation of changes in the committee substitute, she thinks
there may not have been knowledge about what already exists.
Item 17 states to insert "require consideration of
recommendations from the 2018-2019 Task Force on Reading
Proficiency and Dyslexia." References to this task force are in
several statewide documents regarding literacy. The $21 million
comprehensive literacy state development grant received by the
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) in October
of 2019 includes state activities related to the approval of a
state literacy plan and an update to the Alaska reading
blueprint. These tasks are already under way as part of grant
activities. The draft state literacy plan includes that task
force report, along with other evidence-based interventions.
Under this plan, the task force is mentioned as the number one
evidence-based resource. This report is included in full in this
plan. It is also listed as the fourth reference for the state
plan. After consultation with the department, she would
recommend a change to item 17 to better represent what is
already happening in the state. Also, not all reading
deficiencies are dyslexia related. This would broaden and make
language consistent for all students with reading difficulties.
MS. ELEDGE said she will submit this wording to the chair:
Current DEED efforts include state activities related
to the approval of a state literacy plan and an update
to the Alaska reading blueprint, which includes
recommendations from the 2018-2019 Task Force on
Reading Proficiency and Dyslexia and other evidence-
based reports that define screenings or assessment
tools that meet the needs of all students.
This wording would better include all the efforts going forward,
not just that one task force.
9:25:00 AM
STACI EIBERT, representing self/parent/homeschool, Anchorage,
Alaska, said the common ground in the state is knowing the
importance of the state's children. Everyone wants what is best
for the students of Alaska. The failure of the current
educational model is that it is based on the 20th century
response to the Industrial Revolution. Factories needed workers
with a common set of skills and knowledge. This one-size-fits-
all methodology made sense in its time. However, in the 21st
century the digital revolution shrank the globe and education
must adapt. She cited successful examples from Finland and
Japan. The dangers of continuing down the one-size-fits-all path
is evident. The 21st century work force must be able to
collaborate, adapt, and problem solve. No one-size-fits-all test
can measure these intelligences. Critical thinking skills are
forged in a facilitative classroom environment. The Alaska Reads
Act is right in its heart, but wrong in its methodology.
Everyone wants students to achieve more, but this is going about
it in the archaic way.
9:28:05 AM
DAVID NEESE, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, noted that he
was a member of the House Education Task Force in 2014. The task
force found a swing in methodology of reading delivery over the
years. Alaska is not getting what it is supposed to out of
reading. In Anchorage, 2,063 out of 3,400 third graders in 2019
were not proficient on PEAKS (Performance Evaluation for
Alaska's Schools). In Fairbanks North Star School Borough, 600
of 1,000 were not proficient. In the Kenai Peninsula Borough
School District, 326 out of 580 were not proficient and in the
Juneau School district, 186 out of 300 were not proficient. This
bill does not help those kids. Delaying any implementation
promotes several thousand kids to fourth grade without any
intervention. These are students who have not been able to prove
their ability in English language arts. He said it is very
important to pass this bill and he offered his support for SB 6,
as written.
9:31:19 AM
CHRIS REITAN, Superintendent, Craig City School District, Craig,
Alaska, thanked the committee for the improvements to the bill
based on previous testimony. It is obvious the committee is
listening and trying to craft the most equitable bill for all
Alaskans. He referred to page 13 of the committee substitute
regarding how the department will adopt a statewide screening or
assessment tool for kindergarten through grade three under
Section 14.30.760. The bill states this will be done three times
each school year. Craig City School District operates PACE, a
statewide homeschool program with students all over the state
and in a number of remote areas. He said he is not sure how this
bill will intersect with homeschool families, particularly those
who live in remote areas. On page 14, Section 14.30.765 states
that reading intervention services will be offered to students
in kindergarten through grade three who exhibit a reading
deficiency. Providing that in an equitable fashion is another
concern for homeschool programs. He noted that it will be
difficult to find and hire the necessary reading instructors. He
clarified that he is not suggesting the bill should not move
forward, but merely pointing out that school districts could
have difficulty finding people to provide these services.
9:33:52 AM
SHAWN ARNOLD, Superintendent, Valdez City Schools, President,
Alaska Superintendents Association, Valdez, Alaska, said he was
optimistic about many components of this bill, including
providing reliable funding for early education programs and an
increased focus on reading proficiency by third grade. These two
pillars are critical to ensure all Alaskan students are
adequately prepared to live successful and fulfilling lives.
Establishing statewide, early education programs means the state
supports children in a critical development time period and
prepares them to be successful students in first grade. Further
initiatives to provide evidence-based instruction and
interventions will only strengthen the progress made through
these early learning initiatives.
MR. ARNOLD said as Dr. Parady testified last week, this reading
bill will not reach its full potential unless it is accompanied
by other changes in education in Alaska. Teacher and principal
turnover, the social, emotional, and mental health needs of
students, and historical trauma continues to have significant
impact on student abilities and outcomes. Any new program,
curriculum, or intervention will be undermined by the realities
and practical aspects of learning conditions across Alaska. As
the bill moves forward, these pieces must be addressed. The
science on the effective methods of teaching reading is clear,
as is research on student retention. He and his colleagues do
not fear retention or accountability, but these administrators
know it can hurt kids. For example, research has shown that
retention has a negative impact on students. The studies in
Florida can be misleading since those studies do not provide
definitive data on the pure effect of retention on student
outcomes.
MR. ARNOLD said the state should focus on the most effective
instruction and intervention and consider potential obstacles to
avoid pitfalls. He emphasized the need for increased feedback
from educators on critical parts of the bill. Commissioner
Johnson asked superintendents for general input about reading
early in this process. Alaska's administrators responded
immediately with a willingness to help craft the bill and offer
meaningful input. Superintendents asked the commissioner and the
governor repeatedly to share ideas but were not given that
opportunity until Senator Begich introduced the bill and
solicited input. Superintendents were not initially at the
table, so the bill had limited input from educators in Alaska.
He offered his view that SB 6 is a good start and by working
together the bill can be one that is good for all students.
9:38:21 AM
CHAIR STEVENS noted the arrival of Senator Coghill.
9:38:30 AM
MARY KRETZSCHMAR, Decoding Dyslexia Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska,
said Decoding Dyslexia is a parent-led movement. She spoke in
support of SB 6, but urged the committee not to delete "and
publish on the district's Internet website" the number of
students being retained from advancing to the next grade.
Reporting and accountability should be transparent. Parents need
to be able to access information through their districts.
Parents cannot always navigate the state's database but can ask
local school districts for the information. If districts are
required to report the number of students being retained, it is
more accessible and transparent. She suggested that there should
be a public notice requirement. The Alaska Reads Act is
important, but it must be crafted with strong language to hold
everyone accountable.
SENATOR BEGICH clarified that the school districts would still
report to the department and the legislature. The committee
substitute (CS) for SB 6 does not eliminate reporting, but some
districts did not want to be required to report on their web
sites. However, he acknowledged that she makes a good point in
that school districts should share that information with parents
who are interested in it.
9:41:28 AM
RONDA SCHLUMBOHM, Teacher, Salcha Elementary, Salcha, Alaska,
said she has taught for 30 years, 22 of which have been at
Salcha Elementary. She has a reading endorsement and a master's
degree in education. She applauds the committee's work on pre-K
and moving the date for entrance into kindergarten. She said
placing a reading teacher in schools that are struggling is a
good start. She expressed concern that the language in SB 6
changes the language to only reading, which means that writing
will be neglected. This is problematic because writing is how
many children access print and learn how language is put
together. Another concern is that SB 6 only mentions dyslexia,
but there are other reading deficiencies. She suggested the
committee could develop language in the bill that supports all
struggling readers. Research states that time spent on print is
the most beneficial way to help children learn to read. Teaching
must be balanced and engaging and teachers must teach phonemic
awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The
National Reading Panel included all five aspects. Further,
vocabulary and comprehension cannot be neglected, she said.
MS. SCHLUMBOHM expressed concern that emphasis is placed on
screeners because they do not always accurately capture what
students know. She turned to class size, stating that teachers
with 27 students in their classrooms cannot adequately respond
to all of the needs. One of her colleagues said even for veteran
teachers, teaching is hard, but the biggest reason kids struggle
to read stems from poverty. She said poverty affects Maslow's
hierarchy of needs, the number of books at home, and children's
exposure to words. She said adding pre-K is a good start, but it
does not address dealing with traumatized children, coping with
challenging behavior in classrooms, or making sure all kids are
ready to learn. She referred to her written testimony with
research links. She offered her willingness to discuss these
issues because teaching is her passion and her life's work.
9:45:09 AM
SCOTT MACMANUS, Superintendent, Alaska Gateway Schools, Tok,
Alaska, said there are many good things in SB 6 The intent is to
get kids reading at level in third grade. That has been the goal
for the last five years for his school district and the district
is making progress on that. The district uses AIMSweb as a
screener and a blended instructional model that incorporates the
findings of the National Reading Panel. Teachers are trained on
vision-related learning issues, such as dyslexia. Teachers and
aides have all received training on these instructional
programs. The district has made significant gains in the past
four years with reading in the elementary population because of
the focus on reading. Some classrooms had a full grade level of
improvement over the regular growth curve. He has seen students
lose ground with poor teachers. Those teachers are replaced as
soon as possible.
MR. MACMANUS said there is much to like in the bill, including
the honorable intent of most of the sponsors to make sure kids
can read and function literately in a society that requires it.
The bill supports pre-K and parent engagement and provides
support from the department to train staff. It bases its
findings on the National Reading Panel. But some aspects raise
serious flags. The one-size-fits-all approach, the loss of local
control, the significant reporting mandates, the emphasis on
centralized control from the department. Those will crush this
idea. Perhaps most important is the availability of qualified
staff. He advertised for a reading interventionist for two
years. One came for one semester before getting on a plane and
going back to the states. He would like to see a bill that
focuses on student growth and takes into account where many kids
are starting from. He suggested a menu of screeners for
districts to choose from. He would like to see a university
training program that is available to teachers and aides. Aides
are critical for long-term change. He suggested a phased-in
implementation. Resolving this is a function of available
resources. School districts are already being tasked with doing
more and more. Based on getting funded .5 [for pre-K], his
district would get $144,000. A quick estimate suggests it would
cost $400,000 to implement the bill. He supports the intent and
much of the content of SB 6. He hopes more input is taken from
educators before the bill is finalized. He wants to see the bill
implemented in a way that would be effective in rural Alaska.
9:48:58 AM
ESTHER PEPIN, Early Learning Coordinator, Bristol Bay School
District, King Salmon, Alaska, said she supports funding for
pre-K. Having public funding for preschool will allow schools to
build relationships with families early on. Schools need to have
conversations about important milestones in children's
development on a local level. Learning to read is so often
affected by children's social and emotional development. Having
funding for preschool will support district efforts to begin
this work in the critical years of development. If districts are
to develop a strategic response to intervention in grades K-3,
the role that preschool plays in the development of phonological
awareness must be considered.
MS. PEPIN said her district has been able to provide preschool
for every three and four-year-old in the community because the
district has been a recipient of a state pre-elementary grant
for the past four years. Having funding for preschool has
ensured that the district's children are ready for kindergarten.
The Alaska Developmental Profile annually measures 13 goals that
are significant predictors of students' success in school.
Before receiving pre-elementary funding, only 25 to 35 percent
of Bristol Bay students were fully ready for kindergarten. In
the four years of the grant, the percentage of students who are
ready for kindergarten ranges from 60 to 100 percent. With
support through the bill, the district hopes that this readiness
level will continue and it will have more data to compare
kindergarten readiness to third grade reading scores. A high-
quality preschool is a challenge for school districts to
collaborate with families and elders and community partners to
develop a model of continuity of care with K-3 so that preschool
is not a silo experience. Continuity of care also applies to the
Alaska Native ways of knowing and the Western education system.
As a mother of a child who will be in preschool next year, she
said she hopes that he will have a rich environment to
socialize, develop problem solving skills and collaboration
skills, and play with other children as he begins his educations
career and life.
9:52:56 AM
DONN LISTON, representing self, Eagle River, Alaska, said he
holds a Master of Education from the University of Alaska
Southeast. He taught adult basic education at the Mountain View
Community Center in Anchorage and at the Wasilla Job Center. In
2013 he was named a BP Teacher of Excellence. He said an
estimated 25 percent of Alaska's kindergarteners do not graduate
from high school. He offered his view that the primary reason is
poor reading skills. Many of his adult basic education students
must first learn phonics in order to learn to read. He found
that once students overcame poor reading methods, these students
quickly learned to read. He taught GED [General Education
Development] to students of varied ages. He said he did not find
any evidence that early pre-K programs impacted their potential
for success. The Constitution of the State of Alaska requires
the state to provide an education for children from the age of
seven. The state has reading specialists throughout the state,
but students learn when they are ready, motivated, and have a
capable teacher. In closing, he said he supports any effort to
ensure Alaskans can learn to read at an early age.
9:55:24 AM
POSIE BOGGS, Member, Alaska Reading Coalition, Anchorage,
Alaska, said she is excited to see the changes to strengthen SB
6. For example, simply using the word "reading" focuses the bill
on reading and not the whole of education. In a pre-K bill, it
is important to define appropriate prereading skills that should
be assessed in preschool and then be directly taught in
preschool in engaging and fun ways that are not drill and kill.
Having that same sort of language continue into K-3 classrooms
is important. She is happy to see there will be a panel of
stakeholders to consider the efficacy of the act. She said
defining terms such as evidence-based reading intervention and
reading specialist in statute is critical.
MS. BOGGS said the state needs many highly knowledgeable and
skilled teachers of reading. Dr. Steve Atwater says the
University of Alaska's initial licensure programs already
produce this level of reading teacher. She question how that can
be verified. UA needs beginning teachers to have fluent reading
instructional skills and current teachers need to become reading
specialists. One way to be sure that UA is producing fluent
reading teachers is to have the university administer a reading
competency exam similar to those used in Massachusetts,
Colorado, Arkansas, Connecticut, and other states. The results
should be reported to the legislature. It may be thinking out of
the box, but the legislature created ISER (Institute of Social
and Economic Research) quite a few years ago. The legislature
could fund a multidisciplinary institute of reading excellence.
CHAIR STEVENS announced that because the committee schedule was
so tight, he would have to limit public testimony to two
minutes. He stated that written comments sent to
senate.education@akleg.gov would be appreciated.
10:00:37 AM
MARVAT OBEIDI, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, said she is
in support of the Alaska Reads Act. As a parent of a four-year-
old and educator, she thanked the State of Alaska for taking
action to ensure that all students learn to read. As a former
classroom teacher, an English language learner teacher, and now
an English language learner coach with the Anchorage School
District, she understands that there is not only a need to help
students decode but to ensure that students are in school
environments that are rich in vocabulary and that support
language acquisition. Both are essential components for
developing language and skilled readers.
10:01:44 AM
JODI TAYLOR, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, said she is
joined by her friend Celeste Hodge Growden, who is on the NAACP
board. She and Ms. Growden both support SB 6. Students in Alaska
need focused reading, especially early reading, to achieve
success throughout their school years. Statistical data shows
that if students can read proficiently by third grade, they are
successful in the rest of their academic years. However,
students who do not read by third grade are unsuccessful. She
has personally observed this when she has helped administer ACT
camps. She offered her support for student retention, so that
students have outcome-driven results. She related that she held
her daughter back in first grade and repeating it was very
beneficial for her daughter. She offered her belief that the
accountability provision in the bill will help all students.
10:03:25 AM
ABBE HENSLEY, Executive Director, Best Beginning, Anchorage,
Alaska, began with the quote "children are made readers on the
laps of their parents." That says beautifully and clearly why
she does what she does every day. Everyone wants Alaskan
children to read well by the time students leave the third
grade. That makes a big difference in children's whole lives.
She is watching the evolution of SB 6 and is excited to see
support for more state-funded preschool, a designated home for
Parents as Teachers, and a detailed plan to ensure kids learn to
read by third grade. She encouraged the committee to consider
the recommendations made in the National Governors Association's
publication "Governor's Pocket Guide to Early Literacy." It
includes five action steps. Four of them are included in the
bill. She is not suggesting adding anything to the bill, but to
keep the fifth action step in mind. That is to engage and
support families as partners in early language and literacy
development, invest in programs that increase families' capacity
to build their children's language and literacy skills. For
example, home visits, public/private partnerships to promote
parent/child book reading and home libraries, and early literacy
campaigns focused on families. This list focuses on what
families can do at home. As the committee hones the Alaska Reads
Act, she asked them to keep in mind that getting ready to read
does not begin when a child turns four and attends preschool.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents read
to their children beginning at birth.
10:06:43 AM
BRAD GALBRAITH, Regional Advocacy Director, ExcelinEd in Action,
Phoenix, Arizona, said ExcelinEd is a national nonprofit that
works on student-centered policies across the country. ExcelinEd
has worked on several reading acts and has identified 14
fundamental principles that make a successful reading act. His
organization is encouraged by the approach in SB 6, which has
touched upon almost all of those fundamental principles. It will
be a significant step forward as the state strives to create
excellent opportunities for students to succeed throughout their
lives as proficient readers.
10:07:48 AM
ROY GETCHELL, Superintendent, Haines School District, Haines,
Alaska, said he has an undergraduate degree in elementary
education in the area of remedial reading. He has a Ph.D. in
educational leadership and policy studies from the University of
Denver. He successfully implemented the Colorado Basic Literacy
Act and the Colorado READ Act as a teacher and principal for
many years. In 1991, when he came to Alaska as a brand new
teacher, he was one of over 3,000 candidates at the Alaska
Teacher Placement job fair in Anchorage. Those numbers have
changed significantly since then. Alaska's students are capable
and represent the best of their generation. He moved his two
daughters to Alaska and it was the best thing he could have
done. He offered his view that Alaskan schools are not broken.
However, he appreciates the early literacy and early education
components in SB 6. He expressed concern about language in SB 6
that requires districts to change existing processes. For
example, the Haines School District uses DIBELS and Lindamood-
Bell and requiring the district to change that could be
problematic. Further, with the change from phonic awareness to
phonemic awareness, he wonders whether many of Alaska's
educators did not provide input before SB 6 was introduced.
Finally, the retention policy could be removed from the bill
since school districts are already allowed to retain students.
10:10:37 AM
TREVOR STORRS, President and CEO, Alaska Children's Trust,
Anchorage, Alaska, said that as the statewide leader in the
prevention of child abuse and neglect, the Alaska's Children
Trust supports SB 6. Early childhood education has been shown to
reduce several of the factors that put children at risk of abuse
and neglect. He said his testimony is not focused on the
language of the bill, but the intent. The goal of the bill is to
invest early and ensure children are ready to be contributing
members to the collective success of the state. The trust
commends the bill for recognizing that investing early provides
the best return on investment. However, it will be equally
important to remember that children need to arrive at school
ready to learn. No matter how good the reading program is, if
children arrive hungry or homeless and cannot access good health
care or have trauma in their lives, their ability to learn is
greatly hindered. As this bill moves forward, it will be
important to remember the role social determinants have on a
child's ability to learn. Other states have seen that an
increase in third grade reading went beyond instituting the
right reading or pre-K program. These states also ensure that
children and their families have support to reduce the many
barriers to learning. The trust encourages the legislature to
think of this bill and other decisions related to the budget. If
the state invests here but cuts Medicaid, food stamps, housing,
and homeless programs, the success of this bill and the
investment the legislature is making is greatly reduced.
10:13:11 AM
MALAN PAQUETTE, representing self, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, did
not speak to SB 6 in her testimony.
10:15:45 AM
DAVID BOYLE, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, said no other
bill is more important this session than SB 6. If properly
implemented with accountability metrics, it will impact the
state's children. He supports SB 6 if it includes retention.
Everyone has seen the data on how poorly Alaska's children
perform on national tests. Everyone can agree that every child
should read at grade level. The question is how to accomplish
this. SB 6 is a start, but it is only a start if implemented
with accountability. The legislation needs teeth to be truly
effective. To pass a reading bill without retention would be
like passing a DUI bill with no consequences for the violator.
Data clearly shows the positive effects of retaining students in
third grade who are far below grade level in reading. Eighteen
states have implemented the Florida model since 2015. Eight of
those states have strong retention requirements and ten have
weak requirements. Of the ten states with weak retention
requirements, only four increased their NAEP scores for students
eligible for free or reduced lunch. Two actually saw their
scores decrease. The bottom line is that the NAEP score growth
is six times higher for those states with strong retention
bills. The state could ignore the data and pass a bill that
continues to fail children or the state can help teachers,
parents, and children to ensure that all kids can read at grade.
To quote from the testimony from the Association of Alaska
School Boards on SB 6: "It seems to me that retaining a child
for lack of reading proficiency may be more a failure of the
system rather than the fault of the child." He urged the
committee to not fail a child again by not requiring retention.
For public schools to improve, every child must have a teacher
who can teach kids how to read. Parents must also be helped to
teach their children to read.
10:18:44 AM
BETHANY MARCUM, Executive Director, Alaska Policy Forum,
Anchorage, Alaska, said robust early childhood literacy programs
are a proven solution for Alaska's last-in-the-country scores.
These programs have resulted in gains for children in some, but
not all, of the states that have implemented the programs. In
some states, the results have been flat. The difference is
accountability. In states such as Colorado and Connecticut, the
programs contain the right interventions, such as early and
continuous parental notification of struggling readers, pairing
the weakest readers with the most effective teachers, and
instruction in phonological awareness. In those states, if the
interventions do not bring a child to proficiency, often the
child gets passed along. While some of these children will
eventually catch up, many will not. These are the children most
likely to drop out of school, end up in poverty, and land in the
corrections system. Some states with early literacy included
performance-based promotion policies. These states have all the
same interventions, but in the end, if a child is not at grade
level proficiency, the child gets a different year of third
grade, not just another year of third grade. The repeated third
grade includes targeted, focused attention, which is precisely
what these children deserve. In Mississippi, for example, the
number of children with disabilities who passed the literacy
test increased by 23 percent. There can be no better return on
state investments than making a difference in the lives of
Alaska's children, she said.
10:20:47 AM
BARBARA GERARD, representing self, Palmer, Alaska, said she is
the principal of Academy Charter School in Palmer. She is
excited about SB 6 and the movement to improve literacy across
the state of Alaska. She is supportive of the change for the
kindergarten eligibility date from September 1 to June 1. Three
years ago, the Academy's governing board developed a policy to
change its kindergarten eligibility date from September 1 to
August 1. In the three years following this change Academy has
found more of its kindergarten students entering school ready to
learn. Turning five a few months before entering kindergarten
allows children to reach developmental milestones necessary to
meet academic expectations and be more socially and emotionally
ready.
MS. GERARD said research supports early intervention and early
learning. She supports preschool for all Alaskan children.
Children who have attended preschool have an edge when entering
kindergarten. They arrive with a basic understanding of
classroom expectations, have learned some collaboration skills,
have been exposed to rich language and vocabulary and phonemic
awareness, and are already developing the love of reading. She
acknowledged that preschool is costly, but the positive outcomes
of preschool for all Alaskan children would reap not only early
benefits but long-term benefits. From the beginning, kids need
to be on the trajectory of reading proficiency. When children
learn to read early and love to read, fewer children are
retained for a lack of reading proficiency in second and third
grade. She urged the committee to implement preschools in all
public schools and allow pre-elementary students to be counted
in the school's average daily membership. To be able to do that
at Academy Charter School would make it even better. She
reiterated full support for SB 6.
CHAIR STEVENS stated that written testimony could be submitted
at any time.
10:24:27 AM
PATRICK MAYER, Superintendent, Aleutian East Borough School
District, Sand Point, Alaska, said he is the past president of
the Alaska Superintendents Association (ASA) and most
importantly, a student advocate. He thanked Senator Begich for
introducing the Alaska Reads Act, especially the universal
preschool sections. According to the 2019 Alaska Developmental
Profile, nearly 70 percent of Alaskan students enter
kindergarten lacking foundational preparation for learning. ASA
believes equitable access to fully funded, sustainable zero-to-
five and pre-K learning programs provides a foundation of
excellent social, emotional, and cognitive instruction to
students. Research demonstrates that early intervention and
instruction is the best way to increase student achievement
across all demographics and create the greatest opportunities
for all students to read proficiently by third grade. He fully
supports that early childhood education should be part of public
school funding through the base student allocation.
MR. MAYER said students in Alaska must learn to read and deserve
no less. He supports early assessment of reading proficiently,
research-based interventions for less than proficient readers,
and high-quality professional development to enable educators to
create proficient readers. However, superintendents were given
no opportunity to provide input in this bill. There was an
overarching, general solicitation. When he was president, he
asked for a draft of the bill to provide meaningful input. This
did not happen. A real opportunity to hear from a broad base of
superintendents, principals, and teachers will certainly help
shape the bill to provide the best outcomes for students. He
encouraged legislators to solicit input from educators in the
field who will be asked to implement anything that is passed. As
written, the bill is overly prescriptive about details districts
must implement. A better approach would be to provide high-
quality professional development to educators and
paraprofessionals in reading instruction and intervention and to
hold them accountable. Retention should not be a strategy in
this bill. "Why would we support something that we know
unequivocally hurts kids? I've heard a lot of concern across the
state about the capacity of the Department of Education to
implement this bill, especially given the ambitious timeline.
Please consider this in your deliberation.
10:27:12 AM
CHAIR STEVENS apologized to all who were not able testify today.
He reminded the public that the committee will accept written
testimony [at Senate.Education@akleg.gov. He closed public
testimony and held SB 6 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 32_SSSB006_AK-Reads-Act_BillText_draftCS-versionG.pdf |
SEDC 2/12/2020 9:00:00 AM |
SB 6 |