STAND. COM. REP. NO.1291

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.C.R. No. 32

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 32 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT WITHOUT "TEACHING TO THE TEST","

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Board of Education to meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 without requiring "teaching to the test".

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Education. A community member submitted comments on this measure.

Your Committee finds that the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 requires states to establish annual performance goals for public schools receiving federal funds, and to administer annual large-scale achievement tests to measure yearly student achievement. Your Committee further finds that our public schools system will be using the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards (HCPS) and a statewide large-scale achievement test aligned to the HCPS to meet the requirements of NCLB. However, your Committee agrees that unless there is a proven curriculum and classroom assessment that are aligned to our standards, the large-scale achievement test may not accurately reflect student achievement. Your Committee is also concerned that overemphasis on large-scale test results will adversely affect the quality of teaching and the quality of learning in our public school system, and teachers may be compelled to use curriculum to ensure student "success" on the annual large-scale achievement test, rather than using curriculum that ensures mastery of content knowledge.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Modifying the title to request the Department of Education to use research-based curriculum and standards-based classroom assessments, in addition to large-scale achievement tests, to meet the requirements of the NCLB Act;

(2) Adding references to large-scale tests that are required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act;

(3) Clarifying that large-scale tests may compel teachers to develop curriculum that results in "teaching to the test";

(4) Inserting three new WHEREAS clauses supporting the adoption of research-based curriculum that is aligned to the state standards and results in proven student achievement through classroom assessments;

(5) Clarifying that classroom assessments that are linked to curriculum and standards are more accurate representations of student proficiency levels and serve as diagnostic tools for teachers to make adjustments in their areas of emphasis within their curriculum;

(6) Changing the first BE IT RESOLVED paragraph to request the Department of Education to use research-based curriculum and standards-based classroom assessment to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act;

(7) Clarifying that these research-based models should be linked to our state standards to ensure that teachers receive adequate training in the use of curriculum and assessments that will prevent teaching to the large-scale achievement test required by No Child Left Behind Act; and

(8) Requesting the DOE to report no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2004 Regular Session, including identification of those schools that have adopted research-based curriculum, their student achievement test scores and those of comparable schools that have not adopted a research-based curriculum.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 32, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 32, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair