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OHA: Office of Hawaiian Affairs
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HB874 HD1 Hearing

February 26, 2015 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

House Bill 874 is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday, February 26th at 11:00am, Conference Room 308 at the State Capitol.

For more information about HB874 or other bills from our 2015 legislative package, please visit oha.org/legislation.

How can you support the bill?

Support the bill by logging into the Hawai’i State Capitol website and submit testimony or testify in-person. From school year 2011-2012 through school year 2013-2014, the Hawaiʻi Department of Education (DOE) administered a version of the Hawai’i State Assessment that was translated from English into the Hawaiian language for 3rd and 4th grade students in the state’s Hawaiian language immersion program. The Hawaiian language and education communities have raised strong concerns about the negative impact that a translated test has on these students, schools and the program. Reported problems from the translated test include cultural and translation biases, translation inaccuracies, and terminology inconsistencies, which have resulted in highly inaccurate assessments of Hawaiian language immersion schools and students. In addition, students in the 5th grade and above take the assessment in English, but this is not appropriate for students whose primary language of instruction is Hawaiian. Accordingly, these bills require the DOE to develop independent reading, math and science assessments originally in the Hawaiian language for Hawaiian language immersion students in accordance with federal accountability assessment requirements.

Sample Testimony

I strongly SUPPORT HB874 which would require the Department of Education to collaborate with the Hawaiian language community to develop accurate assessment tests for our Hawaiian language immersion students. I believe that the perpetuation of the Hawaiian language holds significant importance to the identity of our state and should be valued. As such, Hawaiian language immersion students and families who have chosen immersion education over traditional school deserve an assessment that accurately reflects their knowledge base rooted in their cultural practices. I urge the committee to PASS this bill.

Details

Date:
February 26, 2015
Time:
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Event Category:

Venue

State Capitol – Conference 308
Hawaii State Capitol 96813 + Google Map