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Aloha HE'E Members and Participants,
HE'E Meetings
HE'E Planning Meeting: Tuesday, September 9, 2014, 9:00-11:00am at The Learning Coalition, 841 Bishop Street, Suite 301. (Validated Parking at Ali'i Place, 1099 Alakea Street).
At the next Planning Meeting, HE'E is pleased to have Randall Roth introduce an emerging organization called the Hawaii Education Institute. The Institute will function as an education think tank with an overarching goal of improving the quality of public education in Hawaii so that more children thrive and more professionals reach their full potential as educators. The Institute will conduct studies that are independent, objective and nonpartisan, focusing on principles and practices of effectiveness. It will also gather the perspectives and insights of principals and other administrators, teachers, parent groups and community leaders through surveys and focus groups; organize and promote public forums; and work directly with media to help ensure news coverage of public education issues that is predictably accurate, comprehensive and timely.
Along with the presentation about the Hawaii Education Institute, the Planning Team will also continue discussion on YRBS strategy and actions as well as start ideas about 2015 Legislative Session.
Please join us for an engaging discussion! Please contact cheri@heecoalition.org if you will attend the meeting.
HE'E News
At the last Planning Meeting on August 12, members discussed in depth about some actions the Coalition could take supporting the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). We learned a number of facts regarding the YRBS listed below:
- There are 43 other states already using the opt-out/passive parental permission process.
- An "opt out" process for the YRBS gives parents the opportunity to refuse their child's participation and students are never required to take the survey.
- The YRBS is an anonymous survey and responses cannot be traced to a particular individual.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requires a 60% response rate for weighted and nationally comparable data.
- In 2011, data was not available for the Big Island because of an insufficient response rate.· YRBS data is used by national, state, and community organizations for funding applications, public relations, formative research, program development, and to monitor youth health trends.
- Hawaii Administrative Rule, Title 8, Chapter 20, on student examinations, which required parental permission on surveys such as YRBS, was repealed by the Board of Education (BOE) in 2002.
The group decided that an appropriate action by the Coalition would be to draft a letter to the Department of Education to recommend that the procedure of "opt-in" be changed to "opt-out" for the Hawaii School Health Survey, which includes the YRBS. The reasons include some of the points listed above, that it would be no additional costs or burden for Department to having an opt-out practice, and that information included in YRBS is meaningful to families. The Hawaii School Health Survey will be administered again in the Spring of 2015; therefore, a letter to the DOE in support of this change in practice should be sent sometime in September 2014. Please see draft of letter here. If you should have comments, please email cheri@heecoalition.org by Wednesday August 27, 2014. After comments have been received, we will ask voting members to vote on support for the letter.
Following up on another item recently brought up at a previous Planning Meeting, HE'E Staff recently met with the staff at Susannah Wesley Community Center, who will be the implementors of the Ho'opono Mamo project, a new juvenile justice diversion system designed to guide youth away from the juvenile justice system to a pathway of supportive programs to help them address those issues that may be leading to risky or harmful behavior. For more information about the program click here. It is a big task for a small staff but they are committed to helping the students get on the right track. We will continue to keep everyone posted on the progress of this program.
2014 Children and Youth Summit: October 10, 2014
HE'E has started to participate in Keiki Caucus and 2014 Children and Youth Summit planning meetings this year. Keiki Caucus members include state senators and representatives and a community resource group of children and youth advocates and providers, who assist the caucus with identifying priority areas for children and youth in Hawaii.
The 2014 Children and Youth Summit, which will take place this year on Friday, October 10, 2014, is an opportunity for youth to identify their priority areas and assist the Legislature in identifying key children and youth issues that need to be addressed in the 2015 Legislative session. We invite adults and students to attend. Please see invitation here. Please join us for this exciting event!
Free Webinar Using the U.S. Department of Education's Dual Capacity Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships: Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 2:00-3:00pm EDT (8:00-9:00am HST)
Jonathan Brice, Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, will introduce and talk about development and implementation of the framework. Afterschool practitioners will share how they plan to use the framework to guide their programming. Staff from the Family Engagement Resource Providers (FERP) project will join the discussion and offer additional strategies and resources for engaging families in supporting positive student outcomes.
During the webinar, you will:
- Increase your understanding and awareness of the framework.
- Learn about using the framework in policy, planning, and implementation.
- Learn how SEAs, LEAs, and programs are using the framework to guide their family engagement policy, planning, and practice.
Raise your awareness of family engagement resources available from the Department of Education. Register at this link here:
HE'E Member News
Hawaii International Dyslexia Association (HIDA) is offering a series of three of its most popular workshops, to be held in the Fall in collaboration with Wayland Baptist University Hawai'i Campus in Mililani Mauka.
The workshops will be held on Saturday mornings at WBU's campus in Central Oahu. A certificate of attendance will be issued upon request.
- September 6: When Children Struggle to Read
- September 20: Dyslexia Simulations (interactive workshop)
- October 4: Help/Support for Struggling Readers (an overview)
HE'E meeting notes posted on http://www.heecoalition.org/resources/hee-meeting-notes/
HE'E email archives on http://www.heecoalition.org/resources/hee-email-newsletter-archive
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