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State |
Major
Reform Initiatives, All Education Levels |
K–16
Initiatives at State/System Level |
Major
Higher Education Initiatives |
Major
P–12 Initiatives |
Teacher Quality Initiatives |
Major
Community College Initiatives |
Major
Policy Changes in Student Financing |
Major
Changes in Institutional Financing |
New
Delivery Systems, Technology and Distance Learning Initiatives
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Other
Major Higher Education Policy
Initiatives |
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Feedback
from higher education to high schools is used as an element of the state’s
accountability system for secondary education. |
Major
priority given to review of existing academic programs resulting in a
reduction over the past five years from 3,200 to 1,781 active programs,
and the reallocation of resources to strengthen other
programs. |
Governor
Seigelman in 1999 gained approval of initiatives to lower K–3 class size,
strengthen professional development, and a reading initiative (see next
column). In
March 1999, tenth graders will become the first students to take new high
school exit exam. New exam is aligned with standards and accountability
legislation enacted in 1995. Students have several opportunities in 11th
and 12th grades to pass exam. State
accountability system rates schools based on Stanford Achievement Test-9th
edition. Schools earning lowest rating must show improvement or ultimately
face intervention. 1999 saw first state intervention in one
school. |
Fall
1998 agreement to implement a basic-skills test for new teachers no later
than 2002, and eventually to add subject-matter
testing. Fall
1998, schools of education will be classified on basis of their students’
classroom performance and performance on teacher tests. Schools could lose
the authority to certify teachers in certain subject areas if their
records in those areas are consistently poor. Subject to implementation of
new testing. Reading and teacher-training initiative, begun in
late 1997 with private support, engages teacher training institutions with
schools focused on reading. Initially limited to 80 schools, will be
expanded to 200 schools in 2000-01 with state funding. Intent is to focus
on math, science and technology in the future. From
ACHE “Evaluation of the Alabama Reading Initiative: 1998-99.” The
initiative started in 1998. |
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The
Legislature passed a law in 1997 that directed the Department of Education
to develop the Alaska High School Qualifying
Examination. In
1998, another law was passed that made the qualifying exam part of a
greater system of accountability standards and
assessment. The
Quality Schools Initiative requires schools to create development profiles
for each child entering kindergarten or first grade; requires schools to
adopt state-mandated academic standards in reading, writing, and math;
requires third, sixth, and eighth grade assessments in reading, writing
and math; requires schools to report to public; requires low-performing
schools to develop school improvement plans. Starting in 2002, schools
will be grouped into four categories of performance based on multiple
student measures, and low-performing schools will be subject to
intervention. The
new law requires each high school student, beginning with the Class of
2002, to pass the Alaska High School Graduation Qualifying Exam. A new
high school exit exam was piloted in 1999 and 2000. Sophomores are the
first to be required to pass the exam to graduate in 2002. State is
administering “benchmark” exams in grades three, six and eight, in
2000. |
1997
law requires new teachers to take the PRAXIS I exam. 1997
law requires institutions to meet NCATE
standards. |
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See
WICHE Policy Insights for tuition and student aid
information. University
of Alaska Board of Regents voted in December 1999 to award up to $1,350
per semester, or $10,800 over four years, to recent high school graduates
who are academically talented and who enroll at the university to earn a
degree. Program would focus on students who rank in the top ten percent of
their graduating class. |
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Governor’s
proposed tax increase for education including funding both for K-12 and
for higher education. |
Governor’s
Task Force on Higher Education will make recommendations in fall 2000.
Likely recommendation will call for reduced tuition at the community
colleges as an incentive for students to attend these institutions and
thereby take pressure off the universities. |
State
adopted new academic standards in 1996. New state exam (Arizona Instrument
to Measure Standards– AIMS) measures proficiency against 1996 standards.
Class of 2002 will be first required to pass AIMS exam to receive a
diploma. Original target implementation of 2001 postponed by one
year. |
December
1998 rules require that new teachers pass two written exams on pedagogy
and subjects that teachers intend to teach, in order to enter the
classroom. Also, they must pass performance assessment on teaching skills
to remain there. New standards have been adopted for teacher
preparation. Teacher
preparation has been opened to entities other than university-based
schools of education (e.g., school districts, businesses, and charter
schools) |
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See
possible recommendations of the Governor’s Task Force on Education
regarding community college tuition. |
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Board
of Regents in June 2000 adopted proposal for Virtual
University. |
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1999
law established the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and
Accountability Program, which incorporates academic standards,
professional development for teachers, and state tests for students in
grades four, six and eight. Plan to be phased in over four years. Any
school that fails to achieve expected levels of student performance will
be placed on list of failing schools and will be required to work on an
improvement plan. Failure to show improvement could lead to a school’s
takeover by the state. Beginning in 2003-04 school year, schools will be
assessed based on students’ test scores, attendance, graduation rates,
school safety and teacher qualifications. |
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In
February 2000, Arkansas legislators sought to limit access to the Arkansas
Academic Challenge Scholarship program because of projected cost
increases. The
Governor’s Distinguished Scholars program, created in 1997, pays the full
cost of attendance, including tuition, room and board and mandatory costs,
at public or private school of choice. To qualify, students must achieve a
32 on the ACT, or 1410 on the SAT, or be named a National Merit
Finalist. More
than 9,000 students successfully applied for the scholarships in the
1999-2000 academic year, nearly twice as many as the year before. The
flood of new applications was attributed to a successful television
advertising campaign for the scholarships, and to the state’s decision to
double the income limit to $70,000 for a family of three, for example. The
higher education department found itself without nearly enough funds to
fulfill its commitments. To do away with $3.8 million of the program’s
$8-million shortfall, the state Higher Education Coordinating Board voted
in May 2000 to renege on its promise of bonuses for good
grades. |
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State
law requires the Arkansas Coordinating Board of Higher Education to
evaluate its role and scope every five years. It should have done so in
1994, but it voted then not to tackle the task with the threat of a
lawsuit hanging over it. In 1999, the evaluation was largely internal
involving the college presidents, chancellors, faculty and
staff. | |
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Governor
Davis’ 1999 education reform initiative creates a school-performance
index, provides additional funding for literacy training, and requires a
graduation exit exam in 2004. New provision would reward teachers in
low-performing schools whose students show significant improvement on the
state’s new performance index, which is being phased in during the 2000-01
school year. |
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Under
a landmark agreement reached between Governor Davis and the California
Legislature, state spending on need-based student aid was set to grow by
$97 million—enough to support a 41 percent increase in the number of
grants awarded in the 2000-01 academic year. In addition, the agreement
provides for nearly doubling spending on the state’s need-based aid
program, to $1.2 billion, by 2006. Under the agreement, the awards would
be guaranteed to every student who qualified, rather than depending on how
much money was available in the budget. Senate
Bill 1644 revamps the State’s current statewide financial aid program, Cal
Grant, creating an entitlement program guaranteeing a grant or scholarship
award to future California high school graduates who demonstrate financial
need and earn at least a C grade point average in their high school course
work. Beginning in 2001, high school graduates with financial need and at
least a B average would be eligible for a full-tuition grant at a state
institution, or up to $9,700 at a private college in the state. Needy
students who have at least a C average would be eligible for up to $1,550
to cover living expenses. In addition, the legislation provides grants for
older students who are returning to college or enrolling for the first
time.
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Colorado
public institutions, by fall 2001, are to test the basic skills of their
incoming freshmen and determine which students need extra help. The
results will be grouped by school districts and used to help them adjust
their high school curricula, if necessary, to cut down on students’
remedial needs. |
1999
reform legislation created pilot project to test the abilities of college
sophomores at the state’s public institutions. In the spring of 2000,
seven Colorado institutions administered tests to assess the writing,
reading, critical thinking and mathematical reasoning abilities of some of
their sophomores. In 2000-01, officials will try out different types of
standardized tests and continue to weigh how the test results might be
used to help assess institutions’ core courses, and measure how well high
schools prepared the students for college. |
SB
00-186, passed in April 2000, establishes a new school accountability
system with school grading based on an expanded assessment
program. New
law will require each Colorado public high school junior, beginning in
spring 2001, to take the ACT college-entrance examination. The state will
pay as much as $1 million a year to pick up students’ registration
fees. |
SB
154 (1999) requires all resident teachers to pass a basic-skills test by
April 15 of their first year of employment. SB
154 eliminated state approval of all teacher-preparation programs as of
July 1, 2001. To continue, teacher training programs must conform to new
standards to be set jointly by the state board of education and the
Colorado Commission on Higher Education. |
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State
officials set new standards, as well, for students receiving Colorado
merit-based scholarships. All new recipients, beginning in the 2000-01
academic year, will be required to maintain at least a 3.0 grade point
average to be eligible for the aid in the subsequent academic
year. State
policy changes in 2000 will shift resources to begin providing more aid to
the state’s neediest students rather than allocating smaller amounts of
assistance to a wider group of people. Eligible low-income students in
2000 began receiving the new Governor’s Opportunity Scholarships. The
program aims to provide students whose families’ incomes fall in the
state’s bottom quartile enough assistance so that they do not have to
accrue debt by taking out loans for college. The
Colorado General Assembly set aside $800,000 to increase access to higher
education through another route. The money will be used for a rural
education-access program, to begin in fall 2000, which will allow some
two-year colleges in rural and mountainous areas to offer bachelor’s
degrees. |
New
performance funding policy. |
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1996
mandate targeted significant proportion of state aid to poor and urban
districts on literacy programs, and in 1998 launched the Early Reading
Success program. 1999
law requires districts to revise policies to reduce social promotion. Over
two-year period, the state’s poorest and most urban districts are to
provide additional instruction to all fourth and sixth grades who fail to
meet performance goals on Connecticut’s standardized tests. Students who
still don’t progress even after receiving help will be required to attend
summer school or be held back a grade. Plan also calls for public listing
of elementary and middle schools whose test scores are most in need of
improvement. Those on the list must develop improvement plans. If actions
do not yield improvements, the law authorizes the state to reconstitute or
completely re-staff the school. |
State
board of education in 1999 approved a “Common Core of Teaching” replacing
the 15 “competencies” used since implementation of the Education
Enhancement Act of 1986. The common core is meant to guide teacher
training and evaluation programs. |
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Connecticut
froze tuition at public institutions beginning in 1997, but because of
Constitutional spending limitations that barred state funding to offset
tuition, the state abandoned this freeze and agreed to increase spending
on need-based aid for public-college students by about 30 percent in
2000-01. The state’s public colleges, meanwhile, resolved to increase
their tuitions by about four percent. Governor
Rowland proposed Connecticut HOPE Scholarship Tax Credit and the Lifelong
Learning Tax Credit in his 2000 State of the State message. (This was not
enacted, as far as can be determined.) |
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The
Legislature approved the establishment of a Waterbury campus of both the
University of Connecticut and the Connecticut State University System,
which would jointly use the site to offer a limited selection of four-year
programs intended to meet local business needs. Lawmakers
appropriated about $5 million to begin to build a distance-education
network linking all of the state’s colleges, school systems and
libraries. |
Accountability
in Higher Education Act of 1999 directs the state’s public colleges and
universities to develop benchmarks for improvement in areas such as
graduation rates, minority-student access, and fee growth. Public Act
99-285 clarifies the major goals and expectations that Connecticut
citizens have for their public system of higher education. The act charges
the Higher Education Coordinating Council (HECC) with developing
accountability measures for each constituent unit and each public
institution of higher education. These measures must be approved by the
BOG and used by the D of HE and each constituent unit in assessing
progress toward meeting six identified goals. The BOG presented a progress
report on the process on January 26, 2000. | |
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Accountability
requirements enacted in mid-1990s are just now being implemented. State
has been administering assessments in reading, writing and mathematics in
grades three, five, eight and ten since spring 1998. In 1999, the state
administered social studies assessments in grades four, six, eight and 11.
Students in grades three, five and eight will be required to meet the
state standards in reading in order to advance to the next grade. Students
in grades eight and ten will be required to meet state standards in math
to advance. Students must pass the tenth grade math assessment to receive
a high school diploma. Governor
Carper’s 2000 Legislative Agenda included raising student achievement by
recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers, maximizing the impact
of 10,000 mentors, and other initiatives. In
March 2000, Governor agreed to delay for one year the mandatory
consequences of testing in grades three, five and eight, and to delay for
an additional two years (from 2002 to 2004) the graduation requirements.
Student Standards bill, SB 182, was first enacted in
1997. Delaware
also considered (and may have enacted) a social promotion bill in
2000. |
State
rejected the Governor’s educator-accountability law proposed in Fall
1999. |
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Proposal
in 1999 for “HOPE-like” scholarship program died in state Legislature.
Plan would have provided a free education to any student whose family
earned $40,000 a year or less and who maintained a grade point average of
at least 2.5 in high school. No major student aid proposals were enacted
in the 2000 legislative session. |
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Major
governance change creating a new structure effective January 2003. New
structure would include a seven-member state board of education appointed
by the governor, a commissioner of education appointed by the board of
education, and chancellors for non-public and non-traditional education,
community colleges, state universities and K–12 education. Each of the
state universities would have a governing board appointed by the governor.
A transition task force is overseeing implementation with deadlines for
reports in March 2001, 2002, 2003 and a final report on May 1,
2003. |
In
February 2000, the Florida Board of Regents approved the Talented 20
initiative as alternative to affirmative action. Proposal required
approval by the State Board of Education and Cabinet. Under previous
policy, students had to have a 3.0 grade point average and take 19
required credits to get into a state university. Race could be considered
in regular admissions and in alternative admissions, which were used when
students didn’t meet the minimum standards. Under the One Florida and
Talented 20 rules, students in the top 20 percent of their graduating
classes would be guaranteed admission. Students would still have to take
the 19 credits, but their grades and college entrance test scores would
not matter if they ranked in the top 20 percent of their high school
class. |
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Governor
Bush’s A+ for education reform plan calls for students to receive a letter
grade based primarily on their performance on state tests. Under the law,
students in schools graded F in two out of four years may transfer to
better public schools or use state-financed vouchers to pay private or
religious school tuition. Schools earning A’s are to be rewarded with
extra money. New
tougher state assessments (Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test) were
phased in be-ginning in spring 1999. Tests were given to students in
grades four, five, eight and ten for the first time in spring
1999. New
policy (under development in 1999) to end social promotion. New law
requires that schools tie student progression from one grade to the next
to demonstrated proficiency in reading, writing, science and math. Also
requires that schools provide those students who are held back with
individual education plans. |
1999
legislation increased entrance requirements and expanded types of data
schools of education must report to enable identification of best
practice. Also, legislation established committee on teacher education to
recommend new curriculum requirements for state-approved teacher education
programs to be completed in January 2000. |
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Florida
Bright Futures, established in 1997. Maximum
award: Academic: tuition, fees and book allowance. Merit: 75 percent of
tuition and fees. Gold Seal Vocational: 75 percent of tuition and fees.
First awards in 1997. Eligibility
requirements: Academic: 3.5 grade point average in college preparatory
courses; maintain a 3.0 grade point average in college to renew. Merit:
3.0 grade point average in college preparatory courses; maintain a 2.75
grade point average in college to renew. Gold Seal Vocational: 3.0 overall
and 3.5 grade point average in vocational courses; maintain a 2.75 grade
point average in postsecondary courses to renew. |
Performance
funding in place for community colleges and in process of implementation
for State University System. |
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Governor
Roy Barnes’ Education Review Commission, initiated in June 1999, reported
at the end of 1999. Commission’s recommendations led to enactment of major
reform legislation, HB 1189, effective July 1, 2000. New law includes
provisions related to both K–12 and higher education, although it focuses
primarily on K–12. HB 1187 establishes a new Education Coordinating
Council and Office of Educational Accountability. Ten-person council
including Governor as chair brings to quarterly meetings the heads of the
five public education departments, boards and offices: state
superintendent of schools, and the chair of the state board of education;
chancellor of the University System of Georgia and chair of the board of
regents; commissioner of the Department of Technical and Adult Education,
and chair of the board; executive director of the Professional Standards
Commission, and chair of the board; and executive director of the Office
of School Readiness. Utilizes existing staff in the five departments and offices, together with staff from the Office of Education Accountability (OEA) and the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget (OPB). Purpose
is to improve public education through “seamless” coordination among the
five education providers, from pre-K all the way through postsecondary; to
get the most out of tax dollars by looking for ways to share facilities,
equipment, personnel and other resources; to make it easier for students
to transition from one to the other, align the curriculum so a student
doesn’t have to start over at each level; to foster state, regional and
local cooperative groups; to help raise student achievement in all five by
overseeing accountability through an Office of Education Account-ability;
and to reduce rules and regulations in all five, cut paperwork, do more
via the Internet, encourage mentoring programs. |
The
Georgia P–16 Initiative is a comprehensive and collaborative statewide
effort aimed at raising expectations and ensuring student success from
preschool through postsecondary education. P–16 is a collaborative effort
(begun in 1995 and first funded by the state in 1997) of the University
System of Georgia (USG), the Department of Education, the Department of
Technical and Adult Education, the Office of School Readiness, and the
business community. At the state level, the P–16 council has led to
agreements and recommendations related to college preparation curriculum,
teacher preparation (see column on teacher initiatives), academic
standards, testing, a linked student database, the University System
Reading Consortial and technology in the classroom. Examples of P–16- related initiatives are: Performance Assessment for College and Technical School (PACTS) program, a standards-based assessment system being piloted in four local P–16 councils; and Post-secondary Readiness Enrichment Program (PREP) to identify and work with at-risk middle school students. |
Beginning
with the vision and guiding principles adopted by the Board of Regents in
1994, the University System of Georgia has pursued a consistent, coherent
set of policy initiatives. Among these are the reform of missions for all
institutions, stronger coordinated admissions requirements, partnerships
between USG and K–12 schools, business, and other organizations, a
partnership with DTAE, and the P–16 initiative. |
Governor
Roy Barnes’ Education Review Commission, initiated in June 1999, reported
at the end of 1999. Commission’s recommendations led to enactment of major
reform legislation, HB 1187, effective July 1, 2000. Prior
to HB 1187, Georgia had established a Core Curriculum. 1998-99 was first
year that teachers were expected to use the new
curriculum. Assessments
tied to the curriculum—in the form of the criterion-referenced competency
tests—were to be given for the first time in spring 2000. Students in
grades four, six and eight will be tested in English/language arts,
reading and mathematics. Science test for grades three, five and eight,
and the social studies test, to be given in grades three, five and seven,
are still being developed and will be phased in. New
K–12 accountability system established by HB 1187, including many of the
provisions found in accountability laws in Florida, Texas, North Carolina
and other states. The measure sets up a system by which schools are to be
graded from A to F based on their students’ performance on state tests.
Schools will be graded based on both their students’ absolute test scores
and on how much they have improved. Each year, teachers at schools awarded
an A will receive $1,000 bonuses; those at B schools will get $500. D or F
will trigger various forms of state intervention that will become
increasingly severe over time. If a school receives poor grades for three
or more years, for example, state education officials could order the
removal of school personnel or give parents the option of transferring
their children to another public school. The
law also stipulates that students’ achievement gains be considered in
teachers’ annual evaluations, and that educators with unsatisfactory
evaluations be kept from moving on to the next step of the salary
scale. The
school performance results must be disaggregated with respect to
ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, disability, language proficiency,
grade level, subject area, school and district. |
Board
of Regents in 1998 approved ten principles and related actions for
improving the quality of teacher education. Principles and actions are
being phased in. Revised programs (undergraduate and graduate) must be in
place for students admitted to the program beginning in fall
2000. Report
of P–16 Council in June 1999 called for a qualified teacher in every
public school classroom by 2006. |
Agreement
between the USG and the Department of Technical and Adult Education
provides for improved coordination and articulation between the two
systems, with the USG concentrating on general education and DTAE focusing
on job-entry occupational instruction. HB
1187, effective July 1, 2000, reconstitutes the DTAE board and allows
technical institutes to change name to “technical college.” Institute must
first get occupational degree-granting accreditation from SACS or COE or
any other appropriate accrediting agency approved by the United States
secretary of education. |
HOPE
Scholarships Maximum
award: tuition, fees and book allowance up to
$3,000. First
awards in 1994. Eligibility
requirements: 3.0 grade point average in high school for college
preparatory curriculum and 3.2 grade point average for other curricula;
maintain 3.0 grade point average in college to renew. Beginning in 2000
high school grade point average in core courses will determine
eligibility. HB
1187 effective July 1, 2000, makes adjustments to HOPE: It removes cap on
technical school students that currently cuts off HOPE after two
certificates or diplomas or after two changes in program of study; sets
initial grade point average for a junior in college receiving a PROMISE
teacher scholarship at 3.2 instead of 3.6. For a full-time or part-time
student, already having baccalaureate degree does not affect eligibility
for PROMISE scholarship (to encourage “second career” teacher candidates);
removes so-called Pell offset requirement that previously penalized
students who got both a federal grant, such as Pell, and
HOPE. |
Change
in the USG budget policy since 1995-96 uses special funding as the
leverage to advance the USG strategic plan and to address state
priorities. Budget is divided into formula and non-formula components with
the non-formula components deliberately linked to state priorities and
policy initiatives consistent with the USG strategy
plan. HB
1187 also changes the funding formula to move away from a totally
enrollment-driven model. Enrollment-Driven
Funding Formula For Technical Schools Funds now to be based on enrollment
and cost factors (subject to appropriation). |
Major
technology initiatives to serve students and the state include, among
others, GALILEO, the one statewide electronic library; Georgia EASY
program, which allows high school students to research and apply online
for any of the university system’s 34
institutions. |
Initiatives
linking the USG to the state’s economic development agencies and business
community: Intellectual
Capital Partnership Program (ICAPP); Information Technology Strategic
Response Initiative; and Governor Barnes’ YAMACRAW Mission, designed to
make Georgia a leader in the microchip
industry. |
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2000
Legislative session approved an autonomy bill for the university system.
As a result, voters will decide in the fall of 2000 if the Board of
Regents should have constitutional authority over all decisions within the
university system. Those decisions include some reforms passed in 1998
which would be placed in the state Constitution under the ballot
measure—such as the university’s power to keep tuition revenues and to
hire its own counsel. |
1999
law gives education officials authority to establish an accountability
system including a state assessment system based on state standards and
involving rewards and sanctions for schools based on their performance.
Nevertheless, it could be five years before schools face any
consequences. Performance
Review Commission report found that state standards developed in late
1980s were not consistently implemented throughout the state. Report also
emphasized lack of assessment system. An evaluation of the education
system commissioned by the state superintendent identified core needs for
improvement. In
August 1999 the state board approved revised standards. Next step is
development of assessment system. Hawaii Assessment Program of Outcomes
piloted in 1999. Implementation in 2000-01 contingent on
funding. |
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First
draft of standards for K–8 was due in January 2000. Previous
standards-writing effort stalled. 1999
state appropriation for literacy plan for K–3. 1999
legislation outlines reading standards and assessments and calls for
statewide testing of students twice a year. Summer programs for students
scoring below grade level in reading. State
board of education approved exit standards for students in grades 9–12
that were to be approved by the Legislature in 2000.
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1999
legislation called for testing of K–8 teachers and administrators prior to
certification. |
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