HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	333
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Requesting a required public speaking and argumentation semester to be completed by each hawaii high school student in order to graduate.

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's Annual Yearly Progress Report for school year 2005-06 found only 6.4% of Hawaii public high schools met their annual progress goal in reading comprehension, and according to NCLB standards, only 40% of students for that same year met the proficiency requirements in language arts; and

     WHEREAS, according to an article by Craig Kojima published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the Hawaii public school system has struggled for years to improve students' abilities to read, write, speak, and comprehend English, and Hawaii lags far behind the national average, specifically in areas of reading and writing, as well as in critical thinking standards; and

     WHEREAS, in his article "Academic Debate and Critical Thinking" published in the National Forensic Journal, Robert Greenstreet discussed his finding that debaters significantly outperformed non-debaters on critical thinking tests, and as little as a semester's participation in speech or debate activities resulted in this observed improvement in critical thinking test scores; and

     WHEREAS, according to Yale Professor Minh Luong, speech and debate develops valuable skills that colleges are seeking, and according to a study completed by Yale University, students who participate in either speech or debate enjoy a college acceptance rate 22% to 30% higher than those students who do not participate in oral presentation activities; and

     WHEREAS, according to the University of Michigan's School of Communication, it was found that speech and debate programs develop crucial life skills such as time management, organization, research, critical thinking and note taking; and

     WHEREAS, it was found that speech and debate encourages the active pursuit of knowledge and personal expression, and fosters a tolerance for the options of others; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the Senate concurring, that the Hawaii Department of Education require a mandatory public speaking and argumentation semester as part of the Language Arts curriculum and as a condition of graduation for all Hawaii high school students; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawaii, the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Education, the Hawaii State Student Council, and all secondary school principals.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Public speaking requirement for high school; request