Children the focus of many approved interim studies

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL — Ninety-three separate interim studies were requested by state representatives this year. House Speaker Jeff Hickman approved eighty-three studies this week. Sixty-one separate studies are available to be scheduled between August 5 and November 12 because twenty-two of the approved studies were combined with similar studies. Ten requests were not approved. 

One-third of the approved studies will address issues related to children. Studies of the repeal of the Common Core State Standards earlier this year and the potential benefits of medical marijuana for children are among the 28 studies approved that concern children. Below is a list of these interim studies:

Related to adoption and foster care: 

• 14-047 requested by Rep. Ann Coody was combined with 14-054 seeks to explore “Reuniting foster children with biological families and other possible solutions in seeking their optimal welfare” including “the best possible solution in finding a permanent home environment for foster children.” 

• 14-048 requested by Rep. Ann Coody will study “the necessity of an additional background check for certified educators who work in DHS before- and after-school programs.” Assigned to the Common Education Committee. 

• 14-054 requested by Reps. Sean Roberts and Wade Rousselot will consider reforms to the state’s adoption laws. Assigned to the Human Services Committee.

Related to child trafficking and sexual abuse:

• 14-014 requested by Rep. Lee Denney will examine Erin’s Law, a “Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Education” program. Assigned to the Human Services Committee. 

• 14-055 requested by Rep. Sean Roberts will study child trafficking by studying “ways to combat the crime of human trafficking and identifying services available to victims.” Assigned to the Public Safety Committee.

Related to Common Core and academic standards:

• 14-049 requested by Rep. Ann Coody will consider the question, “After Common Core – what next? A study of the possible solutions in developing and implementing rigorous educational standards for Oklahoma’s students.” Assigned to the House Common Education Committee. 

• 14-059 requested by Rep. Ann Coody was combined with 14-049 and will explore the “impact of HB3399 on Oklahoma’s schools and steps which should be taken to mitigate the concerns of Oklahoma’s schools, administrators, teachers and students.  Costs and process for writing new standards.” 

• 14-064 requested by Rep. David Brumbaugh was combined with 14-049 and seeks to study “Common Ed testing.” 

• 14-076 requested by Rep. Jadine Nollan will study “The Transferability of High School Credits between Schools and its Effects on Student Graduation. The study would examine the standards and procedures for which public high schools accept transfer credits, as many transfer students fail to graduate on time due to insufficient credits.  A review of the different graduation credit requirements by school district should be included in the study.” Assigned to the Common Education Committee. 

• 14-092 requested by Reps. Joe Dorman, Donnie Condit, Curtis McDaniel and Dustin Roberts was combined with 14-049 and seeks to study “Education Standards, Assessments and Testing” including “Developing Age-appropriate Oklahoma Standards, Reviewing Standards Associated with Common Core, NCLB, and other Programs; What is Necessary to keep NCLB Waiver.”

Related to student testing: 

• 14-025 requested by Rep. Leslie Osborn was combined with 14-049 will study state and federal student testing policies. Specific issues to be reviewed include: “duplicative testing, testing alignment status, costs, use of tests to evaluate teacher effectiveness, testing special ed students, test results as a true criterion result, possible other testing options to meet career & academic guidelines, testing vendors and accountability on the product.” 

• 14-068 requested by Rep. Ann Coody will study “Proper Transition from K-12 to Higher Education / Career Technology” including “End of Instruction Exams” and “Alabama’s Experiment with ACT Aspire.” Assigned to the Higher Education Committee. 

• 14-070 requested by Rep. Jadine Nollan will study the “Implications of High-Stakes Testing for Students with Learning Disabilities. The study would address the most significant risks posed by high-stakes for students with learning disabilities, as well as the barriers to success on high-stakes testing for students with learning disabilities.” Assigned to the Common Education Committee.

Related to education funding:

• 14-004 requested by Rep. Dan Fisher will study “Funding for schools that find themselves surrounded by federal property and thus have their tax base greatly reduced and suffer from reduced operating funds to no fault of their own. We would like to add the 12 districts / schools that are affected by this issue at a later date.” Assigned to the Appropriations and Budget Committee. 

• 14-067 requested by Rep. Ann Coody will study the “State Funding Formula Weights for Special Education. What state/federal legal hurdles stand in the way of necessary data collection? How would Oklahoma update its school funding formula for special education weighting?” Assigned to the Appropriations and Budget Committee. 

• 14-089 requested by Reps. Joe Dorman, Donnie Condit, Curtis McDaniel and Dustin Roberts was combined with 14-004 and seeks to study “Education Funding for Per Pupil Spending and Adequate Resources for Classrooms.” 

Related to schools:

• 14-016 requested by Rep. Lee Denney will explore the future of K8 school districts. Assigned to the Common Education Committee. 

• 14-069 requested by Rep. Ann Coody will study the “Effectiveness of Oklahoma’s Public Charter Schools” and “What effective strategies are taking place in Oklahoma’s public charter schools that can be replicated in the k-12 setting?” Assigned to the Common Education Committee.

Related to student support: 

• 14-071 requested by Rep. Emily Virgin will study “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and CareerTech.” Assigned to the Higher Education Committee.

Related to teachers:

• 14-046 requested by Rep. Ann Coody will explore preparing teachers and prospective teachers to recognize symptoms of dyslexia in students including the “role of higher education teacher preparation programs and professional development.” Assigned to the Common Education Committee.

Related to health:

• 14-043 requested by Rep. Dan Kirby will consider the “benefits of Athletic trainer required at youth sporting events in Oklahoma.” Assigned to the Public Health Committee. 

• 14-063 requested by Rep. Jon Echols will study “Allowing medical trials in the state of Oklahoma for the use of non-intoxicating CBD Oil for severe seizure disorders in children.” Assigned to the Public Health Committee.  

• 14-085 requested by Rep. Todd Thomsen was combined with 14-063 and seeks to study “Medical Marijuana for Children. The study would take a narrow look at the medical use of marijuana in childhood disorder; seizures, etc. Included would be experts in the field, parents, law enforcement, and pediatricians.”  

• 14-091 requested by Rep. Joe Dorman was combined with 14-063 and seeks to study “Medical Treatments for Children with Seizures & Regulation of Experimental Medicines.”

Related to Marriage and Families:

• 14-012 requested by Rep. Jeannie McDaniel was combined with 14-023. Rep. McDaniel seeks to “examine the cost and benefit to the state and its citizens concerning the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative.”  

• 14-023 requested by Reps. Mark McCullough, Lee Denney, Jason Nelson and Jadine Nollan will examine “Effective Interventions for the Potential Negative Impacts on Learning in Children from Single Parent, Divorced and Dysfunctional Homes.” Combined with 14-012 and assigned to the Human Services Committee.

Related to juvenile justice: 

• 14-065 requested by Rep. Todd Thomsen will study “Juvenile offender rehabilitation programs and incarceration options with low recidivism rates. The goal is to take a long term view of where we are currently in dealing with Juvenile offenders and evaluate effective options to be considered for the future.” 

• 14-075 requested by Reps. Seneca Scott and Kevin Matthews was combined with 14-065 and will explore “Ongoing data collection in Juvenile Justice and effective use of research and evaluation findings.” The study will “Gather and analyze data to document system problems and identify potential solutions based on available research regarding what may and may not work to reduce Disproportionate Minority Contact.” 

A study of “Educational Benefits of a Broad Education Focus” requested by Rep. Todd Thomsen was one of the ten requests not approved. The request described the study as, “an in-depth look at all programs including extra-curricular activities and elective classes such as music, art, sports that strengthen the education of a child.  Is the current direction of education promoting these important components of education?  What can be done to improve these aspects in the focus of education.  To include art educators, music educator, coaches.” 

Each approved interim study was assigned to a standing committee. The chairpersons of the committees to which studies were assigned will work with the requesting members to schedule hearings for each interim study. Questions about specific interim studies should be directed to the members requesting the study.  

Link to list of all approved studies: http://www.okhouse.gov/Committees/ShowInterimStudies.aspx

Link to related story: 2014 House Interim Studies Announced

Higher Ed needs ... you guessed it ... more money

Oklahoma's top higher education official said he's optimistic about the state's college completion goals — but only if lawmakers find money to get the job done.

Read more: http://newsok.com/more-funding-is-needed-to-reach-college-completion-goals-higher-education-official-says/article/3709209#ixzz26LwghJ3A

Home-schooled Students Perform Well at OU

By Patrick B. McGuigan and Stacy Martin at CapitolBeatOK (Published: 06-Jun-2012) 

When students at the University of Oklahoma begin fall classes this year, the institution will continue to build on its reputation as the home of the highest number of National Merit Scholars at any publicly-funded American institution of Higher Education. 

What is not as widely known is that among the 700 or so NMS students, a few dozen will be from home-schooled backgrounds.  This fall, at least eight, and perhaps 10, of the entering NMS at OU will be home-schoolers. 

Over recent years, a steady stream of entering National Merit Scholar freshmen at OU have come from home school preparations. For this coming year, the eight to 10 new students will be the highest number of National Merit students from home-schooled backgrounds in OU history. 

OU officials say that for recent years the number of NMS entering freshmen with home school backgrounds are as follows:

2007-08, five entering freshmen

2008-09, three entering freshmen

2009-10, three entering freshmen

2010-11, five entering freshmen

2011-12, two entering freshmen

2012-13, eight entering freshmen (note: could be two more, for a total of 10)

Of course, National Merit Scholars comprise only a portion of the home-schooled students seeking college degrees at OU. All told, at least 155 undergraduate students now at OU come from home school backgrounds, university officials told CapitolBeatOK this week. 

Matthew Hamilton, vice president for enrollment and student financial services and registrar, said in an interview, “What I can say with certainty is that these students are doing really well at the University of Oklahoma, and that the group is very diverse. Only four of the 155 students had less than a 2.0 GPA at OU. Of the 155, 22 had perfect 4.0 GPAs.” 

CapitolBeatOK has learned the group’s GPA is a remarkable 3.43 on a four-point scale. 

Hamilton stressed his sense that the total of 155 students is likely an undercount. He is working with other university officials to improve the accounting for home school-originated undergraduate students. 

While a comprehensive study would be needed to reach broad conclusions, the data for OU, and Hamilton’s discussion with CapitolBeatOK about home-schoolers at OU, appear to ratify academic and investigative analyses of recent years which indicate students from home-schooled backgrounds are both well-prepared and socially adept upon entering college. 

Kelsey Sheehy, writing for U.S. News and World Report (in a news report for The Huffingtom Post) concluded that “parents and students from the home-schooling community say the nontraditional method[s]” of home-schooling yield “teens that are more independent and therefore better prepared for college life.” 

The National Home Education Research Institute put the raw number of U.S. students K-12 in home school settings at 2 million in 2010. Sheehy points to a 2009 study [Exploring Academic Outcomes of Homeschooled Students, Michael Cogan, University of St. Thomas AIRUM 2009] which concluded that students from home schools “graduated at higher rate than their peers – 66.7 percent compared to 57.5 percent – and earned higher grade point averages along the way.” 

Joe Kelly, an analyst cited in Sheehy’s report, asserts home school students are also “better socialized than most high school students.” He says this is the case because home school students not only compete in athletics, but also regularly interact with students of all ages. They spend less time in class and have more opportunities “to get out into the world and engage with adults and teens alike.”

Hamilton, the OU vice president, observed “there is a whole culture out there” based around home-schooling. Hamilton and his wife home school their three children of K-12 age for personal reasons. He notes class sizes in public schools were a concern, as well as the lack of a gifted-and-talented program they could access. 

He continued, stressing that both he and his wife come from public school backgrounds and support public education. He reflected, “My wife is a 12-year veteran teacher, so this was a good fit with her skill set. We do have a personal interest in this issue.” 

He recounted several stories about home school students he knows personally, including three students from one Texas family who made the Norman campus their college destination. 

Hamilton observed that considering the individuals he has known from home school backgrounds who attended the University of Oklahoma, “I cannot perceive any socialization problems, at all.”

Overcoming Challenges: Brett Cunningham

A great NewsOK.com story about Brett Cunningham. I've had the opportunity to work with Brett several times during the last year or so and have been very impressed.

Lawmakers Examine Possible Higher Education Savings

OKLAHOMA CITY (October 11, 2011) – If Oklahoma’s institutions of higher education and state government simply streamlined processes it could result in significant savings on behalf of the taxpayers, presenters told members of the House Higher Education Committee today.

The legislative study on Oklahoma’s colleges was requested by state Reps. Corey Holland and Jason Murphey after higher education institutions were successful in winning exemptions from several government modernization reform initiatives.

Of particular interest to the legislators is higher education’s ongoing exemption from the Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act. A 2006 consultant report from IBM found that the state could save millions of dollars by reforming its central purchasing system and by working with state colleges to leverage spending power.

While the Legislature acted on this report and enacted purchasing system reforms that are saving millions of dollars, the state’s centralized purchasing system has yet to include higher education institutions. It appears that millions more could be saved if state purchasing officials collaborated with Oklahoma’s universities and colleges.

Rep. Jason Murphey
R-Guthrie

Committee members were also told that another important savings opportunity could be realized if higher education’s OneNet fiber network would be consolidated under the state’s centralized technology infrastructure. This network could be used to lower to cost of bandwidth to state agencies and provide a solution to the state’s public safety interoperability challenges.

“As the government modernization effort continues to demonstrate tangible savings on behalf of the taxpayers, it becomes very important for Oklahoma’s policy makers to provide institutions of higher education with access to these money saving processes,” said Murphey R-Guthrie.

Rep. Corey Holland
R-Marlow

“At a time when Oklahoma families struggle to pay the ever-increasing cost of tuition and fees, it makes no sense for our state not to consider real cost savings,” said Holland, R-Marlow. “If by the colleges making some modernization reforms the cost of government for the taxpayers can be reduced, then I believe these reforms should be seriously considered.”

Oklahoma Higher Education exemption subject of legislative interim study

By Billie Rodely at www.CapitolBeatOK.com (Published: 11-Aug-2011) 

Among the 80 interim studies under way in the Oklahoma House of Representatives this year is one which could result in more Legislative control over tuition and fees at the state’s institutions of Higher Education. But that’s a big “could.”

Rep. Jason Murphey

Representative Jason Murphy, a Guthrie Republican, requested the study in order to have a review of statutory exemptions granted to Oklahoma Higher Education entities.

“This year, several legislators were critiquing our Government Modernization reforms based on the fact that Higher Ed had been exempted. I think some of the opposition was tongue-in-cheek,” Murphey said. He thought the members opposed to the reforms used the fact that Higher Ed was exempted in order to camouflage their real agenda.

Representative Murphy believes lobbyists for higher education in Oklahoma are strong enough to have killed the modernization reforms had higher education not been exempted. “We badly needed the reforms and I knew we could not risk having Higher Ed kill our proposal. However, I felt it was important for the legislators to know that we were going to ask for a study to examine the exemptions in order to keep them from throwing the baby out with the bath water and voting against the reforms. This kept us from being attacked from all sides.”

Besides examining and highlighting the number of exemptions granted, Murphey says the state Constitution comes into the picture.

“Higher Ed claims that they are exempted from the application of certain reforms because of the Constitution. If this is the case, then maybe we need to decide if the people should be given the opportunity to vote for a Constitutional change.”

Rep. Corey Holland

The Guthrie Republican says Representative Corey Holland a Marlow Republican, is also on board in support of the interim study and helped push for its approval out of the more than 125 interim study requests made this year.

While Interim Study 1019 is assigned to the House Committee on Higher Education, as of this writing, no hearing on the study has been scheduled. Interim study hearings can be held Tuesdays and Thursdays, with meeting notices posted under existing posting guidelines in the House.

Link Between Taxpayer Spending On Higher Ed And Economic Growth Challenged

CapitolBeatOK Staff Report - Published: 10-Jun-2011


Despite years of claims to the contrary, a new study by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity has found that increased investment in higher education does not yield economic growth.


The report, “Oklahoma Higher Education: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom,” dispels the notion that more funding for public colleges and universities is necessary to spur economic development, for a variety of reasons.


In a statement sent to CapitolBeatOK on Friday (June 10), co-author Matthew Denhart said, “Oklahoma’s colleges and universities are not starving for funds. Rather than asking taxpayers to continually foot larger and larger bills for higher education, it’s time for the state’s colleges and universities to reevaluate their priorities and invest their resources more strategically.”


The study found that while revenues and expenditures have grown rapidly at Oklahoma’s universities during the last decade, expenditures are highly inefficient and contribute little to educational attainment, graduation rates remain embarrassingly low and out-migration of the students who do graduate remains alarmingly high.


According to the report, only 40 percent of total revenues at four-year public universities in the state are spent on areas related to student instruction. Instead, revenues are directed toward administration, research and “public service,” areas that have little direct impact on student achievement.


The authors conclude that not only are expenditures highly inefficient, but the lack of a rigorous curriculum and engagement among college students nationwide leads to high dropout rates.