Legislature(2005 - 2006)BUTROVICH 205
01/18/2006 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Updated Regulations for the No Child Left Behind Act | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
January 18, 2006
1:25 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Fred Dyson, Chair
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Kim Elton
Senator Donny Olson
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Gary Wilken, Vice Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Overview: No Child Left Behind Update
WITNESS REGISTER
Donna Foxley, Region 10 Representative
United States Department of Education (USDOE)
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, D.C. 20202
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented an overview on updated
regulations for the No Child Left Behind Act.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR FRED DYSON called the Senate Health, Education and Social
Services Committee meeting to order at 1:25:13 PM. Present were
Senators Kim Elton, Donny Olson and Chair Fred Dyson. Senator
Lyda Green arrived during the course of the meeting.
^Overview: Updated Regulations for the No Child Left Behind Act
CHAIR DYSON announced that the committee would hear from the
U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) for an update on the No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA). He invited Donna Foxley to come
forward.
DONNA FOXLEY, Region 10 Representative, United States Department
of Education, began by discussing how the requirements for
highly qualified teachers specified within the NCLBA pertain to
Alaska. While Alaska faces challenges in this area due to its
geographic situation, the USDOE believes these challenges can be
met with innovative solutions such as using satellite technology
and videotapes to provide lessons from highly qualified teachers
to rural areas.
SENATOR LYDA GREEN arrived at 1:35:32 PM.
MS. FOXLEY discussed the USDOE's implementation of the 2 percent
special needs assessment policy. She said this policy increases
the proportion of students for which districts are allowed to
apply modified achievement standards from 1 percent to 2 percent
of their overall student population. She added that this policy
includes criteria intended to protect students with disabilities
from being inappropriately assessed.
1:44:26 PM
MS. FOXLEY said the USDOE plans to release draft regulations
governing the 2 percent special needs assessment policy on
December 15 [2006], after which time state representatives will
have 75 days to comment on them.
MS. FOXLEY discussed the USDOE's authorization of pilot programs
for the use of growth models as an alternative to the existing
performance measures required under the NCLBA. She said under
these models, individual students would be evaluated according
to improvements in their own levels of proficiency. She added
that the standards of accountability of the NCLBA will remain
the same for states adopting these models, but they will allow
more flexibility in meeting these standards.
She said the USDOE has issued authorization for pilot programs
for ten states and will consider similar applications from any
other state. She added that while it is interested in the
results of these programs, it is only authorizing the use of
growth models as an experiment and cannot ensure that states
will be able to use them as a permanent alternative to existing
performance measures.
1:50:33 PM
MS. FOXLEY said the secretary of the USDOE formed a commission
with the goal of making the higher education system more
relevant to the nation's need for a competitive workforce in the
21st century. She said this goal is particularly important for
Alaska because its workforce is not prepared to develop some of
the economic opportunities, such as the gas pipeline, that may
exist in the 21st century.
She said the USDOE will soon have an open-forum hearing in
Seattle and encouraged Alaskans with a vested interest in the
future of K-12 education to participate. She said the
department is particularly interested in input from
representatives of community colleges and vocational/technical
schools, since they are expected to play an important role in
the development of a competitive workforce.
1:56:56 PM
MS. FOXLEY said the USDOE recently established The Center for
Rural Education, headed by William L. Smith, former commissioner
of the USDOE. The USDOE is concerned with the challenges facing
rural education, since 42 percent of the nation's schools are
located in rural communities or small towns. She said several
states are interested in how Alaska is addressing the challenges
facing its rural school districts.
1:59:00 PM
CHAIR DYSON asked how Alaskans could get involved.
MS. FOXLEY suggested that interested parties contact William
Smith or Bento Gonzales, Acting Assistant Secretary for the
USDOE's Office of Vocational and Adult Education. She offered
to forward additional comments to the USDOE.
2:01:18 PM
SENATOR KIM ELTON asked if the 2 percent cap refers to 2 percent
of all students within a district or 2 percent of the students
with disabilities in a district.
MS. FOXLY replied that it refers to 2 percent of the entire
student population within a district.
SENATOR ELTON said that, in his experience, students with
disabilities make up far more than 2 percent of the general
student population. He expressed concern about limiting the
number of students with disabilities that receive special
consideration when their progress is evaluated.
MS. FOXLEY replied that the alternative assessment method is
meant to be applied to students with significant cognitive
limitations, and these students represent a small portion of the
total student population with disabilities.
2:06:58 PM
SENATOR ELTON expressed his concern over the costs that Alaskan
school districts will face in attempting to fulfill the mandates
of the NCLBA. He said while the challenges presented by rural
school districts may well be overcome through creative solutions
such as the use of satellite technology, there will be costs
associated with these solutions. He said he is worried that the
USDOE may not assist Alaska with the implementation of these
solutions because of a concern that it will cause other states
with rural school districts to request additional funding.
MS. FOXLEY replied that although the state may incur costs while
fulfilling the mandates of the NCLBA, its requirements are
similar to those of the 1996 Elementary and Secondary Education
ACT (ESEA), with the key difference that they are more
enforceable. She said when considering the costs of achieving
NCLBA standards, one should also consider the costs of not
achieving them, such as limiting a child's potential simply
because he or she lives in a rural area.
SENATOR ELTON remarked, "Quite frankly, I am thinking that the
Utah solution may be the best way to go because a federal recipe
that you try to apply universally ends up hurting Alaska for
reasons that you have already spoken to."
MS. FOXLEY replied that Alaska had its own standards in place
before the NCLBA and, if anything, the Act has strengthened the
state's ability to meet those standards by bringing more federal
money into the state.
SENATOR ELTON expressed frustration that the NCLBA imposes
general regulations that are sometimes impractical and expensive
for Alaska, while preventing districts, municipalities and the
state government from making independent decisions that may be
more sensible.
MS. FOXLEY replied that while she respects those concerns, the
NCLBA was passed by Congress, and it is the duty of the USDOE to
enforce it. She said states are able to define some of the
terms within the requirements of the NCLBA. For example, while
the Act requires highly qualified teachers, the states determine
what constitutes a highly qualified teacher.
2:17:25 PM
SENATOR ELTON said, with regard to the Commission on Higher
Education, he does not understand what role the federal
government has in directing post-K-12 institutions and students
on how to best prepare themselves to compete in the new global
economy. He said it seems the goal of competitiveness will be
best achieved if these decisions are left to the institutions
and their students.
MS. FOXLEY replied that over 80 percent of the funding for
public universities and community colleges comes from the
federal government; given the growing concern of the business
community that graduates are unprepared for their jobs, it is
concerned and wants to ensure that its educational funding is
advancing its goal of creating a competitive workforce.
She added that globalization has presented an urgent challenge
to the educational system, and that the goal of the USDOE is to
create a dialogue among parties with an interest in the welfare
of the educational system to best coordinate their efforts.
2:25:15 PM
CHAIR DYSON thanked Ms. Foxley for her presentation. He
adjourned the Senate Health, Education and Social Services
Standing Committee meeting at 2:26:29 PM.
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