Report Title:

DOE and BOE; Reading Goals; Accountability

WHEREAS, it is essential for children to read early and well in elementary school; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii content and performance standards, formally adopted by the Board of Education, includes specific standards and benchmarks for reading and writing and defines and embodies the goal of students being able to read well by the end of third grade. The standards are expectations for all students in all schools; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii content and performance standards and the Board of Education literacy policy (policy 2010), sets the expectation that all schools "shall provide a balanced and comprehensive reading instruction program" including "organized and explicit skills instruction", "ongoing diagnosis and assessment that ensures accountability for results", and "timely intervention services to assist students who are at risk of failing to attain literacy"; and

WHEREAS, the intent of this policy is to ensure that schools implement effective programs to assure that every child "will become a proficient reader and writer . . . by the end of third grade." The Department has embraced this goal, which is also a goal expressed by the current and past presidents of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the Department has also recently begun a "reading challenge" initiative, in which all elementary schools were invited to participate. The focus of the challenge is to help all primary grade students to read on or beyond grade level by the end of grade 3; and

WHEREAS, ninety-two schools responded to the challenge and have formally pledged to participate in professional development and school improvement focused on reading, as well as report data on the reading progress of their students in the primary grades; and

WHEREAS, the reading challenge plan is to monitor student achievement by collecting data on students in grades K-3 quarterly using Department of Education internet technology. Schools that are not participating in the reading challenge have other reading improvement programs in place or may be already participating in comprehensive school reform through Title I or other initiatives; and

WHEREAS, while Title I is the Department's largest source of supplemental federal funding, the Department also received formula funding from the federal government as part of the Class Size Reduction Act, the purpose of which is to reduce the class size in high poverty schools to eighteen students to one teacher. As a condition for receiving these extra teaching positions, participating Hawai`i schools had to also agree to systematically use reading programs which have been validated by research; and

WHEREAS, as part of the class size reduction initiative, teachers attend "direct instruction" workshops if their school does not already have a school-wide, research-based reading instruction program. Direct instruction is a research-based reading instruction program characterized by systematic instruction in phonemic awareness as well as comprehension and frequent assessments of student progress; and

WHEREAS, the Department is also preparing another three-year competitive grant proposal under the Reading Excellence Act, which has the same goal of all children being able to read well by the end of third grade. Even if Hawai`i does not receive funding under this grant program, the Department plans to carry out, although on a smaller scale, the main

thrust of the Reading Excellence program, which is to systematically use, on a school-wide basis effective, research-validated reading instructional strategies for the primary grades; and

WHEREAS, in addition, schools will be expected to work intensively with as many parents as possible to help them become their child's first and most important teacher of literacy and to train and make available tutors to assist students who need intensive help; and

WHEREAS, the Department is also revising its report cards to align with the Hawaii content and performance standards, including reading. The report card is one tool in communicating student achievement in reading with parents; and

WHEREAS, schools continue to hold parent conferences to discuss student progress in this and other areas, and to involve and enlist parents in the education of their children; and

WHEREAS, the Department is continually making improvements to and enhancing its statewide standardized testing program, aligning it with the new content and performance standards. Last year, the Department began the implementation of performance-based reading assessments, tied to departmental standards, to supplement the Stanford Achievement Test used statewide; and

WHEREAS, the Department has continued to work closely with professional organizations in the area of reading. The Department is an active member of the "Reading Roundtable," an informal organization made up of representatives of other organizations which have a keen interest in reading; and

WHEREAS, member organizations of the Reading Roundtable include Read to Me International, the University of Hawaii (Manoa and Hilo); Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, the Kamehameha Schools, the Hawaii Parent Teacher Association, the Hawai`i Public Libraries, Hawai`i Literacy, Inc., the AmeriCorps*VISTA "I Can Read" program, Helping Hands Hawai`i, and Alu Like, Inc. The Reading Roundtable has pooled resources to sponsor several reading conferences and provide tutorial services for students; and

WHEREAS, recognizing that there is no single method or combination of methods that can teach all children to read, the Department has also begun to provide in-service training for teachers to help them develop a strong knowledge of multiple methods for teaching reading, focusing on helping teachers develop a strong knowledge of the children in their care so they can match the appropriate methods to the range of children they teach; and

WHEREAS, while the Board and Department of Education are continually making improvements to and enhancing its reading programs, there is nevertheless a lack of accountability necessary to improving reading achievements in Hawaii's public schools; and

WHEREAS, stating clearer goals and benchmarks, measuring elementary school reading improvement, and requiring accountability at each level of the educational system will result in a significant increase in the number of children reading at or above grade level; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, that the Board and Department of Education are requested to reevaluate reading goals for students in Hawaii's public schools and increase system accountability for attaining those goals; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board and Department of Education are requested to revise their reading goals to require that ninety per cent or more of public schools, of which the third graders are not achieving a standard of fifty per cent or better on their Stanford Achievement Test reading scores, will read at or above grade level by the end of their third grade year; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in order to achieve this reading goal and increase accountability, the Board and Department of Education are requested to:

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Board and Department of Education are requested to report to the Legislature's standing committees having primary jurisdiction over lower education no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2002 regarding:

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent and to the Chairperson of the Board of Education.