Bill Text: HI HR152 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 152 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: REQUESTING THE BOE TO ABOLISH HIGH STAKES TEACHER EVALUATIONS

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-14 - Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 28 [HR152 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-HR152-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	152
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ABOLISH HIGH STAKES TEACHER EVALUATIONS.

WHEREAS, in 2012 the Hawai'i State Department of Education was awarded $75 million under the federal Race to the Top competitive education grant program; and

WHEREAS, the Race to the Top grant program required states receiving funds to implement high-stakes teacher evaluations, in which teacher pay and employment status were linked to the results of annual evaluations; and

WHEREAS, , to satisfy the requirements of Race to the Top, the Hawai'i State Board of Education passed Board Policy 2055, which establishes a high-stakes evaluation system for public school teachers and administrators, now called the Educator Effectiveness System; and

WHEREAS, the evaluation system implemented by the Hawai'i State Department of Education in compliance with Board Policy 2055 relies on value-added measures, in which effective teaching is measured by growth in student achievement from year to year; and

WHEREAS, value-added measures of effective teaching rely disproportionally on standardized test scores; and

WHEREAS, the American Statistical Association has said that value-added measurement formulas fail to determine teaching effectiveness with sufficient reliability and validity; and

WHEREAS, a 2014 study published in the American Educational Research Association's journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis showed that value-added measures are not able to detect differences in the content or quality of classroom instruction; and

WHEREAS, surveys conducted by the Hawai'i State Teachers Association have repeatedly shown that a majority of the state's public school teachers feel that adoption of the Educator Effectiveness System has compromised professional autonomy, failed to improve professional practice, and overemphasized standardized testing; and

WHEREAS, surveys of principals conducted by the Education Institute of Hawaii showed that 86% of principals agree there is too much emphasis on test scores, and 78% of principals agree that EES has adversely affected the morale at their schools; and

WHEREAS, the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 prohibits the federal government from mandating any aspect of a state teacher evaluation system, including the use of standardized tests in conducting teacher evaluation, and, instead allows states to revise or repeal teacher evaluation systems implemented under previous federal requirements; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Board of Education and Hawaii State Teachers Association agreed, in a collectively bargained agreement, to implement a teacher evaluation system that provides information pertinent to professional improvement that increases teachers' effectiveness in facilitating student learning and growth; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, that the Hawaii State Board of Education is requested to amend all appropriate board policies to abolish the use of teacher evaluations to impact teacher pay or employment status; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to discontinue the use of standardized tests in evaluating any public school teacher or administrator; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to continue teacher evaluation ratings from school year 2015-2016 to school year 2016-2017; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to collaborate with the Hawaii State Teachers Association on a new evaluation system that satisfies the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act; and

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