HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

166

TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting a Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of education and Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii for development in the Hawaiian language of the reading, math, science, and other assessments administered to students in grades three through six of the Department of Education's Hawaiian Language Immersion Program AND FORMAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY STATUTE OR RULE OF AHA KAULEO KAIAPUNI HAWAII

 

 


     WHEREAS, the Hawaiian language, the native language of the Native Hawaiian people, was once a thriving language used by Native Hawaiians and foreigners alike; and

 

     WHEREAS, by the late twentieth century, however, the Hawaiian language was pushed to the brink of extinction due to a number of factors, including an 1896 law that banned the speaking of the Hawaiian language in Hawaii schools; and

 

     WHEREAS, fortunately, the Hawaiian language was saved by several historic initiatives, including the Department of Education's Hawaiian Language Immersion Program that was launched in the 1980s and is presently offered at twenty-one public schools and educates more than two thousand students in kindergarten through the twelfth grade; and

 

     WHEREAS, the assessment requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 present a major problem for the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program; and

 

     WHEREAS, as English is not formally introduced in Hawaiian Language Immersion Program classrooms until the fifth grade, since the 2005-2006 school year, third and fourth grade students had been taking the Hawaiian aligned portfolio assessment, which was developed in the Hawaiian language specifically for the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program, to comply with the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education decided it will no longer use the Hawaiian aligned portfolio assessment and is instead administering a Hawaiian translation of the Hawaii state assessment this school year; and

 

     WHEREAS, fifth and sixth grade Hawaiian language immersion students, who take the assessment tests in English, are also at a disadvantage, since they have spent only a limited amount of time using an English-based curriculum; and

 

     WHEREAS, problems arise when a test is translated from one language to another and, in many cases, the construct of the test will have changed because of the translation and an English reading test, once translated into Hawaiian, does not necessarily measure reading proficiency in either English or Hawaiian; and

 

     WHEREAS, as a result, the English-administered assessments for these students are unlikely to be an accurate reflection of their individual abilities, or their standing among their peers in English language-based schools; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Board of Education has adopted a policy (Board of Education Policy 2105) acknowledging that its Hawaiian Language Immersion Program is "an essential component to the revitalization and continuation of the Hawaiian language and culture"; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 1990, the Board of Education approved the establishment of the Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii, or the Hawaiian Language Immersion Advisory Council, to advise the Department of Education on the educational needs of the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program students; and

 

     WHEREAS, Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii has expressed a commitment to develop the reading, math, science, and other assessments administered to students in grades three through six of the Department of Education's Hawaiian Language Immersion Program in the Hawaiian language, in an original form, and at no cost to the Department of Education for the initial development of the assessments; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to establish a Memorandum of Agreement with Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii for the development in the Hawaiian language of the reading, math, science, and other assessments administered to students in grades three through six of the Department of Education's Hawaiian Language Immersion Program; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and the Department of Education are urged to formally acknowledge the establishment of Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii, or the Hawaiian Language Immersion Advisory Council, in the Hawaii Revised Statues, or through the Hawaii Administrative Rules, to assist in the Memorandum of Agreement process; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education, with the assistance of Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii, is requested to establish procedures for the development of these assessments by Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii at no cost to the Department; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the assessments not be Hawaiian translations of the general state assessments and be:

 

     (1)  Aligned with the vision, mission, and programmatic goals of the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program;

 

     (2)  Aligned with state academic content and achievement standards;

 

     (3)  Valid, reliable, and consistent with relevant, nationally recognized professional and technical standards; and

 

     (4)  Compliant with federal requirements; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all ancillary assessment materials and tools that are made available to students taking the general state assessment are also made available in the Hawaiian language to students in the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to report on the status of the Memorandum of Agreement to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2013; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, and Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

 

 

Report Title: 

Department of Education; Memorandum of Agreement; Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawaii