STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1680

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.C.R. No. 131
                                        S.D. 2




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred
S.C.R. No. 131, S.D. 1, entitled:

     "SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE
     REFERENCE BUREAU TO REVIEW THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S
     LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAM FOR THE HAWAII CREOLE ENGLISH SPEAKING
     STUDENTS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request the Legislative
Reference Bureau to review the adequacy of the Department of
Education's language arts program for Hawaii Creole English
speaking students with limited English proficiency.

     Specifically, this measure requests the Bureau to:

     (1)  Determine the number of students whose first language
          is Hawaii Creole English and who have limited
          proficiency in English;

     (2)  Compare and interpret the standardized test scores of
          these students and English speaking students, including
          patterns of test results in reading comprehension,
          vocabulary, math computation, and word-problem solving;


 
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     (3)  Compare the proportion of students in the total student
          population who are in remedial reading classes, special
          education classes, and alternative programs, and those
          students who have dropped out of school;

     (4)  Determine the extent to which positive or negative
          attitudes toward these students and Hawaii Creole
          English are reflected by the school in rules, policies,
          and practices, whether explicit or implicit;

     (5)  Determine the extent to which these students are helped
          to make the transition from Hawaii Creole English to
          standard English;

     (6)  Determine the extent to which schools are using the
          Keaukaha Project and the Hawaii English Program
          materials and the Language-Experience-Thinking based
          strategies, and materials developed by Projects
          Holopono and Akamai;

     (7)  Survey teachers and students regarding the need for a
          program for Hawaii Creole English speaking students
          with limited English proficiency;

     (8)  Inquiry whether the Department of Education, having
          received federal funds for Projects Holopono and
          Akamai, is now obligated to implement a program
          statewide for these students; and

     (9)  Gather information from the Department of Education,
          the University of Hawaii College of Education, the
          Hawaii State Teachers Association, the Hawaii Parent,
          Teacher, and Student Association, and all of the public
          schools to perform all of the abovementioned
          activities.

     Your Committee finds that policy decisions concerning
curriculum, teaching, and learning in the public school system
are more appropriately made by the Board of Education, the
Superintendent of Education, the Department of Education, and
their "customers".  The decision to continue programs for Hawaii
Creole English speaking students should be weighed against the
costs of these programs, and the cost to other programs, and any
statistically significant improvements in student achievement.
Objective criteria and quantitative data, as well as subjective

 
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criteria and qualitative data, should be used to justify this
policy decision to parents, teachers, and students.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Requesting the Department of Education to:

          (A)  Submit the information described in paragraphs (1)
               to (9) to the Legislative Reference Bureau before
               August 31, 1999; and

          (B)  Describe the criteria and data that were used to
               decide whether the abovementioned programs would
               be continued or discontinued;

     (2)  Requesting the Legislative Reference Bureau to
          summarize the Department of Education's research
          concerning the adequacy of the language arts program;
          and

     (3)  Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of
          clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your
Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 131,
S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the
form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 131, S.D. 2.

                                 Respectfully submitted on behalf
                                 of the members of the Committee
                                 on Ways and Means,



                                 ________________________________
                                 CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair



                                 ________________________________
                                 ANDREW LEVIN, Co-Chair

 
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