HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	88
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUEStING THE department OF EDUCATION TO EVALUATE THE PRACTICALITY OF HAVING A RESTRUCTURED ACCREDITATION PROCESS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE STATE OF HAWAII.

     WHEREAS, thirty per cent of Hawaii public high school graduates require serious remedial work when they arrive on college campuses; and

     WHEREAS, even our best public high school graduates rank twentieth on international tests against the best students of other industrialized nations; and

     WHEREAS, historically, the only public high school model that can be accredited for state funding in Hawaii is based on the work of John Dewey and William Harris, who used a Prussian military training manual as a base; and

     WHEREAS, time segmentation, age grouping, and the use of bells and whistles in Hawaii high schools is centered on the belief that all courses and methods should be planned without regard to the individual students we serve; and

     WHEREAS, public school teachers and administrators in Hawaii should have a choice of accrediting methods, whether a top-down model or a student-first model, with both models recognized by the State for funding purposes; and

     WHEREAS, the International Association of Schools and Colleges accredits schools based on a system that starts with the student as an individual and builds curriculum around each student's aptitudes, interests, learning style, skill levels and emotional maturity; and

     WHEREAS, accreditation through a system similar to the International Association of Schools and Colleges model would provide the best, logical step to really engage our children in their own education; and

     WHEREAS, authorizing the use of this accreditation method for our public schools is practical, and would not require additional money or new facilities; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to evaluate the practicality of having a restructured accreditation process for public schools in Hawaii, using a model similar to the International Association of Schools and Colleges; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Superintendent of Education is requested to submit a report of the Department's findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2008; and

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

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Having a Restructured Accreditation Process for Public Schools in the State of Hawaii