Call to Order and Roll Call
The 3rd meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Education was held on Monday, August 15, 2016, at 1:00 p.m., 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, Johnny Ray Turner, Stephen West, and Max Wise; Representatives Linda Belcher, George Brown Jr., Regina Bunch, Hubert Collins, Jeffery Donohue, David Hale, Cluster Howard, James Kay, Brian Linder, Mary Lou Marzian, Donna Mayfield, Reginald Meeks, Charles Miller, Ruth Ann Palumbo, Marie Rader, Jody Richards, Tom Riner, Sal Santoro, Rita Smart, Wilson Stone, David Watkins, Addia Wuchner, and Jill York.
Guests: Representatives Joni Jenkins and Arnold Simpson; George Hruby, Executive Director of the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development, University of Kentucky; Wayne Young, Executive Director and General Counsel, Kentucky Association of School Administrators; Erin Klarer, Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority; Bob Rowland, Impact Government Relations; Mardi Montgomery, Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.
LRC Staff: Jo Carole Ellis, Janet Stevens, Joshua Collins, Yvette Perry, and Maurya Allen.
Representative Collins made a motion to adopt the minutes of the July 18, 2016, meeting, seconded by Representative Donohue. The motion passed by voice vote.
Reports from subcommittee meetings
Senator Alice Forgy Kerr, presiding Co-Chair for the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, reported on the subcommittee meeting about Colorado’s Career Pathways Program and the potential impact a similar program in Kentucky could have on career and technical education.
Senator Danny Carroll, presiding Co-Chair for the Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education, reported on the subcommittee meeting about Kentucky’s special education program in public schools and ways to meet the needs of special education students.
Every Student Succeeds Act
Kentucky Department of Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt and Ms. Rhonda Sims, Associate Commissioner, Office of Assessment and Accountability, began their presentation on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) with an overview of its history. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) originally passed in 1965 as part of the war on poverty. This Act was amended in 2001 to include the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) provisions that were repealed and replaced with ESSA in 2015. ESSA is intended to limit the United States Education Department (USED) Secretary’s authority, provide more state and local control, end state NCLB waivers, be less prescriptive, and create a more meaningful accountability system for students, parents, and educators.
Ms. Sims discussed the impact of proposed ESSA regulations on accountability measures. To meet the proposed federal requirements, state-determined accountability measures must include four academic indicators which are proficiency on state tests, progress on English language proficiency for ELL students, student growth or other academic indicators for elementary and middle school students, and graduation rates for high school students. Accountability standards must also include a measure of school quality and student success and have a participation rate of no less than 95 percent overall. Individual subgroup reporting is also necessary to focus on gap closure. Weighting will be determined by the states but academic factors will count more than measures of school quality or student success. Ms. Sims noted that the state must establish ambitious long-term goals and each year will need to meaningfully differentiate schools and identified student populations based on the performance on indicators. Finally, the proposed ESSA accountability regulations maintain a requirement for state and local report cards with emphasis on disaggregated data and some expanded reporting requirements.
Commissioner Pruitt discussed the Town Hall meetings he held in all areas of the state last year in order to better understand the perspectives of all education stakeholders. Over the course of seven weeks, he attended 11 meetings, which had a combined attendance of 3,000 individuals representing teachers, administrators, parents, students, legislators, student support service staff, school board and council members, community members, and education partners. He has continued to receive comment via email from those who attended or could not attend. Because the response was so favorable and so useful, he has decided to hold similar Town Hall meetings in the coming year.
Some of the themes Commissioner Pruitt noted from the Town Hall meetings were that children must be at the heart of the system; a well-rounded education is important and necessary; and tall subjects, both tested and non-tested, need to be valued by accountability measures. Access and opportunity for all students was critical as was an emphasis on teaching. Collaboration, rather than competition, between schools and districts needs to be a focus going forward and has informed his perspective toward the proposed ESSA regulations. He said he had testified before Congress, speaking to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, on June 23, 2016, and the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor, and Pensions on July 14, 2016. His testimony centered on his concerns with the proposed ESSA regulations and the impact they could have on states’ accountability systems.
He believes there are restrictions in the ESSA proposals that are contrary to the design of ESSA toward allowing creativity, innovation, and supporting the sovereignty of states to govern their own education policies. He highlighted the language that is more prescriptive than the law, specific data calculations that will likely over-identify schools for support, a timeline that is too fast and requires states to identify schools for improvement based on current accountability systems not the new measures, and a requirement for a summative score. Commissioner Pruitt said that all the proposed regulations are available online for review, but the period for comment has passed. He has asked the USED to publish the timeline for implementation prior to final adoption to allow states more time for better planning.
Ms. Sims presented the process for developing Kentucky’s accountability system. There will be five work teams on college and career readiness, assessment, opportunity and access, school improvement, and educational innovations. These filter ideas to three larger groups focused on systems integration, regulatory review, and consequential review. The consequential review group is a unique group that will focus specifically on what the unintended consequences, both good and bad, of proposed changes might be. An overarching steering group comprised of roughly 40 members will collect all the information and inform the commissioner’s statements to the Kentucky Board of Education. The guiding principles for the system will reflect the themes identified during the Town Hall meetings and include a focus on student welfare; holistic quality education for all students; and equity, achievement, and integrity. The new system must be simple and easy to understand, ideally reported in a dashboard which better illustrates school/district progress or deficits than a single number. There is a very aggressive timeline for development aiming to provide a system plan to the USED by May 2017.
Chairman Graham agreed that the design of ESSA was to give states more flexibility but that the regulations appeared to reduce that flexibility considerably. He asked if Commissioner Pruitt had received support when he had voiced these concerns to Congress. Commissioner Pruitt said that there was a very supportive reception to his remarks from Senator Rand Paul and Representative Brett Guthrie. It was agreed that the regulations are far too complex and too reminiscent of the NCLB provisions.
Representative Meeks asked what proposals were going to address the achievement and opportunity gaps in the current educational system. Commissioner Pruitt said that there were groups currently investigating that issue and developing solutions. Being considered are a reward system for schools that better addresses opportunity gaps and a penalty for those which do not address them at all.
Representative Meeks asked which regulations the Kentucky Department of Education had recently repealed and why. Commissioner Pruitt said that the repealed state regulations were largely those that had become outdated, such as those regarding the Commonwealth Diploma. Others repealed were those that had been combined into another regulation or had become redundant.
Chairman Graham commented on the innovative approach the business community in Louisville had undertaken to address the opportunity gap for students and suggested that it might be a model to follow in other parts of the state.
Representative Stone referenced recent improvements in Kentucky’s workforce development and graduation rates. He asked if there was an attempt to bring college and career ready scores into alignment with other measures and whether improving test scores had improved the number of college and career ready students. Commissioner Pruitt said that the assessment committees are considering industry certifications as well as traditional academic measures when making their recommendations. There is an effort to become more comprehensive about what constitutes success in the classroom by acknowledging career certifications.
Senator Neal stated that he appreciated the focus on the achievement gap, which had not historically received adequate attention from the department. Commissioner Pruitt admitted that was probably true and is a motivating factor behind a dashboard reporting system where achievement gaps can be brought to light. He stressed his desire to focus on equity and access not just in schools but in teaching and in the workforce.
Senator Wilson agreed that it was very easy to disguise achievement gaps in a summative score. He asked if research had been done to include industry in the steering committees. Commissioner Pruitt said that a great deal of emphasis had been placed on what was most meaningful to industry partners. Additionally, members of the business community were represented in the membership of the advisory groups.
Representative Meeks expressed concern that there were only 262 comments during the Town Hall meetings and that the Commissioner had based his statements on such a small sample size. Commissioner Pruitt responded that that number was representative only of those who spoke aloud during the Town Hall meetings. It did not include those who had addressed him privately or in other smaller meetings, and it did not reflect the many online responses he had received and continues to receive. As the process continues, he plans to put the accountability system online to allow for continuous input.
Governor’s Scholars Program
Dr. Aristófanes Cedeño, Executive Director and Academic Dean, Governor’s Scholars Program (GSP), testified about the history and value of GSP. The program was created in 1983 but has always received its budgetary appropriation in the quarter after actual expenditure. This has presented some unique challenges in estimating how much money is needed every year and how many scholars will be able to participate. In 2016, Northern Kentucky University, Murray State University, and Morehead State University served as hosts, representing the first year when all host sites were state universities.
Because of a small reduction in funding, only 1,060 scholars attended the program in 2016 versus the 1,113 scholars in 2015. They represented 118 of the state’s 120 counties. Unfortunately, there was still an underrepresentation of minority groups, which is largely based on an underrepresentation in applications. The program has a merit-based acceptance policy, which includes extracurricular merit in addition to school grades. Approximately 80 percent of scholars choose to attend a college in Kentucky, and many of those will choose a career in Kentucky upon graduation. This is credited to the partnership between GSP and Kentucky’s colleges and universities to create scholarships for GSP alumni.
GSP considers itself a program to develop confidence and leadership skills in the best and brightest of Kentucky high school juniors. During the five-week program, which is completely free to scholars, there are no grades but a focus on collaboration and exploration of ideas. The program has been working to better reach minority students, largely by increasing awareness among parents and in underserved populations. Dr. Cedeño thanked the legislature for its continued support and asked for assistance in continuing the mission of the program.
Senator Higdon commented that GSP is outstanding. He always receives wonderful testimony from scholars, specifically a recent scholar who had visited Lockegee Rock on Clack Mountain near Morehead State University, his alma mater, which he had never considered an academic location. Dr. Cedeño emphasized that the program is not strictly academic but focuses on the intellectual abilities of the scholars and seeks to expand their worldview. Senator Higdon agreed that the site could do that for any individual.
Representative Palumbo asked about the process for assigning a student to a campus. Dr. Cedeño said that the goal is to make each campus reflective of the population of the state as a whole. If 28 students are accepted from a school, such as was the case for Manual High School in Louisville, then approximately nine are assigned to each of the campuses. However, students are also assigned based on class offerings. The mission is to allow students to experience viewpoints that may be different from their own.
Representative Palumbo, referencing the handout illustrating the GSP regions, asked if Jefferson County is its own region. Dr. Cedeño said that it is, due to the large density of students.
Representative Marzian commented that, in her experience, the scholarships provided to scholars to attend state colleges and universities are important. She asked about the appropriation necessary to increase the number of scholars. Dr. Cedeño said that the most recent budget cut resulted in approximately 80 fewer accepted scholars in 2016. This would have made the total number of scholars approximately 1,120, which would be the total number of qualified applicants each year on average. Beyond that, accepting more students would be a disadvantage to the students as they would not be as well qualified for the rigor of the program.
Representative York said that she had recently met a scholar for lunch and received a wonderful testimonial to the value of the program. The program was a transformative experience for the student, and it showed in the student’s recounting of her experience. Dr. Cedeño said that the confidence GSP instills in scholars is one of the best advertisements for the program.
Representative Miller echoed the other members’ pride and appreciation for the program. He stated that the legislature should do everything it can to increase the reach of the program to more students. Dr. Cedeño thanked him for his support and recognized the former scholars who were present, including his executive assistant Cody Cook, a scholar from Representative Miller’s district, who attended Centre in 2009.
Chairman Graham asked for a summary of the application process. Dr. Cedeño said that applications are first received by high school guidance counselors, and a local group decides which applications to forward to the state review committee based on a school/district quota. The quota is reflective of the number of juniors enrolled in that school/district. The application includes academic records, community service, extracurricular activities, honors and awards, recommendation letters from a teacher and a community member, and a personal essay. State decision-making teams, consisting of three individuals each, review each section of the application individually and provide a score for their assigned section. The applications with the highest aggregate score are those that are accepted. The numbers of males and females accepted are different based on the number of beds available for each sex at the host locations based on a historic ratio of 40 percent males to 60 percent females.
Senator Carroll asked if there were any plan to reach out to private industry to increase funding to the program or to compensate for budget cuts. Dr. Cedeño said that the program already raises approximately 25 percent of its funding from private sources. Past data analysis has shown that the cost per scholar is approximately $2,500 for the full five week program. He cautioned, however, that this is based on the very generous support from host colleges and universities, which bid for the program and generally provide some discounts on room and board costs.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m. The next meeting will be September 12, 2016, at 1:00 p.m.