HE‘E Coalition

Hui for Excellence in Education

Education Policy Notes, HE‘E Meeting Notes, Planning Team Notes ·

Policy/Planning Team Meeting 5/8/12

HE’E Policy/Planning Meeting

May 8, 2012 Tuesday, 1:00-3:00 pm

The Learning Coalition Office, 841 Bishop St. Suite 301

 

 

 

Attendees:

  1. Cynthia Okazaki (PACT)
  2. Dave Tom (GBA)
  3. Clif Tanabe (LNG)
  4. Mary Weir (FACE)
  5. Karen Ginoza (FACE)
  6. Jessica Wong-Sumida (Autism Society of Hawaii)
  7. Chris Jackson (HeadStart)
  8. Ann Davis (HEM)
  9.  Melanie Bailey
  10. Matt Lorin (TLC)
  11. Kathy Bryant (HE‘E)
  12. Cheri Nakamura (HE‘E)

 

1:00-1:45:              Review of 2012 legislative session and next steps for BOE and legislature

  • SCR79 :  Family engagement follow-up

The purpose of the resolution as to continue the implementation recommendations established in the report submitted to the legislature.  DOE will be hosting a meeting with staff, BOE representatives, and HE’E, HEM and the PTSA.  The meeting will focus on how DOE will move forward and what the supporting groups can do to assist.  An update will be provided to the HE’E Policy Group following that meeting.

 

  • Early Ed Advisory Committee Parent member:

With passage of this bill the Early Education office will be established and funded.  A part of the bill was the formation of the Advisory Council which includes a parent representative.  At this time we don’t know the process for selecting the parent representative, or the timetable for the Council.  HE’E members commented that the Early Learning Council will become the Advisory Council plus the addition of 4 new positions.  They have a meeting scheduled on May 17th.  HE’E staff will write a letter to Terry Locke asking for information about the Council selection process, and the timeline for recommendations.

  • BOE Policy actions (instructional time, strategic plan, school safety, etc.)

The Policy Team agreed to write a letter to the BOE asking the following:

–       Status of safe school initiatives, character education curriculum, and any other activities underway to address bullying, cyber-bullying, Chapter 19 reporting around bullying, etc.  The BOE had made this a priority issue and the community has been waiting to see the results.   Hawaii is one of a few states without a Safe Schools Law, advocates have deferred to the BOE to take action, so it is a good time to check and see their progress.

–       Will the BOE be working on a policy that defines “student instructional time” since the bill did not pass.

–       Has the BOE requested an update from the DOE on the status of secondary schools in complying with Act 167?

–       The group does want to stay informed about the bus funding.  They agree that it is a difficult issue.   There are issues of concern regarding pedestrian safety (some streets are very dangerous, neighborhoods without sidewalks, etc.), attendance issues, etc.

–       The HE’E staff is meeting with Storyline Consulting which has been hired by DOE to assist with the Strat Plan.  If asked HE’E members are also willing to meet with the consultant and discuss the plan.

–       All members are encouraged to participate in the online survey and make comments.

1:45-2:15:             Questions for Assistant Superintendent Stephen Schatz

In addition to the questions below, members were asked to submit any other questions to Cheri for submittal to Stephen in advance.

Questions for Stephen Schatz:

  1.  What are the internal and external communication plans for RTTT and ESEA waiver and how will they be implemented?
  2. Please describe the major components of Hawaii’s ESEA waiver proposal.
  3. Testing is a big issue, particularly a desire to move away from the HSA.  How will growth be measured?  What will the testing components include (at the BOE Strategic Plan session in December you mentioned the ACT, ACTWorks, middle school program, etc. which seemed to be positively received by the members present).  We heard a presentation from the ACT representative at recent JVEF meeting.  She stated that only Moanalua High School currently uses the ACT resources.  How will any new testing method be implemented?
  4. How will the achievement gap be addressed?
  5. How will the community and families be able to give input?
  6. Do you favor increasing the Title 1 funds for Family Engagement from  1 to 2% as proposed in the Family Engagement Act?  What provisions are included for family engagement
  7. Regarding RTTT, what is the status of performance evaluations for teachers?

2:15-2:30:            HE’E Internship Research Project:  input and agreement (see handout)

The group discussed the proposed internship project.  They agreed that gathering baseline data and having some evidence of family engagement practices is a good starting point.  They are excited about the potential to have more research conducting to assist the group in making evidence based decisions.  They also like have examples of best practices and the opportunity to begin linking practices to student outcomes.  They also agreed that the first internship would be a learning experience and the group should be prepared to make adjustments as the project moves forward.  A member reminded the group that PCNCs are not at school until school starts so any conversations with them would have to be timed accordingly.  The advertisements will go out this week.

Dave Tom volunteered to help draft the Scope of Work.  Anyone else interested should let Cheri know.

2:30-2:45:              HR 50 discussion, led by Cliff Tanabe

The resolution was written by a 3rd year law student.  He is interested in  addressing bullying issues specifically in high risk student populations such as the lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual student (LGBT) and students with disabilities.  These students have far higher incidents of bullying.  His resolution was not introduced this session.  The group discussed the issue.  It was brought to the group’s attention that the US DOE has launched a civil rights investigation in Hawaii as we have the highest per capita rate of teen attempting and committed suicide rate in the country.  The group wanted more info on that report and Matt offered to find it.  Secondly, the group agreed that the issue is one that should be brought to the BOE and the DOE as the resolution asked for curriculum to be developed.  The group decided to get the information from DOE on the character education curriculum to see if there is content specific to students with disabilities and LGBT students.  Finally, the group will get the civil rights investigation information and send to the group.

2:45-3:00:              2012 Mom’s Congress Review, Melanie Bailey Hawaii Representative

 

Melanie attended the Mom’s Congress in late April.  The congress was hosted by Parenting Magazine.  She said the event was very well organized and the representatives from each state were very interesting.  She gathered a lot of information about various initiatives in other states.  She was particularly interested in other states efforts around 3rd grade literacy.  Efforts to focus on getting students to grade level including partnerships with pediatricians who distribute 0-5 literacy milestones to parents at the baby check-ups, to laws that prohibit moving to the 4th grade if the student can’t read at 3rd grade level.  They had several excellent speakers and she encouraged HE’E to continue to find great Moms to attend each year.

 

Meeting adjourned 3:00pm