Legislature(2011 - 2012)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
04/02/2012 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing: Ua Board of Regents | |
| Department of Education and Early Development Report | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
April 2, 2012
8:02 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
CONFIRMATION HEARING
UA Board of Regents
Dale Anderson - Juneau
CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
PRESENTATION: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT
REPORT BY COMMISSIONER MIKE HANLEY
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DALE ANDERSON, Appointee
University of Alaska Board of Regents
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Alaska Board
of Regents.
MIKE HANLEY, Commissioner
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented DEED report.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:02:08 AM
CO-CHAIR KEVIN MEYER called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:02 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Stevens, Thomas, and Myer. Senators French
and Davis arrived soon thereafter.
^ Confirmation Hearing: UA Board of Regents
Confirmation Hearing: UA Board of Regents
8:03:10 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER announced the first order of business would be
the confirmation hearing of Dale Anderson to the University of
Alaska (UA) Board of Regents. He asked Mr. Anderson to tell the
committee about himself and his interest in serving.
8:03:56 AM
SENATOR FRENCH joined the meeting.
DALE ANDERSON, Appointee, University of Alaska Board of Regents,
said he grew up and attended school in Juneau and subsequently
graduated from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa Oklahoma. His
work experience in both the public and private sector provided a
wide body of life experiences and different perspectives would
add to the board deliberations. He relayed that he had worked in
the financial services industry for the past 10 years. Before
that, he served as a legislative aide, as commissioner for the
Limited Entry Commission, and as a member of the City and
Borough of Juneau Assembly.
8:05:03 AM
SENATOR DAVIS joined the meeting.
SENATOR STEVENS asked what university issues or problems needed
attention in the next few years.
MR. ANDERSON answered that he would like to build on the
progress he had seen with regard to the university working
together as a whole; in the past there appeared to be undue
competition between the campuses. He would also like to address
graduation timelines, because that added a lot of cost to an
education. Another area of interest was unification of programs
and ensuring that the courses offered were meeting industry
needs and requirements for jobs. He specifically mentioned
engineering and fisheries jobs. The number of students who need
remedial classes was another big picture issue to address.
8:10:30 AM
SENATOR FRENCH asked what his views were on student aid and
whether the state did enough to make college affordable.
MR. ANDERSON responded that it was very important to ensure that
getting an education was affordable for Alaskan students. He
said there should be a way of providing financial aid to those
students who need it and were qualified.
SENATOR FRENCH said it was troubling that young Alaskans were
being saddled with huge education debt that could not be
discharged even though the state had ample resources to help. He
expressed hope that Mr. Anderson would use his position on the
Board of Regents to advocate for more state aid for students.
MR. ANDERSON said he looked forward to working together on that
issue.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked if UA should expand its role with
industries that supply so much revenue to the state,
particularly oil, fishing, and tourism.
MR. ANDERSON offered his belief that industry trade education
was one of the most important aspects of the university's role.
He said he was a strong advocate of trade education and
emphasized the importance of developing effective partnerships
between DEED, the university, industry, and communities in order
to put young Alaskans into the workforce.
8:17:02 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER found no objection and stated that Mr. Anderson's
name would be forwarded to the joint body for consideration. He
reminded members that this did not reflect intent by any member
to vote either for or against the confirmation of the nominee
during the joint session.
8:17:39 AM
At ease from 8:17 a.m. to 8:18.
^ Department of Education and Early Development Report
Department of Education and Early Development Report
CO-CHAIR MEYER announced the next order of business would be a
report from Commissioner Mike Hanley. He highlighted that the
Anchorage School District recently adopted the Common Core
Standards for curricula, and asked Commissioner Hanley why DEED
developed and was proposing different standards for Alaska. He
noted that the Chair of the House Education Committee opined
that one reason for the high dropout rate was relevance and that
even the Common Core Standards focus on the 30 percent of
students who go on to college. He asked if the current standards
focus on the elite 10-15 percent of students that go to college
and ignore, in particular, the 30 percent that drop out.
8:21:11 AM
MIKE HANLEY, Commissioner, Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED), explained that the dropout rate is computed
on an annual basis and the graduation rate is the cohort of
ninth graders that graduate in four years. In an apples-to-
apples comparison, the dropout rate is about 20 percent and the
graduation rate is about 68 percent. Fifth and sixth year
seniors are not counted in the graduation rate and neither are
students with severe cognitive difficulties who transition to
life skills after four years or students who receive a
certificate of achievement.
SENATOR STEVENS asked how the dropout rate in Alaska compared to
national statistics.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY acknowledged that Alaska had a slightly
higher dropout rate than the national average.
He said that when he came to the commissioner position he
questioned why Alaska was not going to adopt the Common Core
Standards, which were developed by the Council of Chief State
School Officers (CCSSO). He learned that one of the key reasons
was that the Common Core Standards were very rigid and could
only be added to up to 15 percent. Nevertheless, the proposed
Alaska Standards heavily reference the Common Core Standards. He
said his instructions were to make sure that the Alaska
Standards did not drop below the level of rigor represented in
the common core. The result is that the proposed Alaska
Standards are more similar than not to the Common Core
Standards, but they are more flexible.
He said the CCSSO recently conducted a side-by-side analysis of
the Alaska Standards and the Common Core Standards and agreed
that they were very similar and equal in rigor. The standards
are sufficiently similar that Alaska should be able to access
commercial curricula and assessments that are aligned with and
developed for the common core.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY reviewed some of the differences between the
two standards. Alaska Standards have patterning skills in math
in first and second grade instead of starting at third grade.
Some of the common core examples were changed to be more
relevant to Alaskans; travel by sled dog, for example, instead
of by trolley. He emphasized that the standards are essentially
the same, but the Alaska Standards provide flexibility.
8:27:47 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked if adopting the national standards
precluded the Anchorage School District from making any changes,
and if that was cause for concern.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY answered that it was not a concern because
every school district was responsible for aligning its curricula
to the state standards and assessing according those standards.
He noted that three other school districts were moving towards
the Common Core Standards.
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked if business, unions, and the trades were
represented when the state developed its standards.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY said that DEED solicited input from about 40
organizations across the state and about six actually stuck with
it provided ideas. DEED sent the standards to the state board in
December and asked for an extended public comment period.
Meetings are scheduled statewide so that businesses can review
the standards and provide input, all of which will be presented
to the State Board of Education.
8:32:04 AM
SENATOR DAVIS said it was her understanding that a state that
did not adopt the Common Core Standards would be precluded from
receiving any assessment data.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY said DEED attends the meetings of the
consortia, but cannot vote in the development of assessments
because Alaska is not a common core state. He said he fully
anticipates that the state will be able to access that data
because the program was developed with federal funds for states
to use.
SENATOR DAVIS questioned why DEED did not adopt the Common Core
Standards if the two were substantially similar and the state
could make 15 percent upward changes. She noted that Alaska was
in the small minority of states that had not adopted the
national standards.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY acknowledged that Alaska was one of five
states that had not adopted the Common Core Standards. DEED felt
the changes, such as including patterning in the first and
second grades were important, but they were not the 15 percent
upward changes. He reiterated his belief that Alaska would have
access to everything that the common core curricula would offer
and allow adjustments to the standards as needed.
SENATOR DAVIS asked if the standards would be implemented in
2015.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY responded that if the standards were adopted
in June, they would go to the school districts in the fall; the
same time that the Anchorage School District would implement the
Common Core Standards.
SENATOR DAVIS asked what support the teachers and staff had
received to help adapt to the new standards.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY said it was difficult to put funding in
place for training when the standards had yet to be adopted, but
he did agree that it was critical to fund training for teachers
statewide. The new standards raised the bar for both students
and teachers.
8:37:10 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS reviewed the high school mathematics standards
that included knowledge of the properties of dilation, and
emphasized the importance of relevance.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY said that concern was one reason that DEED
was doing so much focused work with employers. He noted that the
standards that had a plus alongside indicated it was a standard
for those students who intend to continue in a particular track.
He acknowledged that DEED may add a few more pluses, but the
strength of the standards was that they were designed for
alignment for K-12 and they would provide more than base skills
for one career path.
8:42:52 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said he understood the need to set standards,
but he hoped that they would be practical and not be a cause for
students to become discouraged.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY said relevance comes in the classroom with
the curriculum. The standards represent the target and the
curriculum is the vehicle for attaining the goal.
SENATOR FRENCH asked who had the final say on adopting the
standards.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY replied the State Board of Education.
SENATOR FRENCH asked when the decision would be made.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY answered that the last public comment would
be May 17 and the board meeting would be on June 8 and 9.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if he thought the state board would adopt
standards that were different than the Anchorage standards, for
example.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY responded that the Anchorage School District
was adopting the Common Core Standards and he anticipated that
the State Board of Education would make a decision on whether or
not to adopt the proposed Alaska Standards.
SENATOR STEVENS cautioned that attempts to "Alaskanize" the
standards may be more difficult than anticipated. For example,
changing a question about trollies to one about sled dogs may be
equally incomprehensible to some students. Kids in Kodiak may
not understand either reference.
8:47:26 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked if the University of Alaska was adapting
its teacher certification programs to align with the proposed
Alaska Standards.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY answered that the DEED was working directly
with the university, and President Gamble had voiced support.
The Institute of Social and Economic Research (CAEPR) at the
university was vetting the proposed Alaska standards, comparing
them to the credit-bearing courses required in the university's
two and four-year programs. The State Board of Education was
scheduled to meet with the Board of Regents in June and
conversations about teacher preparation programs were on the
agenda.
SENATOR DAVIS asked how many students there were statewide.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY answered that there were about 130,000.
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked if the distinction of the 30 percent number
was that it included both students who dropped out of school and
students who for a variety of reasons did not receive a diploma
after four years.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY said yes. He added that he views fifth and
sixth year seniors as success stories, but they are not counted
in the graduation rate.
SENATOR DAVIS asked if the public comments would be available
for review.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY answered yes.
8:51:22 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER mentioned the proposal the committee heard from
CAEPR at the last meeting, and asked if the administration might
be interested in funding a UA Institute of Social and Economic
Research (ISER) study to look at different ways to fund
education.
COMMISSIONER HANLEY said he reviewed the testimony and handouts
and was concerned that the study suggested a formulaic approach
that did not include new research, because it might not give the
right picture. He relayed that he was meeting with Dr. Hirshberg
today and intended to raise those questions. He offered to
provide feedback after the meeting.
CO-CHAIR MEYER said the committee would like the feedback.
8:55:11 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER found no further questions or comments and
adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee meeting at
8:55 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Board of Regents Nominee -- Dale Anderson.pdf |
SEDC 4/2/2012 8:00:00 AM |
UA Board of Regents Nominee Resume |
| Alaska Education Standards Info.pdf |
SEDC 4/2/2012 8:00:00 AM |
Alaska Education Standards |
| National Common Core Standards Info.pdf |
SEDC 4/2/2012 8:00:00 AM |
Common Core Standards Info (1) |
| National Common Core Standards Info 2.pdf |
SEDC 4/2/2012 8:00:00 AM |
Common Core Info (2) |