S. HRG. 111–1118 ESEA REAUTHORIZATION: STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS HEARING OF THE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON EXAMINING ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT (ESEA) REAUTHORIZATION, FOCUSING ON STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS APRIL 28, 2010 Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 56–288 PDF WASHINGTON : 2012 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:34 Mar 08, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\DOCS\56288.TXT DENISE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS TOM HARKIN, Iowa, Chairman CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee PATTY MURRAY, Washington RICHARD BURR, North Carolina JACK REED, Rhode Island JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia BERNARD SANDERS (I), Vermont JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona SHERROD BROWN, Ohio ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska KAY R. HAGAN, North Carolina TOM COBURN, M.D., Oklahoma JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon PAT ROBERTS, Kansas AL FRANKEN, Minnesota MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado DANIEL SMITH, Staff Director FRANK MACCHIAROLA, Republican Staff Director and Chief Counsel (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:34 Mar 08, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 S:\DOCS\56288.TXT DENISE CONTENTS STATEMENTS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010 Page Harkin, Hon. Tom, Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, opening statement ............................................................................... 1 Enzi, Hon. Michael B., a U.S. Senator from the State of Wyoming, opening statement .............................................................................................................. 2 Paine, Steven L., Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools, West Virginia Depart- ment of Education, Charleston, WV ................................................................... 5 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 7 Schmeiser, Cynthia B., Ph.D., President, Education Division, Act National Office, Iowa City, IA ............................................................................................ 10 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 12 Phillips, Gary, Ph.D., Vice President, American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC ................................................................................................... 17 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 19 Rivera, Charlene, Ed.D., Executive Director, George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education, Alexandria, VA .................... 25 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 27 Thurlow, Martha, Ph.D., Director, National Center on Educational Outcomes, Minneapolis, MN .................................................................................................. 32 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 33 Murray, Hon. Patty, a U.S. Senator from the State of Washington ................... 47 Alexander, Hon. Lamar, a U.S. Senator from the State of Tennessee ................ 48 Franken, Hon. Al, a U.S. Senator from the State of Minnesota .......................... 50 Isakson, Hon. Johnny, a U.S. Senator from the State of Georgia ....................... 51 Bennet, Hon. Michael F., a U.S. Senator from the State of Colorado ................. 53 Hagan, Hon. Kay R., a U.S. Senator from the State of North Carolina ............. 56 Casey, Hon. Robert P., Jr., a U.S. Senator from the State of Pennsylvania ...... 58 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:34 Mar 08, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 S:\DOCS\56288.TXT DENISE VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:34 Mar 08, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 S:\DOCS\56288.TXT DENISE ESEA REAUTHORIZATION: STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:05 p.m. in Room SD–430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Tom Harkin, chair- man of the committee, presiding. Present: Senators Harkin, Bingaman, Murray, Casey, Hagan, Merkley, Franken, Bennet, Enzi, Alexander, and Isakson. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HARKIN The CHAIRMAN. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order. Today’s hearing will focus on the important role that standards and assessments play in our education system. In our previous ESEA hearings, a variety of experts have im- pressed on us the importance of our country developing a world- class education system that prepares our students to be successful after high school graduation. In order to do this, it is vital that we have a clear understanding of what students need to learn and de- velop ways to accurately assess their progress to determine what they are learning and where they need additional help. Nearly 30 years ago, the landmark report, ‘‘A Nation at Risk,’’ highlighted the need for rigorous standards in our country’s schools. About a decade later, the Nation’s Governors heeded that call with the Charlottesville Summit, and the Federal Government supported States’ efforts to develop standards by passing Goals 2000 and the Improving America’s Schools Act, which was the 1994 version of ESEA. At the beginning of the last decade, we took the next steps by requiring that all students within a given State be held to the same high standards. These standards helped to end a two-tiered system that meant lower expectations for disadvantaged students. However, the standards did not ensure that students were being prepared for success after high school graduation. In Iowa, for example, over 80 percent of high school graduates plan to pursue training or college after high school. Yet, too often, they are unprepared to meet the challenges of post-secondary edu- cation. Experts estimate that nearly 60 percent of students enter- ing post-secondary schools need to take remedial courses to catch up to college-level coursework. The Alliance for Excellent Education has estimated that this need for remediation costs our Nation at least $3.7 billion every (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:34 Mar 08, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\56288.TXT DENISE 2 year. The problem is also evident in the workforce. A recent study estimated that over 50 percent of high school graduates do not have the skills to do their job, compared to less than 20 percent of college graduates. While the adoption of State standards was no small achievement in No Child Left Behind, it is clear that, as we reauthorize this bill, serious improvements are necessary. We must ensure that the standards that States set are not false benchmarks but translate into success, whether students chose to go to college or enter a ca- reer. I might also add that there are important civil rights and equity questions at play here also. Professor Goodwin Liu of Boalt Hall Law School at Berkeley published a paper showing that those States with the highest minority and low-income populations also tend to have the lowest standards. Finally, the obvious issues of teacher preparation and economies of scale are central to this conversation. How can schools of edu- cation properly prepare teachers to teach to standards if those standards may be significantly different in the State where the teacher ends up teaching after graduation? We do not have a mandate that says if a teacher goes to the Uni- versity of Northern Iowa and takes a course in education to become a teacher that that person has to stay in Iowa all their life. They may go to Minnesota, and a lot of them do, quite frankly. I applaud the leadership of the chiefs and the Governors and their partners in developing this Common Core, and I look forward to hearing more about this. However, along with setting high achievement goals, we must also develop the ability to measure whether or not students are meeting those goals. Because of NCLB’s testing requirements, we know more about which students are achieving and which need more assistance and support. Teachers need to know this, too. However, in many cases, that measurement is being done through low-quality tests that don’t measure the range of skills and knowledge that we value. Technological advancements have made it possible to adapt ques- tions during a test to better show the depth of a student’s knowl- edge of the subject or to electronically score short-answer or essay questions, not just multiple choice. In this reauthorization, it is critical that we redouble our com- mitment to ensuring that students will graduate ready to meet the challenges of college and the workplace. As we have heard time and time again, our economic success in the next century is directly tied to our ability to have a highly educated, highly skilled work- force. I look forward to hearing from