RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), signed by President Bush on January 8, 2002, is the most sweeping reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act since its enactment in 1965, according to the United States Department of Education; and

WHEREAS, the No Child Left Behind Act redefines the federal role in K-12 education and is intended to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority students and their peers; and

WHEREAS, the No Child Left Behind Act is based on four basic principles: stronger accountability for results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents, and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work; and

WHEREAS, the No Child Left Behind Act requires states to implement statewide accountability systems covering all public schools and students; and

WHEREAS, these systems must be based on challenging state standards in reading and mathematics, annual large-scale testing for all students in grades three to eight, and annual statewide progress objectives to ensure that all groups of students reach proficiency within twelve years; and

WHEREAS, under the No Child Left Behind Act, each state is required to formulate its own large-scale achievement tests to measure what children need to know and learn in the subjects of reading and math; and

WHEREAS, while the state Department of Education's use of large-scale tests and No Child Left Behind Act criteria serve as the measure of student achievement, these large-scale tests and federal compliance criteria should not be used in a punitive manner; and

WHEREAS, based on the Department of Education's reliance upon large-scale achievement tests and No Child Left Behind Act compliance criteria, the Department of Education has announced that twenty-four of Hawaii's public schools are to be restructured; and

WHEREAS, with the restructuring of twenty-four public schools, a question arises as to the appropriateness of the Department of Education's standards of student achievement and whether these standards accurately reflect the true learning capabilities of students; and

WHEREAS, it may be useful to collect information on other public school jurisdictions' standards of student achievement to determine whether the Department of Education's standards of student achievement are appropriate; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education engage an independent and objective entity to collect information on other public school jurisdictions' standards of student achievement to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state Department of Education is requested to review the information collected and compare the standards of other public school jurisdictions with the state Department of Education's strategy to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state Department of Education is requested to determine whether:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to submit a report of findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2006 Regular Session; and

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

Report Title:

No Child Left Behind Act; Standards; Other Jurisdictions