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US Secretary of Education Spellings visits Topeka

Student Achievement Gains - School Improvement Grants

Gains in student achievement were highlighted at an education policy roundtable with state legislators, educators and business leaders hosted by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and Kansas Commissioner of Education Alexa Posny. 

Secretary Spellings commended Kansas' progress in student achievement in grades 3-8 reading and math, especially noting large gains among students with disabilities and low-income students. "Kansas has done great work developing assessments that serve all students, including Limited English Proficient students and those with disabilities," said Secretary Spellings.

She announced a $947,069 School Improvement Grant for Kansas  to help turn around low-performing schools and help Kansas take a greater role in developing and delivering comprehensive leadership and technical assistance to reform schools and districts that are not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

At the roundtable, in which KNEA President Blake West participated, Secretary Spellings discussed a new tool recently released by the U.S. Department of Education, Mapping Kansas' Educational Progress 2008, which provides a comparative look at the State's key No Child Left Behind indicators. It mirrors Mapping America's Educational Progress 2008 .

Kansas is making gains under No Child Left Behind with 88 percent of schools making adequate yearly progress (AYP), including 95 percent of Title I schools; student achievement up in all grades 3-8; and achievement gaps shrinking in all grades between black and white students and between white and Hispanic students.

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