Legislature(2021 - 2022)BUTROVICH 205
04/10/2021 10:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| SB111 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 111 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
April 10, 2021
10:03 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Roger Holland, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens, Vice Chair
Senator Shelley Hughes
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Tom Begich
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 111
"An Act relating to the duties of the Department of Education
and Early Development; relating to public schools; relating to
early education programs; relating to funding for early
education programs; relating to school age eligibility; relating
to reports by the Department of Education and Early Development;
relating to reports by school districts; relating to
certification and competency of teachers; relating to assessing
reading deficiencies and providing reading intervention services
to public school students enrolled in grades kindergarten
through three; relating to textbooks and materials for reading
intervention services; establishing a reading program in the
Department of Education and Early Development; relating to
school operating funds; relating to a virtual education
consortium; and providing for an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 111
SHORT TITLE: EARLY EDUCATION; READING INTERVENTION
SPONSOR(s): EDUCATION
03/24/21 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/24/21 (S) EDC, FIN
03/26/21 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/26/21 (S) Heard & Held
03/26/21 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
03/29/21 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/29/21 (S) Heard & Held
03/29/21 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
03/31/21 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/31/21 (S) Heard & Held
03/31/21 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
04/07/21 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
04/07/21 (S) -- MEETING CANCELED --
04/09/21 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
04/09/21 (S) -- Invited & Public Testimony-Removed
from Agenda
04/09/21 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
04/10/21 (S) EDC AT 10:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
DIANNE ORR, Director
Teaching and Learning
Anchorage School District
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
LAURA NEVADA, representing self
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
TIMOTHY BARTO, Alaska Policy Form
Eagle River, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
RONDA SCHLUMBOHM, representing self
Salcha, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified about the importance of pre-K
during the hearing on SB 111.
ELEILIA PRESTON, representing self
Wasilla, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
ROY GETCHELL, Superintendent
Haines Borough School District
Haines, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified with concerns about education
regulations during the hearing of SB 111.
PATRICIA FISHER, representing self
Meadow Lakes, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
KEVIN HALL, representing self
Sterling, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
SCOTT MACMANUS, Superintendent
Alaska Gateway School District
Tok, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified with concerns about SB 111.
LINDA HULEN, representing self
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
ABBE HENSLEY, Executive Director
Best Beginnings
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of preschool during the
hearing on SB 111.
CHRISTINE HUTCHINSON, representing self
Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
NORM WOOTEN, Director of Advocacy
Association of Alaska School Boards
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
REBECCA HIMSCHOOT, representing self
Sitka, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
DAVID BOYLE, representing self
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
POSIE BOGGS
Alaska Reading Coalition
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 111.
ACTION NARRATIVE
10:03:37 AM
CHAIR ROGER HOLLAND called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 10:03 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Micciche, Hughes, and Chair Holland.
Senators Begich and Stevens arrived shortly thereafter.
SB 111-EARLY EDUCATION; READING INTERVENTION
10:04:10 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 111
"An Act relating to the duties of the Department of Education
and Early Development; relating to public schools; relating to
early education programs; relating to funding for early
education programs; relating to school age eligibility; relating
to reports by the Department of Education and Early Development;
relating to reports by school districts; relating to
certification and competency of teachers; relating to assessing
reading deficiencies and providing reading intervention services
to public school students enrolled in grades kindergarten
through three; relating to textbooks and materials for reading
intervention services; establishing a reading program in the
Department of Education and Early Development; relating to
school operating funds; relating to a virtual education
consortium; and providing for an effective date."
10:04:51 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND opened public testimony and announced that each
testifier would be limited to two or three minutes.
10:05:00 AM
DIANNE ORR, Director, Teaching and Learning, Anchorage School
District, Anchorage, Alaska, stated support for SB 111 for its
focus on reading. Alaska needs statewide teacher training on the
science of reading. The bill needs to have clear expectations
for instruction, a systemic, structured approach, with evidence-
based reading intervention. Pre-K through grade two screenings
must be administered three times a year. The Department of
Education and Early Development (DEED) must set high standards
for early education. Rigorous, early childhood programming
provides equity. It must be aligned to a robust K-3 system of
evidence-based instruction to reach the goal of all children
reading proficiently by third grade.
10:07:18 AM
LAURA NEVADA, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, stated that
she has been an educator for over 25 years. She works as a lead
instructional coach for the Anchorage School District. Reading
is not a natural process. Written language is a code. SB 111
ensures systematic and explicit instruction in the science of
reading in pre-K through third grade. SB 111 has a multitiered
system of support with evidence-based instruction and progress
monitoring. The bill ensures stronger communication between
parents and schools. Every child deserves the fundamental right
to read. SB 111 is one way to do that.
10:09:38 AM
TIMOTHY BARTO, Alaska Policy Form, Eagle River, Alaska, said the
reading scores for Alaska's fourth graders are dead last when
compared to the other 49 states and D.C. Alaska schools have
good teachers and its students have the same potential for
learning as children in the rest of the country. While Alaska's
per student spending ranks among the top five in the country,
Alaska's children are still not learning the most basic of
educational skills. This must change. That can happen through
robust K-3 literacy programs. Reading should be the fundamental
objective in public schools. All other curricula are secondary.
Students who are not competent readers by age nine have worse
outcome. Students not reading proficiently by third grade will
receive interventions. If students do not read proficiently by
the end of third grade, they should not be promoted to fourth
grade. Holding students back is not punishment. It gives them an
opportunity to catch up. Many states have had success with K-3
literacy programs. The committee heard testimony about the
success of Mississippi in turnings its literacy outcomes around.
Alaska can do the same with the legislation before the
committee. The future of the state will be greatly enhanced by
it.
10:12:09 AM
RONDA SCHLUMBOHM, representing self, Salcha, Alaska, said she is
a teacher who wants the committee to continue to work on SB 111.
There is much that can be done to improve it. A bill that funds
a program for a short period of time will not have the impact
the committee is seeking. Many have testified about the need for
universal pre-K. To make a difference, fully fund pre-K. Her
experience is that children who have had pre-K do not struggle
like the children who have not had that opportunity. Perhaps the
bill should focus only on pre-K and then build on that in
subsequent years. She has provided the committee a letter with a
link to the research of Dr. Paul Thomas. She can tell the
committee that the biggest factor with struggling kids is
poverty. If the state still wants to improve education after
adding pre-K, then add things to the bill that help teachers,
such as funding professional development. Two glaring problems
in the state are access to curriculum and books to read. She
sees a lack of accountability with school attendance. She has a
student who has missed many days and there is nothing she can be
do about it.
10:15:48 AM
ELEILIA PRESTON, representing self, Wasilla, Alaska, stated that
she has taught all over the country and is a military spouse. In
the past she had heard Alaska was the place to be. When her
family got orders to be in Alaska, she heard that things had
changed. Forty-five percent of military children are not
proficient, which means they are behind when they leave the
state. The state can do better with military children. The bill
can help with that. Teachers must have academic freedom. Every
child needs to be taught differently.
10:17:43 AM
ROY GETCHELL, Superintendent, Haines Borough School District,
Haines, Alaska, said he is thankful the state is having a
conversation about reading. His school district believes in the
importance of reading as well as other skills. Haines students
have maintained and also shown growth during the pandemic.
Ninety-nine percent of its seniors are on track to graduate. He
supports the introduction of preschool. That is a common
component of high-performing countries. The Alaska Education
Challenge sets the course for the state. He urges caution with
regulations, mandates, and high-stakes accountability.
Legislation cannot replace the leadership he provides.
10:20:29 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE congratulated him for Haines' 2019 PEAKS
language arts scores. Haines was third in the state. He asked
for Superintendent Getchell to send an email about what works in
his district.
MR. GETCHELL replied that he knows what works. There are some
things to polish up in Alaska, but he would be careful about
some initiatives.
SENATOR BEGICH asked what he wants the legislators to avoid.
MR. GETCHELL responded that Alaska is concerned about some
things. Every system around the globe is, but Alaska should
avoid chasing the global reform movement, which is high, high-
stakes accountability. He is not afraid of that, but what he has
seen from working overseas is that the most effective school
districts and systems empower teachers. He heard testimony a
second ago about academic freedom. The state must be careful not
to hamstring teachers. He would avoid mandatory retention. His
district is having parent-teacher conferences now. That is
required in the reading plans, and his district is doing reading
plans voluntarily. Many times parents who don't come to
conferences and aren't involved have had bad experiences in
school and many times that involved retention. There is a place
for it, but the state needs to be careful about a one-size fits
all.
10:23:20 AM
PATRICIA FISHER, representing self, Meadow Lakes, Alaska, said
the strong reading program she had in kindergarten started her
on a lifelong love of reading and education. Children need a
strong, early education program as provided by SB 111. She is
against the sunset clause in the bill, which is detrimental to
long-term planning, and suggested an annual review instead.
10:24:19 AM
KEVIN HALL, representing self, Sterling, Alaska, thanked the
senators for their work on the bill.
10:24:51 AM
SCOTT MACMANUS, Superintendent, Alaska Gateway School District,
Tok, Alaska, said third grade students in his district have
improved on MAP tests over the past four years. Alaska Gateway's
goal is that all children read at grade level by third grade,
but the district still has a long way to go. He did not support
SB 111 as originally presented and does not know if he will
support it yet because he has not seen the committee substitute.
He grew up and lives in rural Alaska. In today's testimony he
hears a different perspective between urban and rural Alaska. He
supported SB 8. Legislators like Senator Begich and Senator
Stevens have long demonstrated their support of public education
and have been important in the evolution of this bill. SB 111
could be one of most important bills that the committee ever
considers and will impact children in the state for years to
come. He hopes the upcoming changes in SB 111 will have good
results. There are things that would improve the system. Teacher
retention is one. Alaska Gateway this year had zero turnover
among tenured staff because it hires the best staff it can and
treats them as quality professionals. Alaska needs legislative
help to do this across the state. Everyone believes in reading
at grade level, so use best evidence-based practices to do that.
The primary goals of the bill are laudable. The state must
insist that the in-state teacher prep system provide reading
training for all teachers. Universities and school districts
must support reading training for teachers new to the state. The
state needs to attract more quality teachers to Alaska. Hiring
has been his primary focus since January. Educators are asking
the legislature to hold them accountable for performance. He
welcomes that. The mandated retention needs to be eliminated. No
evidence supports that. John Hattie's research shows it has
negative effect. Support pre-K so that students are ready for
school. This is so essential. In his district, students start
kindergarten with a vocabulary that is below average and that
problem multiplies itself. Educators want to do these things
with the help of legislators and that will help educators help
all of their students.
10:29:15 AM
SENATOR BEGICH commented that the committee reviewed the
proposed changes for the committee substitute yesterday that
will be available soon. There has been a real review of all the
hard work that went into the other education bills. He is
hopeful that many of Mr. McManus' concerns are addressed in the
committee substitute. The committee might be on the right path
to a strong bill. He has faith in the process and the chair and
his staff.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked Mr. MacManus to forward his studies about
retention. The bill has release valves with parents having the
final say about retention at the end of third grade. It is a
soft requirement for retention.
MR. MACMANUS replied that he would.
SENATOR HUGHES added that if the research about retention does
not involve schools with intensive reading intervention and
prevention strategies, it is not applicable. It was that way in
the past but it is done differently now. If he has research from
read-by-nine states, she would like to see that research.
10:32:42 AM
LINDA HULEN, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, said she has
been teaching for more than 20 years in the Anchorage School
District. Reading is near and dear to her heart. The pre-K
program is important. From what she has heard and read, schools
districts that have solid pre-K produce students who do well
when they become adults. She is concerned about the sunset
clause in the bill to take out preschool at some point. That
does not seem wise. The state needs stable, long-term investment
for students and communities. Early education is critical.
Oversight reporting makes sense and is good policy but repealing
pre-K is not.
CHAIR HOLLAND explained that the sunset provisions are left in
the bill. It is not to repeal pre-K so much as it is to force a
future legislature to look at how well the program is working.
It is an efficacy test and is fiscally prudent.
MS. HULEN asked how districts will show that pre-K is working.
CHAIR HOLLAND said hopefully the state will have reading
improvement.
MS. HULEN asked if the bill is directly linking reading
improvement to pre-K.
CHAIR HOLLAND replied that it is over 10 years.
SENATOR BEGICH said the department now measures how well
students in pre-K do when they enter kindergarten. That will be
one of the metrics. If the K-3 process is working, that should
lead to outcomes that can be measured in third grade. The
committee substitute is talking about a 10-year sunset so
progress should be able to be tracked through eighth grade. He
has some reluctance about supporting the sunset clause. He has
been told that in the committee substitute the sunset clause
will apply to the entire bill. He would prefer robust oversight
and reporting, but he is willing to look at what the committee
substitute has to provide. There are metrics that can be
measured for both early education and reading improvement. Cause
vs. correlation is always difficult to measure. The legislative
process can be messy, but if there is a strong bill with areas
to improve on over the years, then he is hopeful about the bill.
SENATOR MICCICHE said he appreciated Ms. Hulen's call. The state
of Alaska invests significantly in the education of its
students. The committee received an interesting document on myth
killers. For nonminority, upper income fourth graders, the state
is 49th in the country in 2019. Some districts with well-
developed pre-K programs are not at the top of the heap in
Alaska. He wants to see legislature more involved in some
expectations for education, not as a parent but as an investor
who wants to help. In this case, he started off being concerned
about sunset dates. He thinks it can be very beneficial to see
if the policy needs to be adjusted over the next few years or
perhaps additional intervention programs be provided. Florida
went from 31st to first in six years for fourth grade with
similar intervention. That is significant progress. He wants to
see the same outcome. He does not see the sunset as negative. He
sees it as a more developed partnership between the state and
districts.
CHAIR HOLLAND shared that Ms. Hulen was critical about the
sunset provision and he wants people to understand what will be
in the committee substitute and what the changes will be. His
office is still waiting to get the committee substitute.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked Ms. Hulen if she had a response.
MS. HULEN responded that she appreciated the discussion about
the sunset. She would hate to see a program in which communities
have preschool for kids and then it is taken away. She would
like to see stability for communities. For another thing about
reading, in the 20 years she has been teaching teachers do
progress monitoring with fluency but not for comprehension. In
the early years, vocabulary development is needed. That helps
kids make sense of the world. She has had kids who are fluent by
test standards, but they do not understand what they read. These
parameters to monitor progress are snapshots. They do not tell
the whole story, so care should be taken about what is mandated.
10:42:18 AM
ABBE HENSLEY, Executive Director, Best Beginnings, Anchorage,
Alaska, thanked the committee for putting forward a bill that
deals with pre-K and early literacy and honing the legislation
to make it the best possible. There was discussion about
causation and correlation. The state needs to make sure
excellent pre-K programs are followed by excellent K-3 programs.
One recommendation from the Ready to Read, Ready to Learn
taskforce in 2006 was to develop a statewide system of voluntary
and affordable early childhood education, so the state has been
working on this a long time. Her group supports adding
culturally responsive language to SB 111. That is so important
for the youngest learners. She has heard a lot of comments about
the sunset clause. The state does not sunset K-12 education and
many other programs. The DEED pre-K grant programs have seen
good results. That takes personnel and money for collecting and
analyzing data. Two districts receiving state funds since 2008
for pre-K, Lower Kuskokwim and Nome, have shown increases in MAP
scores for those who attended state-funded preschool. Education
Northwest recently completed a report that does show a
connection between pre-K and third grade proficiency in Alaska.
10:47:43 AM
CHRISTINE HUTCHINSON, representing self, Kenai Peninsula,
Alaska, said she is a continual proponent of the sunset clause.
She appreciated the clarification about its use to review the
program rather than eliminate it. There are pockets of success
in the state in getting kids to learn to read. One is the
Northern Lights ABC School. Discipline with a reading program
like at Northern Lights ABC School is not common. Kids come with
challenges, but there are solutions. She cannot find a fiscal
note for the bill. She is unsure about where the money will come
from. She recommended the committee to pass this legislation
because reading is important. People learn to read and then read
to learn. Passing this will make something concrete happen for
schools.
10:51:34 AM
NORM WOOTEN, Director of Advocacy, Association of Alaska School
Boards, Juneau, Alaska, said he looks forward to seeing the
committee substitute. Several things in the bill have long been
supported by the Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB)--a
robust pre-K program, evidence-based reading instruction, and
early reading interventions. AASB appreciates and supports the
high, professional rigorous standards for early educators.
Research is coming out about the importance of evidence-based
reading instruction, so anything the state can do to help
teachers become more proficient with that will be appreciated.
AASB supports the increase of the carryover fund balance. There
is a lot of money flowing into the state from the CARES
(Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act and other
federal funding for pandemic efforts. That provision will enable
districts to spend that money appropriately rather than be in
use-it-or-lose-it mode. He thanked the committee for its
willingness to listen to educators and supporters of education.
AASB's emphasis has been on making this a better bill, not to
kill the bill. This has the potential for positively affecting
results for generations of students to come.
10:54:36 AM
REBECCA HIMSCHOOT, representing self, Sitka, Alaska, said she
teaches in the Keet Gooshi Heen elementary school. Her school is
nearly 20 points above the statewide average for language arts
on PEAKS and 15 points above the statewide average for math. She
is proud of the work in her school. In 2016 she was appointed to
the State Board of Education and has looked at education from
the policy and classroom perspective. She is concerned about the
sunset. She is pleased that there will be 10 years to get some
results. Her concern is whether school leaders will commit to
programs that could go away, but anything that will get a more
robust pre-K system in the state will bring the rewards they are
looking for. In 2018 she went to the national conference for
state boards of education. A Duke University reading policy
expert said so much has been done to target discrete skills in
reading and math, but those discrete skills are not useful for
kids unless they have the opportunity to do science and social
studies and apply the learning. The expert said that perhaps the
teaching of science and social studies should be mandated. She
is not suggesting adding that to the bill but wanted to bring it
to the committee's attention. The term culturally responsive is
important in the bill so that districts recognize they need to
teach in the way their students learn.
10:59:10 AM
SENATOR BEGICH said many of the concerns about culturally
responsive language and stronger language for coordination with
existing programs have been addressed in the committee
substitute. He added that he too has expressed concern about the
level of commitment from districts for preschools if there is a
sunset.
11:00:37 AM
DAVID BOYLE, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, said there is
no one who does not want to see students succeed, particularly
in reading. He does not know what the sunset clause is, but the
committee needs to do this right. If it is done wrong, it is
just putting more money in a system that is not going to get the
desired results. He doesn't want pre-K put in the foundation
formula. Once it is there, it is difficult to pull it out. He
wants to see funding tied to results to incentivize good
behavior. If districts improve reading scores, then the
legislature should fund them. On the other hand, if districts do
not improve, then the legislature should start pulling the money
back. Since 2008, the state of Alaska has received over $500
million in Head Start funds. He asked if any of those kids who
have been in Head Start have been taught to read. If they have,
then why are the reading scores so low compared to the rest of
the nation. Alabama has had the highest quality pre-K system in
the U.S. for the last 13 years, but it has not resulted in
better NAEP scores. Alaska is the only state that is lower. This
is a fairly good bill. The committee should do it right and
incentivize good programs, outcomes, and schools.
11:04:52 AM
POSIE BOGGS, Alaska Reading Coalition, Anchorage, Alaska, said
she has heard many excellent things from testifiers today. She
likes Section 26 on page 19 which talks about incentives for
districts. She recommended not tying incentives to the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores. They could be
tied to a new assessment K-3 that DEED might provide. That will
give the legislature the data to verify the effectiveness of the
bill. She has a study that ties high-quality preschool to eighth
grade outcomes. It is explicit evidence that preschool matters.
She thanked the committee for its hard work.
SENATOR BEGICH pointed out that the NAEP reference in that
section will be removed from the committee substitute, so she
has been heard.
11:08:14 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND thanked all the callers and closed public
testimony.
SENATOR BEGICH said that he wanted to reiterate some points made
today. Two metrics that matter are whether districts show
improvement relative to others and relative to themselves. The
bill has early education backed up by strong reading, which gets
to the issue that some of the testifiers brought up, such as
Alabama's early education not working. That is because there is
not a strong reading program there. Incorporating and
collectively building these things is what SB 111 intends to do.
That is exactly what the state wants to do with education
policy. He has a reservation only because he has not seen the
committee substitute yet. The testimony underscores where the
state needs to be going. He is looking forward to seeing the
committee substitute and moving it rapidly out of committee.
[SB 111 was held in committee.]
11:10:12 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Holland adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
at 11:10 a.m.