Date: 04/06/2015

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB15-1323

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
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04:11 PM -- HB15-1323

The committee recessed.


04:33 PM

The committee came back to order. Representative Pettersen took the gavel. Representatives Buckner and Wilson, co-sponsors, presented House Bill 15-1323, which implements the recommendations of the House Bill 14-1202 task force relating to statewide educational assessments. They spoke about the task force and the state's assessment and accountability systems.


04:43 PM

The following people testified:

04:43 PM -- Princess Mack, representing Together Colorado, spoke in support of the bill. She spoke about the needs of children and the need to have an accurate gauge of student proficiency and growth. She spoke about rigor in schools, students who fall behind their peers, and her experiences at Clayton Early Learning.

04:47 PM -- Angela Cobian, representing Together Colorado, spoke in support of the bill. She read testimony from Yesenia Quintana (Attachment F).

15HouseEd0406AttachF.pdf15HouseEd0406AttachF.pdf

04:50 PM -- Charlotte Brantley, President and CEO of Clayton Early Learning, spoke in support of the bill. She spoke about the importance of readiness assessments and appropriate tools. She spoke about her organization's involvement in national programs and assessment tools.

04:54 PM -- Luke Ragland, representing Colorado Succeeds, spoke in support of amending the bill. He spoke about his experiences on the HB 14-1202 task force. He explained that the largest percentage of testing time is used on district assessments, not on statewide standardized assessments. He spoke about rising math proficiency on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam. He spoke about parents' rights to honest, objective feedback and taxpayers' rights to know how schools are performing. He spoke about the consequences to the state's accountability system of removing ninth grade math and English exams. He urged the committee to amend the bill to add ninth grade testing back in. Mr. Ragland responded to questions from the committee, clarifying the 1202 task force's position on ninth grade assessments.

05:01 PM -- Chris Watney, President of the Colorado Children's Campaign, spoke in support of amending the bill. She spoke about her organization and about the importance of administering math and English assessments in ninth grade. She spoke about the importance of data in analyzing student success and the importance of consistent, comparable data. She discussed issues of equity, the removal of redundant tests, and the importance of ninth grade as a transition year. She discussed parents' needs for information about their children, schools' need for information, and the state's need for accountability.

05:05 PM -- Bill Jaeger, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, spoke in support of amending the bill to include ninth grade assessments. He described his experiences on the House Bill 14-1202 task force and the challenges the task force faced in reaching consensus. Mr. Jaeger responded to questions from the committee.

05:17 PM -- Eva Gonzalez, representing Padres y Jovenes Unidos, spoke in support of the bill. She described her organization and the importance it places on closing achievement gaps. She described the necessity of tests as a way of understanding gaps in how students progress, her belief that the current testing regimen is too burdensome, and her support for the bill. Ms. Gonzalez responded to questions from the committee.

05:23 PM -- James Cryan, representing Rocky Mountain Prep Charter Schools, spoke in favor of amending the bill. He described his school and the demographics of its students. He spoke about his experiences with the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment and how the students in his school reacted to the assessments. He described his support for an amendment to add ninth grade back into the scheduled math and English assessments.

05:26 PM -- Dane Stickney, middle school teacher at STRIVE Prep Charter School, spoke in support of amending the bill. He described his school and the demographics of its student body. He described his school's support for adding ninth grade back into the list of mandatory assessments in math and English. He spoke about parents' need for information and the importance of measuring student growth inside a school. He spoke about transparency, accountability, and comparability.


05:30 PM

The bill sponsors responded to questions from the committee. The two preceding witnesses responded to questions from the committee.

05:33 PM -- Caroline Elis, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill. She spoke about her experiences teaching at a Title I school. She described her school's demographics. She spoke in support of allowing English-language learner students to take assessments in their native languages for 3 to 5 years. She described the needs of her recent immigrant students and her challenges in teaching to a variety of proficiency and fluency levels. She spoke about recent immigrants' struggles with taking the PARCC test in English without being able to understand the exam. She said that none of the data from these students would be usable, and described the requirement that the students sit for 90 minutes in silence staring at a screen they cannot understand. Ms. Elis responded to questions from the committee.

05:42 PM -- Emily Volkert, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill. She spoke about her experiences as a teacher. She described the need of students to take tests in their native languages. She urged committee members to consider amending the bill to allow more students to take assessments in their native languages. She discussed the bill's provisions relating to Reading to Ensure Acadmeic Development (READ) Act assessments.

05:46 PM -- Denise Maes, representing Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), spoke in support of amending the bill. She spoke about the need for good education to prepare students for college and careers. She described the diversity of Colorado's public school population. She spoke about her desire for all students to succeed and explained that assessment is critical to this effort. She urged the committee to amend the bill and include mandatory assessments in ninth grade. Ms. Maes responded to questions from the committee.

05:51 PM -- Oscar Zavala, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill. He described his son's educational experiences.

05:56 PM -- Shequita Powell, representing Dayton Opportunity Center, spoke in support of the bill. She described her experiences as a tutor and the importance of standardized assessment data to her work helping students.

05:59 PM -- Keith Dorsey, representing the Dayton Opportunity Center, spoke in support of the bill. He described his experiences as a math teacher and how data from standardized assessments has helped him in his efforts to increase student achievement. Mr. Dorsey responded to questions from the committee.


06:06 PM -- Chelsea Henkel, representing Stand for Children Colorado, spoke in support of amending the bill. She described her organization's policy goals. She spoke about the value of the statewide assessment system and the importance of ninth grade assessments. She spoke about parents' need for reliable data and about social studies assessments. Ms. Henkel responded to questions from the committee.

06:11 PM -- Candice Green, representing herself, spoke about assessments.

06:15 PM -- Lauren Fine, representing herself, spoke about her work as a teacher and teacher leader in urban schools. She spoke about her reliance on timely assessments and her use of data in making adjustments for her students, and about parents' need for data on how their children are doing. She spoke about her students' recent experiences taking the PARCC exams.

06:18 PM -- Eric Brandt, representing himself, spoke about his experiences as a vice-principal. He spoke about the criticality of standardized tests to compare the progress of minority groups. He spoke about accountability and the importance of data to the state's accountability system.

06:21 PM -- Drew Madson, representing himself, spoke about his experiences as a history teacher at Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST). He spoke in support of amending the bill to add ninth grade assessments back into the mandatory list of assessments. Mr. Madson responded to questions from the committee.

06:29 PM -- Jen Walmer, representing DFER, spoke in support of amending the bill. She discussed the importance of the assessment system and the information she gets about her children's progress and their school's performance. She spoke about the needs of children in Colorado and asserted that measuring progress allows schools to intervene when students need it. Ms. Walmer responded to questions from the committee.

06:35 PM -- Cathy Kipp, representing the Board of Education in Poudre School District, spoke in support of amending the bill. She spoke about her district's study of assessments and her support for the optional ninth grade testing provisions of the bill. She spoke about parental opt-outs and twelfth graders opting themselves out. She spoke about her children's experiences in high school and lost instructional time. She advocated for using the ACT as the only high school test because children are motivated to get good results. She spoke in favor of the paper and pencil option provided in the bill for students less familiar with technology.

06:39 PM -- Julie Whitacre, representing the Colorado Education Association, spoke in support of amending the bill. She expressed support for allowing Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act assessments to substitute for kindergarten readiness assessments, and for the elimination of eleventh and twelfth grade assessments. She explained that the educators in her organization hope that more can be done to reduce testing burden, that they would prefer the elimination of ninth grade assessments altogether since they are not required under federal law, and the elimination of social studies assessments. She said that her organization would be satisfied with allowing local control for social studies assessments, or random sampling or optional for districts. She explained that her organization would prefer not to use scores for evaluating teachers for at least the next three years. Ms. Whitacre responded to questions from the committee.

06:46 PM -- Ilana Spiegel, representing SEEK, spoke in support of amending the bill. She spoke about her experiences on the House Bill 14-1202 task force. She spoke about the parents, students, and teachers that provided public comment to the task force explaining the burden of the current assessment system. She spoke about the civil rights implications of the current assessment system and stated that measuring gaps does not close them. She told the committee that resources are being diverted to testing that could otherwise be used for improving student achievement. She stated her belief that parents should be able to get all the information they need from their kids' teachers.

06:49 PM -- Lisa Escarcega, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), spoke in support of amending the bill. She said that her organization would like to see the addition of a hold-harmless year as recommended by the House Bill 14-1202 task force and elimination of required social studies assessments, since those are not a federal requirement.


06:51 PM

The preceding two witnesses responded to questions from the committee.


07:11 PM

Representative Buckner thanked the witnesses for their testimony and asked to lay the bill over for action only. Representative Wilson expressed his agreement with the request to lay the bill over. He spoke about the need to chart a path acceptable to both sides. Representative Pettersen thanked the witnesses and sponsors.


07:13 PM

The committee adjourned.