Legislature(2009 - 2010)BARNES 124
02/18/2009 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview(s): University of Alaska Report (required by Sb241 Passed in 2008) on Efforts to Attract, Train, and Retain Public School Teachers | |
| Overview(s): Alaska Military Youth Academy | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
February 18, 2009
8:03 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Paul Seaton, Chair
Representative Bryce Edgmon
Representative Wes Keller
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative Robert L. "Bob" Buch
Representative Berta Gardner
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Kim Elton, Chair
Senator Bettye Davis, Vice Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins
Senator Donald Olson
Senator Gary Stevens
MEMBERS ABSENT
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Cathy Engstrom Munoz, Vice Chair
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Carl Gatto
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW(S): UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA REPORT (REQUIRED BY SB241
PASSED IN 2008) ON EFFORTS TO ATTRACT, TRAIN, AND RETAIN PUBLIC
SCHOOL TEACHERS
- HEARD
OVERVIEW(S): ALASKA MILITARY YOUTH ACADEMY
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to report
WITNESS REGISTER
PAT JACOBSON
Board of Regents
University of Alaska
Kodiak, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced the University of Alaska report.
JOHN PUGH, Chancellor
University of Alaska Southeast (UAS)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions about the University
of Alaska report.
CYNTHIA HENRY, Chair of the Board
Board of Regents
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the presentation of the
University of Alaska report.
MELISSA HILL, Director
University of Alaska Teacher Placement
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions about the University
of Alaska report.
LARRY HARRIS, Dean
School of Education
University of Alaska Southeast (UAS)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: responded to questions during discussion of
the University of Alaska report.
LARRY LEDOUX, Commissioner
Office of the Commissioner
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions during discussion of
the University of Alaska report.
CRAIG CHRISTENSEN, Division Director
Alaska Military Youth Academy (AMYA)
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs (DMVA)
Fort Richardson, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the presentation of the
AMYA program.
JAMES JONES, Deputy Director
Alaska Military Youth Academy (AMYA)
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs (DMVA)
Fort Richardson, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the presentation of the
AMYA program.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:03:10 AM
CHAIR PAUL SEATON called the joint meeting of the House and
Senate Education Standing Committees to order at 8:03 a.m.
Representatives Seaton, Wilson, Edgmon, Keller, Buch, and
Gardner were present at the call to order. Representative Munoz
was excused. Senators Elton, Davis, Huggins, Olson, and Stevens
were present at the call to order. Representative Gatto was
also in attendance.
^OVERVIEW(S): UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA REPORT (REQUIRED BY SB241
PASSED IN 2008) ON EFFORTS TO ATTRACT, TRAIN, AND RETAIN PUBLIC
SCHOOL TEACHERS
8:03:57 AM
CHAIR SEATON announced that the first order of business would be
an overview of the University of Alaska report on its efforts to
attract, train, and retain public school teachers. [Included in
the members' packets.] He introduced Senator Gary Stevens, the
sponsor of Senate Bill 241, which legislated the necessity for
this report.
8:04:26 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said that the bill, hence the report, was the
collaborative result of a need to fill Alaska teaching jobs with
Alaskan teachers.
8:06:56 AM
PAT JACOBSON, Board of Regents, University of Alaska,
paraphrased as follows from a prepared statement [original
punctuation provided]:
First, I want to assure you of the following:
1. The University's and the president's commitments to
education and K-12 Outreach.
2. Staff at UA have taken tremendous care to ensure
that the data before you is accurate and reflects the
information you requested
As you know this report is in accordance with an act
to report on the University of Alaska's efforts on
preparing teachers. I am not going to read the report
to you, though I will reference some of the
information pages as I go through it.
I anticipate taking about 20 minutes to go through the
report, provide insights as to the University's next
steps and offer recommendations; I hope that will
answer many of your questions regarding the report.
First, near the beginning of the actual SB241 bill, it
speaks about the desire by the Task Force to improve
the dialogue between two of our state agencies with
key roles in education delivery. It has been my
observation that the relationship between the
University and EED has, indeed, taken a dramatic turn
for the better in working together. I believe that
could be attributed, in part, to SB241, but, frankly,
I believe it would have occurred anyway. As I
understand it, the collaborative relationship between
the Dept. of Labor and the University began to improve
after the appointment of Commissioner of Labor Click
Bishop, a couple of years ago. And, the relationship
between EED and the University began to improve
greatly after the appointment of Commissioner of
Education Larry LeDoux last summer. I believe these
two commissioners, as well as University of Alaska
President Hamilton have a genuine desire to have a
positive, collaborative working relationship with each
other and that that should be the case - it's an
obvious, necessary fit that just hasn't happened to
this extent, to my knowledge, ever before.
The Commissioner of Education hit the ground running
and embarked on a statewide Education Summit in
November, bringing in a wide array of stakeholders
from around the state, including people from the
Department of Labor. The University had a large
presence at that summit and in assisting with it. It
was a huge undertaking and I've heard nothing but
glowing reports about it - I attended myself and felt
it was very worthwhile. I can also tell you that our
president and two other regents were also there, and
actively participated in the dialog and planning.
With that I would like to begin with an overview of
the report.
Through the Chair, the report is broken into the
specific areas per the language in SB241. On page 1
you can review the highlights of the report. This
will give you a quick overview of key elements I am
prepared to cover with you today.
You'll note a couple of key bullets I would like to
point out to you in that Highlights Section:
1. Teacher recruitment and retention in Alaska is a
complex issue with no magic bullet. I'll explain that
a bit more in just a second.
2. If we are to increase the number of Alaskan
prepared teachers, more Alaskan students must go to
college. I believe it was the president who said we
need to create a culture that values education. The
University Board Of Regents recognizes and embraces
this fact, which is why K-12 Outreach is currently a
top priority of the University of Alaska. I'm told it
is very unusual for a university to make K-12 a
priority in their proposed budget. We have done just
that!
Starting on Page 3, you can see the report is divided
up into four sections.
The first section is the TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION
DATA, shown in detail on page 4.
This provides an overview of the output or supply; the
number of teachers the University is graduating each
year in core content areas. Bottom line, there is an
average of 190 graduates per year eligible to enter
the K-12 teacher workforce. Slightly more than 1/2
are elementary. The University produces an average of
35 special education teachers each year. Special Ed
also has a higher rate of turnover and is a federally
designated teacher shortage area. And there is an
average of 11 certificates in math and 24 in science
awarded annually.
The second section is the GAP ANALYSIS: SHORTAGES IN
THE TEACHING WORKFORCE, shown in detail on page 7.
The data in your report provides an overview of the
gap between what the University is turning out and
what the needs are. I am pleased to support the fact
that we have taken extensive steps to address some of
those challenges in collaboration with the Alaska
Department of Education and Early Development, one of
them being the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project
mentioned earlier; another is the Alaska Teacher
Placement office. In areas where we may fall short in
producing teachers, we do have highly effective
programs in place to address recruitment and retention
of teachers.
Teacher shortage areas in Alaska include: special
education, mathematics, and science. Each year Alaska
school districts hire about 900 to 1100 teachers, the
majority of vacancies being in special education and
secondary core content areas. The vast majority of
the vacant positions is a result of teachers exiting
the system, and the minority is from a group referred
to as "movers". In 2010 roughly 34% of current
teachers will be eligible for retirement. Nearly 2/3
of Alaska's teachers are over age 40.
It was rather disheartening, although not actually
surprising to me, as a former teacher, to read that
after four years of entering a teaching position, 49%
of special education teachers weren't teaching special
education any more, and of those, only 8% remained in
the Alaska system, but were teaching outside of
special education; 35 produced each year, but
districts need to hire 100 new special education
teachers annually. That number has improved
dramatically with an additional 35 special education
teachers coming from UAS. You may wish to ask
Chancellor Pugh to elaborate later.
It should be noted that simply producing more teachers
in these areas may not address the issue of retention.
The Alaska Statewide Mentor Project reported that,
'through grant funding, the Mentor Program has been
able to increase focus on mentoring special education
teachers by pairing special education certified
mentors with early career special education teachers.
Working with a sub-sample of about a third of all new
special education teachers, the Mentor Program has
retained over 80% each year. That's encouraging.
An additional complexity, regarding secondary-math and
science teachers, is that there is considerable
competition, and, thus, opportunity for these folks
elsewhere, as well as in the field of education. As
we all know, not everyone who earns a degree goes on
to use that degree in that field. As the report
indicated 11 math teachers graduate each year, but 48
are needed; 24 science teachers graduate each year,
but, 41 are needed across the districts in the state.
Recruitment efforts need to increase, but, ultimately,
even if all University of Alaska education graduates
took jobs with Alaska schools, districts would still
need to recruit from outside the state to fill the
gap.
A further complication is that the number of high
school students peaked in 2008 and is expected to
decline over the next decade. Consequently, as the
number of candidates available for postsecondary
degrees and training declines, it will become even
more challenging for UA to produce a trained workforce
for key Alaska jobs.
The third section is EFFORTS TO ATTRACT, TRAIN, AND
RETAIN QUALIFIED SCHOOL TEACHERS and begins in detail
on page 10 of your report.
To increase the number of teachers prepared in Alaska,
more Alaskan students will need to enroll and complete
degree programs in education. The University has a
wide array of programs and activities designed to
support teacher recruitment and retention of K-12
educators - you have a listing in your report. And, I
repeat, the University has made K-12 Outreach and
Bridging Programs a priority for future operating
requests to the legislature.
In the category of Teacher recruitment and retention,
you will see that the University has over 120 programs
in one of three areas including:
-K-12 Student Outreach and Bridging Efforts
-Teacher Professional Development
-Educational Resources and Teacher Recruitment and
Retention
K-12 Outreach and Bridging programs support efforts to
attract and prepare more K-12 students for college.
These are expansive and again, the University is
committed to seeing more Alaskan graduates becoming
life long learners. There's another, significant
challenge: many of Alaska's high school graduates are
not prepared to meet this challenge. The university
must expand current efforts to ensure that students
who enter the institution accomplish what they set out
to do, and in a timely manner. Helping students early
is a key step.
Teacher Professional Development is expansive, there
are a variety of programs for science and math
teachers, and professional collaborations taking place
through out the university system.
One area that would warrant some attention is in
educational resources and teacher recruitment and
retention. We can and need to look for ways to grow
our own teachers. This is important because studies
suggest that teachers trained in Alaska stay in
Alaska, and preliminary research is promising in that
it suggests Alaska trained teachers demonstrate
positive gains in student achievement.
Yet, we still need more opportunities for rural
training.
The fourth section is THREE TO FIVE YEAR PLAN FOR
TEACHER PREPARATION and is found on p 13.
Senate Bill 241 (2008) reads, "The report must include
an outline of the university's current and future
plans to close the gap between known teacher
employment vacancies in the state and the number of
state residents who complete teacher training. The
information reported under this subsection may also
include short-term and five-year strategies with
accompanying fiscal notes and outcome measures."
Our system-wide teacher education planning group is
new this past year. The Deans of Education, lead by
Chancellor Pugh, and with support and coordination
from Melissa Hill, have been meeting for the past year
with K-12 administrators to talk about ways the
University and K-12 can align workforce needs and
collaborate on priorities in the area of workforce.
What we know:
Teaching in rural Alaska will continue to have higher
rates of turnover, due in part to limited housing,
assimilation, etc.. Data also suggests that those
teachers and principals trained in state stay longer,
as I've indicated, and those trained in rural areas
stay longer there, too.
Our University can and must do a better job of
recruiting and growing our own teachers. The Alaska
Statewide Mentor project is a proven, positive
influence and expansion of the program could help to
ensure that all teachers receive the support they need
in the first two years. There are still factors which
are out of the realm of the University, such as
compensation, housing, and technology infrastructure.
Our workforce, Alaska's workforce and the quality of
that workforce rests on the shoulders of our
educational institutions; from Early Childhood through
K-12 to higher education, but we cannot do it alone.
Communities and parents play a vital role and
collectively we can all do our part to promote the
teaching profession, to recognize the workforce that
is training our workforce right out of the gate.
The University's budget request includes funding for
supplemental instruction for "gateway" or preparatory
college courses, undergraduate research, early alert
programs and increased remediation.
Bottom Line: The University needs more resources to
help students succeed. We did include a section at
the end of your report, which has recommendations and
a fiscal note request, which I will address briefly
now.
One recommendation would be to invest in education
studies and research, which could allow for expanding
and updating data collection systems and workforce
development studies. Education is an important issue
in Alaska. I applaud our state leaders in their
effort to have a standing committee on education.
Both EED and policymakers require studies and research
in education. We fully expect to be leading this
effort; however, existing resources are limited and
without fully funding the University of Alaska budget
and per the legislative language of SB241 of the 25th
session, it is evident that current resources do not
fund existing staff to conduct such studies - I can
assure you that UA will focus on any effort to improve
teacher training and related workforce development to
meet the state's needs.
Another recommendation would be to invest in Special
Education Teacher Preparation, specifically, funding
to support adding special ed teacher prep programs at
UAF, the only school of education in the university
system that does not have a special education program.
Another recommendation is for Expansion of Scholarship
Opportunities for Education Majors, having specific
emphasis on shortage areas, as well as a review of
current loan forgiveness programs, and sustaining and
increasing funding for programs that are effective in
preparing and supporting teacher recruitment and
retention.
I received the final report just a few days before you
did. I can tell you that the Board of Regents
Academic and Student Affairs Committee will be
reviewing it in detail and looking at all of our
options. Immediate steps will include having a
meeting with the chancellors, provosts and deans to
discuss where we go from here. It is evident that
change is needed. Important University outcomes
include:
-better cooperation and coordination with EED.
-better outreach and engagement with K-12 educational
professionals.
-increasing the numbers of education graduates!!!!
In Next Years Report - here is what you can expect to
see:
-expansion of the quantified efforts in K-12 outreach
-reports on the effectiveness of specific programs
such as the mentor project
-a fully developed 3-5 year education plan for teacher
preparation
-overall larger picture --- a university system that
can meet the needs of the newly formed standing
committees on education.
In conclusion,
As I stated at the beginning, the University embraced
this bill from its infancy and has worked hard and
seriously on fulfilling the requirements for this, the
first annual report to you. We believe it was and is
a very good bill and look forward to reports to and
interactions with you in future years. This was just
the first year and, while I believe it was an
informative report, I also believe future reports will
get better. It was well worth our effort and time.
8:27:14 AM
SENATOR STEVENS addressed Chancellor Pugh, pointed out the lack
of consistency that he had observed, and asked if all the
programs being introduced throughout the University system were
taught to the same standards.
8:28:18 AM
JOHN PUGH, Chancellor, University of Alaska Southeast (UAS),
said that the standards for "best practices" were still being
debated within some teaching programs. He offered an example of
special education, and noted that there was now statewide
agreement for that standard. He explained that the program had
previously been statewide, but it had been consolidated to just
the Anchorage campus. He shared the realization that this move
was not successful for meeting the needs of students statewide,
so that the program was re-introduced into the three main
campuses. He identified both the special education and the
early childhood education programs as having great success and a
statewide "best practices" standard. He stated that the best
practice standard for a secondary education program was a five
year program to allow time for course work, and an internship.
He allowed that there was still national debate over the best
practice standard for the need of a five year elementary
education program. He reported that the UAS elementary program
was a five year program, and as the other campuses were not five
year programs, the Board of Regents had ordered the University
to re-develop the undergraduate elementary education "best
practices" program.
8:31:41 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked for consistency throughout the statewide
university system.
8:32:23 AM
SENATOR ELTON observed that the report established which
programs were necessary, and he asked if a review would discover
the incentive for students to choose a teaching career. He
noted that the average pay for a teacher was $57,000, which was
an impediment, not a motivation.
8:34:36 AM
MS. JACOBSON noted that a beginning nurse made $10,000 more than
a beginning teacher.
8:35:03 AM
CHANCELLOR PUGH said that a lot of money was spent developing
the health science and engineering programs because private
industry had contributed advertising money. He said those
industries offered high paying internships and scholarships to
assist in attracting students. He relayed that future teacher
association programs encouraged teaching students, but there
were not a lot of scholarship, loan forgiveness, or summer job
incentives. He allowed that this was not a new problem.
8:37:52 AM
SENATOR DAVIS asked what it would take to have a special
education course at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).
CYNTHIA HENRY, Chair of the Board, Board of Regents, University
of Alaska, reported that Senate Bill 241 highlighted this need,
however, it was not included in the governor's budget, and she
solicited the help of the committee to establish this program at
UAF.
8:40:13 AM
SENATOR DAVIS suggested beginning in the lower grades to instill
a sense of pride for young people interested in attending the
university system. She suggested classes that would track
students toward college in Alaska.
MS. JACOBSON replied that high school students in some areas of
Alaska received dual credit toward college. She reported that
University of Alaska, in collaboration with Alaska Commission on
Postsecondary Education (ACPE), provided information with
college encouragement to the elementary schools.
CHANCELLOR PUGH described the fifth grade program in Southeast
Alaska, titled "I'm Going to College," which was funded through
ACPE and brought elementary students to the university campus
for a day. He stated that the primary new financial request was
for K-12 outreach programs. He pointed out that the number of
Alaskan high school graduates going to university in Alaska had
grown from 42 percent to 63 percent; however, Alaska was still
ranked the lowest in the nation for students continuing on for
postsecondary education.
8:44:26 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked if the special education classes in
Juneau and Anchorage were accessible via distance [learning]
education. She opined that it was not necessary for each campus
to have identical classes, if the classes were available through
distance education. She expressed her desire to ensure that
class credits were transferrable to each campus.
CHAIR SEATON asked if the distance education program provided
the special education endorsement.
CHANCELLOR PUGH said that all the UAS programs were distance
education programs and were available everywhere in the state.
He explained, however, that every teacher needed to have one
month of practical experience in the special education field,
and that this was only available in about 50 communities. He
emphasized that special needs children were in every class and
that all teachers needed some special education background. He
offered his belief that in some programs it was necessary to
have at least one specialist on each campus.
CHAIR SEATON asked to clarify that a student receiving a UAF
teaching certificate could gain their special education
endorsement via distance learning.
CHANCELLOR PUGH agreed.
8:49:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked three questions: how many special
education teachers had graduated; was there a demand for special
education classes at UAF; and, referring to the mentoring and
retention mentioned on Page 8 of the report, did the mentoring
program work, as 41 percent of the special education teachers
were leaving in the first four years.
MELISSA HILL, Director, University of Alaska Teacher Placement,
in response to Representative Gardner, said that the mentoring
sub population did not include all special education teachers.
8:51:54 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER questioned that if 80 percent were
retained, were 41 percent still leaving.
MS. HILL agreed, and she stressed that the special education
teaching positions were challenging, even with the mentoring
program. She observed that any response to this teacher turn
over would require a review of the challenges and requirements
for special education teachers.
8:52:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked for a comparison of retention rates
for mentored and non-mentored first year teachers.
MS. HILL said that she would provide this information.
8:53:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER restated her other two questions.
CHANCELLOR PUGH responded that special education graduates had
been doubled by adding the UAS program and he explained that the
discrepancy was in the data collection process. He noted that
rural districts reported that existing teachers were requesting
special education training. He ascertained that teachers who
came from Outside were a high percentage of the turn over rate.
He explained that, as a result of a nation wide teacher
shortage, teachers were being offered signing incentives across
the nation.
8:56:10 AM
CHANCELLOR PUGH, in response to Senator Huggins, said that the
praxis were required.
8:56:30 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked about a long term strategy.
CHANCELLOR PUGH said that educational technology was the focus.
8:57:54 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS reflected that there needed to be a discussion
about educational leaders.
8:59:25 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 8:59 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
9:00:54 AM
SENATOR STEVENS questioned whether only 6 percent of Native
Alaskans who entered the university went on to graduate. He
allowed that this group of Native students was a resource for
village teachers, and he asked what could be done to attract
Native students to the education field. He emphasized that
money was not an excuse, as the state did fund the university
and there were high expectations.
9:03:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON opined that some special education
teachers were dropping their certifications because of the
federal requirements.
MS. HENRY replied that there was a high burnout in special
education, due to behavioral and learning problems, as well as
an enormous amount of federal paperwork. She suggested that one
solution would be to have two teachers, but she recognized the
cost involved. She mentioned that classroom aides were also
helpful but they were limited in their legal qualifications.
9:05:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON cited the sobering statistics from the
report and asked what would happen when 34 percent of the
teachers retired in the next year. He stressed that teachers in
the rural areas had difficulty meeting the living costs, and he
noted that the retirement system did not encourage teacher
retention.
9:07:09 AM
CHAIR SEATON offered his belief that there were vacancies in the
teaching programs, and he asked her opinion for the lack of
students entering the teaching profession.
MS. HENRY, in response to Chair Seaton, said that although the
university maintained various statistics, only anecdotal
information was available regarding student program choices.
She said that choices might be based on salary and benefits, or
the influences from the private sector. She noted that student
grants were not available for middle income students. She also
suggested that the prestige of teaching was not what it had been
in the past. She opined that an Institute of Social and
Economic Research (ISER) survey, though expensive, could be
enlightening.
9:11:45 AM
CHAIR SEATON suggested that a survey of the university staff
would be helpful. He ascertained that, although the best
practices standard was for a five year teaching degree, it may
be a disincentive. He asked if the dual credit program would
offer a solution.
CHANCELLOR PUGH, in response to Chair Seaton, said that he did
not see that as a solution, as teachers required additional
course work to attain the standard. He disclosed that many
second career people chose teaching as these people already had
degrees and only needed to obtain a teaching endorsement.
9:16:05 AM
CHAIR SEATON stressed his concern for the extra year that a
teaching student must attend, without any financial incentive.
He asked how loan and scholarship programs could be directed
toward teaching degrees. He noted that the governor was
interested in a pilot program for pre-kindergarten, and he
pointed out the need for the university to consider how these
early childhood education programs would be structured.
9:18:51 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER referred to teacher retention, and she
acknowledged the Preparing Indigenous Teachers for Alaska
Schools (PITAS) program. She asked how students would learn
about this program.
9:20:14 AM
LARRY HARRIS, Dean, School of Education, University of Alaska
Southeast (UAS), explained that the PITAS program was in its
seventh year, and that it recruited Alaskan Native students,
primarily in Southeast Alaska. He reported that, with the
receipt of a new grant, other areas of the state would be
targeted. He announced that the program had been expanded to
include currently certified teachers who were seeking additional
endorsements.
9:21:57 AM
REPRESENTATIVE BUCH asked if high school students, through
distance learning, had access to the PITAS program.
MR. HARRIS suggested that high school students could be prepared
through the dual credit program.
9:24:00 AM
CHAIR SEATON pointed out that the retirement system had been
alluded to as a concern and factor toward recruitment and
retention. He cautioned to the use of anecdotal information
versus statistics. He stressed the need to review data and
speak from informed sources.
REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON, in response to Chair Seaton, reported
that his statements were anecdotal however, they were spoken by
his constituents.
CHAIR SEATON clarified that he did not want to accept one side
or the other before the introduction of data.
9:27:57 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 9:27 a.m. to 9:31 a.m.
9:32:16 AM
LARRY LEDOUX, Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner,
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), reported
on reasons that affect student enrollment in teaching careers.
He suggested that recognition and merit based scholarships were
helpful for motivating students toward a more rigorous
curriculum. He mentioned that teaching was no longer seen as a
positive career direction. He referred to studies which
reflected that secondary teachers made that choice in their
third year of university, whereas elementary school teachers
made that choice early in their schooling. He mentioned that
the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) program
was a means to bring positive attention to the profession. He
shared that students being able to visualize themselves as
successful teachers was very successful, as seen with the summer
school cadet teacher program. He suggested implementing a
program that granted an associate of arts (AA) degree along with
a high school diploma. He directed attention to the second
career professionals, especially with the job losses in the
current economy.
CHAIR SEATON requested that these ideas be put into a memo.
9:38:51 AM
MR. LEDOUX, in response to Representative Buch, said that the
formal dual-credit program was Middle College, a concept that
was being used around the nation, and that could be a distance
learning program. He also shared that many high schools and
colleges in Alaska had created partnerships for classes.
9:39:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE BUCH opined that that the incentive to teach
should begin much earlier than high school.
^OVERVIEW(S): ALASKA MILITARY YOUTH ACADEMY
9:40:08 AM
CHAIR SEATON announced that the final order of business was an
overview which would include a Power Point presentation entitled
"National Guard, Alaska Military Youth Academy, Youth ChalleNGe
Program. [Included in members' packets]
9:40:24 AM
CRAIG CHRISTENSEN, Director, Alaska Military Youth Academy
(AMYA), Department of Military & Veterans' Affairs (DMVA), said
that AMYA was a part of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe
Program. He explained that the first class graduated in 1994,
and that it was located at Camp Carroll on Fort Richardson. He
said that there were 186 beds available.
9:42:07 AM
JAMES JONES, Deputy Director, Alaska Military Youth Academy
(AMYA), Department of Military & Veterans' Affairs (DMVA), said
that this program was originally funded by the Department of
Defense, as it was determined that the high school drop out rate
was a domestic threat to the nation. He explained that it had
since become a shared state and federally funded program.
9:43:26 AM
MR. CHRISTENSEN spoke about slide 3, "A multi-phased
Intervention Program--17 1/2 months." He highlighted that the
mission of the Academy was to "intervene in and reclaim the
lives of Alaska's at-risk youth and produce program graduates
with the values, the skills, the education, and the self-
discipline necessary to succeed as adults." He emphasized that
the program was not a boot camp, that participation was
voluntary, and that it was not a juvenile justice program. He
explained that this was a highly structured, quasi-military
model that fostered the development of leadership skills,
ethical values, and strict discipline.
9:44:44 AM
DR. JONES referred to slide 4, "High School dropouts between
ages 16-18 years old." He explained the eligibility for each
candidate: high school dropout; age 16-18; unemployed; drug
free; not on parole or probation for juvenile offenses; no
felony charges, convictions, or under indictment for capital
offenses; and physically and mentally capable of completing the
demanding program requirements. He added that the program was
voluntary and by invitation.
9:45:48 AM
DR. JONES detailed the three phases of the program. He
described the first two week phase as a pre-challenge rustic
camping experience. He noted that this phase included a staff
assessment of the candidate. He recounted that the next phase
was a twenty week residential challenge phase which began with
an educational and learning style assessment to determine a
candidate's placement within ability groups. He allowed that
this phase maximized classroom time, developed mid and long
range goals, and encouraged emotional, physical, and educational
maturation. He explained that the final phase was a twelve
month period of living in the community, with a mentor. He said
that each student, over 18 years of age, was given an
opportunity to enter an apprenticeship program. He allowed that
11-18 percent of these students chose the military.
9:49:28 AM
MR. CHRISTENSEN referred to slide 5, "8 Core Components," and
identified that the eight core components of the program were
critical intervention areas that affected the life of a youth a
risk. He listed the components to include: academic excellence,
physical fitness, job skills, service to community, health and
hygiene, responsible citizenship, leadership/followership, and
life coping skills and he elaborated on each of these points.
He mentioned that students of age did register for the draft and
to vote.
9:52:21 AM
DR. JONES highlighted some of the successes that the academy had
observed in their graduates for "Academic Excellence" and
"Physical Fitness," on slide 6.
9:54:15 AM
MR. CHRISTENSEN referred to slide 7, "Job Skills," and said that
there were vocational and academic opportunities. He noted that
there were culinary arts, carpentry, Emergency Trauma Technician
(ETT), and other job shadowing programs available to the
candidates. He said that the "Service to the Community"
component was also very important.
9:55:46 AM
DR. JONES pointed to slide 8, and spoke about basic instruction
in "Health & Hygiene." This included establishing a healthy
diet and smoking cessation, as the campus was smoke free. He
commented that "Responsible Citizenship" was also a value the
academy taught. He elaborated that this included a visit to the
Anchorage Assembly to watch the government process.
9:57:17 AM
MR. CHRISTENSEN spoke about slide 9, "Leadership/Followership,"
and said that several opportunities for leadership were provided
during the residential component, to help with building skills
and knowledge. He mentioned that "Life Coping Skills" included
student meetings with the residential behavioral counselors,
which focused on becoming successful, positive adults.
9:58:31 AM
DR. JONES pointed out slide 10, "High School Diploma or GED" and
said that the AMYA was an accredited special purpose school that
offered a high school diploma. He proudly reported that the
students had competed in the annual GCI Academic Decathlon and
had taken first place in the small school division, and that
AMYA had awarded more than 1600 high school diplomas or GEDs
since 1994.
9:59:40 AM
MR. CHRISTENSEN directed attention to slide 11, "Mentorship
Program," and he opined that the single element for success was
the mentorship. He explained that the mentorship continued even
after the student returned to their community. He explained
that the communication included discussion and validation of the
life plans and its progress. He reported that this was the
second largest mentoring program in the nation, eclipsed only by
the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.
10:01:29 AM
DR. JONES said that AMYA was the toughest school in Alaska and
that the students voluntarily chose to stay. He pointed to
slide 12, "Successful Graduates," and said that more than 2,630
students had graduated in the last 15 years.
10:02:10 AM
MR. CHRISTENSEN explained slide, 13, "Success = Positive,
Durable Placement, Goal 90%+," and stressed that the program
success was for the young adult to be positive with a direction
in life, and contributing to society. He allowed that the
program goal was to have a 90 percent or above success rate. He
proudly stated that the AMYA was recognized as the most
progressive challenge program in the nation, was number one in
the nation for recruiting and contacting high school dropouts,
and was nationally ranked in the top three challenge programs
for placement success of the resident program graduates.
10:05:19 AM
MR. CHRISTENSEN, in response to Representative Wilson, said that
there were 33 academies in 29 states.
10:05:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked how the learning styles were
determined.
DR. JONES said that there was a written learning style
assessment, administered by the academic section, and then a
peer partner was assigned to each student.
CHAIR SEATON requested that the assessment be forwarded to the
committee.
10:06:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked how much time there was from the
assessment to the determination.
DR. JONES replied that he would forward that information.
10:06:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked how the mentors were chosen.
MR. CHRISTENSEN replied that the families were informed in the
application package of the need to make a mentor choice. He
added that AMYA also had a list of available mentors.
10:07:35 AM
REPRESENTATIVE BUCH asked if AMYA had any insights as to why
students dropped out.
DR. JONES, in response to Representative Buch, said that
discussions with students revealed three common denominators:
the belief that teachers did not care about them as individuals,
that demands were not made on them, and that other dynamics had
not allowed them to focus on education.
ADJOURNMENT
10:11:24 AM
There being no further business before the joint meeting of the
House and Senate Education Standing Committees, the meeting was
adjourned at 10:11 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Military Youth Academy Information.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| AMYA powerpoint.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| DOL Economic Trends Dec- 1998.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Mentor Research Summary 2008.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| SB241 Bill Language.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| SB241 Supporting Data Report.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Strengthening Education in AK 2006.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Students Going to College Pipeline 2006.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Survey of School Administrators - 2008.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Teacher Supply Demand 2005.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Teacher Turnover 2006.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| SB241 REPORT FINAL-PRINT.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Teacher Turnover 2008.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| UAA K-12 Outreach.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| UAF K-12 Partnership.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |
|
| UAS K-12 Outreach.pdf |
HEDC 2/18/2009 8:00:00 AM |