THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	55
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO REVIEW THE USE OF THE PREDICTIVE ASSESSMENT OF READING PROGRAM TO TEACH READING TO STUDENTS.

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's public school children lag far behind the national average in measures of literacy; and

     WHEREAS, in the 2002 Stanford Achievement Tests (SATs), Hawaii's public school scores remained well below the national average with verbal scores dropping one point, from four hundred sixty-three to four hundred sixty-two, while the national average is over forty points higher at five hundred four; and

     WHEREAS, implementing research-based paradigms for literacy are essential for helping our children read at a higher level of functioning; and

     WHEREAS, there is a fifteen minute standardized assessment for students in mid-kindergarten through ending third grade called the Predictive Assessment of Reading that identifies strengths and weaknesses with respect to the requisite skills needed for reading; and

     WHEREAS, the Predictive Assessment of Reading can be administered by an adult after a brief training and will yield an immediate document downloaded from an online website that consists of scores associated with a student's current and potential reading functioning, risk category, and intensity level of intervention, if applicable, and a suggested learning plan; and

     WHEREAS, an important aspect of the Predictive Assessment of Reading Program is its ability to allow teachers to strategically target instruction for risk groups of students early in the reading process; and

     WHEREAS, ASSETS School has indicated that there is a way to predict at what levels children in grades kindergarten, first, second, and third will achieve in literacy skills by the eighth grade, which is particularly important information because current policies require that children fail significantly before special instruction is available to them; 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, in consultation with the Head of School of ASSETS School, is requested to conduct a review and analysis of the Predictive Assessment of Reading Program to determine the feasibility of and consider its usage as a potential literacy benefit for public school teachers and students and to submit the results of the analysis to the Legislature at least twenty days prior to 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, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and to the Head of School of ASSETS School.

Report Title: 

Predictive Assessment of Reading Program; ASSETS School; Study