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November State Board News

New Performance Levels Approved

ESEA, and the requirement to move all students to the "proficient" level and above on state assessments, caused the State Board to reexamine and revise the performance levels on the Kansas assessments.

ESEA requires at least 3 levels: advanced, proficient and basic. (A level below basic is required also.)

Previously, Kansas had 5 levels for student performance: advanced, proficient, satisfactory, basic and unsatisfactory. The "middle" level was satisfactory.

The new levels will be: exemplary, advanced, proficient, basic and unsatisfactory. The "middle" level will be proficient.

Board members discussed the advantages and disadvantages of adopting the levels mentioned in ESEA versus adopting revision to Kansas' 5 levels. They decided to stay with 5 levels because that provides more specific information about where students are performing on the state assessments.

The key, as Board members learned, is in defining the levels and setting "cut scores." It is not presumed, as is not the case now, that scores would be distributed evenly across the 5 levels or distributed using a Bell-shaped curve. A timeline for determining the new cut scores was not discussed.

QPA Regulations Hearing

The State Board will hold a public hearing on proposed regulations for the Quality Performance Accreditation system on Tuesday, December 10, 2002, at 1:30 pm at the KSDE building, 120 E. 10th, Topeka. Comments can be made in person at the hearing or directed to Board members prior to the hearing. It is expected that the Board will vote on the proposed regulations on Wednesday, December 11, 2002.

In other action, the State Board

" Received the annual report from the Kansas State High School Activities Association
" Met with the 2002 Kansas Teacher of the Year team
" Received guidelines for implementing community service programs in high schools
" Modified the special education cooperative agreement for Chautauqua and Elk counties
" Approved QPA waivers for
o USD 457, members of on-site teams
o USD 288, align accreditation cycles
" Approved certification waivers for
o USD 104, teacher out of field (Spanish)
o USD 232, 2 teachers out of field (special education, library media)
o USD 233, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 246, teacher out of field (mathematics)
o USD 259, 21 teachers out of field (special education)
o USD 261, 3 teachers out of field (special education)
o USD 263, 2 teachers out of field (special education)
o USD 329, teacher out of field (library media)
o USD 336, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 418, administrator out of field (special education)
o USD 428, 2 teachers out of field (special education)
o USD 442, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 453, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 457, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 460, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 490, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 493, extended days for emergency substitute
o USD 495, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 497, teacher out of field (French)
o USD 500, 6 teachers out of field (special education)
o USD 501, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 607, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 613, 6 teachers out of field (special education)
o USD 618, 8 teachers out of field (special education)
o USD 619, 2 teachers out of field (special education)
o USD 637, teacher out of field (special education)
" Approved recommendations for Visiting Scholar certificates for
o USD 259, business technology teacher
o SEKESC, behavior analyst (renewal)
" Approved recommendations from Certification Review Committee to
o Deny 2 requests
o Approve 9 requests
" Approved guidelines for peer assistance programs
" Approved $800,000 in grants from colleges/universities to enhance implementation of new teaching standards
" Approved $66,000 to Midwest College Consortium (Baker, Benedictine, MidAmerica Nazarene and Ottawa) to develop a special education teacher preparation program
" Approved bond elections for
o USD 290, Ottawa
o USD 458, Basehor-Linwood
o USD 469, Lansing

Accreditation Approved

At the November meeting, the State Board approved accredited status for Russell High School, USD 407.

KNEA Legislative Contacts

Blake West, President
Peg Dunlap, Director, Instructional Advocacy
Mark Desetti, Director, Legislative and Political Advocacy
Terry Forsyth, Director, Political Action

The KNEA Lobby Team consists of elected leaders and staff. The Lobby Team welcomes member feedback on issues before the Legislature and on this site.