Legislature(2013 - 2014)CAPITOL 106
02/19/2014 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation: Report from the Center of Alaska Education Policy Research | |
| Presentation: Report from the State Board of Education & Early Development | |
| 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 19, 2014
8:02 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Lynn Gattis, Chair
Representative Lora Reinbold, Vice Chair
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Harriet Drummond
Representative Peggy Wilson
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Mike Dunleavy, Vice Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins
Senator Berta Gardner
MEMBERS ABSENT
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Representative Dan Saddler
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Bert Stedman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: Report from the University of Alaska Anchorage
Center of Alaska Education Policy Research
- HEARD
PRESENTATION: Report from the State Board of Education and
Early Development
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous actions to report
WITNESS REGISTER
DIANE HIRSHBERG PhD, Director
Center for Alaska Education Policy Research (CAEPR)
University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided the UAA Center for Alaska
Education Policy Research (CAEPR) presentation.
TERRI AKEY PhD, Co-Director
Center for Research, Evaluation, and Assessment
Regional Education Laboratory at Education Northwest
Portland, Oregon
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided a report on the Alaska State
Policy Research Alliance related to the UAA Center for Alaska
Education Policy Research (CAEPR) presentation.
ESTHER COX, First Vice-Chair
State Board of Education and Early Development
Department of Education and Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered the annual State Board of
Education and Early Development legislative report.
MIKE HANLEY, Commissioner
Department of Education and Early Development (EED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During the presentation of the annual State
Board of Education and Early Development legislative report,
answered questions.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:02:40 AM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the joint meeting of the House
Education Standing Committee and the Senate Education Standing
Committee to order at 8:02 a.m. Present at the call to order
from the House Education Standing Committee were Representatives
LeDoux, Reinbold, Seaton, and Gattis; Representatives Drummond
and P. Wilson arrived as the meeting was in progress. Present
from the Senate Education Standing Committee were Senators
Stevens, Dunleavy, Gardner, and Huggins.
8:03:21 AM
^PRESENTATION: Report from the Center of Alaska Education
Policy Research
PRESENTATION: Report from the Center of Alaska Education Policy
Research (CAEPR)
CHAIR STEVENS announced that the first order of business would
be a report from the Center of Alaska Education Policy Research
(CAEPR).
8:04:05 AM
DIANE HIRSHBERG PhD, Director, Center for Alaska Education
Policy Research (CAEPR), University of Alaska Anchorage, noted
the report is intended to keep the committees up to date on
CAEPR's activities, to solicit suggestions from legislators on
possible research projects, and to answer questions regarding
appropriations, as last year CAEPR did not receive its
anticipated second appropriation. As a result, CAEPR is
completely "soft money funded" which means faculty has to bring
in funding for projects, even though CAEPR is part of the UAA
Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER). In addition,
uncertainty regarding long-term funding prevents CAEPR from
hiring researchers while it seeks new private or federal
research funding. Recently, CAEPR supported University of
Alaska (UA) faculty publications, one of which was an overview
from a group of school superintendents on quality teacher
evaluations. Dr. Hirshberg pointed out that this work is timely
as the Department of Education and Early Development (EED) is
currently creating a new teacher evaluation system. In
addition, ISER is studying teacher supply, demand, and turnover,
and CAEPR will issue a comprehensive report as soon as possible.
At this time an update has been provided to the committee,
because this information is vital to understanding the problem
of teacher turnover, especially in rural schools. Also, an
update, or interim report, to "Alaska's University for Alaska's
Schools" has been submitted to the University of Alaska Board of
Regents, studying why UA graduates are not [employed in schools]
immediately after finishing educational programs. She indicated
that the committee should have hard copies or electronic links
to the reports that are posted on CAEPR's web site.
8:08:39 AM
DR. HIRSHBERG directed attention to the draft documents provided
in the committee packet, one of which was entitled, "Rural and
Indigenous Teacher Preparation Programs in Alaska: A Research
Brief." The brief has been provided to educators across the
state and to participants, and is an overview of the lessons
learned from all of the past efforts to increase the number of
indigenous and rural teachers. She said the first lesson
learned is that the pool of candidates is limited by the low
number of graduates who continue to postsecondary education and
then into teaching. There have also been efforts to find
indigenous adults with bachelor's degrees and to provide them
with an alternative teaching certification. Successful programs
have involved indigenous communities in encouraging young people
to consider education as a career. In addition, it has been
found that students need intensive coaching on the basic
challenges of attending college, and through the final
examinations. Finally, Dr. Hirshberg cautioned that these
programs have been dependent on external and federal funding,
and programs in support of Alaska Native education are
reinvented after each grant is received rather than
institutionalized, although UA has attempted to do so.
8:12:13 AM
DR. HIRSHBERG said CAEPR's final project is a large statewide
survey of teachers' working conditions. However, survey
responses have been received from only 280 teachers in rural
districts, compared to 900 responses from urban districts. The
survey has been re-launched in partnership with a project at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), and 160 additional
responses have been received, which puts the survey on its way
to a target total of 1,500 responses from educators around the
state. Dr. Hirshberg said CAEPR also collaborated with the NEA-
Alaska survey, the results of which have been presented.
CHAIR GATTIS said the House Education Standing Committee has not
heard the results of the NEA-Alaska survey.
DR. HIRSHBERG conveyed that the surveys are complimentary in
that NEA-Alaska focused on challenges in the classroom, and
CAEPR focused on other factors of teacher satisfaction, such as
concerns about housing, living and working in rural communities,
district and school administration, the teacher evaluation
system, and retirement. She directed attention to a highlight
of the survey entitled, "Selected Preliminary Findings - 2013
Survey of Rural Teachers," that was provided in the committee
packet. She first noted that there is a significant difference
in responses between rural and urban teachers. For example, on
the question of whether families are involved and supportive of
the [school], close to 40 percent of rural teachers feel
families are not supportive, and 80-90 percent of urban teachers
feel families are supportive.
8:16:27 AM
DR. HIRSHBERG, in response to Senator Stevens, clarified that
closer to 80-90 percent of the teachers in urban schools are
feeling supported. Another point that surfaced is that
communities and families are interested in education that is
culturally responsive, and that reflects the community; however,
the school curriculum is very Western, and this creates a
conflict for teachers.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX questioned whether subjects like math can
be culturally responsive.
DR. HIRSHBERG cited a program at UAF under the umbrella of Math
in a Cultural Context, which works with Yup'ik elders to find
and use Yup'ik ways of measuring to teach math. The goal is for
the students to successfully pass the required standardized
tests by learning math through the study of Native art and all
of the skills necessary in village life; for example, physics,
biology, nutrition, and chemistry are intuitive to whaling.
8:19:25 AM
TERRI AKEY PhD, Co-Director, Center for Research, Evaluation,
and Assessment, Regional Education Laboratory (REL) at Education
Northwest, said REL is a federally funded program that provides
assistance to states, districts, schools, and other
stakeholders, using data and research to inform education
practice and policy. In fact, the federal government has
reserved funds to provide free resources to states on education
issues. Her laboratory is one of ten RELs, and serves Alaska,
Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Idaho. As part of REL's work
in Alaska, it has brought together a group to explore education
issues - particularly college and career readiness for Alaska
students - from a state policy perspective. The desire is to
develop policy that will increase the number of students who
graduate [from high school] college, career, and culturally
ready to advance to postsecondary education, and to find success
as adults. The aforementioned group is the Alaska State Policy
Research Alliance (ASPRA), and she described a research alliance
as a group of stakeholders who collect data and evidence on a
common topic.
8:21:53 AM
DR. AKEY explained ASPRA has been working for two years toward
the following goals: seek to increase use of research evidence
to make policy decisions in general; provide a forum for
policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders in which to
examine key education issues; and examine evidence-based
solutions to prepare Alaska students for postsecondary career
and technical education. Over its five-year contract, ASPRA's
desired outcomes include: policymakers in Alaska share research
regarding the topic of college, career, and cultural readiness;
policymakers have an increased understanding and knowledge of
research evidence; increased capacity in providing data to
policymakers; and a continued partnership with CAEPR to increase
its capacity for policy research. Dr. Akey advised that REL is
not doing the research on a chosen topic, but facilitates
[researchers], and provides resources to the state. She
described ASPRA as a large, open group that allows a wide
variety of stakeholders to contribute. The alliance is divided
into two groups: a core group of policymakers, researchers, and
state agencies; and a stakeholder group of professional
organizations, school superintendents, Alaska Native groups, and
the university system, which defines the focus of the work.
8:25:21 AM
DR. AKEY continued, observing that ASPRA holds four to six
events per year so that some or all of its contributors can
meet. The first task of ASPRA was to set the following research
agenda: 1. Which pathways do Alaska students take into college
and career? 2. What policies can best support successful
transitions into college and careers for Alaska students? 3.
How can Alaska Native students be best served? Turning to
ASPRA's work, she said the alliance studied Alaska's data
systems at state agencies and educational entities. The
elements of data were inventoried and identified with common
measurements and definitions, with the goal of having a
statewide system of data that can be used to answer policy and
research questions. Thus a lot of ASPRA's work included
identifying and integrating data to provide consistent
information.
8:28:22 AM
DR. AKEY further explained that ASPRA developed a codebook with
the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE) to
support its Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) so that
its system can be the "hub" of where information is held.
Further, working with stakeholders, ASPRA is seeking to define
what it means to be college, career, and culturally ready for
success. It is important to have a clear meaning of success for
a high school graduate moving into postsecondary life and after.
In fact, examples of success were gathered from Native elders,
educators, and community members, since the resulting draft
report will serve as a foundation for some of the outstanding
data. Dr. Akey anticipated that final reports will be available
next year. Some work is on the pathways study for Alaska's
students conducted by the Department of Labor & Workforce
Development (DLWD), EED, UA, and ACPE. The alliance is involved
in merging the data sets and to answer the aforementioned
questions. Results of the study will be distributed in late
spring of 2014. She concluded, noting the following ongoing
work by ASPRA: evaluating state policies and the consequences
thereof; conducting workshops with researchers and policymakers
about how to use research and data; conducting workshops on the
communication of data; defining and developing indicators; and
creating policy briefs on key areas of interest to legislators,
the governor's office, and state agencies. She urged the
committee to suggest topics for research from which the
legislature can benefit.
8:33:17 AM
SENATOR GARDNER referred to ASPRA's meeting with elders on the
value of education, and asked whether the elders contributed
words for the "wordle" [provided in the committee packet] that
described college, career, and community readiness and success.
DR. AKEY answered that the wordle was created from contributions
by all of the groups interviewed. She offered to provide a text
definition.
SENATOR GARDNER wished to compare responses from the elders to
those of educators at the Anchorage School District.
DR. AKEY agreed to provide the requested information.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether ASPRA conducts its own
research.
DR. AKEY answered that ASPRA conducts its own research with
support from REL at Education Northwest.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX referred to Dr. Akey's earlier testimony,
and questioned how the alliance develops education policy
related to classrooms, without directly studying what happens in
the classroom.
8:35:15 AM
DR. AKEY assured the committee that the alliance involves
teachers and superintendents to ensure that the policies that
are emerging at the state level are relevant for the classroom;
therefore, even though ASPRA works directly with those at the
systems level, the stakeholder advisory group involves those in
the classroom, and students are also interviewed.
CHAIR STEVENS expressed his concern that data is not being
shared between DLWD, K-12 education, and higher educational
systems.
DR. AKEY said that one of ASPRA's success stories is that
sharing and collaboration are underway between DLWD, EED, UA,
and ASPRA. She opined that more trust, better systems, and
progress towards a fully integrated system, have emerged from
ASPRA's work. In further response to Chair Stevens, she said
SLDS is the acronym for the Statewide Longitudinal Data System
Grant Program which is funded by the federal government to bring
in data from a variety of sources.
DR. HIRSHBERG added that UA always had a very good relationship
with EED and DLWD to collaborate and provide data on teacher
turnover. The alliance has uncovered further information from
DLWD regarding vocational training, and students going into the
military, that was not otherwise being utilized. The
possibilities brought forward by ASPRA and ISER to extend and
deepen data sharing are very exciting.
8:39:17 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS referred to the aforementioned survey and said
he was only surprised that housing, which the legislature has
previously addressed, and Internet access remain a problem for
rural teachers. He acknowledged that data is necessary, but
questioned the lack of an action plan.
DR. HIRSHBERG stated that one of CAEPR's interests is how to
engage with the legislature and craft action plans. For
instance, the CAEPR advisory board includes the chairs of the
House and Senate Education Committees, but there may be better
ways to communicate, and she encouraged suggestions from the
committee.
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND directed attention to ACPE's "ANSWERS
Alaska's P-20W SLDS" study that was presented to the House
Finance Education Subcommittee [document not provided], and
asked what would happen to research and data collection if the
[SLDS] program were discontinued. She cautioned that the
program may not be funded, and expressed her concern.
DR. AKEY responded that she would contact the federal liaison to
the SLDS program for information.
DR. HIRSHBERG stated that the SLDS project has great potential,
and if were discontinued UA would try to find new funding with
ISER; however, it would be difficult to replace this resource.
CHAIR STEVENS informed the committees the aforementioned NEA-
Alaska survey would be forwarded to members of each committee.
8:42:23 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 8:43 a.m. to 8:46 a.m.
8:46:51 AM
^PRESENTATION: Report from the State Board of Education & Early
Development
PRESENTATION: Report from the State Board of Education & Early
Development
CHAIR STEVENS announced that the final order of business would
be a presentation of the annual report from the State Board of
Education and Early Development.
8:47:19 AM
ESTHER COX, First Vice-Chair, State Board of Education and Early
Development (State Board), Department of Education and Early
Development (EED) began the presentation of the annual State
Board of Education and Early Development Report to the Alaska
Legislature (Report), dated January, 2014, a copy of which was
provided in the committee packet. Ms. Cox provided a brief
history of [the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Public Law
107-110] (NCLB) and explained NCLB included a school
accountability program known as adequate yearly progress (AYP).
In order to attain AYP, schools had to be proficient in 31
categories. Furthermore, NCLB established benchmarks for
student proficiency in language arts and math that were raised
consistently until 2014, at which time all students were to be
proficient. She provided an anecdote which illustrated how
difficult it is to attain 100 percent proficiency. Thus the
state and the State Board decided to apply for a federal waiver
to NCLB, and approval for a waiver required the following:
increase rigor to language arts and math standards; tie educator
evaluation to student growth; implement a system of
accountability for schools; and conduct rigorous assessments.
Regarding the state's new standards, the Alaska State Academic
Standards (ASAS), she advised that the standards are
enthusiastically supported statewide because they were written
with the guidance of educators from the University of Alaska
(UA), business people, teachers, administrators, and others.
Educators from UA were involved due to instances where Alaska's
high school graduates needed remedial courses when entering
college or a university. In 2012, after the new standards were
established, the State Board required that school districts
provide a teacher evaluation system that ties teachers' ratings
to student growth. Implementation of a teacher evaluation
system will begin in 2016 and 2017, when 20 percent of a
teacher's rating will be based on student growth; in 2018, 35
percent will be based on student growth, and in 2019, 50 percent
will be based on student growth. She observed that EED is
assisting districts in their preparations for this change in
regulations.
8:53:02 AM
MS. COX continued to explain that to implement a system of
accountability the State Board developed the Alaska School
Performance Index (ASPI), and a rating system of one- to five-
star schools. Some of the measures used to rate schools are:
student growth in reading, writing, and math; attendance; high
school work-ready and college entrance assessments; high school
graduation rates; and a reduction of non-proficient students by
50 percent in six years. She stated that the new five-star
system will meet the specifics set by the U.S. Department of
Education (DOE). The five-star system is not punitive, but
provides an incentive, and she cited an example. Ms. Cox turned
to the popular topic of early literacy, and extolled the
benefits of the Imagination Library program, which supports the
known facts that to achieve early literacy, there must be
reading materials in the home, and children need to be read to.
Regarding the Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS), she said the
channels of communication are open and there have been no
complaints due to the requirement that scholarship funds have to
be spent in Alaska. Ms. Cox reminded the committee that it is
the State Board's responsibility to approve teacher preparation
programs that are presented by the university system, and
University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) appropriately provides the
needed coursework for certification; for example, UAS
endorsements in distance delivery and e-learning, which use
different strategies and pedagogies in teaching. Also approved
at UAS is an advanced endorsement in K-8 elementary. At
University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), an advanced endorsement
for elementary teachers, and 18 credits in teaching English
language learners are offered. She recalled that several years
ago the university decided that teachers must have four years
[of study] in a content area and two years [of study] to attain
a master's degree in teaching; in response, University of Alaska
Fairbanks (UAF) approved a four-year baccalaureate program with
two majors in order to qualify teachers within four years.
8:59:04 AM
MS. COX turned attention to residential programs, noting that
the State Board has aligned the residential programs with state
law to accept variable term students, and allows students from
rural schools to visit hub communities for exposure to regional
opportunities. Turning to the subject of kindergarten
screening, she said the State Board has passed regulations that
kindergarteners and first, second, and certain third graders are
to be screened for literacy skills. Further information on the
aforementioned assessments was provided in the Report. Ms. Cox
informed the committee that the State Board has reconsidered its
position on "70/30," because that funding ratio identified
schools which need additional assistance to increase student
achievement. In response to Chair Stevens, she explained that
70/30 is a law that requires 70 percent of state education
funding is to be spent in the classroom. If other costs exceed
30 percent, a waiver is possible, and 20-24 waivers were
approved by the State Board during the 2013-2014 school year.
An expected, energy costs most often cause a school's expenses
to exceed 30 percent. Ms. Cox then addressed the topic of
charter schools, observing that the State Board has never
rejected an application for a charter school, although
additional information has been requested. Applications or
renewals have recently been approved for Anvil City Science
Academy, Frontier Charter School, Greatland Adventure Academy,
and Highland Tech. The fourth requirement for a waiver to NCLB
was for a state system of support (SSOS), which identifies
schools that need assistance, and is described on pages 11 and
12 of the Report. Briefly, the SSOS process utilizes 12 coaches
in 13 schools who create a plan of service with specific goals,
actions, and designated responses in order to assist all
students to achieve. Ms. Cox directed attention to pages 13 and
14 of the Report which provided information on Alaska's Learning
Network (AKLN), noting the 2013-2014 fall enrollment was 283
students. She pointed out that AKLN coursework meets the APS
criteria, and some courses have dual credit; for example, UAA
and AKLN offer a statewide mining class and upon completion,
students can apply for a paid internship. The class offers
three university credits and one semester of high school credit,
and is partially funded by industry. The program is now
operated by UAS, hand-in-hand with the teacher certification
program.
9:04:31 AM
MS. COX directed attention to page 15 of the Report, stating
that the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project works; in fact, the
retention percentage has improved from 67 percent to between 72
percent and 85 percent. To support the program, the state funds
mentors in rural Alaska, and the program is augmented by a
federal grant for mentors in urban areas. She acknowledged that
teachers coming to Alaska face big changes in rural and urban
schools alike, thus mentors are needed in urban centers also.
The State Board is the official school board for Mt. Edgecumbe
High School, and operates the school along with the Mt.
Edgecumbe High School Advisory Board. Ms. Cox characterized the
school as a "wildly successful" four-star school with a
graduation rate of 97 percent and an attendance rate of 96
percent. Included on pages 17 and 18 of the Report is
information on the Alaska State Council on the Arts, and she
listed some of its activities. Pages 19 and 20 of the Report
provided information on the Division of Libraries, Archives and
Museums (LAM), EED, and she announced that the vault in the
State Libraries, Archives, & Museum (SLAM) building will open in
March, 2014, and the grand opening is scheduled for April, 2016.
Page 2l of the Report covers student data, and she recalled that
in 2010, the computation of the graduation rate was changed to
match federal data. Alaska's graduation rate is on the rise:
in 2013, the four-year graduation rate was 7l.7 percent, and the
five-year graduation rate was 74.6 percent. It has become less
uncommon for students to attend five years of high school, and
the target graduation rate is 90 percent by 2020. The dropout
rate is figured annually; in 2004-2005 it was six percent, and
in 2013 it was four percent.
9:08:51 AM
MS. COX said the State Board has submitted a resolution to the
legislature to retract the high school graduation qualifying
exam (HSGQE), as it has outlived its usefulness. The governor
has proposed a plan that pays for students' choice of SAT, ACT,
or WorkKeys testing; importantly, the state's new assessments
are matched with its new standards, and thereby will measure
academic competency and growth, and negate the need for a high
stakes test. Finally, Ms. Cox relayed that the State Board is
receiving three new members in March, 2014: Kathleen Yarr from
Ketchikan, Kenneth Gallahorn from Kotzebue, and Barbara Thompson
from Juneau.
9:10:43 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD referred to elements of state funding
for education including teacher retirement, pupil
transportation, construction debt reimbursement, and the base
student allocation (BSA), and pointed out that the state is
spending nearly $3 billion per year on K-12 education. She
directed attention to page 24 of the Report which showed the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores
indicating that Alaska's scores for math are significantly lower
than those of 40 states, and scores in reading are significantly
lower than those of 46 states. She asked Ms. Cox to justify
Alaska's low scores in the light of its high funding.
MS. COX said she could not "justify anything." She opined that
strengthening standards and implementing new assessments,
including earlier testing of kindergarteners through third
graders, supports the idea of having children reading at grade
level by third grade. She pointed out that by eighth grade,
Alaska's score are improved.
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD urged for an action plan to allay alarm
that the state is not achieving the outcomes it should. She
then recalled that in January, 2014, there was a lot of
opposition to the Alaska State Academic Standards voiced by a
member of the validating committee. Furthermore, she has been
contacted by many teachers who have questioned the use of the
"Danielson Model" and asked why it is being implemented in
schools.
MS. COX expressed her understanding that the Kenai Peninsula
Borough School District is using the Charlotte Danielson Group
Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument, known as the
Danielson Model, for teacher evaluation processes. She said she
has not personally used the model; moreover, districts have the
opportunity to determine how they will approach teacher
evaluation and incorporate the new regulations, which tie
teacher evaluation to student growth. The Danielson Model
utilizes rubrics. She restated that districts are free to
utilize "canned" evaluation systems or develop their own.
9:14:35 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND referred to the five-star rating system,
and expressed her concern that if a school attains a higher
ranking, a previously higher-ranked school would have to be
displaced. She pointed out that the ranking is determined by
the top 10 percent of schools, a limitation which means only 10
percent can attain a five-star rating, even if 100 percent were
performing at the highest level.
MS. COX deferred to EED.
9:16:07 AM
MIKE HANLEY, Commissioner, EED, said EED uses a rubric and a
scoring system for ranking one- through five-star schools, and
every school has an opportunity to become a five-star school.
By a separate ranking, the top 10 percent are recognized as
high-performing schools and are rewarded; the lowest performing
are recognized so they may be supported by EED.
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND was pleased to report that her
neighborhood school, North Star Elementary, an [Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965] Title 1 school, which has
traditionally failed AYP, was ranked as a four-star school
because of its hard work. She asked whether the State Board has
any data on the impact of high-quality early childhood education
programs on achievements in literacy.
MS. COX acknowledged that the State Board has thoroughly
discussed early childhood programs; in fact, EED had pilot
programs in rural Alaska and at Willow Crest Elementary in
Anchorage. These programs are always a matter of funding and
"no one wants to mandate ... an early childhood program,"
although the benefits of having children ready to learn when
they go to school are known. In further response to
Representative Drummond, she said there have been no suggestions
to expand the availability of early childhood education programs
on a voluntary basis.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX provided a scenario on the effect of
dropouts on graduation rates and asked for clarification of how
the statistics are compiled.
MS. COX deferred to Commissioner Hanley.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY explained the four-year graduation rate is
compiled from a formula based on the number of students who
enter high school at ninth grade and the number [in the same
class] who graduate at twelfth grade, with adjustments for those
who move away or transfer. However, the dropout rate is an
annual description, thus if a student is no longer attending any
school, he/she is considered a dropout. Alaska's latest dropout
rate was 4 percent for the last year - 16 percent if accumulated
over four years - and after that percentage is combined with the
graduation rate of 71.7 percent, the remaining percentage of
students may have received a certificate of achievement or are
fifth-year seniors.
9:21:48 AM
CHAIR STEVENS asked Ms. Cox for the title of the new state
standards.
MS. COX said the Alaska State Academic Standards (ASAS).
9:22:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON inquired as to whether it is still the
State Board policy that all students take the WorkKeys
assessment in eleventh grade - and that the assessment is
available in twelfth grade - for inclusion in a student's
transcript.
MS. COX said it is still the policy of the State Board that
every eleventh grade student takes WorkKeys.
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD returned attention to the Danielson
Model. She asked whether it is in use due to its link to "the
waiver and Common Core Standards implementation."
MS. COX further explained that the Danielson Model is a teacher
evaluation model that can be accepted in totality, or modified,
if a district chooses to use that model in teacher evaluation.
If a district were to choose the Danielson Model, the model
would have to be modified to meet the state standards and the
needs of the district.
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD restated her question, also asking
whether the state received its [NCLB] waiver because of the
implementation of the Danielson Model.
MS. COX responded that the district she was aware of that is
using the Danielson Model, implemented it prior to the state's
request for a waiver.
9:25:40 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD advised that the Anchorage School
District is utilizing this model as well. She directed
attention to page 23 of the Report and asked why only one-fifth
of Alaska's eighth grade students are tested in science.
MS. COX offered to provide the requested information.
9:26:58 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committees, the joint
meeting of the House and the Senate Education Standing
Committees was adjourned at 9:26 a.m.
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