Bill Text: HI HCR53 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 53 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Education To Provide A Report To The Legislature On Public School Class Sizes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-19 - Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Todd excused (1). [HCR53 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-HCR53-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	53
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROVIDE A REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASS SIZES.

WHEREAS, a well-rounded education requires manageable class sizes that allow teachers to deliver personalized and individuated instruction to their students; and

WHEREAS, the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the United States Department of Education, has concluded that class-size reduction is one of only four evidence-based reforms that have been proven to increase student achievement; and

WHEREAS, research by the National Education Association has found that reducing class sizes in lower-income school districts helps to increase student achievement and students' test scores, alleviate strain on teachers, and raise college acceptance rates; and

WHEREAS, additional research published by the Center for Educational Equity discovered that smaller class sizes may attract high-quality teachers, leading to the adoption of policies to reduce class sizes in California and Florida; and

WHEREAS, experiments in Tennessee, Wisconsin, and other states have demonstrated that students in smaller classes score better on standardized tests, receive better grades, and exhibit improved attendance; and

WHEREAS, research also shows that the students who benefit the most from smaller class sizes come from poor and minority backgrounds, and experience twice the achievement gains of the average student; and

WHEREAS, a study commissioned by the United States Department of Education analyzed the achievement of students in 2,561 schools across the nation by their performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and found that, after controlling for student background, the only objective factor that correlated with higher test scores was class size; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to provide a report to the Legislature regarding public school class sizes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report contain information on:

(1) The number of classes at each school that exceed the optimum class size ratios contained in Board of Education Policy 106-2, including the subject matter and grade level for such classes;

(2) The average number of individualized education programs for which special education care coordinators are responsible for at each school, including the total number of care coordinators whose responsibilities exceed that average;

(3) The average student-teacher ratio for all general education classes at each school, including the total number of general education classes that exceed that average;

(4) The average student-teacher ratio for all special education classes at each school; disaggregated by inclusion, resource, and fully self-contained classes; and including the total number of special education classes that exceed those averages;

(5) The average student-teacher ratio for all content-based English-language learning classes at each school, including the total number of content-based English-language learning classes that exceed that average;

(6) The average total student workload for teachers at each school, disaggregated by subject matter and grade level, and the total number of teachers whose total student workload exceeds that average; and

(7) The impact on public school class sizes of school disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the implementation of remote learning programs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the class size report does not include non-classroom teachers in its calculations; and

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