Report Title:

Council on Education Data and Accountability Indicators

Description:

Creates the Council on Education Data and Accountability Indicators to provide independent indicators and assessment of educational achievement within Hawaii's public education system, from pre-kindergarten through grade 20. (SD1)

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

339

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Findings and purpose. The legislature finds that public education is recognized as a major factor in the economic and educational future of the people of Hawaii. Hawaii’s public education system, from preschool through college and graduate level studies represents not only a major portion of the state budget, but also a vibrant and influential segment of the economy. Because education is a broad umbrella under which there are myriad and complex elements, understanding the system in terms of its finances, structure, policy making, and outcomes is an ongoing challenge. There is often much time and effort devoted to disputes over what the "facts" are of Hawaii’s public education system, from how many people work in or out of schools, the ratio of support staff to actual teachers, the per pupil expenditures, the overall expenditures, the operational powers and duties at various levels of the system, student achievements, percentage of the overall state budget devoted to education, and how we compare to national, state, and district systems on the mainland. While many different agencies or organizations often have their own favored set of statistics on education in Hawaii, the overall perception is that there is no single entity which has the confidence of the general public, the business community, and the educational community in terms of data and information that is accepted as objective and unbiased. Recent disputes between the public charter schools and the state auditor are just one example of this problem.

The legislature further finds that new federal requirements such as those contained in the "No Child Left Behind Act" (P.L. 107-110), calling for the reporting of state assessment data measuring student and school outcomes, focus on the quality and kind of evidence that demonstrates states’ efforts to educate students to proficient levels. How states collect, analyze, and use data pertaining to school and system performance, for example, using disaggregated achievement data in calculating adequate yearly progress (AYP), puts pressure on states to have the most accurate information possible. Additionally, state policy-makers must also rely on the department of education (DOE) as the primary provider information regarding Hawaii’s K-12 educational system, to determine what constitutes satisfactory progress toward established goals.

The legislature further finds that a non-partisan, objective council with the authority to provide leadership and coordination in creating consensus indicators, measuring and evaluating key elements of the system would assist state policy-makers by: providing revenue estimates of education costs; accessing and interpreting statewide data focusing on student and system performance outcomes; and evaluating the public school system's progress towards educational goals. Such an independent council would provide the state policy-makers and the larger community with reliable information and data, and perhaps create a complementary accountability model. A report of the Act 238 Collaborative (2002) included recommendations for a collaborative stakeholder design process to aid system design work and implementation planning in areas of defining, organizing, and aligning accountability in terms of standards, measures, and consequences.

The purpose of this Act is to create an independent council of educational data and accountability indicators to develop educational indicators and provide assessments of the public education system to enhance the ability of state policy-makers and others to ensure a quality educational experience for Hawaii's public school students.

SECTION 2. Council on Educational Data and Accountability Indicators. (a) There is established a temporary council on educational data and accountability indicators ("council") to be administratively attached to the research corporation of the University of Hawaii. The purpose of the council shall include, but not be limited to, development of an independent set of measurable and understandable educational indicators designed to assist state policy-makers in understanding the status and effectiveness of:

(1) Public education finance;

(2) Public education personnel;

(3) Public education organizational structures;

(4) Student outcomes; and

(5) Preschool through grade 20 school, complex, and campus achievements and outcomes of Hawaii’s public educational institutions, including the department of education and the University of Hawaii system.

The council shall have access to relevant and appropriate department of education and University of Hawaii data required to accomplish its mission, and shall compile a database of longitudinal data collected and analyzed pursuant to this section.

(b) The council shall be composed of eleven members, seven of whom shall be appointed by the governor as follows:

(1) Three members representing the general community;

(2) Two members from a list of not less than four names submitted by the state board of education;

(3) Two members from a list of not less than four names submitted by the board of regents of the University of Hawaii.

Two members shall be appointed by the president of the senate and two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.

The superintendent of education, the president of the University of Hawaii, the dean of the college of education, and the director of the Hawaii educational policy center, or their designees, shall be ex officio, nonvoting members of the council. The council members shall elect a chair from amongst its voting members.

(c) The council shall meet no later than thirty days following the appointment of its members, and members shall be compensated for each meeting they attend at a rate not greater than the state per diem rate. Members who incur travel costs shall be reimbursed for the travel costs to and from council meetings.

(d) The council shall submit its first report of findings and recommendations, not less than thirty days prior to the convening of the 2004 regular session, to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chair of the board of education, the chair of the board of regents, the superintendent of education, the dean of the college of education, and the state auditor. Thereafter, the council shall issue subsequent reports not less than twice per year in 2004, with a final report to be submitted not less than thirty days prior to the convening of the 2005 legislative session. The council shall post all of the council's reports on an Internet website.

(e) The council may hire an executive director, without regard to chapter 76, to assist the council in the execution of its duties.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $          , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003-2004, for the hiring of necessary staff and other operational expenses of the council on educational data and accountability established by this Act.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the research corporation of the University of Hawaii, for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $          , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003-2004, for technical support for the council on educational data and accountability indicators, including the management of a database.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii, Hawaii educational policy center, for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval and shall be repealed on June 30, 2005; provided that sections 3 and 4 shall take effect on July 1, 2003.