Legislature(2011 - 2012)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
04/04/2011 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Presentation: University of Alaska - Teacher Preparedness | |
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
April 4, 2011
8:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Kevin Meyer, Co-Chair
Senator Joe Thomas, Co-Chair
Senator Bettye Davis, Vice Chair
Senator Hollis French
Senator Gary Stevens
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA - TEACHER PREPAREDNESS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DEBORAH LO, Dean
College of Education
University of Alaska Southeast (UAS)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions of the committee
regarding UAS' teacher education program and preparedness.
MARY SNYDER, Dean
College of Education
University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions of the committee
regarding UAA's teacher education program and preparedness.
ERIC MADSEN, Dean
College of Education
University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF)
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions of the committee
regarding UAF's teacher education program and preparedness.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:04:35 AM
CO-CHAIR JOE THOMAS called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. Senators Davis, Stevens,
Co-Chair Meyer, and Co-Chair Thomas were present at the call to
order. Senator French arrived shortly thereafter.
^ PRESENTATION: UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA - TEACHER PREPAREDNESS
8:04:54 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced the business before the committee
would be to hear a presentation by the three deans of the
University of Alaska (UA) on teacher preparedness. He reminded
the committee of SB 83, which dealt with national teacher
certification [though the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards (NBPTS)]. He said that the committee members
want to hear from the deans regarding how the colleges are
addressing teacher preparedness.
8:06:31 AM
DEBORAH LO, Dean, College of Education, University of Alaska
Southeast (UAS), said she arrived in Alaska in July and has
found UAS' education faculty to be very hard-working and
dedicated. She explained that what makes the program unique is
that the program it taken out of Juneau and serves students
where they are through distance education. For example, one
faculty member spent three nights on a gym floor in order to
serve the needs of a special education teacher in a rural
community. The program is NCATE [National Council for
Accreditation of Teacher Education] approved and UAS will have
another visit in October. She noted that the programs are
aligned with all of the NCATE, state and national board
standards. The pass rates on the Praxis exam I and II are very
good and better than the other institutions that she came from.
8:08:48 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said one of the issues that the Joint Higher
Education Task Force has discussed is the Praxis exam. He asked
for perspective on whether this exam works as a determining
factor to decide who will be a good teacher.
MS. LO replied that the Praxis exam is the best measure
available. She explained that Praxis I measures general
knowledge and Praxis II ensures that potential teachers are
prepared to teach this body of knowledge. She said that she
believes it works fairly well.
SENATOR STEVENS said the task force heard numerous complaints,
particularly about Praxis I. He asked if there is a cultural
factor that plays into this.
MS. LO replied that this has been an issue all over the country,
not just in Alaska. Individuals aren't happy when they're told
that they need remediation. However, the primary obligation, as
a school of education, is to the children of Alaska and teachers
that do not have good content knowledge can't be placed into
schools.
SENATOR STEVENS thanked Ms. Lo for her response. He noted that
this issue needs further review.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked Ms. Lo to think about whether a process
should be put into place for individuals entering the program
that would give them a better idea of what teaching is going to
be like. He wondered if there is an evaluation process that is
done to determine whether an individual has the propensity
towards this career path.
8:12:11 AM
MARY SNYDER, Dean, College of Education, University of Alaska
Anchorage (UAA), said students are being introduced to a lot of
their education coursework and field experiences earlier on in
their education. This allows faculty members to observe teacher
candidates in a number of areas early-on in order to identify
students who might have some issues within the field. The
university has added a retention officer to help students and
counsel them, if needed, out of the program if they won't be
suitable as a teacher.
She agreed that the Praxis exams aren't necessarily an accurate
predictor of how a teacher will do. She noted that UAA is also
NCATE accredited and did exceptionally well during NCATE's visit
last spring. Sixty-two percent of the courses that UAA provides
are offered through distance education and seven percent of its
programs are 100 percent distant. She said that the College of
Education is looking to make 100 percent of its programs
available through distance education within the next three
years.
8:14:54 AM
ERIC MADSEN, Dean, College of Education, University of Alaska
Fairbanks (UAF), said the university has been heavily involved
with rural education programs for the past 40 years. He
explained that there used to be faculty on the rural campuses;
however, as the number of students in those programs declined,
along with the increase in technology, it made more sense to
conduct the programs from Fairbanks.
He explained that, with regard to the Praxis exams, the
discrepancies in scores are related to how recently a student
underwent training. Students who have prepared recently have
very few problems.
He said that when students enter the program rigorous screening
is involved that includes what students want to do and the
skills that they bring with them. He added that there is also a
practicum experience very early on in order to determine whether
this is what the student wants to do long-term.
8:17:34 AM
SENATOR STEVENS commented that an effort is being made to bring
more Native individuals into education. He asked if there are
ways that UAF is working with students so they don't have to
spend so much time on campus.
MR. MADSEN replied that all of its programs are available to
students in the rural communities where they live and work
through distance education. He noted that during the program
there may be short periods of time when a student needs to be on
campus.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if UAF is developing a cadre of teachers
from that program that is worth pursuing.
MR. MADSEN replied that it is working very well in regards to
the preparation that students receive. He noted that one thing
that has changed over the past few decades is students in even
the smallest communities have a wide array of professional
options that they can pursue. This means that it makes it very
difficult to attract these individuals to public education.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked him to comment on how recruiting is done
and how teachers are encouraged to return to their villages to
teach after receiving their education.
MR. MADSEN replied that the number of students from rural
communities who are pursuing education is declining. However
much of this has to do with the status of the profession. Public
education is not a high-status profession; this can be seen
through salary discrepancies and working conditions. The one
thing that would attract rural teachers and teachers in general
would be to address teacher salaries and benefits.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked whether more mentoring would be helpful in
rural areas in receiving a broader spectrum of pursuits and
professions.
MR. MADSEN replied yes. He noted that it does create some
additional challenges.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS noted, with regard to the teacher education
program, individuals spend a year in an unpaid internship. He
said that this is a bit unusual and asked for confirmation that
this internship is considered a part of the educational aspect.
MR. MADSEN replied that in one sense students are in the
classroom fulltime, however a majority of these individuals are
not fulfilling the fulltime duties of a teacher; they are
working under the guidance of a master teacher.
8:23:23 AM
MS. SNYDER added that UAA's students experience at least two
schools during their year's experience in the classroom.
MS. LO noted that at UAS most individuals are in unpaid
internships. The exception to this would be with special
education because many of these individuals are already teachers
who are being trained for this specialization while teaching.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked if students get to pick the school for
their internship or if they're assigned.
MS. LO replied that students often choose the school,
particularly rural students. In special education, because there
is such a critical shortage area in Alaska, teachers are
frequently hired from the Lower 48 and receive their specialized
training while teaching.
MR. MADSEN agreed with Ms. Lo that students will ask to work in
a particular community or school. However, it is not always the
students' choice; this negotiation process must take place under
the supervision of a faculty member. He said it is most
important that an intern is working with a mentor teacher who is
going to be able to help them.
8:25:40 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER said there's a huge demand for teachers in the
state and it is troubling to have to recruit teachers from the
Lower 48 because frequently they don't last due to culture
shock. He asked how close UA is to meeting the demand for
teachers through the three campuses. He then asked how UA gets
the teachers in the state to pursue areas in the highest demand,
such as special education.
MS. SNYDER replied that in 2010 all three universities graduated
a little over 200 teachers, which is about one-fourth of what's
needed in Alaska.
MR. MADSEN noted that in recent years they have learned that
teachers who prepare in the state tend to stay longer in their
positions. He explained that while at this point UA can't equate
that with student achievement, teachers who have been in a
position longer and have a greater depth of experience work
better with their students. He said that getting teachers to
take positions where they're most needed does not always happen
by choice and teachers with experience need to be offered some
incentives to consider those positions.
MS. SNYDER said that one initiative UAA has is the existence of
some private funding to take 15 paraprofessionals enrolled in
the elementary education program out to Chevak. The university
sends a faculty member out there and the rest of the instruction
is done through distance support. She explained that their
anticipation is that this cohort of students who are all Chup'ik
and Chup'ik speakers will become teachers in that area. UAA
believes that this can be successful in other areas and Barrow
has approached the university about using this same model.
MR. MADSEN concurred. UAF has 63 elementary and secondary
interns in 18 communities, with only four located in the five
largest communities in the state. The other 14 communities
include very remote places and some of the regional centers.
8:30:35 AM
MS. LO said that UAS has the P.I.T.A.A.S. [Preparing Indigenous
Teachers and Administrators for Alaska Schools] program which
heavily recruits rural and Native students. UAS is currently
designing the only undergraduate special education program in
the state. She stressed the importance in training students
early.
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked what can be done to come closer to meeting
the demand for teachers in Alaska. He suggested that perhaps a
scholarship should be offered to students to encourage them to
go into teaching.
MS. LO replied that UAS has 13 faculty members in the college of
education and produces about 90 teachers every year. She said
that the college is currently at capacity and more faculty would
allow the college to produce more teachers. She acknowledged
that incentives to go into education would also help.
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked, with additional faculty, whether the
university could graduate more teachers. He noted that it
appears UAS is graduating about half of the system's teachers
currently.
MS. LO replied yes. She noted that UAS' College of Education
would like to produce more teachers and could do so with more
faculty.
8:33:17 AM
MR. MADSEN said incentives could be useful with regard to
encouraging students to choose a specific discipline within
education and age level. However, in order to get people into
the profession, scholarships and loan forgiveness programs
should be considered. UAF, like UAS, is now running at capacity.
To address the 25 percent needed increase in a meaningful way
requires looking at the capacity of the UA education system.
MS. SNYDER concurred, increasing the faculty capacity and
incentives for students to pursue education would be helpful.
However, UA will never be able to fulfill 100 percent of the
teacher demand due to the population base that UA is working off
of.
SENATOR FRENCH expressed hope that the university president and
the UA Board of Regents would bring forward proposals for adding
faculty.
He asked how to measure teacher effectiveness and what can be
done to promote that more.
MS. LO replied that UAS evaluates students starting from the
time they enter the school. She noted that disposition is an
important factor and occasionally a student must be dismissed
from the program. She noted that the university's primary
obligation is to the children in schools, not the adults in the
program.
MS. SNYDER added that at UAA candidates are evaluated by an
independent clinical faculty member or regular faculty member
from the university. There is also a lot of input from the
student's "mentor teacher" and the principal in the building.
Students are then evaluated at one, three, and five years out
once they are in the field.
MR. MADSEN noted that UAF does the same. However, the topic many
are reluctant to address is student achievement, which is,
ultimately, the success for a professional. NCLB [No Child Left
Behind] was measuring the progress of one cohort of students
against a completely different cohort of students.
Understandably, educators are reluctant to be measured under
this basis, which adds some serious questions. The profession,
in general, is willing to be accountable if the discussion is
focused on the measure that indicates what an individual teacher
contributes to the classroom and to individual students.
8:38:29 AM
SENATOR STEVENS noted that his daughter came to Juneau for the
MAT [Master of Arts in Teaching] program. Each of the campuses
appears to have a different approach and attract different types
of students. He asked how the three campuses differ from each
other.
MS. LO replied that UAS is different in its responsiveness to
students. She said that sometimes it concerns her that "they
hold their hands too much;" however, students have indicated
that this responsiveness is valuable.
SENATOR STEVENS noted, from personal experience, that there is a
lot of diversity between the three campuses' education program
and the students that each of the programs attract. He asked how
the students that UAS attracts might be different than those who
might be interested to UAF's or UAA's program.
MS. LO replied that a majority of UAS' students want to receive
their training in their community. There are only two programs
that are Juneau-based; everything else can be done through
distance learning.
SENATOR STEVENS asked about UAF's population of students
pursuing education.
MR. MADSEN replied that the three programs have changed in
dynamic ways. UAF is no longer the only campus that does rural
education. Now the university looks at where it would be
beneficial to collaborate with the other campuses. On an annual
basis UAF looks at where it can branch out and not duplicate
programs. He noted that this has been a constructive process.
8:42:49 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS mentioned the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards certification. In the committee's
understanding the process for certification is a rigorous
process, perhaps more so than getting a master's degree. He
asked the deans to comment on how they view this certification.
MS. SNYDER replied that UAA has just revised the master's
program so that it is based on board standards and students will
be well-prepared to get board certified.
MS. LO concurred that it's important to give students these
options and fully aligned programs. However, national board
certification is a rigorous and time-consuming process and is
not for everyone.
MR. MADSEN said that the national board process has been
positive for Alaska and the nation. He noted that about 20 to 25
graduates at UAF have obtained national board certification. He
explained that he is reluctant about national certification
standards and does not believe it would be helpful to have
teacher training nationwide look exactly the same.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said NBPTS recognizes the difference between
rural and urban and different ethnic groups. He asked how
schools specifically address this in Alaska. He noted that a
Native leader recently indicated that boarding schools might be
helpful for rural and Native student populations.
8:47:21 AM
MR. MADSEN replied that collaboration speaks to this and UA
recognizes that schools look different across the state. He
explained that it is important to be in touch with these schools
on a constant basis in order to recognize and respond to these
differences.
MS. SNYDER said, with respect to the boarding or hub school
idea, there are very few high-quality courses that cannot be
taught effectively through technology for K-12 students. She
explained that rather than pull more children out of villages,
it is important to look to technology. The course work is
available; there just need to be better ways to deliver that
content in villages so the teacher becomes more facilitative.
MS. LO agreed with Ms. Snyder. She encouraged the committee to
think about the research by [James] Heckman, which won him the
Nobel Prize, who said that early childhood education will
produce the "most bang for your buck." This needs to be
addressed rigorously in Alaska.
MS. SNYDER concurred.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked, with regard to rural schools, what kind
of an education a teacher needs in order to teach such a broad
curriculum from kindergarten through high school.
MS. LO replied that, in this type of situation, a teacher is
also a facilitator who can get the resources for their student
and facilitate the process of learning. She noted that a teacher
can't be an expert in all areas; however they need to know where
the resources are and make sure students are exposed to the
information and courses.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked if that is effective for the lower grades.
MS. LO replied that it is like gifted education. The teacher may
not be gifted but they can facilitate to make sure that students
get the necessary information needed. This is the same within
small villages.
MR. MADSEN said it's easier for a small group of individuals to
have the necessary content expertise to teach the subjects
required at the elementary level. He explained that distance
education strategies become more useful at the secondary level.
He suggested that short-term intensives at regional centers may
also be helpful and don't require students to be away from home
too much. There are real costs to pulling students away from
their families and communities.
MS. SNYDER agreed with Mr. Madsen with regard to elementary
education. She explained that within secondary school it is
important to look into broad liberal arts preparation.
8:54:18 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS thanked the presenters and suggested the deans
forward any further comments to the committee for consideration.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if the committee would be able to meet
with the university to discuss the Fisher Report.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS suggested that the committee meet during the
interim to hear this report.
SENATOR STEVENS said hearing the university's response would be
valuable.
8:57:26 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Co-Chair Thomas adjourned the meeting at 8:57 a.m.
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