Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
02/12/2007 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: No Child Left Behind Performance and Program Changes Presentation: the Gender Gap in Higher Education in Alaska | |
| 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
February 12, 2007
1:35 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bettye Davis, Chair
Senator Joe Thomas, Vice Chair
Senator John Cowdery
Senator Kim Elton
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Fred Dyson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Overview: No Child Left Behind Performance, and Program Changes
Presentation: The Gender Gap in Higher Education in Alaska
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to consider
WITNESS REGISTER
Les Morse, Director
Division of Assessment & Accountability
Department of Education & Early Development
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented overview
Carol Comeau, Superintendent
Anchorage School District
Anchorage, AK 99519
POSITION STATEMENT: Available for questions
Tom Brannon, Member
Nome School Board
Nome, AK 99762
POSITION STATEMENT: Available for questions
Dr. William S. Pollack, Director
Center for Men and Young Men
McLean Hospital
Belmont, MA 02478
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented overview
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR BETTYE DAVIS called the Senate Health, Education and
Social Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:35:47
PM. Present at the call to order were Senators Thomas, Elton,
Cowdery, and Chair Davis.
^OVERVIEW: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND PERFORMANCE AND PROGRAM CHANGES
PRESENTATION: THE GENDER GAP IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN ALASKA
1:36:56 PM
LES MORSE, Director of Assessments and Accountability for the
Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED),
said he would be explaining school and district accountability
under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, including Adequate
Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks and yearly growth progress. AYP
is the test that measures whether schools are performing to
certain levels; 95 percent of the students in a given school
must take the test. The target, or Annual Measurable Objective
(AMO), is the percent of students who must be proficient in the
tested areas of language arts and mathematics. Graduation and
attendance rates are also measured, the latter in schools where
graduation is not a consideration (elementary and middle
schools).
1:40:18 PM
MR. MORSE gave past Alaska AYP results for language arts and
mathematics. By the school year 2013-2014, AYP is projected to
be at 100 percent. Currently evaluations are done for the entire
school, and then broken down into racial, ethnic and
economically disadvantaged sub-groups. The DEED has submitted a
proposal to the US Department of Education to be allowed to look
at individual student growth.
He explained that the graduation rate is calculated based on the
number of freshmen who graduate four years later. The rate is
currently 60 percent; that doesn't necessarily mean that 40
percent of students drop out, but rather that some did not
complete high school in four years, or are special education
students who stay in school longer than four years. The yearly
dropout rate is between five and six percent.
1:44:38 PM
MR. MORSE presented PowerPoint slides to show how AYP would be
calculated in an example school and how missing in one or
several subgroups can cause the school as a whole to miss AYP.
He explained the different levels of consequences for schools
that do not meet AYP for one or more years in a row. The school
district is responsible for implementing these consequences,
which can include restructuring school administration. The state
is in turn responsible for implementing consequences for school
districts not meeting their collective AYP. The DEED feels that
measuring individual student growth towards proficiency would be
more logical than requiring eventual 100 percent proficiency in
math and language arts.
1:50:25 PM
MR. MORSE explained that there has been some positive growth
since the 2003 implementation of the NCLB act in Alaska; a
change in rules between 2003 and 2004 may have slightly affected
the AYP rates. In 2004, 13.3 percent of schools missed AYP
because of the Limited English Proficient (LEP) student
subgroup. By 2006, the number had dropped to 8.7 percent.
He explained that there are 31 possible ways for a school to
miss AYP, but no school failed in more than 15 categories in
2006.
1:55:01 PM
MR. MORSE said that three districts missed AYP for the first
time last year and so were at consequence level one, eight
districts were at level two, ten districts were at level three,
and eleven districts were at level four. He restated that the
state wishes to see individual student growth and achievement
tracked throughout different levels of schooling. The DEED's
currently pending application regarding using such a tracking
method should be approved or denied by April 2007.
He explained that an individual tracking method would be useful
to show that a school may be improving its teaching methods even
if it doesn't meet the NCLB AYP target.
1:59:03 PM
MR. MORSE explained that the NCLB requirement for highly
qualified teachers is a problem for some Alaskan communities
because it is difficult for teachers in rural areas who must
teach multiple subjects to be "highly qualified", or possess
masters degrees in each subject area. The DEED is working with
the federal government to try to see legislation introduced to
ease the restriction.
2:01:34 PM
SENATOR ELTON remarked that it seemed unfair that schools would
potentially miss AYP solely because of the performance of the
disabled student subgroup, and that other students could suffer
as a result.
2:03:19 PM
MR. MORSE replied that the DEED has struggled with that issue,
and that they audit districts in such positions to help them
with their improvement plans. He believes the NCLB rules should
be adjusted to allow for differentiated consequences for such
schools.
2:06:22 PM
SENATOR ELTON asked if the rigidity of the NCLB requirements
would lead a school to discourage certain students from
attending so as to improve the school's AYP scores.
MR. MORSE replied that that hypothesis was another reason that
the DEED wants to be able to track individual student growth.
Even transient students would be traceable through such a
system.
2:09:45 PM
SENATOR ELTON remarked that even urban districts see many
transient students.
MR. MORSE replied that most transient students come from another
school within the state and are thus currently traceable between
districts.
2:11:34 PM
SENATOR COWDERY asked whether males' or females' dropout rates
were higher.
MR. MORSE replied that he didn't have the information with him,
but that the DEED does track dropout rates by gender, ethnicity,
and grade level, and the fewest are in grades 7 and 8 and the
most in grade 11.
2:14:26 PM
CHAIR DAVIS asked for detail on school restructuring
consequences.
MR. MORSE replied that the DEED has worked with some districts
to restructure district and school administration and lay down
targets for schools to meet. Restructuring has been successful
in the past but is a very intensive process.
2:17:54 PM
CHAIR DAVIS asked if federal NCLB funding is adequate.
MR. MORSE replied that the assessment funding is inadequate, and
has remained at the same level for the past 5 years. Alaska
receives less funding than other states, and some ongoing costs
are not recognized by the law.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if some NCLB funds go directly to school
districts.
MR. MORSE said that some funding goes to DEED administration but
much is given to districts in the form of grants.
2:21:22 PM
CAROL COMEAU, Superintendent of the Anchorage School District
(ASD), said that the ASD supports the idea of using an
individual growth model, which would show progress better than
an across-the-board standard. She said that the assessment
department in her district is vastly under-funded and that the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is under-
funded as well.
She added that she would like to see the problem of the highly
qualified teachers requirement addressed, particularly in rural
Alaska. The ASD has been working with Senator Lisa Murkowski to
improve these issues.
2:26:31 PM
TOM BRANNON, Nome School Board member, said that the highly
qualified teacher requirement does not take proficiency into
account, which could be measured with a yearly individual growth
model.
2:28:30 PM
DR. WILLIAM POLLOCK, Director of the Center for Men and Young
Men at McLean Hospital, said that school-age boys have been
falling behind in learning for years, particularly in Alaska.
Boys do less well on proficiency exams, are more likely to drop
out of high school, and are less likely to attend college, where
there are 100 girls for every 77 males. Depression, suicide, and
crime rates are also higher among men than women. Change will
come from understanding and practicing gendered learning, taking
into account that boys learn to read and write later than girls.
Emotional connection in learning is important to health and
happiness as well as succeeding in school. 23 percent of
children with only one college-graduate parent are in the lowest
level of reading proficiency.
2:38:51 PM
CHAIR DAVIS asked Dr. Pollock for suggestions on improving the
problem.
DR. POLLOCK said that acknowledgement of the social and
emotional learning connection between teachers and students is
important, as well as parent involvement in schools and using
curricula that teach integration and understanding of different
learning levels.
He added that the earlier the intervention with these new types
of teaching skills, the more social problems are avoided later
on in boys' lives. Different behaviors in boys need to be
understood and accommodated with more physical learning
activities in "moving classrooms", free access to computers, and
more frequent recesses.
2:43:18 PM
SENATOR ELTON asked if NCLB exit exams were academically
discouraging to male students.
DR. POLLOCK replied that statistics show this is the case.
Assessments like NCLB are necessary, but tests should be more
inclusive of gender differences.
SENATOR ELTON said that he thought much of this improvement
would come from educating teachers.
DR. POLLOCK replied that he thought prevention and intervention
should be done simultaneously, and many teachers are not
currently learning effective techniques.
2:46:38 PM
SENATOR THOMAS said that education has become much less
structured in recent decades, and that NCLB seems to be
reinstating educational structure, but that Dr. Pollock's
research seemed to indicate that less traditional structure was
beneficial to students.
2:48:06 PM
DR. POLLOCK replied that the NCLB aims are positive, but
implementation is faulty and is even causing parents to withdraw
their children from public schools. Policies need to be adapted
realistically, which can be done at no extra cost.
2:50:04 PM
CHAIR DAVIS said that techniques need to be taught to teachers
while they are being trained, and before they enter classrooms.
She is also in favor of continuing education credits for
teachers.
DR. POLLOCK said that in order to enact such changes, there must
be a concerted effort by the state government and local schools
boards.
CHAIR DAVIS thanked Mr. Pollock for his testimony and, seeing no
further business, adjourned the committee meeting at 2:54:04 PM.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|