STAND. COM. REP. NO.  583

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2023

 

RE:   H.B. No. 80

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 80 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENTS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to authorize public school complexes to use authentic assessments as part of classroom-based performance assessments.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Democratic Party of Hawaii Education Caucus, Hawaii State Youth Commission, Special Education Advisory Council, and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education.

 

     Your Committee finds that the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the 2009 United States Department of Education grant competition, the Race to the Top Assessment Program, shifted national education priorities from inquiry-based teaching to standardized testing and led teachers and administrators to spend more time, money, and energy on standardized testing at the expense of alternative learning pathways.  Your Committee further finds that an overemphasis on standardized testing narrows academic curricula, causing teachers to teach to the test and leading to a reduction in vocational programs and arts and cultural education.

 

     Your Committee notes that the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 urged states to adopt innovative assessments as an alternative to standardized testing.  Authentic assessments are one example of an innovative assessment, as they align classroom curricula with real-world problem solving.  This measure will enable public school complex areas to use authentic assessments as part of classroom-based performance assessments to encourage student achievement through the promotion of critical thinking, open-ended questioning, and collaborative learning.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Repealing language that:

 

          (A)  Requires a standards-based curriculum be implemented in all appropriate classrooms in public schools and public school complexes; and

 

          (B)  Requires public school complexes that develop a standards-based curriculum to use standards-based formative assessment tools to monitor student progress;

 

     (2)  Allowing, rather than requiring, public school complexes to develop rigorous classroom-based performance assessments;

 

     (3)  Changing its effective date to June 30, 3000; and

 

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 80, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 80, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair