SCR112 SD1

WHEREAS, policies, regulations, and decisions are too often either inflexible and ill-suited to appropriately and effectively meet the requirements of diverse situations and conditions or so broad as to lack focus, clarity, and the means for collaboration and coordination, with either extreme, incapable of best dealing with individual situations of students, teachers, schools, and school complexes; and

WHEREAS, federally-imposed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates require that all schools be judged upon their adequate yearly progress (AYP) without considering the different challenges and situations each school may face; and

WHEREAS, NCLB mandates require that all students be judged with single assessments with single benchmarks, regardless of the level of English proficiency, existence of individualized educational plans (IEPs), and other personal and individualized challenges; and

WHEREAS, many schools and students, especially those of immigrant and economically stressed families, start well below the benchmarks for AYP or proficiency and make significant progress in achievement levels although short of reaching the benchmark for AYP or proficiency; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board awards both new and experienced teachers a single undifferentiated license or renewal without regard to a teacher's longevity, recognized effectiveness, or resume of honors and awards; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the Department of Education, the Board of Education, and the State negotiate teacher and administrator contracts that designate pay based solely on paper qualifications on years of service, teaching, and advanced degrees and professional development coursework; and

WHEREAS, the compensation to teachers who are formally recognized for teaching excellence and whose students yearly outperform similar populations of students is not differentiated from other teachers who are moderately effective to seriously ineffective; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Education allows schools wide latitude to select and deliver curriculum so that schools within the same complex may have widely different curricula, textbooks, and other teaching resources and teachers teaching the same course in the same school can use different textbooks, lessons, and assessments; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to propose alternative assessments to the present NCLB mandates that more appropriately demonstrate growth in school effectiveness and student achievement and differentiates among the diverse student populations in Hawaii, including those of the most limited English proficiency and those with IEPs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, with input from the Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association, is requested to propose differentiated teacher licenses and renewals that recognize teacher effectiveness, longevity, and honors and awards to possibly include the designation of master teacher and emeritus teacher; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and the Department of Education, in consultation with teachers including authorized representatives of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, are requested to report ways to create a differentiated compensation system or a plan for recognition, promotion, or reward that recognizes highly effective teaching; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to report on how the schools can focus curricular options in core subjects (language, arts, math, and science) to more effectively promote collaboration, professional development, student assessment, coordinated learning activities, and bulk purchasing; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education, the Board of Education, and the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board are requested to submit their findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2008 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chair of the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Education, the Executive Director of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, and the Chairperson of the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board.

Report Title:

DOE & HSTA; No Child Left Behind; Study

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	112
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII