STUDENT SUMMITFebruary 21, 2013
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STUDENT SUMMIT PROPOSALS TO BE SHARED WITH PA EDUCATIONAL LEADERS
Students who attended the PASC Student Summit on Educational Issues in Harrisburg on February 21st, adopted four proposals that will be shared this spring with educational leaders. The proposals came from essays written in advance of the Summit by the student participants. During the morning work session, four student committees worked with volunteer facilitators to refocus the essays and to formulate them into specific recommendations that could be discussed during the general session that afternoon. Following debate and a question and answer session on each committee proposal, the student delegates cast their yes/no vote to approve the written documents. Delegates also submitted additional recommendations to the various committees for amendments to the proposals. Following the general session held in the House of Representative’s Chamber, an afternoon work session was held to refine the proposals based on the discussions, votes and written notes made by the participants. The revised proposals were sent electronically to all participants. They were given one week to revote on the final documents. A summary of the four documents that were accepted by that vote for found below. The proposal related to community service as a graduation requirement was not adopted. All student delegates were urged to present the proposals and their personal viewpoints on the four educational issues to members of their own school administrations and School Boards. The full proposals that were adopted can be found at www.pasc.net. The following proposals were adopted:
Academic Accountability Committee Proposal: Special Education Standardized Testing
Equitable School Funding
Teacher Evaluation and Professional Development
50% elective data
20% local school assesment tools
o including student feedback (less than 5%)
15% school report card
15% standardized scores for teachers with tested subjects
Co-Curricular Activities
The US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics stated that involvement in co-curricular activities makes students 14% more likely to not have any unexcused absences, two times more likely to be in the highest 25% of their class, and three times more likely to have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. With the fact that every thirty-four seconds someone drops out of high school, it is undeniable that this statistic would decrease with more involvement in co-curricular activities.
Students who attended the PASC Student Summit on Educational Issues in Harrisburg on February 21st, adopted four proposals that will be shared this spring with educational leaders. The proposals came from essays written in advance of the Summit by the student participants. During the morning work session, four student committees worked with volunteer facilitators to refocus the essays and to formulate them into specific recommendations that could be discussed during the general session that afternoon. Following debate and a question and answer session on each committee proposal, the student delegates cast their yes/no vote to approve the written documents. Delegates also submitted additional recommendations to the various committees for amendments to the proposals. Following the general session held in the House of Representative’s Chamber, an afternoon work session was held to refine the proposals based on the discussions, votes and written notes made by the participants. The revised proposals were sent electronically to all participants. They were given one week to revote on the final documents. A summary of the four documents that were accepted by that vote for found below. The proposal related to community service as a graduation requirement was not adopted. All student delegates were urged to present the proposals and their personal viewpoints on the four educational issues to members of their own school administrations and School Boards. The full proposals that were adopted can be found at www.pasc.net. The following proposals were adopted:
Academic Accountability Committee Proposal: Special Education Standardized Testing
- Standardized testing in regard to special education students is in great need of reform and should be modified. Special education students are held to the same standards as the rest of the student population.
- In the past system of standardized testing (PSSA), there was an alternative test given to individuals who had previously been characterized as learning support, the PSSA-M exam. We propose that an exemption or alternative form of Keystone testing be given to students requiring learning support, who have been proven, in a legitimatized manner, that he or she truly needs this exception or alternative form of testing.
- The State Board of Education should establish guidelines that will provide for an explanation of who qualifies for an exemption of the Keystone Exam.
Equitable School Funding
- We propose a shift of financial responsibility gradually from local districts to the state, a system of graduated goals for districts to meet, and consistent auditing to account for spending.
- Per pupil expenditures, including those given to charter schools, with the exception of cyber schools, in districts must meet a given limit comparable to the current state average as of the 2012-2013 school year.
- Pennsylvania should establish a series of progressive goals, based upon the performance of individual districts, which shall be measured by a combination of test scores and graduation rates. Once a school reaches its goal, it will be granted additional funding above and beyond any other necessary subsidy to ensure further success and growth.
- An organization of state officials should be created to act as multiple reporting oversight committees to a central oversight committee. Oversight committees will be responsible for processing the audits of the districts in their jurisdiction.
Teacher Evaluation and Professional Development
- We believe that teacher evaluations should be divided into three aspects, each weighted equally.
50% elective data
20% local school assesment tools
o including student feedback (less than 5%)
15% school report card
15% standardized scores for teachers with tested subjects
- When Act 48 was put into effect in 1999, it required that the teachers should continue their education with a broad 180 hours spent on Professional Development every five years. We believe that the 180 hours should include 25 hours spent on general teaching skills, 50 hours dictated by the district based on teacher evaluations, and 105 hours unprescribed.
- We believe that college students should take two rather than one semester of student teaching in preparation for a teaching degree. Presently many student teachers spend 25% of their time teaching, while the rest is spent on observation. By having two semesters, it enables the student teachers to take more part in the teaching aspect.
Co-Curricular Activities
The US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics stated that involvement in co-curricular activities makes students 14% more likely to not have any unexcused absences, two times more likely to be in the highest 25% of their class, and three times more likely to have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. With the fact that every thirty-four seconds someone drops out of high school, it is undeniable that this statistic would decrease with more involvement in co-curricular activities.
- Our first step to solving the issue of keeping co-curriculars in schools is to create a system of allocating co-curricular funds based on three points, which are the amount of participants, revenue, and cost of the activity.
- Our second step to solving the issue of inadequate co-curricular funding is to have a “committee of funding” in each school district. This committee would consist of advisers to clubs, coaches, and a student representative or representatives from each co-curricular. This committee would be in charge of evaluating the school district’s funds for co-curricular programs and activities with input from these groups and making recommendations to the school board of the school district of how funds for co-curricular activities should be allocated.
- One of the committee’s main objectives would be to make sure as many activities as possible are kept in each school environment. By ensuring that co-curriculars remain in a school environment, Keystone test scores, as well as grade point averages (GPAs) would remain higher.
