STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 148-20
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2020
RE: H.B. No. 1695
H.D. 1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirtieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2020
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Lower & Higher Education and Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 1695 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STANDARDIZED TESTING,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Require the Department of Education to only administer standardized tests as required by law;
(2) Require each complex area superintendent to submit an annual report to the Board of Education on the number of standardized tests required for each school within the complex area and the amount of instructional time devoted to such tests;
(3) Require the Board to notify students and their parents or guardians of the right to opt out of participating in standardized tests; and
(4) Remove standardizes tests as an evaluation metric on performance reviews for teachers and educational officers.
Your Committees
find that the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and federal Department of Education Race to the
Top program of 2009 shifted education priorities from inquiry-based teaching to
standardized testing, leading Hawaii's public school system to spend resources
to standardized testing at the expense of authentic education. Your Committees further find that the Every
Student Succeeds Act of 2015, which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act,
permits states to reduce the amount of time that students spend preparing for
and taking standardized tests. This measure seeks to promote
real-world learning experiences for Hawaii's children by limiting the amount of
time students spend participating in standardized tests.
Your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Removing the provision which required each complex area superintendent to submit an annual report to the Board of Education on the number of standardized tests required for each school within the complex area and the amount of instructional time devoted to such tests;
(2) Clarifying that the Board of Education shall exclude tests that are required under 20 U.S.C. section 6311(b)(2), which are described in the Hawaii Consolidated State Plan, when notifying students and their parents or guardians of the right to opt out of participating in standardized testing;
(3) Deleting language which removed standardized tests as an evaluation metric on performance reviews for teachers and educational officers;
(4) Changing its effective date to July 1, 2050; and
(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Lower & Higher Education and Labor & Public Employment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1695, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1695, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Lower & Higher Education and Labor & Public Employment,
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____________________________ AARON LING JOHANSON, Chair |
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____________________________ JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair |
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