Bill Text: HI SCR155 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Department of Education; Board of Education; High Stakes Teacher Evaluations

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-29 - Report adopted, referred to WAM/JDL. [SCR155 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-SCR155-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	155
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the board of education to abolish high-stakes teacher evaluations.

 

 

     WHEREAS, in 2012 the Department of Education was awarded $75,000,000 under the federal Race to the Top grant program; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Race to the Top grant program required states receiving funds to implement high-stakes teacher evaluations, in which teacher pay and employment status were linked to the results of annual evaluations; and

 

     WHEREAS, to satisfy the requirements of Race to the Top, the Board of Education passed Board Policy 2055, which established a high-stakes evaluation system for public school teachers and administrators, now called the Educator Effectiveness System; and

 

     WHEREAS, the evaluation system implemented by the Department of Education in compliance with Board Policy 2055 relies on value-added measures, in which effective teaching is measured by growth in student achievement from year to year; and

 

     WHEREAS, value-added measures of effective teaching rely disproportionately on standardized test scores; and

 

     WHEREAS, the American Statistical Association has said that value-added measurement formulas fail to determine teaching effectiveness with sufficient reliability and validity; and

 

     WHEREAS, a 2014 study published in the American Educational Research Association's journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis showed that value-added measures are not able to detect differences in the content or quality of classroom instruction; and

 

     WHEREAS, surveys conducted by the Hawaii State Teachers Association have repeatedly shown that a majority of the State's public school teachers feel that adoption of the Educator Effectiveness System has compromised professional autonomy, failed to improve professional practice, and overemphasized standardized testing; and

 

     WHEREAS, surveys of principals conducted by the Education Institute of Hawaii showed that eighty-six percent of principals agree there is too much emphasis on test scores, and seventy-eight percent of principals agree that the Educator Effectiveness System has adversely affected the morale at their schools; and

 

     WHEREAS, the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 prohibits the federal government from mandating any aspect of a state teacher evaluation system, including the use of standardized tests in conducting teacher evaluations, and, allows states to revise or repeal teacher evaluation systems implemented under previous federal requirements; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Board of Education and Hawaii State Teachers Association agreed in a collectively bargained agreement to implement a teacher evaluation system that provides information pertinent to professional improvement that increases teachers' effectiveness in facilitating student learning and growth; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Board of Education is requested to amend all appropriate board policies to abolish the use of teacher evaluations that impact teacher pay or employment status; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to discontinue the use of standardized tests in evaluating any public school teacher or administrator; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to continue teacher evaluation ratings from school year 2015-2016 to school year 2016-2017; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to collaborate with the Hawaii State Teachers Association on a new evaluation system that satisfies the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act; and

 

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

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Department of Education; Board of Education; High Stakes Teacher Evaluations