Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
01/24/2007 08:00 AM Senate SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
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| Overview: Alaska Statewide Mentor Project by the Department of Education | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
January 24, 2007
8:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins, Vice Chair
Senator Bettye Davis
Senator Gary Wilken
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Donny Olson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Overview: Alaska Statewide Mentor Project by the Department of
Education
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No action to consider
WITNESS REGISTER
Roger Sampson, Commissioner
Department of Education &
Early Development
th
801 W 10 St.
Juneau, AK 99801-1894
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in overview
Dr. Gary Whiteley
Department of Education &
Early Development
th
801 W 10 St.
Juneau, AK 99801-1894
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in overview
Barbara Thompson, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Education &
Early Development
th
801 W 10 St.
Juneau, AK 99801-1894
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in overview
Mary Francis, Executive Director
Alaska Council of School Administrators
th
326 4 Street
Suite 404
Juneau, AK 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: In favor of program
Bill Bjork
NEA-Alaska
114 Second Street
Juneau AK 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: In favor of program
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the meeting to order at 8:00:38 AM.
Present at the call to order were Senators Davis, Wilken,
Huggins, and Chair Stevens.
^OVERVIEW: ALASKA STATEWIDE MENTOR PROJECT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
CHAIR STEVENS announced the committee would be having an
overview from the Department of Education on its statewide
mentoring project, presented by ROGER SAMPSON, Commissioner,
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), Dr. GARY
WHITELEY, Department of Education Consultant, and BARBARA
THOMPSON, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Education & Early
Development.
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON announced they would be making a group
presentation and then respond to any questions the committee
might have. He clarified that he would be talking about
principal coaching as well as teacher mentoring across the State
of Alaska. He announced that the group had three goals: to
reduce the turnover rate of their teachers, increase the
effectiveness of principals, and increase student achievement
across the state. A pilot was run without State money for two
years with excellent results. The statewide retention rate has
been improved from 68 percent to 78 percent. They are also
using research data from ISER and the Department of Labor to
study the cost to the state of the teacher turnover, which was
resulting in a loss of approximately 18.5 million dollars a year
at the previous rate.
8:03:44 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON explained that nationally, 50 percent of
the teaching force is lost within five years of entering the
profession. His group is focusing on a way to stop the drain.
The model they're using for the teacher and principal mentoring
shows the results of 18 years of use in other regions, where the
retention rate is dramatically heightened. The mentor project is
clearly effective, and they have found that schools that are
making significant growth in student achievement always have
effective administrative instructional leaders. He noted,
however, that not all administrators in Alaska are receiving
proper leader training. Teachers need to be supported by the
building administrators.
8:05:41 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON emphasized that the mentoring program is
not just a rural program, but is in 41 districts across Alaska.
However they are unable to fill all the requests for the program
due to some travel constraints. The program has greatly
expanded in recent years, except for the number of mentors which
has not been increased as they have wished.
8:07:11 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON remarked that they have begun to draw more
heavily on recently retired teachers, who have greater
availability and do not drain the career pool. He then
introduced Gary Whiteley, the director of the principal coaching
division.
8:07:56 AM
MR. WHITELEY pointed out that the relationships with the
mentors, teachers, and principals are confidential. The
information is not shared with district administration.
8:08:42 AM
MR. WHITELEY referenced a brochure brought before the committee,
explaining the program training history within the last year.
The program serves 60 principals in 26 districts, with 9 part-
time coaches. They are moving more towards centralized-location
training for the principals' training in many areas. The three
major elements that impact student achievement are alignment and
coherence of curriculum, instructional time, and monitoring
progress.
8:11:33 AM
MR. WHITELEY began a PowerPoint presentation. He explained how
they use taped teaching sessions to train their teachers and
principals, looking for different teaching elements.
8:12:50 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON clarified that GLE refers to Grade Level
Expectations. They have a very precise "roadmap" for teachers
and administrators that leads to state standards in reading,
writing, and mathematics. Approximately 1000 actual assessments
addressing GLEs are accessible to teachers and administrators on
the State website.
8:13:55 AM
MR. WHITELEY explained that they base their programs on proven
research. Fairbanks, Anchorage, Ketchikan, and Juneau had
minimal turnover rates this year, and thus didn't use the
program's services. Superintendent turnover rates are at 70
percent in the last six years in Alaska. He explained that all
of their information is housed on the State website. Their
documents can be reviewed online, as well as a description of
the program and topics. He also provided the committee with a
list of program participants and their coaches. He emphasized
that the program is voluntary, and also that occasionally they
have had to advise people to seek other employment because they
felt they did not belong in the profession.
8:17:49 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON said that there are 9,000 certified
teachers in the state and 450 principals, and that while
everyone could benefit from mentoring, expansion is not
realistic; putting more focus on the principal coaching program
is more efficient and rapid. After spending 2-3 years
mentoring, 50 percent of mentors return to teaching and 25
percent move into leadership roles in schools. Schools that are
not meeting AYP standards in many areas usually do not have
effective leadership in the building.
8:20:33 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON offered to take questions.
8:20:39 AM
CHAIR STEVENS asked how one decides whether the program is
successful or not. Is it based on the retention rate?
8:21:16 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that those who are a "bad fit" in
education comprise a very small percentage. Generally teachers
that have good training are happier, more productive
professionals.
8:22:09 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked which practices have the greatest impact.
MR. WHITELEY responded that classroom-level practices have about
twice the impact on student achievement as do school-level
practices, and are within the control of the principal.
8:23:19 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked what level of exchange there was between
rural and urban schools.
8:23:44 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that effective instructors can do
so in both rural and urban settings, and this creates a rich
environment for mentors.
8:25:00 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS said that he was concerned that the mentors
might be usurping or replacing the principal's power.
8:25:30 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that most principals haven't been
trained to be effective instructional leaders.
8:26:03 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked how it's determined that one becomes a
principal. What is the qualification system?
8:27:15 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that there is a further preparatory
program which might not be effective enough, and that a method
was needed to more effectively align the training with the job.
They are currently working on redesigning the leadership
program. Only 1 of 5 administrators comes from the Alaska
university system, which is one of the primary reasons efforts
cannot be focused there. It is unrealistic to think that all
preparation can happen outside of the school or classroom.
8:29:09 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS remarked that the legislature had previously
recommended that they look into expanding the program to five
years, and asked if there was a standard test for becoming a
teacher.
8:29:47 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that all teachers must pass a
content-area test in order to become qualified.
8:30:29 AM
MR. WHITELEY said that a Wallace Foundation study showed that
principals learn on the job, and that many principals in rural
Alaska had no administrative experience.
8:31:43 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked what the turnover rate for superintendents
was, and remarked that he remembered it as being three to five
years.
8:32:10 AM
MR. WHITELEY replied that it takes five to six years to
implement changes in a district.
8:32:34 AM
CHAIR STEVENS remarked that superintendents are often in more
political positions.
8:32:45 AM
SENATOR WILKEN said that it might be helpful for the committee
to understand more of the inner workings of the program, and
asked what the typical interaction with the program was.
8:33:28 AM
MR. WHITELEY explained that a coach spends an average of two to
three days with the principals during site visits, and talks on
the phone once or twice a week with each principal; also there
is a bi-weekly conference call with all of his coaches. The
coach also supplies materials, resources, and offers support.
All of the coaches are part-time.
8:34:42 AM
SENATOR WILKEN remarked on the challenges to funding in the
history of the program, and that though the program was very
highly spoken of it would be a challenge to find money for it,
and also discussed various ways of finding money for the mentor
program.
8:39:02 AM
MS. THOMPSON replied that in this year's budget there is $2.7
million in a general fund request, and the University of Alaska
did contribute their usual $500,000.
8:40:13 AM
SENATOR WILKEN asked if the budget for the program was still $5
million.
8:40:22 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that the $5 million budget was not
enough to serve their goals for this year, and that the mentors
were overworked.
8:41:32 AM
SENATOR WILKEN asked for clarification on the number of teachers
that come from in-state.
8:41:43 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that it was one in five.
8:42:00 AM
MR. WHITELEY stated that Alaska post-secondary institutions can
only train up to 225 teachers a year.
8:42:24 AM
SENATOR WILKEN asked if every Alaskan-trained teacher had a job
upon graduation.
8:42:39 AM
MR. WHITELEY replied that not every teacher takes a job or is
hired, but that there are clearly more vacancies than
candidates.
8:42:47 AM
SENATOR DAVIS asked for clarification on the age of the program.
8:43:01 AM
MR. WHITELEY replied that they were in their fourth full year.
8:43:03 AM
SENATOR DAVIS asked how many mentors there were.
MR. WHITELEY replied that they currently had 27 mentors and nine
coaches, and that they wanted three more mentors and one more
coach. They did not receive the funding last year until it was
too late to recruit.
8:44:09 AM
SENATOR DAVIS asked for clarification on the budget totals, and
why they were asking for $5 million when the program would more
clearly benefit from $7 million.
MR. WHITELEY replied that the mentor program had prepared three
different budgets, and they have confidence that the legislature
will make the proper decision.
8:46:19 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked what the dropout rate was, and if it was
an indicator of success in the program?
8:46:51 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that the mentoring impact is
difficult to measure but the dropout rate remains high.
8:47:21 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked if there was a state-wide strategy to
abate the dropout rate.
8:48:13 AM
CHAIR STEVENS pointed out that several bills were to be
presented to the committee in the near future that dealt with
the subjects of drop-out rates and truancy.
8:48:57 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that it was a major concern of the
department as well, and was to be a concern of a state-wide
summit in Anchorage in April.
8:50:04 AM
SENATOR WILKEN asked if the recent Moore vs. State case made an
impression on the mentoring program.
8:50:31 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that the judge involved saw the
program as proactive and positive.
8:51:19 AM
MR. WHITELEY remarked that he testified in that case for 90
minutes and he agreed that the program was thought of
positively.
8:51:53 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said that he knew one of the coaches on the
program list and that he understood the very hard work. He
asked what percentage of the coaches were retired.
8:52:45 AM
COMMISSIONER SAMPSON replied that one third of their program's
mentors are retired or on a break, and that they are on contract
with the program. The other mentors are on loan, and receive
the same salary and are guaranteed a spot back in their
district. The least experienced has six years experience, and
the most has 31. All of the principal coaches are retired.
8:54:09 AM
CHAIR STEVENS asked if the budget includes funds from the Alaska
Student Loan Corporation.
8:54:33 AM
MS. THOMPSON replied that $1.2 million in funds to the program
come from secondary education, $2.7 million from general funds,
and the remaining is from federal funds and the university.
8:54:57 AM
CHAIR STEVENS asked if anyone from the audience would like to
comment.
MS. FRANCIS stated that the Alaska Council of School
Administrators was supportive of the program, and that they were
concerned with the retention of superintendents, and were very
happy to see them included in the program.
8:56:31 AM
BILL BJORK, NEA-Alaska, stated that NEA-Alaska supported the
program and wanted to see it expanded because they recognize the
cost of replacing teachers, and the program is a good investment
fiscally and quality-wise.
8:58:25 AM
SENATOR WILKEN called the committee's attention to a summary of
school funding programs published under the Knowles
administration, helpful for seeing the different ways that
educational funding is distributed.
9:02:25 AM
CHAIR STEVENS, seeing no further business, adjourned the Special
Committee on Education meeting at 9:02 a.m.
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