Call to Order and Roll Call
The meeting of the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee was held on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, at 10:00 AM, in Room 129 of the Capitol Annex. Senator Mike Wilson, Co-Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Mike Wilson, Co-Chair; Representative James Kay, Co-Chair; Senator Max Wise; Representatives Linda Belcher, John Carney, and Mary Lou Marzian.
Legislative Guest: Representative Derrick Graham.
Guests: Clyde Caudill, Kentucky Association of School Administrators; Sabrina Olds, Office of Education Accountability; and Gregory Chaney, Kentucky Association of Professional Educators.
LRC Staff: Janet Stevens, Jo Carole Ellis, Joshua Collins, and Daniel Clark.
Approval of December 10, 2014, Meeting Minutes
Upon motion from Representative James Kay and second by Senator Max Wise, the minutes were approved by voice vote.
Review of Administrative Regulations:
Kevin Brown, Associate Commissioner and General Counsel, Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), said 703 KAR 5:200, 703 KAR 5:225, and 703 KAR 5:240 are regulations that implement the assessment and accountability system pursuant to Senate Bill 1 (2009).
Rhonda Sims, Associate Commissioner, Office of Assessment and Accountability, KDE, explained the suggested amendments to administrative regulation 703 KAR 5:200 which establishes the assessment and accountability requirements for students. The summary of the suggested amendments is located in the committee meeting folders in the Legislative Research Commission (LRC) library.
In response to Representative John Carney’s question regarding free and reduced lunch calculations, Ms. Sims said if a school has a certain level of students that receive free and reduced lunch, then that school can qualify to have all students on free and reduced lunch. For purposes of SEEK funding calculations, KDE asked schools to report if a student qualified for free and reduced lunch under the basic qualification rules. Mr. Brown said the Community Eligibility Program is very good service for certain school districts but the United States Department of Agriculture has very strict rules of how food service monies can be utilized.
In response to Representative Belcher’s question regarding students with disabilities who do not qualify for alternate assessment being included in Gap groups, Ms. Sims said KDE reported and included any student with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) along with any student who has a severe disability in Gap groups. These students have a special assessment with accommodations and are included in all accountability assessments.
In response to Chairman Mike Wilson’s question regarding measurements of high school growth and end-of-course assessment, Ms. Sims said there is still a measure of growth from the tenth grade Plan test to the eleventh grade ACT test. The Explore assessment and Plan assessment will no longer be used after 2016. KDE will need to move forward with other options regarding end-of-course assessments.
In response to Senator Max Wise’s question regarding testing measurements with dual credit and career and technical education, Ms. Sims said there are many measures regarding career and technical education that show the students’ ability to be college and career ready. Career and technical education offers many industry certificates along with a state produced assessment. Mr. Brown said a dual credit task force was formed last year and finished their recommendations before the 2015 Regular Session.
In response to Representative John Carney’s question regarding students with disabilities and assessments, Ms. Sims said the idea of using a text reader for students with disabilities was brought forth this year for around 3,000 students. A text reader gives a consistent reader for all students who qualify for a reader, and helps take pressure off schools finding people to be readers for students with disabilities.
In response to Chairman Mike Wilson’s question regarding the calculation of graduation rates, Ms. Sims said low incident students who take an alternate assessment are not calculated favorably into the graduation rate. The federal guidelines for graduation rates are structured around a standard diploma and the guidelines do not recognize an alternate diploma.
In response to Representative Mary Lou Marzian’s question regarding dropout age and the cohort graduation rate, Ms. Sims said the new dropout age should not have a negative effect on the cohort graduation rate.
Representative Mary Lou Marzian moved to accept the technical amendments to 703 KAR 5:200, and Representative James Kay seconded the motion. The motion carried by voice vote.
Ms. Sims explained the suggested amendments to administrative regulation 703 KAR 5:225 which establishes the statewide system of accountability, recognition, support, and consequences, and reportedly addresses waiver requirements of the U.S. Department of Education relating to the 20 U.S.C. 7861 (the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001). The summary of the suggested amendments is located in the committee meeting folders in the LRC library.
In response to Representative Derrick Graham’s question regarding KDE’s definition of improvement in relation to focus schools, Ms. Sims said improvement is defined by any focus school that has moved out of the bottom five percent, met the Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) for two years, and had any change in score by a tenth of a percent.
Representative John Carney moved to accept the technical amendments to 703 KAR 5:225, and Senator Max Wise seconded the motion. The motion carried by voice vote.
Ms. Sims and Mr. Brown explained the suggested amendments to administrative regulation 703 KAR 5:240 which provides definitions and procedures for schools, districts, and the state to use when assigning students and schools for purposes of the state-required assessment and accountability program. The summary of the suggested amendments is located in the committee meeting folders in the LRC library.
Representative Mary Lou Marzian moved to accept the technical amendments to 703 KAR 5:240, and Representative James Kay seconded the motion. The motion carried by voice vote.
Adjournment
With no further business before the committee, the meeting adjourned at 11:12 AM.