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fund approximately fifteen (15) entities to establish EAP consortia for small businesses. The program will test and evaluate the best approaches for delivering EAP services to a broad crosssection of small businesses and will provide technical assistance to ensure effectiveness. This program would fine-tune a previous EAP grant program authorized under the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act.

B. Expand Public Awareness and Distribute Educational Materials

Small businesses must be educated about the effects of drug and alcohol abuse on productivity, safety and employee morale and the benefits of establishing workplace drug and alcohol programs and the benefits of establishing workplace programs. In addition, once employers are convinced that they must take action to address employee substance abuse, they must be provided with materials that will enable them to select and implement an appropriate program. We urge the Subcommittee to provide $3 million to DOL to conduct a comprehensive awareness campaign for the public and organizational decision makers - including public service announcements, radio spots and printed materials and to develop and disseminate information materials on workplace drug and alcohol abuse and programs that can address these problems.

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C. Survey Workplace Substance Abuse Control Programs

We urge the Subcommittee to provide $2 million to enable the Bureau of Labor Statistics to design, implement, conduct and analyze an Annual Survey of Workplace Substance Abuse Control programs among the nation's employers. This information is critical to understanding the scope of substance abuse in the workplace and what businesses are doing about the problem. DOL conducted one survey in 1988, but does not have sufficient funds to update the information.

D. Expand Research on Workplace Substance Abuse Problems

Relatively little information is available about the incidence or effect of substance abuse in the workplace because of the sensitivity of the information and the lack of established methodology for collecting data. The DOL identified these gaps in knowledge in a report mandated by Congress in the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. To begin to address the lack of information and to develop methodologies to measure prevalence, impact and the effectiveness of various workplace programs (i.e. drug testing programs, EAPs), we urge the Subcommittee to provide $2 million to fund approximately five comprehensive research projects.

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The Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (OSAP) has taken the lead within the Department of Health and Human Services in promoting prevention of drug and alcohol problems. The workplace is one of the most critical environments in which to conduct prevention activities and to intervene with employees who have a drug or alcohol abuse problem or are affected by family members - including children with such problems.

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OSAP has a great interest in expanding its prevention activities in the workplace arena. We urge the Subcommittee to provide $20 million to OSAP so that it can effectively reach employed individuals and their families. These funds will support training for employee assistance professionals and technical assistance to employers and labor unions - particularly those within small businesses to develop EAPs. OSAP can best provide such services by establishing a discrete unit whose major focus is issues related to EAP development and operation.

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STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL BOARD FOR PROFESSIONAL TEACHING STANDARDS

Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on the need to fund the research and development program of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). As teachers, we have first hand knowledge of the urgent need to invest in the quality and future of the teaching force. As members of the NBPTS, we want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and the members of this committee and the Congress for the confidence you have shown in our mission by enacting $5 million in appropriations for FY 1991 for the research and development work of the Board.

We are here today to ask that you continue your support in the FY 1992 appropriations measure.

As you know, we came within inches of the goal line in the 101st Congress in seeing legislation enacted to provide authorization of federal matching funds for the National Board's important research and development activities. The Senate passed such legislation once, and the House passed such legislation twice, but, the same legislation never passed both houses. We believe, based on the strong bi-partisan Congressional support for our mission, that the authorization legislation will be law by the end of the 102nd Congress.

Meanwhile, the Board has been anything but idle. We have raised over $10.5 million from corporations and foundations most of which may go to match the federal funds we are requesting. In addition, we have raised $5 million from Carnegie Corporation of New York to support the Board's operations.

We have developed a preliminary research and development plan which calls for the development of standards and assessments in over two dozen fields. Each of these will lead to a certificate, and each could take as long as two to three years to develop. We intend to have the first certificates ready by the end of 1993. This plan calls for an investment of $50 million dollars for the research and development necessary to set the standards in each certification field and to build high quality assessment processes that command the trust, confidence and respect of teachers and the public, and, we might add, of the Congress. Once the initial research and development work is complete and the system is launched, the National Board will become self-supporting from the fees teachers will pay to stand for certification.

Thus far, we have established five standards committees -- each standards committee is charged with the development of high and rigorous standards for a specific certificate (e.g., one committee is now drafting standards for mathematics teachers who work with 14-18 year olds) and is composed of outstanding teachers and scholars from around the country in that field. We have already "competed," under the terms and

conditions of the legislation before the Congress, five contract awards: two which will lead to certificates (for teachers of middle school age children in the fields of English and "generalist") and three which look at cross-cutting technical and substantive issues which will apply to all the certificates developed.

While we will proceed to develop the standards and assessment methodologies as rapidly as funding will allow, it is clear to us that if our nation's 2.7 million teaching force is to realize the benefits of National Board Certification this decade, it cannot become a reality without the support of the Federal and the leveraging of private funds which federal matching funds will occasion. The legislation before the Congress calls for a commitment of $25 million in federal matching funds over a four year period.

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The Mission of the Board

The mission of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is to improve student learning in American's schools. Our central goals include: setting high and rigorous standards for what experienced teachers should know and be able to do; developing credible assessments to determine whether a teacher meets those standards; and awarding National Board Certificates to those who do.

National Board Certification will be voluntary. It is designed for experienced, not beginning,

teachers. It is designed to complement, not replace, current state licensing procedures. By the end of the decade we anticipate tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of school teachers will have applied for and achieved such status.

It is our expectation that the work of the Board will focus attention on the professional judgment and decision-making that is at the heart of teaching. It will give this nation's best teachers a new and potent reason to stay in the classroom; at the same time, it will attract more highly qualified candidates into the profession, particularly minority applicants. National Board Certification will also be supportive of teacher education and continuing professional development programs that foster first-rate teaching. For these reasons, National Board Certification will change significantly the way teachers teach and students learn.

Assessing Excellence in Teaching

The National Board must develop and implement a comprehensive assessment system that fairly and accurately identifies elementary and secondary school teachers who meet the Board's high and rigorous standards. The assessment procedures must be professionally acceptable, publicly credible, legally defensible, administratively feasible and economically affordable. Furthermore, the assessments must go beyond paper and pencil testing. Procedures must be developed to determine not only what teachers know, but also evaluate what they are able to do. Can they translate complex material into language students understand?

Can they exercise sound and principled professional judgement in the face of uncertainty, and can they act effectively on such judgments? Assessments that can recognize the complexity of teaching and reflect the diversity and pluralism of American education must be able to accommodate the possibility that there will often be more than one appropriate approach to convey a particular idea, concept or theory to students, and also accommodate the prospect that as the number and mix of students varies so too might a teacher's practice.

The assessment methodologies and technologies that the Board needs can not be taken off-the-shelf. Consequently, the Board will be breaking new ground. It is exploring the use of interactive videos, in-depth interviews, portfolios that are defended orally, simulations and on-site classroom observations along with

other state-of-the-art ideas.

The Board is committed to attracting minorities to the profession and seeing current minority teachers stand for Board-certification. It will work to ensure that such teachers are well informed about the

Board's expectations and processes, about how best to prepare for certification and about the steps the Board has taken and will continue to take to detect and eliminate examination bias and adverse impact. This will include establishing close working relationships with historically Black colleges and universities and other institutions that enroll large numbers of minority students. A central objective here is to ensure that no teacher declines to seek Board-certification out of a concern that the assessment process is unfair.

The Board will not be conducting its research and development activities in-house. Rather, it will direct such funds to teams of scholars and teachers following a process of public notice, open competition and merit review. Not one dollar of federal funds will be set aside for any specific university or other research institution. The Board's research agenda, competitive processes and study designs will be reviewed by an external Advisory Council made up of leading experts in teaching and assessment research including appointees of the Secretary of Education.

The Need for Federal Investment

In order to achieve its goal of offering National Board Certification to all elementary and secondary school teachers, the Board must launch a massive research and development effort designed to accomplish in just a few years what it has taken other professions more than 50 years to do. Unlike many professions that offer a single certificate, the Board will be designing a system from scratch that offers over two dozen certificates; dramatically multiplying the weight of the task at hand. While the overall plan is dependent on the Board drawing support from many quarters, timely federal participation is vital if today's students, who are in need of dramatically improved schooling, are to benefit from National Board Certification.

The federal government is currently spending $14.5 billion annually on elementary and secondary education and this amount is likely to grow. The return on this investment is, first and foremost, dependent on the caliber of the teachers on the front lines of education. Federal support for the Board then, in the form of a modest one-time injection of funds, should pay dividends for many years to come.

Support for the research and development activities of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards represents a singular opportunity for the Congress to exercise leadership to transform teaching into a true profession. In so doing the Congress will not just be encouraging another small change at the margin, but contributing to the creation of a new institution that will serve as a catalyst for the kind of systemic education improvement the country desperately needs.

Conclusion

With these benefits in mind, we urge the Committee to provide $5 million in the 1992 appropriations bill for the research and development program of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. We look forward to working with the Committee as you fashion a funding bill that responds to the urgent

needs of America's students.

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT

Mr. Chairman, thank you for allowing me to provide a statement to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Related Agencies. The National Writing Project seeks federal funding for its vitally important program to improve writing and the teaching of writing in the classrooms of America. $1.92 million was appropriated in FY 1991, pending enactment of authorizing legislation. Passage of this legislation is imminent. In FY 1992, the National Writing Project requests $5 million.

The Need for Federal Support:

(1)

The National Writing Project seeks federal funding to support the continued development of new and established writing project sites within all states and regions of the United States. The basic goal of the National Writing Project is to improve the quality of student writing and the teaching of writing in all regions of the country. To do this, the National Writing Project must expand its network to at least 250 sites nationwide. During recent years, the site development has been limited by the funds available through private support · support which is now coming to a close. Without federal support there will be no future development of this nationally significant and needed project.

Second is the need to provide on-going support for established sites through combined federal, state, and local support. At present, few sites receive adequate support and some sites have been forced to become inactive due to lack of funds. The matching fund requirement of S 264 will hasten the development of state-supported networks as well as raise the levels of local support for sites within this national network. Sixteen states now provide some degree of state funding for their statewide networks of National Writing Project sites: (California, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Hawaii, Alaska, Kentucky, Connecticut, Nevada, Utah, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Alabama, Washington, and Pennsylvania).

(2) The National Writing Project seeks federal support to provide the funding needed to support NWP networking activities and NWP administration.Equally important is the need to provide funding for the administration and networking activities of the National Writing Project. The national project-which provides matching funds to all new sites and which conducts and maintains all of the networking, quality control and dissemination activities that tie the local sites into a coherent nationwide program-has had to rely upon extramural funding from private foundations for its year to year support, and private foundations are unable and unwilling to maintain programs over time -- no matter how successful those programs have been! The many rounds of grants the project has received

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