Legislature(2021 - 2022)BUTROVICH 205
05/05/2021 09:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Teacher Retention and Recruitment Action Plan | |
| Adjourn |
* 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
May 5, 2021
9:02 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Roger Holland, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens, Vice Chair
Senator Shelley Hughes
Senator Tom Begich
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Peter Micciche
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: TEACHER RETENTION AND RECRUITMENT ACTION PLAN
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
BARBARA ADAMS, Ph.D., Consultant
Adams Analytic Solutions
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the presentation on Teacher
Retention and Recruitment (TRR) Working Group Action Plan.
CATHE' RHODES, Member
Teacher Retention and Recruitment (TRR) Working Group
Palmer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the presentation on the
Teacher Retention and Recruitment (TRR) Working Group Action
Plan.
AMY GALLAWAY, Member
Teacher Retention and Recruitment (TRR) Working Group
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the presentation on the
Teacher Retention and Recruitment (TRR) Working Group Action
Plan.
SALLY STOCKHAUSEN, Member
Teacher Retention and Recruitment (TRR) Working Group
Ketchikan, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the presentation on the
Teacher Retention and Recruitment (TRR) Working Group Action
Plan.
ACTION NARRATIVE
9:02:47 AM
CHAIR ROGER HOLLAND called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Stevens, Hughes, and Chair Holland. Senator
Begich arrived shortly thereafter.
^Teacher Retention and Recruitment Action Plan
Teacher Retention and Recruitment Action Plan
9:03:20 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND announced the business before the committee would
be a presentation on the Teacher Retention and Recruitment
Action Plan that was released on April 20, 2021.
9:04:07 AM
BARBARA ADAMS, Ph.D., Consultant, Adams Analytic Solutions,
Fairbanks, Alaska, said she is a consultant for the Governor's
Teacher Retention and Recruitment (TRR) Working Group. She asked
TRR Working Group members to introduce themselves.
CATHE' RHODES, Member, Teacher Retention and Recruitment (TRR)
Working Group, Palmer, Alaska, said she is a retired teacher.
She stated she worked for two years in Kaktovik, 12 years on the
Alaska Statewide Mentor Project and currently works as an
advisory teacher for the Wasilla Raven Homeschool program.
9:04:43 AM
AMY GALLAWAY, Member, Teacher Retention and Recruitment (TRR)
Working Group, Fairbanks, Alaska, stated that she teaches civics
and history in Fairbanks and was recognized as the 2020 Alaska
Teacher of the Year.
9:05:56 AM
SALLY STOCKHAUSEN, Member, Teacher Retention and Recruitment
(TRR) Working Group, Ketchikan, Alaska, stated that she serves
as a member of the Alaska State Board of Education and has
worked as a teacher for almost 20 years.
9:07:19 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed the background of the working group on slide
2, which read:
• Working Group established by Governor and
Commissioner of Education
• Members include 17 practitioners and stakeholders
from around the state: teachers (6),
administrators (3), students (2), school board
members (2), leadership mentors (2), UA board of
regent (1), and Commissioner (1)
• Advisors (6) of the stakeholder groups: AASB,
ACSA, CEE, NEA-AK, SERRC, and UA COE
• Observers from Legislature (4), DEED (4)
• Monthly meetings May 2020 March 2021
MS. ADAMS noted that in 2020 Governor Dunleavy's State of the
State address instructed the Commissioner of Education & Early
Development (DEED) to assemble a working group to review the
root causes of recruitment and retention issues, including
working conditions and benefits, in order to attract and retain
great teachers. Thus, the Teacher Retention and Recruitment
Working Group (TRR Working Group) was created. She reviewed the
TRR Working Group's membership. She stated that the TRR Working
Group's work was completed in March 2021. She highlighted that
the summary notes are posted to DEED's website at:
https://education.alaska.gov/trr.
9:10:25 AM
MS. STOCKHAUSEN paraphrased slide 3, Working Group Reporting,
which read:
Purpose
The purpose of this working group is to review the
root causes of Alaska's teacher retention and
recruitment issues and propose solutions to better
attract and retain great teachers. Knowing the
cornerstone of a great educational program starts with
a great teacher, this working group will seek to
problem solve this component of the system to ensure
Alaska can provide an excellent education for every
student every day. The Commissioner of Education, with
the help of this working group, will develop a plan
that proposes practical, professional, and policy
recommendations for the Governor through research-based
methods as well as represented stakeholder groups.
9:11:16 AM
MS. GALLAWAY reviewed slide 4, Data Collection, which read:
• TRR Survey
o Launched 10/26/2020
o Closed 1/31/2021
o All educators holding a current certificated
license
o Personal link, 20 mins
o Emailed comments were self-initiated by educators
• Leaver Interviews
o Identified via list from DEED and responses to
survey
o Personal email for 1-1 interview, 10 mins
o Semi-structured interview protocol
• Recruitment Focus Groups
o Urban and Rural separately
o Additional subgroup outreach
o Semi-structured focus group protocol
MS. GALLAWAY said the group did its own research. The group
spent substantial time creating, revising and testing a Teacher
Recruitment and Retention Survey. The survey was conducted from
October 2020 through the end of January 2021. A link to the
survey was sent to all currently licensed educators, by email.
Some participants emailed additional comments to Dr. Adams,
which were incorporated into the research summary. Dr. Adams
conducted "leaver" interviews consisting of four questions. She
stated that the TRR Working Group created recruitment focus
groups.
9:14:10 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 5, Survey Details. She explained that
the TRR Working Group recognized that significant research was
performed over the past 40 years in the state. The TRR Working
Group was familiar with the issues but sought to figure out how
to address them and set priorities.
9:15:31 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 6, TRR Survey Sample Question. She
explained that the survey used a scaling technique, which asked
people to select the most important and least important items.
The research identified 40 issues important to educators.
Individuals saw a random sample of four items on each of 15
sample questions related to personal motivation.
9:16:54 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 7, TRR Survey Sample Question, which
showed one of 15 sample questions related to potential solutions
for improving teacher retention and recruitment in Alaska. The
question asked participants to select the most influential or
least influential of the four items listed. She explained that
there were 34 potential solutions.
9:18:02 AM
DR. ADAMS presented slide 8, Survey Sample Size, which consisted
of a diagram of participants. The TRR Working Group wanted to
determine the reasons teachers stayed in Alaska. She stated that
15,700 currently certificated Alaska teachers from 54 school
districts responded to the survey. The respondents were broken
out into 7,750 who lived within the school districts and 7,950
who lived out of the school districts. Of the 15,700
respondents, 40 percent answered the demographic questions by
identifying themselves as teachers within a district. The
group's sample was considered representative of Alaska's current
educators. She highlighted that the response rate was considered
a strong response rate for this type of survey.
9:20:21 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked whether the 7,950 figure reflected
educators who are not teaching currently but do hold teacher
certificates.
DR. ADAMS answered that it is the number of teachers with active
certificates as of October 2020. It includes retired teachers,
homeschool teachers, and lifetime certificate holders. She noted
that some no longer reside in Alaska.
9:21:09 AM
SENATOR BEGICH offered his view that the response was robust. He
asked whether the survey included a question about what it would
take to get these teachers to return to their profession.
9:21:43 AM
DR. ADAM answered no.
9:21:50 AM
SENATOR BEGICH commented on the importance of recruiting
teachers and offered his view that the state should consider
inducements to attract some of the 7,950 certificated
respondents back into teaching.
DR. ADAMS said it was an excellent point.
9:22:55 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 9, Composition of Survey Respondents,
which consisted of three pie charts and a bar graph analysis.
She identified that of the 3,604 respondents who completed the
survey, about 75 percent were current educators, 9.7 percent
were current administrators, 7.4 percent were retired educators,
and 7.9 percent were not in the current K-12 system but were
homeschooling parents, not working or other. She directed
attention to the various roles of the respondents, noting that
47.5 percent of the respondents were classroom teachers. She
said adding in the special education teachers and specialists
[brought the percentage up to 67.1 percent] and noted that the
survey covered a wide range of educators in the state.
9:24:16 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 10, Composition of Survey Respondents,
which was related to demographics, including the retirement
tier, gender, and location. She stated that the responses were
comparable with teacher demographics in Alaska.
9:26:01 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 11, Composition of Survey Respondents,
which consisted of two histogram bar graphs showing the
respondents' total years of teaching experience and the years of
teaching experience in Alaska. She pointed out that slide 11
showed an even distribution of early, mid, and late career
teachers.
9:26:32 AM
SENATOR BEGICH pointed out that slide 11 also indicated that
teachers come to Alaska with experience.
DR. ADAMS responded that she thought that was correct.
SENATOR BEGICH said this seems to imply that Alaska is an
attractive environment that brings teachers to the state.
9:27:19 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 12, Alaska Status. She explained that
this slide highlights 15 reasons the respondents had an affinity
to Alaska. For example, it listed items including that the
respondent was born and raised in Alaska, graduated from high
school in Alaska, or moved to Alaska with the military.
9:28:50 AM
SENATOR BEGICH disclosed that his wife was a participant in this
survey but this was his first look at results.
9:29:22 AM
DR. ADAMS turned to slide 13, Retention Status. She explained
that respondents could choose any of the 16 categories listed
that applied to them. The analysis showed the percentage of
educators who chose each item, such as who expected to stay at
the same school, move to another district or retire as reasons
to stay in Alaska during the upcoming school year.
9:30:27 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 14, Correlations. She explained that
experience and experience in Alaska were well correlated. This
means that retirement tier can be used for subgroup analysis in
place of the continuous variables of experience and/or
experience in Alaska, she said.
9:30:59 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 15, Results to Consider, which read:
• Survey Part 1: Personal Importance
• Survey Part 2: Solution Influence
• Survey Results by Subgroups
• Coding of Email Comments, Interviews, Focus
Groups
• Alignment of Results
She emphasized that the survey analysis will show that their
recommendations were grounded in research.
9:32:32 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed the TRS Survey-Probability Score for Personal
Importance shown on slide 17. She explained the bar graph, such
that the first choice was 17 times more preferable than the
bottom choice. She cautioned members that the items that were
ranked on the bottom did not mean that these reasons were not
important since 40 years of research showed that things like,
"availability of professional mentoring" or "access to
professional development by other teachers" were important. It
meant that educators prioritized their top choices as those that
were currently more important to them.
9:33:57 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked how the 17 to 1 ratio compares to the norm.
DR. ADAMS responded that first, this type of survey has never
been done in the state and was rarely used in education. She
offered her belief that the TRR Work Group was on the forefront
by using this type of survey in order to better understand
issues of personal importance. Second, she pointed out that
there is not any statistical value assigned to the preference
scores. Instead, statisticians typically consider statistical
significance, which can be calculated. Statisticians also
consider practical significance. This type of work stems from
marketing. For example, in marketing, if a statistician tells
the client that the consumer is 17 times more likely to buy a
product, that fact presents a pretty significant number. If a
survey participant was 15 times more likely to select an item,
it feels powerful, she said.
9:36:40 AM
SENATOR BEGICH stated he reviewed the items rated above 10, such
as quality support from district administration, quality support
from principals(s), having sufficient resources available and
manageable workload. However, he said he was taken aback that
professional mentoring was ranked second to the bottom and
professional development was ranked at 2.1 because the committee
and department focused on providing these to teachers. This
survey shows different preferences.
CHAIR HOLLAND pointed out that the ranking doesn't show whether
the item was absent or present in the current school system,
just whether educators consider the items important.
SENATOR BEGICH remarked that the results were different than
expected.
SENATOR HUGHES pointed out that other than items related to
salary and retirement, the participants ranked relationships and
positive school culture very high.
9:38:54 AM
DR. ADAMS reiterated that prior research shows that the items
that ranked low on the graph were important. She said the TRR
working group wondered if the lower ranked items on the graph
meant these items were already being done well, if the
respondent did not understand the item, or if the low ranking
meant that these issues did not matter.
9:40:05 AM
DR. ADAMS turned to slide 18, Personal Importance Item by Role,
which consisted of a table that was broken down by the top 15
items listed on slide 17. They were further broken down by
category, including educator, administrator, other, retired, and
unclassified. She stated that this table provides a sense of how
different groups rated the items. She explained that the 618
unclassified participants were the ones who did not provide any
demographic information. She stated that the 2,704 educators
tended to align with the responses as a whole group. She
highlighted that the administrators ranked retirement benefits
first, adequate compensation for assigned duties second, and
positive workplace conditions third. The retirees ranked
positive workplace conditions first and personal connections
with students second, which was in line with Senator Hughes'
remark that the group values relationships.
9:41:23 AM
SENATOR BEGICH surmised that administrators rated retirement as
first because these respondents were often teachers who were
working towards the end of their careers. He remarked that this
survey provides the committee with great data.
9:42:07 AM
DR. ADAMS turned to a graph on slide 19, TRR Personal
Importance-Top 1-7 Preference Scores by Role. She said the graph
helps show the weighting. She explained that it is the same data
for the top ranked choices as is shown on slides 17 and 18 but
it consists of symbols for current educators, administrators,
others, and retirees.
9:43:04 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND pointed out that having a manageable workload
ranked slightly lower for administrators than for current
educators.
9:43:32 AM
DR. ADAMS presented a table on slide 21 that showed Personal
Importance - Top 1-8 Average Preference Scores by Location
(school). She said the urban and rural road system participants
ranked salaries first but the rural and rural hub rated positive
workplace conditions first and personal connections with
students second.
SENATOR BEGICH remarked that slide 21 underscored that the urban
members rank retirement second but rural teachers rank
retirement fifth and sixth. However, he cautioned against
reviewing the slide results exclusively since there were 15
categories. He noted that the off-road rural locations appeared
to favor working conditions over road and urban educators.
DR. ADAMS agreed. She said positive workplace conditions ranked
high for all four groups.
9:47:47 AM
DR. ADAMS presented the table on slide 22, Personal Importance
Items by TRS Tier. She explained that rankings were very
different depending on the retirement tier.
9:48:13 AM
SENATOR BEGICH remarked that all three tiers ranked the same top
five items with one exception, which was that tier 1 ranked
positive school culture as fourth.
DR. ADAMS stated her agreement. She indicated that the
retirement benefits were ranked differently by location on slide
23, even though retirement was ranked in the top five for all
tiers. She reminded members that the survey asked 15 questions,
which were all ranked.
9:50:12 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND stated he previously worked at the Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF) for ten years,
which had four retirement tiers. He acknowledged that TRS
consists of only three tiers.
DR. ADAMS agreed.
CHAIR HOLLAND asked if TRS Tier III was similar to PERS Tier IV.
9:51:04 AM
DR. ADAMS said she did not know the exact distinction but they
will be much more similar. She stated that PERS Tier III and
Tier IV were similar to TRS III.
SENATOR BEGICH clarified that TRS Tier III was a defined
contribution (DC) plan and Tiers I and II were defined benefits
(DB) plans.
9:51:44 AM
DR. ADAMS added that TRS Tier III went into effect in July 2007
and was based on experience and age.
9:52:15 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 24, TRR Survey - Probability Score for
Solution Influence Feb. 6, 2021. She explained that this portion
of the survey represented the second set of questions consisting
of 34 options. The prompt asked participants to consider which
of four choices would be most influential and least influential
for teacher retention in Alaska. She reported that "competitive
salary commensurate with cost of living" ranked 21.1 times more
than "increased Alaska culture and history requirements for (re)
certification" which scored 1.0. In fact, the top-ranked reasons
educators selected for teachers to stay in Alaska related to
salary and benefits, including incentives. In fact, the 10th
item on the rankings "creating or strengthening webs of support"
ranked at 9.8 was the first item that aligned with personal
influences. She suggested that many items that fell towards the
bottom might be due to the theoretical nature or else
respondents did not understand exactly what the specific item
meant. Statistically, these types of indicators did not function
as well. For example, about 500 people did not answer the second
section of the survey. However, she believed that this section
still provided enough information to connect the responses to
the first section of the survey.
9:54:36 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND asked if the survey stressed that the results
would be kept confidential. He recalled that people responded to
the survey by email.
DR. ADAMS answered yes. However, she agreed that not everyone
felt comfortable that the information would be held
confidential.
CHAIR HOLLAND surmised that the lower response rate for the
second part of the survey might be due to the length of the
survey.
9:55:29 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked whether there was any reason why the
"national board certification bonus" scored so low since the
item also relates to salary.
DR. ADAMS responded that she was unsure if teachers thought the
bonus was unattainable or if it would take too much effort to
qualify, particularly since educators experienced a stressful
year due to the pandemic.
CHAIR HOLLAND asked whether it might be because some teachers
were already qualified to receive the bonus so they did not
think it was a big concern for teacher retention.
DR. ADAMS responded that she thought only a small percentage of
teachers were qualified to receive the bonus.
MS. GALLAWAY related her understanding from conversations with
teachers, that the national board certification bonus process
was arduous and long so teachers did not find the salary bump
big enough to warrant going through the process.
9:57:55 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 26, TRR Solution Influence - Top 1-10
Preference Scores by Role and the Solution Influence Items on
slide 27. She said she reported the results in the same way as
they were reported in the first part of the survey.
9:58:49 AM
DR. ADAMS turned to slide 28, TRR Solution Influence - Top 1-6
Average Preference Scores by Location (school) and to slide 29,
Solution Influence Items.
She stated that the results in this section showed more
commonality than the ones for the first section of the survey.
She pointed out that there were five different options specific
to retirement. She explained that people had differing views
about what changes to make with respect to retirement. For
example, respondents were not in agreement as to whether to
return to DB or to contribute to Social Security.
10:00:19 AM
SENATOR BEGICH pointed out that the responses related to whether
to return to a DB system was consistently ranked third by "rural
hub and rural, road system" and rural Alaska ranked it fourth.
He said the responses made sense since DC offers ready access to
cash. He related that the option "state moves to a hybrid
retirement with personal and state investments" ranked in the
top 10.
10:01:41 AM
DR. ADAMS agreed that retirement plans were important but
pointed out that one solution for TRS retirement plans did not
outperform all of the other solutions. For example, whether to
return to DB was ranked third but the other options were not
ranked at the bottom. For example, contributing to social
security was ranked 7th, hybrid retirement plan was ranked 8th
and portability was ranked 9th. She suggested that the rankings
indicated something must change but respondents did not give
clear guidance on what direction to take.
10:03:04 AM
SENATOR BEGICH disagreed. He interpreted that going back to the
DB or a hybrid system would be the same since teachers would
still retain a choice. Further, the state could decide to
institute a policy to opt out of the Supplemental Benefits
System (SBS) and move to Social Security. In addition, the
legislature could easily introduce a bill for a hybrid plan that
would honor the choices of opting for portability and Social
Security. He suggested that going back to a choice system would
give teachers a smorgasbord of options. Further, a legislative
audit in January 2021 showed that the state could go to a hybrid
system without incurring additional costs. He offered his belief
that this study provides guidance to the retirement issue
because it shows that educators want choices. He suggested that
the state should provide low-cost solutions to retain teachers.
DR. ADAMS thanked Senator Begich for his perspective.
10:05:04 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND asked whether the survey consisted of four-item
questions rather than listing all 15 options and asking
respondents to prioritize them.
DR. ADAMS replied that it consists of a series of four-item
questions.
10:05:41 AM
SENATOR BEGICH related his understanding that everyone was
exposed to all 15 options but the options were posed in
different comparisons.
DR. ADAMS agreed.
10:06:12 AM
DR. ADAMS directed attention to a graph on slide 30, TRR
Solution Influence - Top 1-5 Preference Scores by Retirement
Tier. She stated that the top five items were closely ranked but
respondents in various tiers did not respond consistently to the
remaining questions.
10:08:28 AM
DR. ADAMS turned to slide 31, Qualitative Analysis Ordered
Codes. She pointed out that besides taking surveys, the group
sent emails, held a focus group with recruiters and reviewed the
results of interviews with leavers and the focus group with
recruiters. She said each response from survey participants was
coded with demographic codes. She reported that the top three
qualitative themes were benefits, leadership and working
conditions. She stated that the comments on leadership indicated
that teachers decided whether to stay or leave based on the
principal. She emphasized that these conditions related to the
school culture and collegiality.
10:10:59 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND asked if the term "leavers" meant teachers who
left the workforce.
DR. ADAMS responded that leavers referred to the teachers who
left teaching in Alaska. These former teachers could still
reside in Alaska or may have left the state.
10:11:34 AM
DR. ADAMS reviewed slide 32, Alignment, which related to part 1
of the survey. She explained that the results fell into three
general summaries. The first was financial, including salary,
retirement benefits and good healthcare benefits. She directed
attention to the third column which listed solution items. She
explained that the codes, such as "[benefits][conditions]" shown
at the bottom was a means to align items and help determine the
next direction to take.
DR. ADAMS related that slide 33 listed working conditions and
support and professionalism. She highlighted that the personal
importance items included items such as positive workplace
conditions, personal connections with students and positive
school culture.
10:13:15 AM
SENATOR BEGICH recalled that Dr. Adams previously conducted
another TRR study with former Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED) Commissioner Covey. He asked if the results
of that survey were similar to this one or if they were
dramatically different.
DR. ADAMS responded that there was a lot of alignment between
this study and the Educator Quality and Quantity (EQQ) Study
conducted by Mr. Covey. She recalled that the EQQ Study proposed
a systematic approach to teacher quality and retention grounded
in measurable outcomes with cultural relevance. It was broken
down into how to develop and retain and how to recruit and
train. She said there was substantial alignment between the two
studies.
10:14:29 AM
SENATOR BEGICH recalled that the EQQ was initiated in 2015 or
2016. It provided preliminary work for SB 42, related to virtual
and early education and reading; and SB 8, related to pre-K and
Elementary Education programs. These two bills also contained
provisions for the Teacher Retention Task Force.
10:15:36 AM
DR. ADAMS moved to slide 35, Recommendations, TRR Action Plan,
which showed six essential areas that were identified and
organized by the research results. She deferred to Ms. Gallaway
to present the first area.
10:16:28 AM
MS. GALLAWAY presented Essential Area 1, Strengthening Working
Conditions on slide 36, which read:
1. Develop a committee to create an Educator
Induction Program framework to share with
districts.
2. Identify methods to measure working conditions
that support making data-driven improvements and
share those options with districts.
3. Develop a variety of example strategies for
districts to support additional financial
opportunities.
MS. GALLAWAY explained that the TRR Working Group recognized
that salary was ranked first. This essential area relates to
retention. Projects, such as the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project
and the Alaska School Leadership Academy as well as other
projects would become part of a multi-year Educator Induction
Program that could be used and tailored by each district to meet
its own needs. She emphasized the importance of having
individuality and local control in the school districts. She
suggested that this framework could address how to create
favorable working conditions for teachers to encourage educators
to stay in Alaska.
10:19:12 AM
MS. GALLAWAY said the second recommendation was to make data-
driven improvements, such as compiling vendor lists of programs
or organizations to measure working conditions. She offered her
belief that the department should furnish these funds for
districts.
MS. GALLAWAY highlighted that the third item was to develop
strategies to support financial opportunities, such as
restructuring salary schedules and repealing the statute that
limits experience credit for out of state teachers to allow
districts more freedom to determine compensation. She recalled
that Representative Story suggested creating a legislative
Education Funding Committee to address flat funding and forward
funding in order to figure out how to keep up with national
salaries.
10:21:10 AM
MS. STOCKHAUSEN paraphrased slide 37, Essential Area 2,
Developing Leadership, which read:
1. Create an Organizational Health System for
superintendents to assess the health of their
district and to then offer supporting strategies
to address the identified areas of need.
2. Increase professional support for mentoring new
administrators.
3. Develop and adopt processes for teachers to
contribute to principal evaluation to strengthen
leadership.
10:23:47 AM
MS. GALLAWAY reviewed Essential Area 3, Restructuring Retirement
Options on slide 38.
1. Establish a Retirement Task Force to identify
multiple methods to restructure TRS Tier III,
including hybrid plans to determine possible
options for the state.
2. Develop and offer financial literacy education
through extended benefits training.
MS. GALLAWAY recalled that Commissioner Johnson repeatedly
stated that teacher retention and recruitment must be a
consistent, ongoing and cyclical process. She agreed that the
process was constantly evolving. Thus, part of the solution was
to create other committees or task forces consisting of
teachers, educators, and administrators across the state. She
stated that the TRR Work Group would like the Retirement Task
Force to submit its recommendations to the legislature by
January 2022.
MS. GALLAWAY stated the TRR Working Group wanted to develop
methods to incentivize teachers to stay beyond five years. She
pointed out that she observed a number of teachers who left
Alaska after five years to move to a state that had a DB
program.
10:26:37 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked whether the intent of the Retirement Task
Force was to propose solutions in January 2022 but it would
continue to meet annually to retool teacher retirement goals.
10:27:13 AM
MS. GALLAWAY answered yes. She explained that the TRR Working
Group and DEED Commissioner Johnson believe the work must be
ongoing.
SENATOR BEGICH responded that he appreciated the clarification
since it was not clear in the document.
10:27:51 AM
SENATOR HUGHES suggested that the TRR Work Group recommendations
should be submitted by December 31, 2021, in order for the
legislature to act on any policy recommendations.
CHAIR HOLLAND stated that if the recommendations were not
submitted by the end of the year, it could delay any action on
the TRR Work Group recommendations until the 33rd legislative
session [in 2022 - 2023].
10:28:51 AM
MS. GALLAWAY continued to discuss slide 38, Essential Area 3.
She highlighted the second recommendation, which was the need
for financial literacy education for teachers through extended
benefits training. She stated that the goal is to provide better
education for Tier III educators to better understand how to
leverage their retirement benefits. She emphasized the
importance of informing young teachers about tax options, such
as investing outside of the DC retirement plan.
10:29:57 AM
MS. RHODES reviewed slide 39, Essential Area 4, Enhancing
Recruitment Efforts and Opportunities, which read:
1. Conduct an Independent Recruitment Audit to
review the current teacher recruitment practices
in Alaska.
2. Develop a Statewide Recruitment Task Force to
propose specific solutions and funding.
3. Restructure Alaska Teacher Placement (ATP)
services concurrently with the audit to maximize
potential statewide recruitment as soon as
possible.
4. Support expansion of the grow-your-own models
already in place.
5. Consider models of Alternative Certification
Pathways and determine which ones to adopt.
MS. RHODES stated that some concepts overlapped since there is
not any clear separation between the recommendations. She said
she helped conduct small focus groups for the big five districts
in Anchorage, Mat-Su, Kenai, Fairbanks and Juneau. In addition,
she helped conduct small focus groups for rural recruiters in
rural school districts including the Lower Yukon and Yukon-
Kuskokwim (Y-K), St. Mary's and Lake and Peninsula Borough
School.
MS. RHODES highlighted the recommendations on slide 39 included
conducting an Independent Recruitment Audit and determining
whether the audit should be within the University of Alaska
(UA), the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
or be conducted by an independent contract. She added that UA
has a waiting list for nurses so it should be possible to
develop a list of educators.
10:32:43 AM
MS. RHODES described the recruitment process that the Lake and
Peninsula School District (LPSD) system uses. The district
brings in teachers in the spring, provides them with a stipend
and allows them to teach in the schools. This exposure allows
teachers to better understand whether teaching in rural Alaska
would be a "good fit" for them so they could assess if they
could thrive in Alaska. She explained that this process is cost
effective for rural districts since hiring new teachers to
replace those who left mid-contract was costly. Another
suggestion made was to develop an advertising campaign,
including videos to showcase Alaska to potential Lower 48
teachers. This could attract teachers who seek a sense of
adventure or want exposure to Native Alaskan culture to come to
Alaska.
10:34:35 AM
MS. RHODES reviewed the 4th recommendation on slide 39,
Essential Area 4. She stated that the Lower Kuskokwim School
District (LKSD) uses a program that encourages educators within
the district, such as those working as paraprofessionals, to
become teachers. Further, she stated that the goal of UA's
Educators Rising Alaska program was to inspire middle school or
high school students statewide to become future educators. These
types of grow-your-own models could be expanded.
MS. RHODES emphasized the importance of finding alternative ways
to certify teachers. For example, it makes sense to find ways
for paraprofessionals to become certified teachers since these
educators already have established relationships with students
and the community. Incorporating these established
paraprofessionals as teachers could help schools achieve
success. She highlighted that many people with college degrees
move to Alaska but lack teaching degrees. Thus, it could be
important to keep the UA Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)
program in place. A prior UA program allowed people with
Bachelor of Art degrees to enroll in a two-year program. This
program allowed them to teach and achieve teacher certification
while taking courses.
10:36:50 AM
SENATOR HUGHES asked what recommendations the TRR Working Group
developed to reach out to the nearly 8,000 Alaskans who hold
teaching certificates but are not currently teaching.
10:37:16 AM
MS. RHODES acknowledged that the TRR Working Group recognized
that many retired teachers live in Alaska. She suggested it was
worth considering removing restrictions that prevent districts
from giving teachers credit for experience that Ms. Gallaway
mentioned earlier.
10:37:50 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked whether UA's Educators Rising program was
worth pursuing.
MS. RHODES answered that the program was a relatively new one
but the feedback has been encouraging. She suggested that it
would take time to assess the program's effectiveness.
CHAIR HOLLAND asked the presenters to cover Essential Areas 5
and 6.
10:38:51 AM
MS. STOCKHAUSEN reviewed slide 40, Essential Area 5, Creating
paraprofessional pathways, which read:
1. Create a tiered pathway or career ladder for
paraprofessionals.
2. Identify and share additional resources that
would assist districts and the University of
Alaska in the development of Alaska alternative
programs for paraprofessionals.
She elaborated that she is passionate about creating the
paraprofessional pathways recommended on slide 40. She offered
her belief that paraprofessionals represent a great resource for
the state. In fact, she stated that she would not have survived
as a new special education teacher without them. Since then, she
has witnessed the positive impact of paraprofessionals in
districts, especially with teacher turnover. Many
paraprofessionals work two jobs so they do not have the time or
financial resources to get certified. She explained that a
number of states currently provide tiered pathways and career
ladders for paraprofessionals which could provide models for
Alaska, since some of the programs Ms. Rhodes mentioned were not
consistently offered throughout the state. She suggested that
communities could share additional resources to assist districts
and the university in developing alternative programs for
educators, such as ones for paraprofessionals. Since
paraprofessionals already live in Alaska, tapping into them as
potential teachers could provide a way to address teacher
recruitment issues.
10:41:28 AM
SENATOR STEVENS agreed that the state should pursue pathways and
programs for paraprofessionals. He said every village in his
district has a paraprofessional who should be a teacher. He
acknowledged that paraprofessionals represent a treasure trove
for the state.
10:41:59 AM
DR. ADAMS presented Essential Area 6, Streamlining Certification
and Recertification on slide 41, which read:
1. Modernize process by creating an online
certification system that is more automated and
less paper.
2. Offer reciprocity among states with no
conditions.
3. Allow alternative methods to satisfy the Alaska
studies and multicultural coursework.
10:43:01 AM
DR. ADAMS, in closing, said the recommendations presented today,
as well as the implementation tables on the final slides provide
an aggressive plan. The Implementation Tables on slides 42
through 44 include recommendations and propose who should lead
the effort, the timeframe and the proposed outcomes. She
characterized it as relating to alignment and partnerships by
enhancing current programs. It is also about rethinking the
educational system by making it more systemic. She explained
that the TRR Working group recommendations provide flexibility
at the local level, where it is considered essential. She
acknowledged that positive things were happening in Alaska,
including leadership development through the Alaska Council of
School Administrators (ACSA). Further, the Association of Alaska
School Boards (AASB) conducted a School Climate & Connectedness
Survey in 2020 that can measure working conditions. She
emphasized that these things need to be aligned to help the
whole system move forward rather than to rely on individuals to
figure things out.
10:44:29 AM
SENATOR HUGHES recalled that Alaska Pacific University had a
means of providing credit for life experiences. She was unsure
if UA explored this but she thought it was worth exploring as a
means to assist paraprofessionals gain credit for work
experience.
10:45:08 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND thanked the presenters for their time and passion.
10:45:30 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Holland adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
meeting at 10:45 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| TRR_Action_Plan_April2021.pdf |
SEDC 5/5/2021 9:00:00 AM |
|
| 04.20.21 Teacher Retention and Recruitment Action Report released.pdf |
SEDC 5/5/2021 9:00:00 AM |
|
| TRR Senate Ed presentation 05-05-2021.pdf |
SEDC 5/5/2021 9:00:00 AM |