Your Voice in Public Education

DOE News Release

If you’d like to make your voice heard about public school education, now is the chance. Since April, the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) and Board of Education’s (BOE) has engaged the community as it reviews its joint Strategic Plan. BOE members are traveling the state to get input and will visit Molokai on Sept. 1.

“It is important for us to dialogue with members of all sectors of our communities as we work on strategies towards achieving student success,” said Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. “Education affects all of us, that’s why we appreciate the public input provided so far and urge others to attend the few meetings we have left before finalizing plans that will set the direction for public education in the upcoming years.”

The public can lend their voice on Molokai on Sept. 1 at Kaunakakai School from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Storyline Consulting, a third-party facilitator, brought in to ensure the objective report of community input, reported on the first phase of HIDOE’s community outreach, which included 108 focus groups on six islands and 1,429 online survey responses. The Phase I report noted the following emerging themes as community-based descriptors of student success:
• Giving back to the community, environment, and world;
• Discovering and pursuing passions so students can reach their full potential;
• Demonstrating strong academic and soft skills, and showing an ability to think critically, solve problems, and apply knowledge to new situations or contexts;
• Being prepared for life after high school, including setting clear goals and developing short-term and long-term engagement in learning;
• Exhibiting strength, confidence, and resilience in their every day lives and being generally healthy and happy; and
• Gaining a strong sense of cultural understanding and appreciation for Hawaii.

The Department and BOE are updating the description of student success, and strategies for school and community innovation, professional development, leadership and more. A draft plan will be presented to the BOE in mid-October, and final plan will be presented to the BOE in December.

HIDOE continues to monitor the national changes for the Every Student Succeeds Act (EESA), and has offered feedback to the U.S. Department of Education (USED) on how the rules and timelines will impact Hawaii. The Department took issue with the draft regulations appearing to be more prescriptive than what is described in the spirit of the law. HIDOE anticipates submitting the state’s plan for ESSA funding on the USED’s March 6, 2017 deadline.

For more information about the Strategic Plan and HIDOE’s ESSA efforts, visit hawaiipublicschools.org.