Call to Order and Roll Call
The 6th meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Education was held on Monday, November 9, 2015, 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: Senator Mike Wilson, Co-Chair; Representative Derrick Graham, Co-Chair; Senators Julie Raque Adams, Jared Carpenter, Danny Carroll, David P. Givens, Jimmy Higdon, Alice Forgy Kerr, Gerald A. Neal, Reginald Thomas, Johnny Ray Turner, Stephen West, and Max Wise; Representatives Linda Belcher, George Brown Jr., Regina Bunch, John Carney, Jeffery Donohue, Kelly Flood, Cluster Howard, James Kay, Mary Lou Marzian, Reginald Meeks, Charles Miller, Ruth Ann Palumbo, Marie Rader, Jody Richards, Tom Riner, Bart Rowland, Rita Smart, Wilson Stone, David Watkins, and Addia Wuchner.
Guests: Craig, Susan, and Morgan Guess, Paducah, Kentucky; Erin Klarer, Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority; and Clyde Caudill, Kentucky Association of School Administrators.
LRC Staff: Jo Carole Ellis, Ben Boggs, Joshua Collins, Janet Stevens, and Amy Tolliver.
Representative Charlie Miller introduced special guests from his district, Sam Corbet, Carol Haddad, and Debbie Westland and thanked them for their many years of service in the field of education.
Reports from Subcommittee Meetings
Representative Reginald Meeks reported that the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education met to hear presentations on university foundations at Kentucky’s public postsecondary institutions. The Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education also heard a report from the Office of Career and Technical Education. Senator Danny Carroll reported that the Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education met to hear presentations about the United Way, Born Learning Academies, and Driven by Toyota. The subcommittee also heard a presentation from the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood on the newly created Superintendent School Readiness Toolbox and received a copy of the state’s 2015 Early Childhood Profile, produced by the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics.
Kentucky Youth Bullying Prevention Taskforce
Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes, Cabinet for Health and Family Services, stated that the Kentucky Youth Bullying Prevention Task Force, established in October 2014, is charged with developing recommendations based on proven comprehensive bullying prevention strategies to lead to safe schools and communities. The task force issued its final report in October 2015. Secretary Haynes stated that the issue of bullying must be recognized and comprehensively addressed as a community-wide public health issue, rather than a school-specific issue.
Secretary Haynes stated that the four main recommendations of the task force are: 1) adopt a formal definition of bullying to help differentiate between bullying behavior and other types of unwanted behavior; 2) the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) should continue its support for the adoption of evidence-based standards and programs supporting a positive climate and culture within schools; 3) school districts should invest in and support mental health counselors as a preventive measure; and 4) a state-level agency or office should be established to coordinate and support bullying prevent efforts.
Kelly Foster, Associate Commissioner, Office of Next Generation Schools and Districts, KDE, discussed KDE’s services and supports relating to bullying prevention. She stated that KDE tracks the number of bullying calls they receive, directs callers to needed resources, compiles the Safe Schools Annual Statistical Report based on incident data reported into Infinite Campus, provides a bullying and harassment webpage, and provides training to educators on novice reduction and school learning culture and environment. KDE also provides the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program training and the Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) web-based training on bullying prevention. Ms. Foster added that the Kentucky Center for Instructional Discipline and the Kentucky Center or School Safety offer trainings and numerous resources on bullying prevention.
Morgan Guess, Lone Oak Middle School Student, of Paducah, Kentucky spoke about being bullied by a classmate when she was 8 years old. She said she appreciates the opportunity to serve on the taskforce and be a voice for students suffering in silence. She said Kentucky needs to establish a bullying definition that every citizen understands and every school uses; recognize bullying as a public health issue; and form a culture of kindness that focuses on creating empathy, valuing diversity, and leadership. Miss. Guess added that schools need to welcome parents as partners in the room when students are questioned. She thanked the legislators who served on the Bullying Prevention Task Force and stated that all Kentucky kids are counting on all state legislators to work toward changing the culture of bullying.
In response to Representative Linda Belcher’s question about students bullying teachers, Secretary Haynes said that the taskforce focused on student to student bullying and did not look at student-to-teacher bullying.
Senator Julie Raque Adams thanked Morgan Guess for her courage and stated that her son’s school implemented the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program that was very effective for the younger kids.
Senator Mike Wilson thanked Morgan Guess for standing up and sounding the alarm that bullying is wrong and must stop. He said he appreciated the opportunity to serve with her on the taskforce.
In response to a question from Senator Danny Carroll, Morgan Guess said that her involvement on the taskforce opened her eyes to how widespread bullying is, which has prompted her to want to make an even bigger difference.
Representative Mary Lou Marzian suggested that the taskforce look into addressing the problem of students using cell phones for bullying.
Representative Rita Smart praised Morgan Guess for her taking a stand for students like Reagan Carter of Bardstown, Kentucky who committed suicide as a result of being bullied. She said we must make it a priority to address this issue to protect students and teachers from bullying.
Representative John Carney said that cyber bullying using Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat is the biggest issue he deals with in his role as school safety coordinator. He said providing positive adult modeling of how we should treat one another is our number one defense against bullying.
Chairman Derrick Graham thanked Morgan Guess for her testimony and Secretary Haynes for her excellent leadership of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS).
STARS for Kids Now
Terry Tolan, Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood gave an update on the expansion of the state’s child care quality rating and improvement system, STARS for KIDS NOW. She said all public-funded programs must now participate in the program. A total of 1,431 child care programs are required to participate and 383 programs voluntarily participate. Ms. Tolan stated that participation has increased from 42 percent of licensed and certified programs in October 2013 to 76 percent in September 2015.
Joe Roberts, Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge Project Manager, Governor’s Office of Early Childhood, presented an update on the Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System (TQRIS) six-month pilot. He said the pilot began in July 2015 to identify barriers and ensure the system has the right standards and indicators in place and in the right sequence to help programs continually improve. Mr. Roberts said the pilot is currently in the data collection phase and obtained a 30 percent response from the first round of surveys. The pilot will run through the end of this year. The first three months of 2016 will be focused on analyzing data and developing incentive and reimbursement strategies before permanent roll out in July 2016.
In response to Senator Danny Carroll’s question about Florida based Kaplan Inc., Ms. Tolan said that the Kaplan account was set up for purposes of administering incentives for centers involved in the TQRIS pilot program. The centers receive a credit for purchasing materials and supplies that help them improve the quality of their programs based on their environmental assessment.
Linda Hampton, Race to the Top STARS Coordinator for CHFS, stated that Kaplan was chosen through the University of Kentucky’s bid process. The university manages the pilot and the bid process. Materials are available for purchase to centers through their own designated portal on the Kaplan website. Ms. Hampton said the materials are aligned with the environmental rating scale for the centers. The centers also receive technical assistance from coaches in purchasing materials.
In response to Senator Danny Carroll’s questions about pilot project staff tenure and long term plan for the STARS for Kids Now program, Ms. Tolan said that House Bill 234 specifies that the tenure of grant-funded staff will end at the end of the grant period. The goal is to make a steep improvement over the grant period in program ratings and quality through the additional targeted staff support creating a support structure that won’t require continuous maintenance. Ms. Tolan said that two free on-line modules have been created to offer ongoing support to providers in earning credit toward their required number of professional development hours. A third on-line module will launch in December.
Kindergarten Readiness Camps
Sam Corbett, Executive Director, Jefferson County Public Education Foundation, provided information about a model public-private partnership kindergarten readiness program in Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS). He said three kindergarten readiness camps were successfully implemented in JCPS during the summer of 2015.
Jimmy Wathen, Early Childhood Specialist, JCPS, explained that JCPS partnered with the CE&S Foundation to support the three camp locations that included 20 classrooms, 20 teachers, and 330 incoming kindergarten students. Karen Branham, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, JCPS, stated that of the students who attended the kindergarten camps regardless of attendance rate, 70.9 percent scored ready to attend kindergarten on the state kindergarten screening test compared to 51.9 percent of all JCPS kindergarten students.
Mr. Corbett said that plans for next year include expanding the program from an approximately $250,000 program to a $1 million initiative touching approximately 1,100 children.
Representative Derrick Graham stated that this program is a good example of how the business community can have a major impact on the education community.
In response to Senator Danny Carroll’s question about private child development centers and early childhood assistance funds, Ms. Branham stated the program did not tap into any additional funds. She said there were a few children who came from local childcare providers but the majority of the students targeted were in either JCPS head start or JCPS state funded pre-K; who were students either at 100 or 160 percent of poverty level.
Unbridled Learning Assessments and Accountability Results
Rhonda Sims, Associate Commissioner, Office of Assessment and Accountability, KDE, presented data on the 2015 statewide assessment results. The 2015 four-year cohort graduation rate is 87.9 percent, an increase from the 2014 rate of 87.5. The five-year adjusted cohort rate increased from 88.0 in 2014 to 88.9 in 2015. The percentage of graduates leaving high school college- and/or career-ready increased from 62.5 in 2014 to 66.8 in 2015.
Ms. Simms reported that the percentage of students reading at proficient or distinguished at the elementary level dropped from 54.7 percent in 2014 to 54.2 percent in 2015, while the percentage increased from 53.2 to 53.8 percent at the middle school level and from 55.4 to 56.7 at the high school level. For mathematics, the percentage of students performing at proficient or distinguished dropped from 49.2 in 2014 to 48.8 in 2015 in elementary schools and from 44.8 to 42.8 in middle schools. At the high school level, the proficient/distinguished percentage increased from 37.9 percent to 38.1 percent.
Ms. Simms stated that the percentage of gap group students scoring proficient or distinguished increased from 2014 percentages in the areas of elementary social studies, writing, and language mechanics; middle school reading and language mechanics; and high school reading, mathematics, science, writing, and language mechanics. Gap group student performance dropped from 2014 in the areas of elementary reading mathematics, and science; middle school mathematics, science, social studies, and writing; and high school social studies.
For 2015, 56 percent of all schools scored as proficient or distinguished, compared to 50 percent in 2014. The performance of school districts also improved to 69 percent in 2015 from 55 percent in 2014.
In response to Representative Mary Lou Marzian’s question about non-duplicated gap group proficient/distinguished scores, Ms. Sims stated she would provide information that shows disaggregated scores by individual student groups. She stated that the on-line report card has a feature that disaggregates the scores by individual student groups for reading and math performance.
In response to Representative Mary Lou Marzian’s question, Ms. Simms said that data on homeless students’ scores is not formally in the school report card but KDE can pull and provide the data to committee members with a breakdown of the schools within their districts. Ms. Foster added that the Office of Next Generation Schools and Districts is looking at the performance of homeless students across the state.
Senator Mike Wilson stated that there are two refugee centers in Kentucky, one of which is in Jefferson County. He said it is unfair that children from these centers are tested at the same level as other students after only one year of ESL classes and that these scores are reported with test performance scores for the schools. Ms. Simms stated that in the past there was a three year limit before ESL student’s scores were counted, however No Child Left Behind pushed it to one year. KDE will be asking for an extended waiver. Ms. Simms said a recent change to the accountability coding regulation, 703 KAR 5:240, requires ESL students to be coded to their districts rather than the individual schools they are attending which will help to some degree.
In response to Representative David Givens’s question about gap high school level science scores in the non-duplicated gap group, Ms. Simms explained that in the period reported, the difference in test scores from the middle school level to high school level can be attributed to the use of two different assessments used for two different sets of standards.
In response to Representative Givens’s question about the program review for next-generation instructional programs and support, Ms. Simms explained that KDE completed a pilot audit of program review and found there is not consistent scoring. KDE required training to improve educators’ understanding of what is evidence of strong performance in the program areas so that educators score with more accuracy. Ms. Simms said that KDE will provide a report of the finished audit to the committee.
In response to Senator Danny Carroll’s question about the minimal improvement in test scores over the past 4 years as reported on slides 18 and 19 and how that compares to other states, Ms. Simms stated that the pattern does raise concern for the need to ensure that assessment instruments are aligned with standards and that good support of the teaching and administration of standards is in place. Ms. Simms explained that it is difficult to compare nationally because Kentucky is not a member of the national consortia that gives the same tests. However, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which can be compared nationally, shows flat performance across the country.
In response to Representative John Carney’s question regarding national comparison of ACT scores, Ms. Simms state that the ACT is the same test with the same scale used nationally, however in Kentucky every student who is a junior takes the test, while in many state only students considering college take the ACT.
Ms. Kelly Foster, Associate Commissioner, Office of Next Generation Schools and districts, KDE spoke about priority schools’ data, the process of identifying priority schools, and what resources are provided during the turnaround process. A priority school is a school that has an overall score in the lowest 5 percent of all Title 1 or Title 1-eligible schools that failed to make the annual measurable objective (AMO) for the last three consecutive years and has a graduation rate below 80 percent. Ms. Foster reported that the number of priority schools decreased from 36 in 2014 to 29 in 2015. Ten schools met the criteria for exiting priority status, and three schools entered priority status.
In response to Senator Givens’s question about successful programs, Ms. Foster stated that leadership is the key factor among successful turnaround efforts. KDE trained over 100 principals, assistant principals, superintendents and district office staff in 2014. This year 130 leaders from targeted priority and focus schools are participating in National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) LEAD Kentucky trainings.
In response to Senator David Givens’s question regarding challenges faced in getting the right principal in priority and focus schools and what the general assembly can do to help keep them there, Ms. Foster said that according to research it takes 5-7 years to exit a school, and that since 2010, KDE has exited 16 schools. She explained that the process takes time, and there is a lot of pressure to perform high and to build sustainable systems. Often once the right leader has initial success, they are inclined to move to a school with less pressure that is not low performing rather than see the turnaround process through. Principals who stay, are more likely to have implemented sustainable systems that will continue to move schools forward. She said continued funding from the General Assembly would enable KDE to provide support to beginning principals in low-performing schools through the NISL LEAD Kentucky project and daily coaching from qualified experienced recovery staff, which is crucial to continuing to move our schools forward.
Stephen L. Pruitt, Commissioner of Education addressed the committee stating that he is excited to work with the legislature and the new administration to ensure every Kentucky child graduates college or career ready.
With no further business before the committee, the meeting adjourned at 3:26 PM.