The ninth meeting of the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2001, at 1:45 PM, in Room 131 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Harry Moberly, Presiding Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator David K. Karem, Co-Chair; Representative Harry Moberly, Co-Chair; Senator Daniel Kelly; Representatives Mary Lou Marzian, Frank Rasche, and Mark Treesh.
Guests: Libby Marshall, Kentucky School Boards Association; J.C. Lindle University of Kentucky; Mike Carr, Kentucky Association of School Administrators; Sandra Shroat Bush, Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement Systems; Mary Ann Taylor, Office of Family Resource and Youth Service Centers; Roland Haun, Kentucky Association of School Superintendents.
LRC Staff: Sandy Deaton, Evelyn Gibson, and Kelley McQuerry.
Representative Karem moved for approval of the minutes from the October 2, 2001, meeting and Representative Marzian seconded the motion. The motion carried by voice vote.
Representative Moberly asked Dr. Ken Henry, Office of Education Accountability (OEA), to discuss the annual report. Dr. Henry said that the OEA reviewed the response from the Department of Education and had made some changes. He said the department disagreed with the recommendations to give school councils the authority to hire staff. They also disagreed with the recommendation to have the regional service centers to monitor the primary program.
Senator Kelly said that the subcommittee would like to see a draft of a new report format. He expressed concern that the current report makes recommendations and puts the subcommittee in the position of having to accept every recommendation in the report. He said that he would like to see a new format that sets out an issue that OEA identifies as an important issue, some background discussion, and then some options for recommendations. He said that then, when the committee accepts the report, it will be after discussion which may drive further debate among the committee. He said that all the recommendations should follow the same format. He said that under statute, OEA is required to provide an opportunity for response to affected parties prior to the report becoming public and he would like to see a process for that review. He said that in the future the subcommittee would like to see who had reviewed it and the response.
Senator Kelly made a motion for re-formatting the annual report in accordance with the previous discussion and Senator Karem seconded the motion. The motion carried by voice vote.
Representative Moberly asked Dr. Henry to present the workplan. Dr. Henry said that the examination of current practices addressing statutory duties looked for means to improve functions, and address new statutory duties that requires the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee’s (EAARS) direction and approval. He said that the staff assignment by functional responsibility within OEA drew upon individual expertise and experience. He said that the first part of the workplan relates to school district monitoring noting that OEA usually visits approximately ten percent of the districts. He said that other monitoring includes research of the effects of the reform, the Kentucky Board of Education, Educational Professional Standards Board, the Educational Cooperatives, and reports from the Commissioner of Education and the Kentucky Department of Education. He said that the review of the finance system is a three-part review of equity, adequacy, and the impact of formulaic weights.
Senator Karem said that OEA should make the work plan simpler by telling the subcommittee three or four issues that are important. Senator Kelly suggested that the current workplan tells what OEA should be doing, but it does not tell the subcommittee what is going to happen in the next year or what subjects will be issues, so that priorities can be set.
Senator Karem made the motion that Dr. Henry and OEA be directed to bring back some important areas for the subcommittee to concentrate on within the boundaries of the duties as stated in the workplan. Representative Marzian seconded the motion. After a brief discussion the motion was approved by voice vote.
Senator Karem said that if the subcommittee is to be an agent of change, there needs to be interaction with OEA. Representative Moberly said there needs to be a continuing pattern of over-site dialog with the subcommittee.
With no further business the meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.