Call to Order and Roll Call
The 1st meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Education was held on Monday, June 12, 2017, at<MeetTime> 1:05 p.m., in Room 154 of the Capitol Annex. Representative John Carney, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Representative John Carney, Co-Chair; Senators Danny Carroll, Alice Forgy Kerr, Stephen Meredith, Gerald A. Neal, and Reginald Thomas; Representatives Danny Bentley, Regina Bunch, Jim DeCesare, Mark Hart, Charles Miller, Phil Moffett, Tim Moore, Rick G. Nelson, Melinda Gibbons Prunty, Jody Richards, Steve Riley, Attica Scott, James Tipton, Russell Webber, and Jill York.
Guests: Erin Klarer, Vice President of Government Relations, Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority/Student Loan Corporation; Josie Raymond; Wayne Young, Executive Director, Kentucky Association of School Administrators; and Bob Rowland, Kentucky Retired Teachers Association.
LRC Staff: Jo Carole Ellis, Janet Stevens, Joshua Collins, Yvette Perry, and Maurya Allen.
Representative DeCesare made a motion to adopt the minutes of the January 30, 2017, meeting, seconded by Representative Hart. The motion passed by voice vote.
Family Resource and Youth Services Centers
Melissa Goins, Director, Division of Family Resource and Youth Services Centers (FRYSC), Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and Graham Reynolds, FRYSC coordinator, LaGrange Elementary discussed the valuable wrap-around student and family services provided by FRYSCs. Ms. Goins gave a brief history of FRYSCs dating back to their establishment as part of the historic 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). She explained the subtle but important difference between Family Resource Centers, Youth Services Centers, and Combined Centers and said there are 811 centers throughout the state. However, many schools qualify to establish a center but do not have one, largely because of funding concerns. Also, many of the centers serve multiple schools. All the centers share common core components based on statutory requirements, but each center also has unique components that better reflect the needs of the schools and communities that they serve.
FRYSCs have an operating budget of $52.1 million in fiscal year 2018 compared to the $57 million allocation in 2009. By statute, a maximum of three percent goes toward administrative costs, and the remainder is divided among the 811 centers based on number of students receiving free/reduced price lunch in the schools the center services. There are minimum and maximum allocations to provide better equity among schools. Ms. Goins said that the per student allocation by year has declined while the number of students on free/reduced price lunch has increased resulting in a substantial need to do more with less. As a result, many schools have requested waivers of the requirement to have a full-time center, rising from 47 schools in fiscal year 2012 to 114 in fiscal year 2018.
Ms. Goins discussed the services provided by FRYSCs at the local level. Each is locally operated and form community partnerships to provide programs, services, and referrals to students and their families. The goal of FRYSCs is to meet the needs of all children and their families to enhance student academic success. Largely, FRYSCs serve to connect children with area programs and services such as backpack snack programs, dental health referrals, and programming regarding personal health and safety. Ms. Goins specifically noted the rise in support and education for grandparents and other guardians as a result of the large number of incarcerated parents in Kentucky, almost double the national average. One of the goals of FRYSCs is to ensure that children have a stable, loving home life in the face of the dramatic social issues they face, largely those of drug abuse and addiction.
Ms. Goins gave a snapshot of the stakeholder survey performed in 2016. There were over 25,000 respondents, of which 8,841 were classroom teachers. Ninety-five percent of respondents agreed that FRYSCs meet needs that cannot be met in the classroom. Ninety-three percent agreed that FRYSCs are the catalyst for connecting services and resources with students in need and that students in their communities were more in need of FRYSC’s programs than ever before.
Mr. Reynolds provided members with some specific examples of services provided at the FRYSC that he coordinates in Oldham County. In the last year, his center has provided backpack snacks to over 200 students thanks to a partnership with local churches, and provided over 350 school supplies kits. The center also provides summer and spring break reading and science programs that help to address academic loss and assist in remedial instruction. His center also provides opportunities for students to participate in activities and recreation, such as basketball, archery, or scrapbooking, which they would otherwise be unable to participate in due to poverty. No student is ever turned away from participating due to a lack of ability to pay. Additionally, he has helped to facilitate in-school field trips and academic assemblies by local museums which expose children to experiences with art and culture that they might be prevented from due to lack of ability to pay entrance fees or reliable transportation to museums. He encouraged members to visit a local FRYSC, especially during one of the many Back to School Bashes hosted by FRYSCs in the fall, to get a better understanding of the excellent and life-changing services they offer.
Chairman Carney thanked the presenters and stated his belief that wrap-around services such as those offered by FRYSCs to address the social issues affecting students are vital to education and need continued funding.
To respond to a question from Representative York, Ms. Goins invited Maxine Reed, Regional Program Manager, Eastern Kentucky to testify. Ms. Reed explained that personal safety programs range from information on bullying to internet safety for parents and children, self-defense, appropriate touches, and personal goal setting. The programs include how to identify safe places and people you can trust. Many students that use FRYSC services are in situations where they do not live at home and feel that any place is better than being homeless, and FRYSC staff try to help them realize they have options that are safe.
Representative Miller commented that in his personal experience FRYSCs are one of the best programs in schools and need continued funding. Representative Carney spoke to this point and announced his intention to file a bill establishing tax credits for businesses making donations to schools and school services.
In response to a question from Representative Scott, Mr. Reynolds agreed that some families are in situations beyond the help of FRYSCs but that he always works to find any resources he can to assist them, whether at a local, state, or federal level, even if it is not the specific assistance they requested. He also works to reassure them that they can come to the FRYSC to discuss or seek assistance for anything, and he will try his hardest to get them any help he can.
Responding to questions from Representative Prunty, Mr. Reynolds said that his policy is to direct parents to services opportunities and then follow up with them to ensure they are accountable for actively working toward getting the services they need, outside of any barriers such as disability or lack of transportation. Ms. Goins added that by and large, FRYSCs are empowering agencies that spend a majority of their time facilitating connections with services instead of providing direct handouts. Ms. Reed said that she wants to make sure that the needs of the children are met, and that while it is disappointing, sometimes parents are not going to be responsible for their children’s needs regardless of what services they are directed to. She said that part of what FRYSCs do is provide training, especially to high school students, in goal setting, making good choices, and career preparedness to help break the generational cycle of poverty.
Representative Richards thanked the presenters and FRYSC staff at large for their service. He felt that they were one of the most successful KERA programs and that he has visited many centers and is consistently impressed with their programs and the hard working individuals who staff them. In his opinion, FRYSCs are one of the most cost effective services because they work with so many community partners.
Responding to a question from Senator Meredith regarding accountability, Ms. Goins answered that metrics currently used are college/career readiness, kindergarten readiness, and test scores but those are not easy to directly associate with FRYSC programs. They also rely on the stakeholder survey to know if their programs are addressing the needs of the communities they serve. She said that feedback from that survey indicates they are. She said they are currently working on a program review and that it might provide the accountability measures Senator Meredith is interested in.
Representative Riley commented that FRYSCs provide a valuable service throughout the state providing not just physical goods like food and warm clothes, but also the love and support that so many students need and cannot get at home.
Senator Neal said that he has heard only good things about FRYSCs since their inception but that accountability data would be useful to the legislature when making policy and budget decisions.
Representative Bunch said that in her opinion, FRYSCs have an immeasurable impact on the whole child thanks largely to the love and support that FRYSC staff are able to provide.
Read to Achieve
Dr. Lindy Harmon, Reading Recovery Trainer, University of Kentucky Center for Collaborative Literacy Development (CCLD); Teresa Foutch, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, Washington County; and Dr. Amy Smith, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, Madison County were present to speak to the committee regarding Read to Achieve and Reading Recovery. Dr. Harmon said that Reading Recovery is a one-on-one, early reading intervention for first grade children. It was developed by Dr. Marie Clay of New Zealand over 30 years ago and brought to the United States by the Ohio State University. Currently, Reading Recovery has been implemented in 45 states and 5 countries. The instruction is intensive and accelerated so that children who are in the lowest levels of reading aptitude can catch up to their peers. Her role is to train teacher leaders in the theory and clinical procedures of Reading Recovery and provide leadership experiences to implement Reading Recovery in schools throughout the state. Teacher leaders provide the training to other teachers and become literacy leaders in their regions. This makes Reading Recovery both an early reading intervention model for students as well as a professional development model for in-service teachers.
The Read to Achieve program, which supports Reading Recovery, began in 1998 with the passage of Senate Bill 186 of the 1998 Regular Session and the creation of the Early Reading Incentive Grant (ERIG) program. This provided grants to schools to focus on implementation of research-based reading models to address the learning needs of primary students at low levels. During the 2005 Regular Session, Read to Achieve was formalized with the passage of Senate Bill 19. This focused on reading diagnostics and intensive reading interventions for struggling readers by stating that programs used by public schools must be based on reliable, replicable research and offer short-term, intensive one-on-one or small group instruction in the essential skills necessary to reach reading proficiency taught by highly trained, certified teachers.
In the 20 years of the Read to Achieve program, state average fourth grade scores in reading on the National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP) have risen from 213 in 1992 (two points below the national average) to 228 in 2015 (seven points above the national average). In 1992, Kentucky ranked twenty-seventh in the nation in fourth grade reading at the start of Read to Achieve, but in 2015 Kentucky was ranked ninth. More importantly, the lowest achieving students, those scoring Below Basic, have seen improvement. The percentage of Kentucky students scoring Below Basic has dropped from 38 percent in 1998, to 25 percent in 2015. At the same time, the percentage of students scoring in the highest category, Proficient/Advanced, has increased from 29 percent to 40 percent. Results of nearly every statistical analysis performed by the CCLD in their evaluation of Read to Achieve has found that participants outscored non-participants. Also, results are lower for students only served in second or third grade and for students who participate over multiple years. Results largely suggest that early, short-term intervention provides the best opportunity for struggling readers. Eighty-five percent of students served only in first grade scored at or above grade level on the third grade ITBS exam.
Ms. Harmon said that the initial intent of the Read to Achieve legislation was to provide funds to every elementary school in the Commonwealth in an attempt to raise the achievement level of the lowest performing readers through direct services. She thanked the committee for their continued focus and support for this important work.
Ms. Foutch discussed the specific experiences she has had as a teacher leader for Reading Recovery. She works in 14 school districts with 34 teachers in 32 schools. Her site services almost 300 students in Reading Recovery and approximately 800 in small group interventions every year. She shared a story from a Reading Recovery teacher who told of a struggling first grade reader who could not read at kindergarten level when she began the program, despite being a participant in a small group intervention. In less than 11 weeks of intense instruction, the student moved 15 text levels and was slightly above her peer average. Additionally, the program had changed the student’s perception of herself as a reader. The teacher shared that the child had later been seen sitting quietly reading while the rest of her classmates buzzed about her during the last days of school. Ms. Foutch said that every Reading Recovery teacher has multiple stories of success about the impact they have on children. She encouraged members to visit a Reading Recovery lesson because she knows it will have an impact on them as well. She feels that teaching children to read has the biggest impact on their lifelong success.
Dr. Smith shared some of her personal experiences with Read to Achieve and Reading Recovery. Her site was established in 2003 and provides support for Reading Recovery teachers in 15 school districts. Thanks to the improved Read to Achieve funding in 2005, the number of Reading Recovery teachers in South Central and Southeastern Kentucky was vastly increased and provides services to exponentially more children in need. Teachers affiliated with the Madison County site have served over 12,000 of the most at-risk primary students. Every day, teachers provide one-on-one Reading Recovery lessons to first grade students and small group instruction to kindergarten to third grade students, averaging 30-40 students per teacher every year.
Over the last five years, at least 80 percent of students who participated in a full Reading Recovery program reached an average reading level. Dr. Smith said this is even more impressive when you consider that the average number of half-hour lessons is 60. Thus, in only 30 instructional hours, children who started in the lowest portion of their first grade class become independent readers. Reading Recovery also prevented the need for further, often costlier, interventions in subsequent grades. More importantly, it set the stage for those children to fully benefit from and succeed in school.
Dr. Smith said that Representative Shell, who had visited the Madison County site and observed lessons, refers to Reading Recovery as “magic.” If magic is defined as “something having an extraordinary influence or power to create, change, or transform,” then Reading Recovery is indeed magic in her opinion. It builds the professional knowledges of teachers and transforms the lives of children. In 2016, the Madison County site collected testimonial stories from over 250 former students, as well as parents, teachers, and administrators. She shared some of them as a video presentation to the committee. Dr. Smith closed with a testimonial from a parent which simply said, “Reading Recovery saved my son.” She thanked legislators for supporting Read to Achieve on behalf of parents, teachers, administrators, and children. Read to Achieve and Reading Recovery are a critical piece of the collective solution for the future of the Commonwealth.
Responding to a question from Representative Moffett, Dr. Harmon said the scores used are from the NAEP test and that the biggest way to accelerate improvement would be to expand the reach of the program. It would be difficult to make Reading Recovery the classroom standard, however, because it is designed as an intensive, one-on-one program. However, providing the Reading Recovery training to more teachers helps them implement portions of the theory in their classrooms and become better aware of ways to help struggling readers sooner.
In response to a question from Representative Tipton, Dr. Harmon said that data following the pathways of children from first grade through high school graduation is available, or can be gathered, but has not been published. Individual studies have been done, however, which show positive trends. Students who complete the program in first grade continue to be successful students and reach higher goals than non-participant peers.
Responding to a question from Representative Prunty, Dr. Smith said that currently reading is taught as a combination of whole word and phonics methodologies, but that the specifics are different in each school district. In her opinion, Reading Recovery trained teacher leaders have more expertise and bring those influences into their instruction in the classroom, gradually bringing improvement for all students. However, not all students need the same intensity.
In response to further questions from Representative Prunty, Dr. Harmon answered that dyslexia assessments are not a part of the Reading Recovery program and since the program is such an early intervention model, many students have not had a dyslexia assessment yet. The goal of Reading Recovery is to reach the lowest performers before they are considered for special education services to see if that will help them “untangle themselves” before intervention is needed.
Responding to questions from Chairman Carney, Dr. Harmon said that approximately 20 programs had been cut since 2013. And that the steering committee, which used to collect that information, has been changed to an advisory council in a recent executive order from the Governor and that the membership of the council will be changed from the statutory makeup in Senate Bill 186 of the 1998 Regular Session, also as part of the executive order.
Chairman Carney thanked the presenters. He also directed members to the tentative interim schedule for the committee and announced the next meeting of the committee would be July 10, 2017, at 1:00 p.m. in the Capitol Annex. With no further business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m.