How Much?

Bill in Kentucky legislature
would tie teacher evaluations
to student performance

House Ed Cmte Chair Rollins is Thinking 30%

Including student test score performance as one factor in a teacher's evaluation is going to happen. It ought to happen. The question is how much should it count? No social science measure is absolute. Given all of the known weaknesses in our present ability to accurately assess any given teachers' contribution (the value they add) to test scores is cause for extreme caution. The system is fraught with weaknesses that render the accounting unfair. For that reason, Rollins's number is too much by half.


Still, Rollins must be hearing from those number lovers who would have test scores count for half of a teacher's performance evaluation. That is 30's biggest virtue. It's not worse.

This from Jim Warren at the Herald-Leader:

Under legislation pending in the General Assembly, student achievement would become a standardized part of Kentucky public school teachers' performance evaluations for the first time.

House Bill 40, sponsored by House Education Committee Chairman Carl Rollins, D-Midway, would authorize the Kentucky Department of Education to implement the evaluation system starting with the 2013 school year. Rollins' committee is to take up the measure Tuesday.

The Kentucky Education Association generally has signed off on the proposed evaluation system. But closely tying teachers' evaluations to students' academic progress could be one of the most sensitive issues in the 2012 legislative session.

The idea already is generating heat in Tennessee and some other states that are implementing new teacher evaluation systems in answer to the U.S. Department of Education, which wants student achievement factored into evaluations as a way of improving instruction.

As now planned, Kentucky teachers would be assessed on criteria such as their communication skills, knowledge of subject matter, ethics, use of technology and how well their students are doing academically.

The Kentucky Department of Education is developing the evaluation system now. But the state Board of Education has not yet decided the extent to which student achievement would affect a teacher's overall score. That could be a sticking point...

Rollins Remains Skeptical on Charters

“I’m not going to guarantee I can be convinced

that charter schools would be a good thing.”

-- Rep Carl Rollins

This from C-J:

...[Education Commissioner Terry] Holliday said Tuesday that he has been discussing charter schools with education groups to see if a compromise could be reached. He said Kentucky probably won’t win Race to the Top money without charter schools.

“We’ll look at what we can do,” he said before a meeting with [Governor Steve] Beshear and representatives of the Kentucky Education Association and Jefferson County Teachers’ Association.

KEA, JCTA, House Democrats and many local superintendents oppose the charter school concept.

KEA President Sharron Oxendine said her group is open to working with the governor and House and Senate leaders to make a charter schools bill more palatable to teachers.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to be in love with a charter schools proposal, but we understand the state desperately needs funds,” she said.

Oxendine said KEA wants a bill that requires more local control over charter schools and a requirement that teachers be certified.

Rep. Carl Rollins, the Midway Democrat who is chairman of the Education Committee, said he’s willing to discuss the idea, but “I’m not going to guarantee I can be convinced that charter schools would be a good thing.”

Rollins said he isn’t certain legislators can come up with a charter schools proposal that would be palatable to teachers’ groups.

Oxendine told the Ashland Daily Independent,

A bill passed in the Senate in the just concluded session allowed local boards of education to charter such schools, but wants more assurance that the schools would have to employ certified teachers. “We feel like every child deserves a certified teacher,” Oxendine said. “If you’ve got a 100 kids and there’s one teacher and four or five teaching assistants, that would be a key for us.”

Oxendine said KEA will never be enthusiastic about charter schools but doesn’t want to impede the state’s ability to secure the federal funding. She said KEA is most interested in general funding for education and teacher pay and benefits...

...Beshear continued Tuesday to say he wants a special session sooner rather than later to pass a new state budget and would consider calling it before the May 18 primary election if legislative leaders could agree to a budget in advance. “I would certainly look at (May 10) if the House and Senate leadership would come to an agreement by that time,” said Beshear. He said he needs a budget by June 1 in order to re-finance bonds in the general fund and road funds to save about $170 to $180 million dollars which both House and Senate budgets counted on to balance...

Last week, Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday sent a letter to Senator Ken Winters, chair of the Senate Education Committee, and Representative Carl Rollins, chair of the House Education Committee, encouraging them work with their fellow legislators to move key pieces of education legislation forward.

The full text of the letter is copied below.

March 5, 2010


Representative Carl Rollins, Chair
House Education Committee
702 Capitol Avenue
Room 367, Capitol Annex
Frankfort, KY 40601

Senator Ken Winters, Chair
Senate Education Committee
702 Capitol Avenue
Room 215, Capitol Annex
Frankfort, KY 40601

Dear Representative Rollins and Senator Winters:

Kentucky’s long history as a leader in education reform was reinforced this week by the announcement that our state is one of the finalists in the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) competition. We must give much credit and praise to the Kentucky General Assembly and the Governor for the powerful bipartisan support shown for the innovative design of 2009’s Senate Bill 1 and the swift passage of House Bill 176 this year, both of which clearly illustrate the solidarity of our state’s leaders behind Kentucky’s RTTT application. With Senate Bill 1 as the foundation for our RTTT application, our submission stood out as a powerful, integrated plan for moving the state’s education system to the next level.

Kentucky took a huge step in its Senate Bill 1 implementation on February 10 when it became the first state to adopt the Common Core Academic Standards and all three of the state’s education agencies adopted a joint resolution to implement the standards as part of their work and processes. In order to continue the superb momentum established by the adoption of the standards and by being an RTTT finalist, the passage of the following pieces of pending legislation is vital to the success of Senate Bill 1’s implementation and to carrying out the intent of the General Assembly’s vision for education:

• HB 109 Response to Intervention – improve the quality of instruction and learning for each child and thereby college and workforce readiness
• HB 301 Graduation Bill – increase graduation rate and college and workforce readiness (Note: Eight of the 16 states that are finalists in the Race to the Top competition have compulsory school ages of 17 or 18, which may give them an advantage in the review process. We anticipate only six to eight states will be funded and do not want to be at a disadvantage because the other states have higher compulsory school attendance ages.)
• SB 67 Early Graduation - accelerate the pathway to graduation for students who have specific career and college plans
• SB 163 Adolescent Literacy - enhance the literacy of students beyond the primary basics of the reading process, i.e., “reading to learn” in addition to having learned to read.

As leaders of the House and Senate Education Committees, I urge you to work with your colleagues to swiftly move the bills mentioned above through both chambers of the General Assembly. Their passage is fundamental to the ultimate goal of Senate Bill 1, to ensure that all of Kentucky’s students are career- and college-ready.

I am available to support the legislature’s consideration of these bills through furnishing additional information, testifying before committees or meeting individually with legislators. Please contact me for assistance at 502-564-3141 or via e-mail at Terry.Holliday@education.ky.gov .

Thank you for consideration of my request.

Sincerely,


Terry Holliday, Ph.D.

Cc: Governor Steve Beshear
Senate President David Williams
House Speaker Greg Stumbo

Deliberate Deafness

As our educational leaders plead for an alternative solution

- saying NO to this decision -

it appears that our voices are being ignored.

--15th District PTA President Myrdin Thompson

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, told the Courier-Journal Friday that the House budget was still about $200 million short of being balanced. But it turns out the gap is actually about $405 million when all of the changes detailed by Stumbo and House budget committee Chairman Rick Rand are totaled.

Missed it by that much.

But that's OK. We haven't really counted on Stumbo's data since he and Senate President David Williams told Kentuckians that our kids could get by just fine by reducing the amount of schooling they receive. I'm glad they didn't try to balance the whole budget by reducing schools to a 150 day school year. Instead, they can rest assured that Kentucky children will be ready to meet the demands of the twentieth century.

Over at the Bluegrass Institute, Richard Innes observed that "...at the very same time the House leader says we can cut school days, the education committee under his jurisdiction says we need to add more.."

A UNESCO study of 43 countries showed that 33 of them have school years longer than 180 days and some go as many as 220 days per year. Our legislative leaders say these extra days don't matter - while an increasing number of foreign nations flash past America in the percentage of citizens ready for the 21st Century.

Stumbo presents no evidence, but continues to claim that the number of instructional hours required by six of our seven surrounding states is less than Kentucky. In fact, five of the seven surrounding states go to school more days than Kentucky. Enacting Stumbo's plan would lower Kentucky another notch. True, some neighboring state laws only require a "minimum" number of hours (an historical remnant as low as 3 hours in Mississippi) but students in those states actually attend longer days.

Teachers would pay for the Stumbo/Williams plan.

According to the Daily-Independent, by reducing the number of instructional days from 177 to 175, the state will save about $34 million and teachers – on average – will lose about $500. Another cost savings, however, may yet rile educators – state employees will likely pay more from their paychecks for pensions and for health insurance.

Stumbo and Williams' commitment to educational excellence seems soft and subject to more immediate concerns - like the next election and the dred fear of fallout from the tax reform they know we need.

Governor Steve Beshear's plan was much better than this.

According to Rep. Tim Firkins, D-Louisville, it may still be a little early to tell, but so far, he hasn't heard much from constituents about the plan to reduce the two school days and increase teachers' healthcare costs. Those days were added to the school year in 2006. Firkins told the Daily Independent that he didn't expect to start seeing “green slip” messages from constituents for another couple of days because the broad budget plan became public only late last Thursday."

But Firkins' message is being echoed by other legislators.

This from the Daily Independent:

No outcry thus far on reducing school days

Stumbo said budget document should be ready soon

Lawmakers returned to Frankfort on Monday after a weekend at home, but most said they didn’t hear much feed back on a state budget proposal that would shave two days off the school calendar.

Rep. Danny Ford, R-Mount Vernon, said he attended a legislative breakfast at home Monday morning and while the subject of the school days came up, he didn’t detect an uprising.“We had some people say we wish you didn’t have to do that, but it wasn’t bad,” Ford said.

House Education Committee Chairman Carl Rollins, D-Midway, concurred. He said he’d received some blowback from teachers and educators, “but not that much. I was kind of surprised really.”

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said he’d not heard much about the days while back in Floyd County this weekend. He said some members told him
they’d been asked about the days, but again, there was no indication of widespread shock or anger...

Are our legislators not hearing anything from educators...or not listening?

Kentucky’s education commissioner warned legislators Friday that their budget proposal to eliminate two days of public school “would move us backward,” shortening the school year at a time when many other states are trying to add days, the Courier-Journal reported.

“The national average is 180 days, and the international average is around 200 days,” said Terry [Holliday], who head[s] the state education department. “Kentucky is at 177 days.

“If people want to know why some of our schools aren’t doing so well on test scores, they need to look at the amount of time that is being spent on instruction and the length of our school calendar.”

This from the Enquirer:

NKY to Frankfort: Save our schools

Educators from across Northern Kentucky flocked Saturday to the Boone County High School gymnasium to deliver a collective message.

The state lawmakers that make up the Northern Kentucky Legislative Caucus listened to concerns from the public ...the dominant topic at the public meeting was the future of education in Kentucky.

"These are difficult times and we're going to have to make some difficult decisions," said Sen. John Schickel, R-Union. "Education is very important and I think all members of the General Assembly realize that and want to do everything they can to provide a quality education for our children."

The dozens of teachers, school administrators and staff, school board members and other education advocates who attended the meeting wore red as a show of solidarity. In two-minute increments, they stressed to the legislators the importance of a good education and addressed a House proposal that would cut two classroom days in public schools to help balance the state budget....

This afternoon, Council for Better Education President Tom Shelton reminded state education leaders that it is the General Assembly that is solely responsible for the schools.

As I am sure you have heard, the House budget proposal calls for the reduction of the two days that were added to school calendars and teacher contracts four years ago. They have indicated that local districts could pay for these days from their contingency funds / fund balances. I know you realize this but even if a district can afford to pay the two days from their contingency / fund balance, they could not do this on a recurring basis and salaries are recurring costs. Fund balances / contingencies are one-time funds and a district should not obligate these funds for recurring costs. That is how districts become deficit.

Also, by the Constitution, it is the obligation of the General Assembly, not local districts, to provide an adequate public school system. Contingencies / fund balances are local funds, not state funds, and the General Assembly, has no authority to obligate these funds. Trying to say that it is optional at the local district creates equity issues across the state and flies in the face of KERA and the establishment of SEEK funding. We do not need systems of the haves and have nots.

The General Assembly continues to pass off their obligation to local school boards and communities. This is not just happening now during an economic recession but has been happening for 15 years. It is time for them to step up and modernize our state budget and system of revenues so that they do not continue to jeopardize the future of our state by inadequately funding education. I encourage you to consider my thoughts and if you agree, feel free to share with all of your constituencies.

Tom Shelton
Superintendent, Daviess County Public Schools

That drew a rather specific response from Tommy Floyd in Madison County that shows the bind local school districts are now in.

I must admit, I am troubled by the supposed legislative solutions:

Here we are in the latter half of the current session with somewhat of a false belief that school districts have not been good stewards. I wanted to state where my experience leaves me today:

1. We are planning on our 3rd draft budget at $3866.00 per child.

2. Almost every consumable has increased significantly in cost since the above rate has not changed.

3. Most of our local sources of revenue including investments are at the lowest point in recent memory. Our school board voted/approved the maximum local 4% increase in property tax.

4. Most of our layers of extra support have been reduced or eliminated from elementary, middle, and high schools with respect to personnel on our part.

5. We are still paying for a 1% raise from 09/10, and without additional funding, will continue to do so @$450,000+.

6. We are still payig for Infinite Campus.

7. Our Flex Focus funds have been significantly reduced affecting multiple layers of our district’s ability to serve the students that need it most.

8. Most of our state grant programs have all had reductions and have been adjusted accordingly while still delivering much needed services. (Remember - We had to show need in order to get them in the first place).

9. We have worked to find ways to run transportation and food service more efficiently and have reduced costs- and we should have.

10. We experienced record low attendance last fall due to H1N1. We disinfected our buildings/buses and immunized many of our students in an effort to stay open and are just now feeling some of the imminent impacts of this lowered ADA effect which will also be forthcoming in next year’s SEEK base.

11. We have accumulated a balance over the last ten years (~8%). This balance is largely due to the reliance on capital outlay funds or would not be where it is today.

12. The obligation to fund (2) days from General fund (Supposed surplus) would cost Madison County Schools an additional (~$400,000 - $450,000) in salaries alone.

I believe that we, as a district, are doing what we should be in response to what our state and nation are experiencing with the recession…..

What troubles me the most when talking about using local funds for recurring costs, is obviously the impact on students…..especially unsuccessful students.

Even as a young teacher, I knew that we must increase the number of successful students that reach graduation and obtain a diploma that means more than just a certificate of attendance. Currently fifteen percent of our Commonwealth’s kids do not even achieve that.

In a time where so many good things could happen for Kentucky’s unsuccessful students, we are definitely at a crossroads. There is no shortage of articles and suggestions on stepping out of the “box” to change how we educate our kids. The opportunity to reconsider Pre-K efforts, and to re-think our current High School model could pay huge dividends for our Commonwealth’s unsuccessful students.

That is, unless we choose the path of trading our kids future, for an easy fix.

I have thought many times as I drive away from one of our schools; our kids do not know anything about state education funding, budget deficits or contingencies. They just know that regardless of their current status, the world is waiting for them and they must be ready. The adults that work with them everyday know this too.

They are keenly aware that they are expected and continuing to do more with
less. If the conditions exist that Mr. Shelton describes below at the end of the session, we will have a lot of explaining to do someday to our students; especially our unsuccessful ones.

Tommy Floyd
Superintendent
Madison County Schools

This from the Daily News:

Bowling Green Independent Schools Superintendent Joe Tinius [is] scratching his head.

...Schools now get $3,866 for each student based on average daily attendance, not taking into account the number of instructional days, Tinius said.“So I don’t see how they can save that money without reducing the SEEK formula,” he said.

Rep. Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said when the state added the two additional days several years ago, it did so making it a budget line of $16 million for two days each year. The amount is now $17 million.“It wasn’t included in the SEEK calculations,” Richards said.

But Tinius said the funding did come to schools by way of an increase in SEEK funding.The only way to have any savings would be to reduce the SEEK base funding.Stumbo suggests that if districts want to pick up the tab for the additional days themselves, they could.“I just don’t see that happening,” Tinius said.

Richards said he’s against the idea of dropping the two instructional days because it goes against the trend of other states that have added instructional days.

At WFPL 15th District PTA President Myrdin Thompson objected:

When I have to balance my personal budget I do not sacrifice my children and their needs. I make sure that they are clothed, sheltered, fed, and EDUCATED, first and foremost. As adults, we often go without so that our children will not.

We have educational initiatives such as increasing the drop out age from 16 to 18 (supported by First Lady Beshear and her Drop Out Prevention Summits), and just initiated Core Standards as well as announcing SB1.

Kentucky has only 177 instructional days, compared to a national average of 186.

How can we expect our students to achieve greatness when we devalue their educational experience? How can we ask them to go on to higher educational experiences and become solid 21st century citizens when we then say that two days of instructional time won’t make a difference. Those two days could be all the difference in a child’s life. This is unacceptable.

As our educational leaders plead for an alternative solution, saying NO to this decision, it appears that our voices are being ignored.

My children are not statistics. They have hopes, dreams, goals, and aspirations. Through the Dream Out Loud Challenge they are being ecouraged to look ahead to what they will do after College graduation. Today, I want our elected leaders to understand how many will not graduate to Dream Out Loud if this action is taken. We cannot sacrifice our children in order to balance a budget.

This from H-L:

Give at the office

If the General Assembly follows through on the House proposal to cut two instructional days from the school year and school districts are unable to fund the two days locally, Kentucky teachers could face the equivalent of a small pay cut.

That doesn't seem to concern Senate President David Williams, who downplayed that prospect at a Friday news conference.

"If there were slight pay decreases — a percent or a percent and a half — it would pale in comparison to what's happening in the private sector," Williams said.

True enough.

But teachers, particularly those with post-graduate degrees, arguably don't earn as much as comparably educated people in the private sector. So, even a small pay cut might have a disproportionate effect on them.

Besides, if Williams' empathy for private sector employees is so strong that he thinks teachers also should take a hit, then he needs to step up and feel the pain as well...

If legislative leaders can't hear, they're just not listening.

House Education Comnmittee Lowers Standards for Higher Education In Kentucky

...and everybody seems to love it.

This from H-L:

House panel OKs college transfer bill

A bill that would make it easier for community college students to transfer to a public, four-year university is headed to the full House for a vote, possibly as soon as Friday.

The House Education Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved House Bill 160, which would develop a clear pathway for students in the state's junior college system to obtain a four-year degree.

The bill's sponsor, Democratic Rep. Carl Rollins of Midway, said too many students are not getting credit for classes they took at the junior college level when they transfer to four-year colleges.

"I wanted to see a system where they don't have to run up big debts just to get a four-year degree," said Rollins, who chairs the House Education Committee.

Under the bill, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, which has 16 colleges and 67 campuses, would have to streamline its general education requirements and align them with bachelor's degree programs at the state's universities.

In turn, universities must accept the general education course work — basic English, arts, math and science classes — that students complete at community colleges.

In addition, all public bachelor's degrees would be limited to 120 credit hours and associate degrees would be limited to 60 credit hours, starting in the 2012-2013 academic year...

Great. Just what we need - legislators like Jim Gooch telling professors how many hours of course work are necessary for students to become competent in a field. It is certainly true that students take longer to graduate these days but I must confess I don't recall that so many students had to work full time to get themselves through school - back in the day.

Also, unless I'm mistaken, 120 hours is the mininum allowable under the Southern Association's standards for schools it accredits. Under HB 160, that number would become the maximum. Way to go Kentucky. It that sense the bill, potentially, lowers the bar on quality. Where's the rigor amid the economy?

Has it occurred to anyone doubling the number of graduates who are less well-trained might not be the right approach?

But that may not be the worst of it.

Rollin's bill also requires that universities "Guarantee that upon admission to a public university, graduates of an associate of arts or an associate of science degree program approved by the council shall be deemed to have met all general education and program specific course prerequisites and be granted admission to related upper division degree programs of a public university on the same criteria as those students earning lower division credits at the university to which the student transferred.

This means a student could get an associate’s degree at a KCTCS school without taking any education courses; transfer to a university; and be automatically admitted to the teacher education program, without...

• Introductory Educational Foundations coursework and the attendant 20 hours of field work
• meeting ACT requirements for program admission
• meeting GPA requirements
• meeting requirements for a criminal background check, ethics declaration, judicial review
  meeting the requirement for a establishment of a portfolio
• receiving feedback from a portfolio review
• recommendations/disposition review
• and possibly, Math, Writing and Computer prerequisites.

The bill further stipulates that such students “shall not be required to repeat or to take any additional lower-level courses to fulfill bachelors degree requirements in the same major.”

This is a good idea gone wrong. It needs a little tweaking.

But perhaps some of that tweaking has been going on behind the scenes. CPE President Robert King told H-L,

CPE, however, would have final say on how many hours would be required for a degree if there are concerns — particularly in areas where there are standardized board tests, such as for nursing and engineering.

The language of the bill doesn't say so - unless it was amended very recently - but let's hope King is correct and CPE has that authority. Otherwise, good intentions will once again harm K-12 education in the state.

Bill to fix low-performing schools clears panel

This from the Courier-Journal:

The House Education Committee passed a bill Thursday morning that officials hope would better position Kentucky to win federal money to improve the academic
performance of public schools.

House Bill 176, sponsored by Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, would allow school districts to close low-performing middle and high schools and restart them under the management of a private or non-profit operator, known as an educational-management organization, or EMO.

“I think (the bill) helps us be a little more competitive in the Race to the Top,” Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said after the committee meeting. “It shows we have a real good plan to help turn around low-performing schools.”

Almost One Hell of an Idea

But Rollin's Bill Needs Tweaking

Word has been rattling down the pipeline about Rollins' bill for a while now. I hear that this measure has lots of support from legislators who apparently want to spank the research 1 institutions (UK & UofL) for their reluctance to grant credit to incoming students from Kentucky schools with associates degrees.

The general idea of transferability is not the problem, given the fact that most schools work very closely with incoming students to assure that proper course credit is given. The bill calls for CPE and KCTCS to specify the general education student learning outcomes, program specific prerequisite credit hours, and comparable course titles which shall be accepted for transfer and fully credited within bachelors degree programs. However, there are a couple of sections in the bill that are potentially problematic: Section 2, sub (h) and (i).

2 (h) requires that universities "Guarantee that upon admission to a public university, graduates of an associate of arts or an associate of science degree program approved by the council shall be deemed to have met all general education and program specific course prerequisites and be granted admission to related upper division degree programs of a public university on the same criteria as those students earning lower division credits at the university to which the student transferred.;

For future teachers, this suggests that a student could get an associate’s degree at a KCTCS school without taking any education courses; transfer to a university; and be automatically admitted to the teacher education program, without

• Introductory Educational Foundations coursework and the attendant 20 hours of field work;
• meeting ACT requirements for program admission
• meeting GPA requirements
• meeting requirements for a criminal background check, ethics declaration, judicial review
• meeting the requirement for a establishment of a portfolio
• and receiving feedback from a portfolio review
• recommendations/disposition review
• and possibly, Math, Writing and Computer prerequisites.

2 (i) further stipulates that such students “shall not be required to repeat or to take any additional lower-level courses to fulfill bachelors degree requirements in the same major;”

Limited to general studies, the proposed transferability policy change is probably a good idea. It should cause universities to better coordinate and KCTCS to assure proper course rigor. But waiving prerequisites and admission requirements is an act against rigor and quality.

This bill needs to be fixed.

This from the Herald-Leader:

Plan to aid community college transfers

Goal is to eliminate

lost credits at universities

Often, Kentucky community college students who move to four-year universities are frustrated to learn that upon transferring, some core degree requirements they had completed have changed.

The result: wasted credit hours and money, which negates the community college strategy of knocking out basic classes at a lower tuition rate before taking advanced classes at a larger university.

Lawmakers have long chastised college and university leaders for not working together to make it easier for students to transfer seamlessly. Now, a united front of higher-education leaders and lawmakers will push legislation to smooth out many of those bumps in the 2010 General Assembly, which begins Jan. 5.

"It requires that there be a clearly defined path from the community college through the four-year public universities so you don't lose credits," said Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, who plans to file a first draft of that bill in advance of the session.

The proposal guarantees that students who pick a major soon after starting community college can finish an associate's degree that fulfills the required general-education classes at Kentucky's eight public universities, Rollins said...

Here's the preliminary text of the bill, which had not yet been prefiled when I looked last week:

Transferability

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:

+SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 164 IS CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(1) Beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year for first time students, no bachelor degree program requirement shall exceed one hundred and twenty (120) credit hours and no associate of arts or associate of science degree program shall exceed sixty (60) credit hours. The Council on Postsecondary Education may approve exceptions to the requirements of this subsection for specialized programs that must comply with specific program standards established by external accreditation bodies.

(2) The Council on Postsecondary Education in collaboration with KCTCS and the public universities shall:

(a) Facilitate the development and implementation of a statewide agreement for alignment of KCTCS lower division coursework that shall be accepted and fully credited to related bachelors degree programs by all public universities. The agreement shall specify the general education student learning outcomes, program specific prerequisite credit hours, and comparable course titles which shall be accepted for transfer and fully credited within bachelors degree programs. The agreement shall direct that courses specified within the agreement shall be accepted for transfer and degree credit whether earned as individual courses, or within block programs, or associate degree programs;

(b) Develop, implement, and maintain a KCTCS statewide course numbering system for lower-division general education and program specific prerequisite courses that include the same student learning outcomes;

(c) Develop, implement, and maintain a statewide common classification system based upon common general education learning outcome areas for the 30 credit hour general education core for KCTCS and the public universities so that the transfer and articulation of equivalent courses or specified learning modules or units completed by students are not inhibited by inconsistent
judgment about the application of transfer credits. Coursework completed within such a system at one public postsecondary institution and transferred to another public postsecondary institution shall be applied to the student’s degree requirements in the same manner as equivalent coursework completed at the receiving institution;

(d) Establish procedures under a statewide common classification system to monitor the transfer and crediting of lower-division coursework, including a system of ongoing assessment of that coursework in terms of level, content, quality, comparability, and degree program relevance;

(e) Standardize credit-by-exam equivalencies and common passing scores for general education credit-by-exam courses and program specific prerequisites credit-by-exam courses;

(f) Develop policies to align statewide articulation and transfer procedures across educational institutions, including admissions criteria, student declaration of major, and student guidance and counseling policies designed to ensure that students pursuing an associate of arts or associate of sciences degree program provide timely notification of their intention to transfer to a public university;

(g) Develop uniform data collection and reporting methods to facilitate and ensure statewide and institutional compliance with course transfer and credit requirements;

(h) Guarantee that upon admission to a public university, graduates of an associate of arts or an associate of science degree program approved by the council shall be deemed to have met all general education and program specific course prerequisites and be granted admission to related upper division degree programs of a public university on the same criteria as those students earning lower division credits at the university to which the student transferred.;

(i) Provide that graduates of approved associate of arts and associate of sciences degree programs who transfer to a bachelors degree program shall not be required to repeat or to take any additional lower-level courses to fulfill bachelors degree requirements in the same major;

(j) Provide that graduates of approved associate of arts or associate of science degree programs shall receive priority for admission to a public university over out-of-state students if they met the same admission criteria;

(k) Establish a common college transcript to be used in KCTCS and all public universities;

(l) Encourage private colleges and universities to collaborate with public educational institutions in developing programs and agreement to expedite the transfer of students and credits between institutions; and (m) Establish an appeals process to resolve disagreements between transferring students and receiving educational institutions regarding the transfer and acceptance of credits earned at another institution.

(3) The Council on Postsecondary Education shall ensure that all articulation and transfer policies are compliant with the rules and regulations established by all appropriate institutional accrediting agencies as recognized by the United States Department of Education.

(4) [Awaiting CAO feedback]. When a public university changes the learning outcomes within any course or program identified as a transfer equivalent, the state public university must communicate the change to KCTCS within a reasonable amount of time and either identify other KCTCS course equivalencies that will satisfy the new learning outcomes or collaborate with KCTCS to develop curriculum that ensures equivalent learning outcomes and thus transferability. Transferability must be resolved before the change is implemented. If disputes arise between public postsecondary institutions due to course and program revisions, the Council is empowered to appoint a committee, chaired by the Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Council, and comprised of distinguished faculty, with equal representation from KCTCS and the public universities, to resolve the dispute through evidence-based alignment of learning outcomes.

Agreement Reached on Scraping CATS

“It’s a great bill. It’s exactly what we wanted.”

---Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway

That according to House Education Chair Carl Rollins as agreement was reached this afternoon on on a bill to replace the CATS accountability testing system.

This from Tom Loftus at C-J:

...Under the compromise, students will take the current test this spring in the areas of math, science, reading, social studies and on-demand writing.

Districts can choose to test in the areas of practical living and career studies and arts and humanities.The exam won’t be used for state assessment purposes, and writing portfolios will be used for instruction only.

The exam will last for seven days instead of the current 10.

In the 2009-10 school year, schools will use the current test in math, science, reading, social studies and on-demand writing.

A national test will be given for the purpose of providing parents and students a measure of individual student performance.

The exam in 2009-10 will last six days.

In 2010-11, schools will use the current test in science, reading, social studies and on-demand writing and will give a national test.

In addition, a math exam based on new standards, to be developed by the Department of Education, will be given as a sort of test run. The testing schedule will drop to five days.

Stumbo Sends Rookies to Conference on CATS

This from Stephanie Seitzer at C-J:

Freshmen legislators thrown into the belly of the beast

House Speaker Greg Stumbo appointed four freshmen legislators to the conference committee on Senate Bill 1, the measure to reform the CATS test.

Those freshmen will be up against Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, Majority Floor Leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield, and Minority Floor Leader Ed Worley, D-Richmond.

The freshmen are Reps. Kelly Flood, D-Lexington, Linda Belcher, D-Shepherdsville, Kent Stevens, D-Lawrenceburg, and John "Bam" Carney, D-Lawrenceburg.

Of course, longtime legislative heavyweight Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, and House Education Chairman Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, will be accompanying the freshmen...

Ding Dong...

This from Ronie Ellis in the News and Tribune:

House passes bill to replace CATS test

Differences with Senate version

must be ironed out before final passage

FRANKFORT — The widely detested CATS school accountability test isn’t officially dead just yet – but it’s close.

The state House on Wednesday approved legislation to narrow the focus of the test, allow teachers to concentrate on fewer standards and students to gain a deeper understanding of those standards, according to Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond. The test will cost less, take less time, and match up with Kentucky college and university expectations for incoming freshmen.

It removes writing portfolios from the accountability index, although they will continue as an instructional tool. Some open response questions will be retained, although fewer than in the CATS test. And it must be administered during the last two weeks of the school year.

The bill is largely the product of negotiations between the House and Senate over differences between the two chambers’ approaches to school testing. On Wednesday the House education committee inserted into Senate Bill 1 language reflecting those negotiations, although committee Chairman Carl Rollins, D-Midway, said there are a few differences still to be worked out.“

Basically, this is what we proposed,” said Sharron Oxendine, president of the Kentucky Education Association. “You can hear teachers cheering all over the state. They know it’s going to be a better day for instruction.” ...

Lawmakers may be close on testing

This from Ronnie Ellis in the Glasgow Daily Times:

Work on accountability compromise

The state’s public schools accountability testing system, CATS, may have run out of lives as key lawmakers appear close to a compromise on its replacement.

The Republican controlled Senate has passed Senate Bill 1, which would replace the time consuming, controversial testing system with a simpler, less expensive multiple choice test. But they’ve done that in past sessions only to see it go nowhere in the Democratic controlled House. But the landscape has changed in the House with the selection of Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, as Speaker, and he’s been more willing to discuss changes to the testing system.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield, said there’s “been a sea change in attitudes about the need to make adjustments in the test.”

Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, concedes it’s time to adjust the test, but he doesn’t want to rely solely on a multiple choice test – especially what is known as a norm-referenced test. Such tests compare student performance to that of students from across the country – as opposed to criterion or standards based tests, which measure how much a student knows against established standards of knowledge.

Sharron Oxendine, president of the Kentucky Education Association, said many teachers prefer a multiple choice, “norm-reference” test, but KEA wants to retain a standards based component to any new test.

She said norm reference tests are fine for comparison purposes but they don’t help with assessment because they don’t measure what students specifically know. And such tests, she pointed out, are designed so that half of all students score at the 50th percentile or below. So schools can never place most of their students at the proficiency level on such tests...

Both the right and the left have taken shots at former Commissioner Jon Draud for either too much or not enough of something or other. OK, there was the car thing. But his Task Force on Assessment that was said, by some, to have produced no good, seems to have produced some good. No matter how one views the testing situation, perhaps we should ask ourselves; Until recently, when is the last time we heard cooperation like this out of Frankfort?

Kelly said universities are “reaching out and starting a dialogue with school districts,” helping them prepare their students for college level work.

Nearly everyone said discussions between Senate leaders, including Kelly and Sen. Ken Winters, R-Murray, who sponsored SB 1, and House members over their differences are going well.

Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, chairs the House Education Committee. He said Thursday, “We’re real close to an agreement. I’m very optimistic.”

Included in discussions about how to re-craft the state’s testing system have been school board members, superintendents and Oxendine and KEA. Rollins said for the most part, all the parties “are pretty much on the same page.”

Legislators differ on how CATS should be revamped

This from C-J:

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Kentucky's current system of school testing may be on the way out, though House Democrats aren't sure that Senate Republicans have the answer for replacing it.

Senate Republicans have long favored abolishing the state's Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, known as CATS. They contend that it's costly and time-consuming and doesn't provide students with information about their academic progress.

Others are now joining them, saying that the system should be scrapped or at least changed.

"If I were going to paraphrase our members' feelings, it would be that CATS testing needs a complete overhaul," Sharron Oxendine, president of the Kentucky Education Association, said in an interview.

A Senate bill sponsored by Education Committee Chairman Ken Winters would replace the current test with a national test such as the ACT and would supplement it with a locally created multiple-choice test that matches Kentucky's curriculum. It also would de-emphasize writing portfolios required under state law.

"It's time for a change," Winters, R-Murray, told the committee yesterday. "It's time we begin to adjust."

The committee didn't vote on the bill, but Winters said he expects it to win approval next week...

...House Education Committee Chairman Carl Rollins said in an interview yesterday that there is widespread agreement that changes are needed in the test. But he said he doesn't like the Senate solution.

"I think the bill needs work," said Rollins, D-Versailles.

He also said an overhaul of the test may need to be done as part of a broader attempt to revisit KERA.

"The Senate plan tries to do this in short order, and I don't think it can be done in short order," he said...

House A & R Chair goes to Rick Rand

This from Page One Kentucky, Photo of Carl Rollins:

A&R, Rick Rand, (Carroll, Henry, Oldham, Trimble- click here for the full A&R committee list)

Education, Carl Rollins (Fayette, Franklin, Woodford)

Health & Welfare, Tom Burch (Jefferson)

And Jake suspects all three "may have lied to Richards and/or Stumbo about their support..."

Carl Rollins: Ed Chair?

This from Page One:

But the hot gossip now is that Carl Rollins will be Chair of Education and a less liberal member of the House like Brent Yonts, John Tilley, Sannie Overly or Tanya Pullin will be Chair of Judiciary.

The hot talk is also about Tommy Thompson becoming A&R chair.

Recently, Jake went off on Kelly Flood and was caught underestimating Greg Stumbo.

Speakers Race could Determine Ed Chair

This from the State-Journal:

Stumbo challenges Richards for House leadership

House Democrats will elect new leaders when they come back to Frankfort on Tuesday.

Rep. Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, is seeking to usurp Jody Richards, the longest-serving House speaker in Kentucky's history. Richards has held the job for 14 years. Stumbo is a former attorney general and House majority leader.

Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, and Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, say they have been flooded with phone calls and letters from those candidates, as well as contenders in other elections.

...Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, and Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, say they have been flooded with phone calls and letters from those candidates, as well as contenders in other elections.

"They've all been working hard to garner the support of all our membership," Rollins said. "Especially this week." ...

...The elections are made by a secret ballot and Rollins and Graham were tight-lipped about whom they were supporting. Rollins called for a change in the way business is conducted in the House. He said strong leadership is needed. ...

...Whatever the results are, both Rollins and Graham said the new leaders will need to work together and avoid backlash against members who didn't support them.

"We've got a tough job and we don't need to be playing games by punishing some people or rewarding others," Rollins said...

Hat tip to KSBA.