Call to Order and Roll Call
The 6th meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Education was held on Wednesday, December 18, 2013, at 1:00 PM, in Room 154 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Derrick Graham, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Representative Derrick Graham, Co-Chair; Senators Walter Blevins Jr., David P. Givens, Denise Harper Angel, Jimmy Higdon, Gerald A. Neal, and Katie Stine; Representatives Regina Bunch, Leslie Combs, Jeffery Donohue, C.B. Embry Jr., Jim Glenn, Richard Heath, Joni L. Jenkins, Brian Linder, Mary Lou Marzian, Donna Mayfield, Reginald Meeks, Charles Miller, Marie Rader, Jody Richards, Tom Riner, Rita Smart, Wilson Stone, Addia Wuchner, and Jill York.
Guests: Erin Klarer, Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority; Marty White, Kentucky Association of School Administrators; Ross Boggess, Prichard Committee; Sahil Nain, Prichard Committee; Jaime Smith, Prichard Committee; Mahika Gupta, Prichard Committee; Sahar Mohammadzadeh, Prichard Committee; Sue Cain, Council on Postsecondary Education; Erik Jarboe, LearNet Inc.; Wayne Young, Kentucky Association of School Administrators; Clyde Caudill, Jefferson County Public Schools and Kentucky Association of School Administrators; Sandy Deaton, Prichard Committee.
LRC Staff: Kenneth Warlick, Jo Carole Ellis, Ben Boggs, Janet Stevens, and Daniel Clark.
Approval of the November 4, 2013 Minutes
Upon motion from Representative Leslie Combs, seconded by Representative Jim Glenn, the November 4, 2013 minutes were approved by voice vote.
Reports from Subcommittee Meetings
Representative Reginald Meeks reported that the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education met to discuss digital learning opportunities and technological integration efforts in public school classrooms and curricula. Representative Wilson Stone reported that the Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education met and heard a presentation from Commissioner Terry Holliday and the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) staff about the 2013 statewide assessment results.
Executive Reorganization Order 2013-853
Dale Winkler, Associate Commissioner, Office of Career and Technical Education, Kentucky Department of Education, said in 2013 the General Assembly created the new Office of Career and Technical education. Executive Order 2013-853 would permit the office to create two divisions and five branches within those divisions.
Collaborative Center for Literacy Development
George G. Hruby, Executive Director, Collaborative Center for Literacy Development (CCLD), said CCLD was created by the General Assembly in 1998 to provide high quality professional development and research on literacy programs in Kentucky. CCLD’s main professional development strategies are to attract the best teachers, provide them with challenging graduate level instruction provided by top literacy faculty members, use scientific research-grounded professional materials, and require yearlong field-testing of teacher developed instructional units.
Dr. Hruby said CCLD has reached over 5,000 teachers over the past 15 years. Dr. Hruby said teachers need research-based guidance to develop instruction and the professional autonomy to employ and improve it effectively. Also, teachers require peer expertise and support from mentors. Teachers who have received challenging, quality professional development make the best mentors to other teachers.
Dr. Hruby explained that the Reading Recovery program is an intervention approach for first graders who are falling behind in reading skills, permitting those students to catch up with the foundational skills of reading previously missed.
Dr. Hruby said that several CCLD programs are underfunded: specifically the Adolescent Literacy Project, the Early Childhood and Family Literacy project, and the new Comprehensive Intervention Model (K-5). Dr. Hruby said that CCLD funding has been cut over the past three years and that KDE is redirecting flow-through funds to other programs.
In response to Representative Addia Wuchner’s question regarding the methodology CCLD uses in professional development about dyslexia, Dr. Hruby said CCLD does not incorporate the Orton Gillingham methodology.
In response to Senator David Givens’ question regarding KDE’s budget cuts to CCLD, Hiren Desai, Associate Commissioner, KDE, said KDE had redirected some funds across agency programs to support implementation of 2009 Senate Bill 1.
Representative Derrick Graham stated that it is essential to invest money in literacy and early childhood education. In response to Representative Derrick Graham’s question regarding a letter sent by KDE to members of the committee, Mr. Desai said he could not recall the date of the letter but would provide a copy to committee members.
Dr. Terry Holliday, Commissioner, KDE, said the department has had decreases in funds across the board. Dr. Holliday stated that the scope and impact of other initiatives provided by KDE are more effective at improving teaching and learning than the programs offered by CCLD.
Task Force on Teacher Effectiveness
Stu Silberman, Executive Director, and Cindy Heine, Associate Executive Director, Prichard Committee, said the Team on Teacher Effectiveness examined a broad range of issues and heard from many classroom teachers and experts from Kentucky and elsewhere. Ms. Heine said recruitment of top level postsecondary students is critical to improving the teaching profession. A related component is improvement in the recruitment, admission standards, and training in teacher preparation programs.
Becky Sagan, Co-Chair, Team on Teacher Effectiveness, recommends that school districts not place new teachers initially into the most challenging classroom situations. A new teacher needs to be supported by a professional learning community within the school.
Ms. Sagan discussed teacher retention. She said, in most cases, teachers do not leave the profession because of salary, but because they feel a lack of respect for the work they are doing. Ms. Sagan said working conditions impact retention. The TELL survey highlighted the importance of time during the day for teachers to collaborate with each other to improve instructional practices.
Ms. Heine said the revision of Kentucky’s teacher evaluation system is one of the most important issues in education. The new system that KDE has put into place includes multiple indicators that are important in a teacher’s professional growth and for measuring a teacher’s effectiveness.
Ms. Heine said the team examined but did not make recommendations on teacher tenure. The team suggested that there be more in-depth studies about tenure to see whether it can be changed or adjusted.
Andrew Brennan, Student, Dunbar High School, and Prichard Committee member, said many of Kentucky students want to be a part of improving the classroom experience. Teachers affect the lives of students in so many ways inside and outside of the classroom and students are capable of providing substantive feedback to help teachers improve learning and the teaching experience.
In response to Representative Charlie Miller’s question regarding whether education majors ACT scores are lower than other majors, Ms. Heine said the team had only collected ACT scores on elementary education majors and could not make generalizations.
Senator David Givens thanked the Prichard Committee for its leadership in education policy. In response to Senator Givens’ question about the steps, Mr. Silberman recommended collaboration with KDE on new assessment tools and the Vanguard Project.
Representative Derrick Graham thanked the Prichard Committee for its presentation.
AdvanceKentucky Five Year Review: 2008-2013
Joanne Lang, Executive Director, AdvanceKentucky, said AdvanceKentucky has impacted over 88 schools. In five years, Kentucky’s statewide AP performance significantly outpaced the nation with a 100 percent increase in all subjects, including a 183 percent increase among minorities taking math and science. As AdvanceKentucky classes graduate, the students go to college better prepared, needing far fewer remedial courses and carrying higher course loads. Also, a typical school in the AdvanceKentucky program has seen significant gains from the first year. There has been a 413 percent increase from the first year through year five in the average annual AP qualifying scores in Math, Science, and English.
Kellie Lee, AP Math Teacher, Glasgow High School, said she started out as a special education teacher and went back to college to get a secondary math degree. After she received her secondary math degree she became an AP statistics teacher and started with only ten students. Ms. Lee said because her school was a cohort two school, AdvanceKentucky provided her a mentor to help with the AP statistics class she taught. Ms. Lee said in 2010 her school was a school at the bottom 50 percent of achievement amongst Kentucky schools. Now her school is in the top six percent amongst Kentucky schools. She gives a lot of the credit to AdvanceKentucky.
Anthony Mires, Director of Educational Services, Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation, said research shows exposing more students to AP courses will make a positive difference for them after high school.
In response to Senator Givens’ question regarding AP statistics courses, Ms. Lang said when AdvanceKentucky first started there were almost no AP statistics courses in Kentucky. Ms. Lang said she cannot recall the number of AP statistics courses in Kentucky currently but would get that information to the committee.
Representative Derrick Graham thanked Ms. Lee and Mr. Mires for the service they have provided to the students of Kentucky.
Senator Walter Blevins said there are not enough teachers qualified to teach AP courses in his district.
In response to Senator Walter Blevins’ statement about qualified teachers to teach AP courses, Ms. Lang said a special certification is not needed to teach them.
Representative Joni Jenkins thanked and complimented AdvanceKentucky on the presentation.
With no further business before the committee, the meeting adjourned at 3:16 p.m.