SB 32-COLLEGE CREDIT FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS  11:21:13 AM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the next order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 32(FIN), "An Act establishing the Alaska middle college program for public school students; relating to the powers of the University of Alaska; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee was CSSB 32(FIN).] 11:21:50 AM The committee took an at-ease from 11:21 a.m. to 11:23 a.m. 11:24:01 AM SENATOR GARY STEVENS, Alaska State Legislature, prime sponsor, introduced CSSB 32(FIN). He stated that the bill would pertain to "dual credits" among middle colleges and larger school districts to help prepare high school students for post- graduation and would provide some cost savings. He suggested that it could further reduce college dropout rates by increasing student preparedness. He added that the classes would be university academic level classes. 11:27:25 AM TIM LAMKIN, Staff, Senator Gary Steven, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Senator Stevens, prime sponsor of CSSB 32(FIN), added that the University of Alaska and many school districts had provided guidance in the development of the bill. He encouraged the committee to reference letters of support [included in the committee packet.] MR. LAMKIN presented a sectional analysis of CSSB 32(FIN) [included in the committee packet], which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Sec. 1: AS 14.07.168 Regarding an annual report submitted to the Legislature by the state Board of Education and Early Development, amended to include in that report a current summary of middle college activity and outcomes in the state. Sec. 2: AS 14.30 is amended to add a new Article 15, relating to the Alaska Middle College Program. AS 14.30.780 (a) Establishes a Middle College program for eligible students in high school to enroll in courses at the University of Alaska, and to earn credit toward a college degree as well as credit toward high school graduation. (b) UA shall enter into an agreement with each school district that elects to participate in the AMC, giving access to any eligible student to participate in the program. (c) Eligibility: Establishes baseline student eligibility requirements to include being enrolled in a public school, be in high school (grades 9-12), to not have already received a high school diploma, and demonstrate to the satisfaction of both the school district and the UA as being academically competent to complete college level coursework. (d) Awareness: School districts electing to participate to establish and maintain awareness of AMC course offerings and eligibility requirements to students and parents, including the academic and social responsibilities of participating in the AMC. (e) Financing: UA and school districts shall include in their respective MOU a manner of sharing costs associated with providing the AMC program locally, including tuition waivers, scholarships, and other means of reducing program costs and finding efficiencies. (f) Course Quality: specifies that courses offered by the AMC must meet quality and content standards, including quality instruction, and regular course and instructor review. (g) Credit Cap: Under the AMC program, students may not enroll in more than 15 credit hours per semester, nor earn more than a total of 60 credits. (h) ADM: Holds harmless a school district's Average Daily Membership (ADM) calculation. Students participating in the AMC program are to still be counted toward the respective school district's ADM. (i) Transcripts: Allows the UA and school districts to exchange student transcript information for purposes of determining program eligibility or for graduation requirements. (j) Definitions: Provides definitions for use of the term "program" in this section as being the AMC program, and for "school district" as consistent with other uses of that term in statute, as defined on AS 14.30.350. Sec. 3:AS 14.40.040(c), relating to the general powers and duties of the UA, requiring the University to implement the AMC and regularly review the AMC course content and quality of instruction to meet national standards for dual credit, enter into MOUs with participating school districts, and award student credit for course completion of AMC courses, which will be fully transferable within the UA system. MR. LAMKIN explained that each district has its own financial needs, and that credit caps were included so that students may not obtain an associate degree. 11:32:25 AM REPRESENTATIVE VANCE inquired about similarities between the Jumpstart program and the proposed legislation. MR. LAMKIN answered that they have similarities, and that invited testimony would provide additional information. 11:33:08 AM DEENA BISHOP, Ph.D., Superintendent, Anchorage School District, stated that the program would occur on-site, including virtual courses, and would provide concurrent [university and high school] credit. She stated that middle college provides an opportunity for students to engage in a more rigorous academic program. She stated that the Anchorage School District has approximately 280 students participating in the program, of which 160 students have 12 credits or more at the University of Alaska. She stated that the proposed legislation could aid in college preparedness. She stated that the bill would benefit both high school students and the University of Alaska and would be available to multiple school districts in Alaska and expressed her commitment to ensure that all Alaskan students be provided with the opportunities. 11:37:58 AM REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN referenced page 2 of the committee packet item entitled, "SB 32 Additional Info_MOA_AMCS 2018-2020.pdf," referencing tuition and fees and asked what the cost to the district is and how it would be paid considering that costs paid would make funds unavailable for other use. DR. BISHOP answered that Alaska Middle College had been established as a school, and the students enrolled in the school generate the funds. She explained that the fees are calculated on a separate basis. REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN asked from where the tuition money is allocated. DR. BISHOP answered that the money comes from the base student allocation (BSA) within the school district, and from block grants. REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN offered his interpretation of Dr. Bishop's answer that the BSA is partially budgeted for the middle college program and other funds [supplement] the BSA. DR. BISHOP noted that the Anchorage School District has a lower BSA compared with that of the Lower Yukon-Kuskokwim [School District.] REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN asked whether students from the Lower Yukon-Kuskokwim School District enrolled in the program are attending the vocational-technical programs and college classes. DR. BISHOP confirmed this as correct and added that other students are invited to participate. REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN asked the total number of students enrolled in the program, to which Dr. Bishop answered 282. REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN requested a copy of Annex A, the middle college fees and payment schedule, to which Dr. Bishop agreed. 11:44:56 AM REPRESENTATIVE STORY stated that the program was an example of best practices in education. She asked whether the middle college is perceived to be a separate school and is of determinate size for the calculation of the BSA. DR. BISHOP answered that, within the Anchorage School District, the middle college would be comparable to an alternative school. REPRESENTATIVE STORY encouraged the use of federal scholarship funds to expand the program to additional students and asked whether there exist students in need of scholarships. DR. BISHOP answered that there may exist districts other than Anchorage with students in need of scholarships and expressed her support for the idea of expanding access to those students. She added that the Alaska Performance Scholarship could supplement the program to enable students to become teachers in the third and fourth years of college. CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked for additional information regarding the third- and fourth-year educational track. DR. BISHOP explained that there exists a new program that would employ the middle college for the general education requirements and the next two years the student would be enrolled in college. She added that MOUs are in place to cover full tuition with a target to underrepresented students such as Alaska Natives and other demographics. CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked whether two-year the program was associated with the University of Alaska educational program or an undergraduate program. DR. BISHOP answered that the University of Alaska Anchorage School of Education does not have accreditation and would be the school at which students meet the general education requirements, and that the education certificate would be earned from a different university in Alaska, which is yet to be identified. She added that students in the program would return to locations to teach in Alaska for two years. CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked whether the two potential Alaska Schools were the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Education and the Alaska School of Education at University of Alaska Southeast. DR. BISHOP confirmed this as correct and added that the University of Alaska Anchorage offered courses in special education in grades kindergarten through eighth. CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked how many agreements and how many students exist other than those from the Anchorage School District and the Lower Yukon-Kuskokwim School District. MR. LAMKIN answered that the program had grown to include enrollment of students from Kodiak and the Matanuska-Susitna area in addition to those from Anchorage and the Lower Yukon- Kuskokwim districts. He noted that the bill before the committee would expand the program to all Alaska school districts. CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked the total number of students from districts other than Anchorage and Lower Yukon-Kuskokwim. MR. LAMKIN offered to provide the number of students in follow up to the committee. 11:52:46 AM REPRESENTATIVE KAUFMAN asked whether the proposed system is subject to market demand for career paths other than education. DR. BISHOP answered that other career paths exist within the middle college and the program had been conceived to provide general education with an emphasis on college preparation. She noted that discussions have been taking place with the College of Public Policy and Governance with the University of Alaska to develop programs in conjunction with the middle college. REPRESENTATIVE KAUFMAN asked whether there is an inherent focus in academia rather than in other programs. DR. BISHOP answered no, and the College of Career and Technical Education at the University of Alaska Anchorage had been the first participant in the program. She added that the most difficult courses were those general academic classes such as math and focus had been made in the program to ensure that credits for those classes were transferable to other institutions. REPRESENTATIVE KAUFMAN described a traditional educational structure as consisting of kindergarten through twelfth grade, community college, and the higher university level institutions and asked Dr. Bishop for a comparison of the respective benefits and shortcomings between the traditional structure and the proposed structure that offers a middle college. DR. BISHOP emphasized that the systems should cater to the targeted students and should be "nimble" to address needs such as workforce needs. She added that there exist over 100 certificates available in the University of Alaska system and that those should be driven by the needs identified in the workforce. MR. LAMKIN added that this program includes Career and Technical Education programs such as welding, automotive, and carpentry programs for high school students to begin training. 11:59:05 AM PAUL LAYER, Ph.D., Vice President, Academics, Students, & Research, University of Alaska, echoed previous testimony that characterized the program as win-win-win for students, the university, and school districts for high school students into university-level programs gaining both high school graduation credits as well as the potential to earn an associate's degree. He added that many students in the program had entered the university system for a variety of courses of study. He stated that, in addition to the Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna middle college programs, there was also a Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, Kodiak School District middle college program, and the Kenai Peninsula College Jumpstart program. He stated that there exit different levels of engagement between the school districts and the programs in the different locations. He noted that there is also the University of Alaska Fairbanks' and the University of Alaska Southeast's Alaska Advantage Program which is among other programs that offer virtual educational opportunities for students from any district across the state who may not have access to a local campus. He stated that the virtual middle college program has over 300 participants from more than 30 school districts. He added that the classes result in college credit for students. He estimated the total number of enrollees across all programs and platform to be over 700 students. 12:05:30 PM REPRESENTATIVE VANCE asked what the course completion success rate had been for enrollees. DR. LAYER estimated the pass rates at equal to or higher than students in traditional programs. MR. LAMKIN stated that, based on national data, students enrolled in middle college programs have substantially higher graduation rates and increased likelihood of entering a higher education program. He noted that the proposed bill contains a reporting requirement that would reveal the requested data. REPRESENTATIVE VANCE referred to page 2, on line 25 and asked whether students enrolled in homeschool programs would be eligible to participate in the program. MR. LAMKIN answered that they would. REPRESENTATIVE VANCE expressed her support for the bill and explained that she had a child who had successfully participated in the program and had earned college credit prior to high school graduation. CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS expressed his support for the bill. 12:09:56 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS referred to Section 2(f) of the bill and asked whether other institutions of higher education had been considered for participation in the program, including the Alaska Pacific University. MR. LAMKIN said subsection (f) addressed accreditation [requirements] including accreditation of virtual institutions. DR. LAYER added that the bill would also allow for high school teachers to obtain certification to teach dual-credit classes. He added that no agreement exists with the Alaska Pacific University but that one could be sought. CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked for an example of a district accrediting of a teacher. DR. LAYER answered that certification of teachers had occurred often and had been the basis for the dual-credit program from its inception. CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS asked for anecdotal observations of matriculation of students from high school entering the university system. DR. BISHOP answered that 70 - 78 percent of students enrolled in the middle college program remain enrolled in the university system. 12:15:39 PM REPRESENTATIVE KAUFMAN asked the sponsor and other participants to follow up with the committee as to whether the annual reporting requirements contain metrics to drive [improving] performance of the program. 12:16:27 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that CSSB 32(FIN) was held over.